I'm publishing a couple of days early as we have a PA Day on Friday. I'm also in between watching our senior boys basketball tournament as we are hosting. They are playing really well; very entertaining!
We have had such a busy week and you can tell the students are very excited about all the special events and the upcoming Family Day weekend. We've celebrated Groundhog Day, 100's Day and Valentine's Day. We will also be hosting our middle school dance tomorrow and we finished our grade 4 to 6 European Handball Tournament in Houseleague. Congratulations to Team 3 for a gracious win and undefeated round robin.
It was great seeing so many of you this week whether you volunteered for Kindergarten Registration or interviews. In addition, thank you to those who have already brought in items for the Syrian family; you are such a generous community.
We also thank the Mayhew family for the couch donation to the office. We had to dispose of our relic as it had seen better days.
I wanted to bring to your attention a Walk-In Clinic Counselling Service for children that is free. No referrals or appointments are required and they can be reached at 416-240-1111. It's been a great resource to the community.
Before the holidays, I shared with you our Literacy, Math and Stem initiatives and now I'd like to finish by sharing with you are initiatives in the area of "Pathways" (a term used when talking about transition periods) and "Community, Culture and Caring".
Pathways 2014-2015
-Kindergarten teachers and support staff attended numerous workshops
on the inquiry based classroom
-Kindergarten teachers visited demonstration classrooms to share best
practices
-Kindergarten staff collaborated on program strategies with Early
Years Instructional Leader
-Grade 8 staff collaborated with the Guidance counselor regarding
all grade 8 transitions
-In Feb/March, new kindergarten parents were welcomed by staff and
parent council at registration and Parent Night
-Open House for Kindergarten families scheduled in early September
-staff attended grade, divisional, team and FOS meetings to co-plan
programs and transitions
- Middle School Association membership extended to middle school
teachers
-middle school students participated in Career Day organized by Mr. Bracht and Mr. Ross
Pathways 2015-2016 Focus
-continue to
modify and accommodate within programs
-ESL teacher
will begin implementing new Tracking System to assess/evaluate
-continue to address needs of students where progress is concerning
Community, Culture
and Caring 2014-2015
-Hosted monthly sharing assemblies to recognize students' achievements in
character development; proud recipients are displayed in the office
-Hosted a year end student recognition assembly
-Both academic and character awards are given at the grade 8 graduation
ceremony; all recipients are displayed in front hall
-Classrooms display TDSB character trait posters and TRIBES Agreements
-Character traits/attributes are announced on morning announcements
-Clubs recognizing student leadership and social awareness was strongly
supported including but not limited to: Environment Club, Student Council,
Terry Fox and Seeds of Hope, LIVE
-Mental Health and Wellness Committee introduced goals to staff in the
fall that included creating a sub-committee that was going to plan “TRIBES”
activities once a month
- Formalized process in place to address mental health concerns through
In-School Team, School Support Team and Guidance
-Collaborated with Parent Council to provide the community with a
variety of activities including pizza lunches, hot lunches, Fall Harvest,
Dinner Dance, Springfest
- Variety of enrichment activities provided to support the curriculum;
namely Scientist/Artist in the School, guest speakers and performances
-Safe School Committee in partnership with Parent Council and the
Toronto Argonauts ran a very successful anti-bullying campaign starting with a
student safety survey, and presented the results to students and staff
-Continued implementation of Grade 6 Peer Mediators to support
primary/junior students in conflict resolution
-Staff attended workshops on positive well-being
2015-2016 Focus
-Continue to promote a positive growth mind set in the classroom
-Continue to use positive strategies to improve mental health; many of
our classroom teachers are using yoga, breathing and meditation techniques
-Continue to support the Safe School Committee and Equity Committee goals,
including Mental Health
-Continue to support diversity in the school with a focus on resources
in the classroom; support Board Aboriginal curriculum
Have a wonderful weekend with our family!
February 2016
22-Parent Council; Jr Girls' VBall Tourney at LKS; Grade 6 Star Gazing Presentation; Grade 8 visit Brentwood
23-Primary Sharing Assembly; Seeds to Hope visit Daily Bread Foodbank
24-Jr and Intermediate Sharing Assembly; PINK DAY (anti-bullying campaign); Chess Club; Grade 1 to Harbourfront
25-Grade 2-5 Folkdance
26-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly; Pizza Lunch;
March 2016
4-Grade 6-8 Ski Trip
14-18-March Break
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday
29-Junior Assembly
30-Primary Assembly
31-Kindergarten Assembly; Grade 6-8 House Event
April 2016
4-Parent Council meeting at 7:00 p.m.; New Kindergarten Parent Night
8-Pizza Day
26-Primary Assembly
27-Junior Assembly
28-Kindergarten Assembly
29-Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event
May 2016
23-Victoria Day
June 2016
10-PA Day
29-Last Day for Students
