Father Francis McSpiritt Catholic Elementary School
of the
Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board
The official ribbon cutting and flag raising ceremony to celebrate the opening of Father Francis McSpiritt Catholic Elementary School took place at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, September 4, 2007. A slight drizzle did not dampen the enthusiasm of the participants, who gathered at the front of the school for an exciting and emotional moment.
In attendance at the opening were:
John Kostoff,
Director of the Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board;
Ralph Borelli,
Associate Director;
Father Papais,
Pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Wildfield;
Arthur Peters,
Past Chairperson of the Board;
Vicky Dhillon,
City Councillor, Wards 9 & 10;
John Sprovieri,
Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10;
Gurbax Singh Malhi,
M.P. Bramalea-Gore-Malton;
Dr. Kuldip Kular,
M.P.P. Bramalea-Gore-Malton-Springdale;
Tony Da Silva,
Trustee, Brampton Family of Schools;
Linda Zanella,
Trustee, Brampton Family of Schools;
Cathy Saytar,
Supervisory Officer, Brampton East;
John Melito,
Superintendent of Plant Schools;
Joe Brundia,
Construction Supervisor;
Dominic Sarra,
Project Supervisor & Engineer;
K.J. Fernando,
Manager of Construction;
Angelo Pelligrino,
Custodial Supervisor
Laura DiGiambattista,
First Principal
Karen Walsh,
Head Secretary
Ed. Robertson,
Head Custodian
Staff Members: D. Sisti, E. DePasqua, P. Addario, P. Moore, K. Pereira, R. Sherwood, J. Papineau, T. Rose, C. Forward, L. Maida, M. Medeiros, A. Barbosa, J. Amodeo,J. Palmateer, R. Orofiamma, N. Butera, A. Cassar, A. Stephens, F. Gonzales;
and approximately 295 students and many parents.
John Kostoff, Director of Education, led the community in prayer and wished everyone a wonderful school year. Ralph Borelli, Associate Director, continued our opening prayers and added his best wishes. Father Papais gave us a special blessing for the new school year. Mr. Arthur Peters, Past Chair of the Board closed with a special prayer of thanksgiving, (see below.) As we sang O Canada, the school flag was raised for the first time by Mr. Ed Robertson, school Head Custodian, and then the ribbon was cut by two of the students: Toyin Oteri and Tejere Oteri. These were the first two children the Principal, Mrs. Laura DiGiambattista, met at the new school.
Many people worked long hours to be sure we were ready to open on the first day. The building and classrooms looked fabulous. A big thank you is due to the construction team, maintenance staff, office staff and teachers who worked so hard to bring the first day together. Even before the first day, we were already celebrating, as Miss P. Addario became engaged to be married just a few days before the school opened! Congratulations Miss Addario, and congratulations to the Father Francis McSpiritt community.
And the ribbon is cut....!
Left to right: K. Walsh, L. DiGiambattista, T. Otere, T. Otere, T. da Silva, J. Kostoff
Thank you to George Dawydchak of Event Productions, official photographer for our opening celebrations, for supplying us with photos of the first day. See more photos in the Photo Gallery on the left.
Our prayer on our first day of school, led by Arthur Peters, past chair of the Board:
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A Prayer of Thanksgiving…
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...for all the very dedicated Dufferin-Peel personnel and parents who have worked tirelessly, side by side, to build this beautiful, brand new school. Thanks are given to all those parents and invited guests who took time out of their very busy schedules to share in our first day. As we cut this ribbon –we will make our solemn promise to follow in the footsteps of Father Francis McSpiritt, who walked this very land in his service of the early settlers of the Gore/Brampton community – to do as Father Francis did – and use our gifts and talents in the service of God and in doing so, become the best we can be and make Brampton and the Father Francis McSpiritt community a great place to learn and live.
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Check out more photos in the photo gallery on the left.