Thursday, March 31, 2016

This week, staff began working on our school organization for the upcoming school year. We will talk more about this at the parent council meeting on Monday and in future blogs. 

Over the next two months, we will be placing students into next year's classes. If your child is not going to be at LKS, please let the office and homeroom teacher know as soon as possible. 

Also, please do not hesitate to have a conversation with your child's teacher if you have concerns or questions about next year. Teachers have a really good idea of your child's needs and will work with their colleagues to place the students accordingly. Staff work collaboratively to create balanced classes taking into account Ministry caps, gender and social and academic needs. Next year's class and teacher will be indicated on the June report card. 

The Science Committee consisting of Ms. Chandra, Mr. Littlejohn, Mr. Iceton and myself began planning next year's grade 6-8 Science Fair. We will also be hosting a Family of School Fair in February 2016. 

Staff also worked collaboratively to generate a draft "wish list" to consider when allocating funds raised at the school. We will continue to focus on technology and "coding" resources. 

I hope everyone has a good weekend. Keep well. 

April 2016 

4-Parent Council meeting at 7:00 p.m.; New Kindergarten Parent Night at 6:15 p.m (lunchroom) and Grade 3 and 6 EQAO Parent Night at 6:15 p.m. in the library 
5-Scientists in School visit Mrs. Burn and all grade 8 classes 
8-Pizza Day 
17-PA Day-No School 
26-Primary Assembly 
27-Junior Assembly 
28-Kindergarten Assembly
29-Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 

May 2016
5-Folk Dance Club 
7-Springfest 
12-Folk Dance Club 
 23-Victoria Day 
26-Kindie Sharing Assembly; Folk Dance; Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 
30-Junior/Intermediate Assembly; Parent Council 
31-Primary Sharing Assembly 

June 2016
1-Folk Dance Festival (7-Raindate) 
10-PA Day
14-Primary Assemby 
15-Junior Assembly
17-Grade 8 Graduation 
20-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 
23-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly 
27-Report Cards Go Home! 
29-Pizza Lunch 

29-Last Day for Students 

Thursday, March 10, 2016

A few of us from the community attended the Public Hearing this afternoon regarding 501 Prince Edward Drive to express our concerns over the proximity of the garage and the sidewalk. The Transportation Department requested a deferral to explore the status of Marquis being a street or designated parking lot. The request was granted.

We had the opportunity to speak about our concerns with the developer, the city and a TDSB representative in an informal meeting.  Moving forward, there will likely be a community meeting to look at the plans before the next Public Hearing.

Thank you for your support and concern in this matter.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

What a terrific week of warm weather; hopefully Spring is around the corner. 

This week, I've noticed quite a few students walking down the middle of roads comings to and from school. Please remind the children to use the sidewalks when available. Also, please remind them to cross with our crossing guards. Students should not be on scooters or bikes when crossing at the cross walks. 

A neighbour called to tell us she saw another coyote this morning walking down Government, closer to Prince Edward. Please be mindful of the wild animals! 

Finally, we've had a lot of sickness in the school. If your child is sick, we ask that you keep them home to avoid spreading the germs. 

I hope everyone has a great March Break. We will see you on the 21st. 


March 2016 

25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 
29-Junior Assembly
30-Primary Assembly
31-Kindergarten Assembly; Grade 6-8 House Event; Grade 8 Grad Photos  

April 2016 

4-Parent Council meeting at 7:00 p.m.; New Kindergarten Parent Night 
8-Pizza Day 
17-PA Day-No School 
26-Primary Assembly 
27-Junior Assembly 
28-Kindergarten Assembly
29-Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 

May 2016
5-Folk Dance Club 
7-Springfest 
12-Folk Dance Club 
 23-Victoria Day 
26-Kindie Sharing Assembly; Folk Dance; Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 
30-Junior/Intermediate Assembly; Parent Council 
31-Primary Sharing Assembly 

June 2016
1-Folk Dance Festival (7-Raindate) 
10-PA Day
14-Primary Assemby 
15-Junior Assembly
17-Grade 8 Graduation 
20-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 
23-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly 
27-Report Cards Go Home! 
29-Pizza Lunch 
29-Last Day for Students 

Thursday, March 3, 2016

A big thank you to Mr. Kuru for organizing our grade 7 and 8 Mathematics League Contest. A variety of students volunteered to write this year and we'd like to congratulate Ronan, Vanessa, Nolan, Jennifer, Meg, David and Davis for giving it their best shot. This particular contest is quite challenging and the students did really well! 

This week, many of our students are presenting final projects including persuasive essays in grade 8 and our grade 4 Egypt projects. I was able to watch a few presentations and it was evident the children have spent a great deal of time on the hard copy and their oral presentations. As a staff, we will continue to focus on developing the students' oral presentation skills, as effective communication will play a key role throughout their education and when seeking employment. Oral presentations allow the children to learn a variety of media techniques, hone effective communication skills, learn how to influence and gain confidence. Congratulations to all of the students across the grades who have presented over the last couple of weeks. 

Our IT Committee (Mr. Ross, Mr. Littlejohn, Dr. Grant, myself and Mr. Iceton) met today. We've noticed that many of our students are printing an awful lot of unnecessary items. Staff will be monitoring the situation, but gentle reminders at home will help. The older students are reminded to print their projects at home, but if they need to print at school, they can do so under the direction of a teacher. No student should be printing directly from the web, rather they are encouraged to make jot notes and/or copy and paste only pertinent information into their jot notes, along with citation, for later use. Middle school teachers continue to teach about plagiarism. 

As the year progresses, we are always finding great on-line resources. Eventually, we'd like to organize them on our website, but until that happens, I'll keep posting them on my blog. Check out http://oame.on.ca/mathies/ for a variety of activities you can do at home. Don't forget about http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/elearning/homework.html for our grade 7-8 students for live on-line help. 

Looking foward to the grade 6-8 ski trip on Friday. Have a great weekend.

March 2016

14-18-March Break 
25-28-Good Friday/Easter Monday 
29-Junior Assembly
30-Primary Assembly
31-Kindergarten Assembly; Grade 6-8 House Event; Grade 8 Grad Photos  

April 2016 

4-Parent Council meeting at 7:00 p.m.; New Kindergarten Parent Night 
8-Pizza Day 
17-PA Day-No School 
26-Primary Assembly 
27-Junior Assembly 
28-Kindergarten Assembly
29-Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 

May 2016
5-Folk Dance Club 
7-Springfest 
12-Folk Dance Club 
 23-Victoria Day 
26-Kindie Sharing Assembly; Folk Dance; Pizza Lunch; Grade 6-8 House Event 
30-Junior/Intermediate Assembly; Parent Council 
31-Primary Sharing Assembly 

June 2016
1-Folk Dance Festival (7-Raindate) 
10-PA Day
14-Primary Assemby 
15-Junior Assembly
17-Grade 8 Graduation 
20-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 
23-Kindergarten Sharing Assembly 
27-Report Cards Go Home! 
29-Pizza Lunch 
29-Last Day for Students