Friday, May 30th, 2014

What a week for sports at LKS! Congratulations to our athletes on the Soccer, Cricket, Ultimate Frisbee and Track and Field teams. You should be so proud of your accomplishments this past week. You showed great sportsmanship and skill at your event. Thank you to Mr. Littlejohn, Mr. Kuru, Mr. Bracht, Mr. Ourique, Mr. Ross and Mr. Ellerker for coaching this week. A big thank you to all the parents who drove to the games. 

This is the last week for borrowing items from the library.  All student items are due back the week of June 9th.  Fines are set for anyone who cannot find their items.  Usually fiction paperbacks are $5.00 and non-fiction and fiction hardcovers are $10.00.  Students can come and see Mrs. McGee if they have any questions/concerns.  

Just a reminder that there is a PA Day on the 6th as teachers are completing final marks and writing report cards. 

Next week, staff also begin completing next year's Long Range Plans in their new teams. 

Finally, on behalf of the students, staff and community, I'd like to bid a final farewell to Mrs. Bradshaw as she will be retiring at the end of the year. Mrs. Bradshaw has taught across the homeroom grades and in special education. Her commitment to her profession should be commended. We wish her all the best with her family and friends in her retirement. 

June-Perseverance

2nd-Grade 6-8 Music Night @ 6:30 p.m. in gym 
3rd-Grade 2 and 3 Folk Dance Club Festival-evening performance 
4th-Cricket Tournament; LKS Amazing Race (Grade 1-3-morning; 4-8-afternoon); Scientist in the School visit Mrs. Caligiuri's class  
5th-Grade 4 to Medieval Times; Grade 3 to Kortright 
6th-PA Day
9th-Cricket Semi-Finals 

10th-City Finals Track 
12th-Grade One and Combined 1/2 to Zoo; Cricket Finals 

13th-Grade 8 Graduation @ 6:30 p.m. 
16th-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 

18th-1-7 Sharing Assembly
19th-Kindie Sharing Assembly
23rd -Mrs. Burn's Graduation
24th-Mrs. I's Graduation 

25th-Lunch on the Lawn; Mrs. Tyndall's Graduation  
26th-Reports Go Home 

27th-Last Day for Students; Year End Assembly 

August 2014
25th-Office Opens

September 2014
2nd- School Begins 
8th-Terry Fox Assembly
9th-Curriculum Night
24th-Terry Fox Walk
25th-Terry Fox Rain Date
29th-Parent Council @ 7:00 p.m. 
30th-School Photos

October 2014
1st-School Photos
13th-Thanksgiving
27th-Parent Council @ 7:00 p.m. 
28th-Photo Retakes 

Friday, May 23, 2014

I'd like to start by thanking Mrs. Zappi and Mr. Littlejohn for taking their students to High Park this week. Field trips are so valuable to the students' learning as it gives them an opportunity to consolidate their knowledge of the "real world". Many of our students will be taking year end trips over the next month and we thank all the volunteers who will be supervising. 

At our staff meeting this year, we began reviewing our School Improvement Plan and looking at areas that we'd like to continue exploring next year. We usually begin the process by completing a School Self-Assessment. The assessment gives us an opportunity to rate ourselves in a number of categories. In general, staff say that we are good at providing timely, ongoing, descriptive feedback about student progress; we have a collaborative instructional leadership approach that enhances teaching and learning; the teaching and learning environment is inclusive and promotes the intellectual engagement of students; there is a clear emphasis on high levels of achievement in literacy and numeracy; teaching and learning incorporates 21st Century content and global perspectives and there is a strong partnership between the community and school that results in a high level of student achievement. The area that we will continue to focus on is creating programs that incorporate relevant and meaningful student-inquiry based learning. 

I'll end this week by wishing all of our grade 3 and 6 students much success as they begin completing the Provincial EQAO Assessment next week. 

I hope you all have a great weekend. 

May-Integrity 

26th-Grade 3 and 6 EQAO Begins; TDSB Ride Bike to School Day!; Parent Council @ 7:00 p.m. 
27th-Cricket Tourney; Girls' VBall Team/Mother Game after school 

28th-Conference Final Track Meet 

29th-1-8 Sharing Assembly; Sr Frisbee Tournament 

30th-Kindie Sharing Assembly; Pizza Day

June-Perseverance

2nd-Grade 6-8 Music Night @ 6:30 p.m. in gym 
3rd-Grade 2 and 3 Folk Dance Club Festival-evening performance 
4th-Cricket Tournament 
5th-Grade 4 to Medieval Times; Grade 3 to Kortright 
6th-PA Day
9th-Cricket Semi-Finals 

10th-City Finals Track 
12th-Grade One and Combined 1/2 to Zoo; Cricket Finals 

13th-Grade 8 Graduation @ 6:30 p.m. 
16th-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 

18th-1-7 Sharing Assembly
19th-Kindie Sharing Assembly
23rd -Mrs. Burn's Graduation
24th-Mrs. I's Graduation 

25th-Lunch on the Lawn; Mrs. Tyndall's Graduation  
26th-Reports Go Home 

27th-Last Day for Students; Year End Assembly 

August 2014
25th-Office Opens

September 2014
2nd- School Begins 
8th-Terry Fox Assembly
9th-Curriculum Night
24th-Terry Fox Walk
25th-Terry Fox Rain Date
29th-Parent Council @ 7:00 p.m. 
30th-School Photos

October 2014
1st-School Photos
13th-Thanksgiving
27th-Parent Council @ 7:00 p.m. 
28th-Photo Retakes 

Friday, May 16, 2014

I'd like to thank Mr. Ross and his grade 5 students. They worked so hard over the last couple of weeks to collect and pack around 3000 gently used books for children in need.  The students, along with some parent volunteers delivered the books to the Children's Book Bank. 

On Wednesday night, many of the LKS community listened to Jennifer Kolari, presented by the LKS Parent Council. Jennifer spoke on using the technique of mirroring to connect with your children. It was a great presentation as Jennifer was entertaining and informative. Her books can be purchased at local book stores. Thank you to the Parent Council for organizing this event. 

I'd also like to thank Mr. Kuru and Ms. Karens for organizing a guest speaker for our grade 8 classes. Wally, a Spoken Word artist, spoke to the students about his struggles in  life and his volunteer work. He was very  motivating and interesting; his talk tied in nicely with the work that many of our students are accomplishing in the LIVE program. 

I'd also like to thank Callum and Harrison in grade 7 who organized the Architecture Club this year under the direction of Mr. Blais. The boys taught the club members how to use sketch-up to design a building. For the last two weeks, they've had designs, models and books on display in the front hall. I am really proud of these two young boys and their efforts to create a new and exciting club for the LKS students. Great job! I'll be working with the boys with the Robotics Club next fall. 

Congratulations Boys!

Grade 5 Book Drive!

Grade 8 Presentation 

May-Integrity 

19th-Victoria Day
20th-Book Fair Begins until the 20th; Junior Girls Soccer Tournament  
21st-Grade 4 to High Park (and the 22nd); Sr Girls Soccer Tournament 
22nd-Jr Boys Soccer Tournament 

26th-Grade 3 and 6 EQAO Begins
28th-Conference Final Track Meet 

29th-1-8 Sharing Assembly; Sr Frisbee Tournament 

30th-Kindie Sharing Assembly; Pizza Day

June-Perseverance

4th-Cricket Tournament 
5th-Grade 4 to Medieval Times; Grade 3 to Kortright 
6th-PA Day
9th-Cricket Semi-Finals 

10th-City Finals Track 
12th-Grade One and Combined 1/2 to Zoo 

13th-Grade 8 Graduation 
16th-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 

18th-1-8 Sharing Assembly
23rd-Mrs. Burn's Graduation 
24th-Mrs. Iafrate's Graduation 
25th-Mrs. Tyndall's Graduation 

19th-Kindie Sharing Assembly

25th-Lunch on the Lawn 
26th-Reports Go Home 

27th-Last Day for Students

September 2014

2nd- School Begins 

Friday, May 9, 2014

This week we were so lucky to be involved with a variety of activities. On Monday, the grade 4-8 students watched a Jazz Presentation from Humber College. It was fantastic and the students got an opportunity to see young adults pursuing their dreams at the post-secondary level. Thanks to Dr. Grant for organizing this performance. 

The grade 3s were able to go to Pioneer Village; an annual trip that supports the social studies curriculum. I'm sure they gathered lots of ideas to incorporate into their future projects.

Today, Ms. Sunde, Ms. Kim, myself and our grade 6-8 Film Club participated in a TIFF workshop on motion and animation. It was such a fun experience. We learned how to make animated movies using "real" actors-us! We're hoping to incorporate some of our learning into the club next year.  I'd also like to thank Ms. Chandra for taking Maddie and Frances (grade 8) to the AGO on Wednesday to see their own film they created on friendship! 

On Wednesday, Ms. Dacyshyn, Ms. Young, Mrs. Younger, myself and Ms. Hoffman attended the conference: When Everything You've Tried Hasn't Worked: Creative Ways to Resolve Persistent School Behaviour Problems. The speaker, John Murphy, presented practical techniques to use with students when problems occur.  Often, people will use the same strategies or solutions when trying to solve reoccurring problems in their lives which only results in more problems. According to Murphy, the answer is simple-we need to change the solutions or strategies. It sounds simple, basic and logical, but this doesn't happen a lot. He presented "The Change Pie" that showed four factors of change that teachers, parents and other professionals working with students to resolve behaviour problems, need to incorporate into their practice to achieve more desirable outcomes at school or in the home. It was good professional development that we will be sharing with staff and the community at Council. 

 I'd like to thank Parent Council for organizing Jennifer Kolari to the school on Wednesday, May 14th at 7:00 p.m in the library. The topic is: CONNECTED PARENTING. You can learn more at:  http://connectedparenting.com/connected-parenting/about-jennifer.  

Finally, congratulations to all of the students who attended the Track and Field meet this week. You are to be commended for your talents and efforts! You make us proud! 

May-Integrity 

14th-Officer Rich visits Kindergarten; Mayor's Cricket Tourney; Mr. Ross visits Children's Book Bank 
15th-Grade 5 Museum in lunchroom; Sr Boys Soccer Tournament 
16th-Forest of Reading Lunch; Jr Ultimate Tournament 
19th-Victoria Day
20th-Book Fair Begins until the 20th; Junior Girls Soccer Tournament  
21st-Grade 4 to High Park (and the 22nd); Sr Girls Soccer Tournament 
22nd-Jr Boys Soccer Tournament 

26th-Grade 3 and 6 EQAO Begins
28th-Conference Final Track Meet 

29th-1-8 Sharing Assembly; Sr Frisbee Tournament 

30th-Kindie Sharing Assembly; Pizza Day

June-Perseverance

4th-Cricket Tournament 
5th-Grade 4 to Medieval Times; Grade 3 to Kortright 
6th-PA Day
9th-Cricket Semi-Finals 

10th-City Finals Track 
12th-Grade One and Combined 1/2 to Zoo 

13th-Grade 8 Graduation 
16th-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 

18th-1-8 Sharing Assembly
23rd-Mrs. Burn's Graduation 
24th-Mrs. Iafrate's Graduation 
25th-Mrs. Tyndall's Graduation 

19th-Kindie Sharing Assembly

25th-Lunch on the Lawn 
26th-Reports Go Home 

27th-Last Day for Students

Friday, May 2, 2014

It's been a busy week at LKS! The construction in Mrs. Burn's class is almost complete and we are hoping to move the class back in a week or so. The LKS Before and After Program is busy planning with the Board to open a program in September for our kindergarten students next year. 

As you may know, our school staffing committee has completed our class organization for next year. The following is a summary of the organization: Kindergarten (4 classes), Grade One (3 classes), One/Two Combined (1 class), Grade 2 (2 classes), Two/Three Combined (2 classes), Grade 3 (2 Classes), Three/Four Combined (1 class), Grade 4 (2), Grade 5 (2 classes), Grade Six (3 classes), Grade 7 (2 classes), Grade 8 (2 classes). We have also been allocated 2.5 special education teachers (cut by .5 staff) and a .5 ESL teacher. 

Continuing with our planning, we have also posted our 2014/2015 Day Schedule on the website. We have not received the School Calendar yet, but we will post it upon arrival. 

This week we practiced our Spring Lockdown. Just a reminder that if we ever were in a real "Evacuation", we would go to Lambton-Kingsway church. We'd send an email through our grade parent network for pick up details etc. 

We've had a great week of learning. Here are a few pics demonstrating the students' work!

Grade 1 Fractions Unit

Grade 2 Money Unit!

Kindergarten Artist in School 

May-Integrity

5th-Humber College Jazz Presentation-Grade 4-8 
6th-First Track Meet @ Centennial; Dental Screening (to the 13th) 
7th-Grade 3s visit Pioneer Village 
8th-Film Club visits TIFF 
9th-Firefighter visits kindergartens
14th-Officer Rich visits Kindergarten  
16th-Forest of Reading Lunch 
19th-Victoria Day
20th-Book Fair Begins until the 20th 
21st-Grade 4 to High Park (and the 22nd) 

26th-Grade 3 and 6 EQAO Begins
28th-Conference Final Track Meet 

29th-1-8 Sharing Assembly; 

30th-Kindie Sharing Assembly; Pizza Day

June-Perseverance

6th-PA Day

10th-City Finals Track 
12th-Grade One and Combined 1/2 to Zoo 

13th-Grade 8 Graduation 
16th-Grade 8 Quebec Trip 

18th-1-8 Sharing Assembly

19th-Kindie Sharing Assembly

25th-Lunch on the Lawn 
26th-Reports Go Home 

27th-Last Day for Students