Happy New Year! I hope that all of our families enjoyed the holiday season and their time together. As we move forward with Term One work, our staff continues to work hard on our school’s literacy and math goals. Our focus continues to be on helping our students make their critical thinking visible. The academic achievements of our students and helping them to set new goals for their achievement is continually being addressed. Our students in all grades are working each day to improve their literacy and math skills and we are proud of their efforts. Term One will be completed on January 31st and your child’s report card will be coming home on February 13th. We thank you, the parents and guardians, for your support at school and at home as you encourage your child(ren) to always try their best. Please keep in mind that we have a PA Day on January 17th A message from Mrs. Kukurudza…. Deer Park Digest JANUARY 2014 OPTIMISM “Make a Difference” 605 Varney Road, Keswick, Ontario L4P 3C8 Phone: 905-476-4185 Fax: 905-476-7648 York Region Mission: To advance student achievement and well-being through public education, which motivates learners, fosters inclusion, inspires innovation and builds community. January Events First Day Back 6th PA Day 17th Movie Night @ GEM “Free Birds” -Rated G 20th School Council @ 6-8 p.m. 22nd Tie Spirit Day! 31st Next School Assembly/Tie Spirit Day Jan. 31st Principal: Anne Kukurudza Superintendent: Dianne Hawkins 905-895-5155 School Office Administrative Assistant: Kathy Scaini Trustee: Nancy Elgie 905-476-4184 Secretary (Mon./Wed.): Kelly Highet School Website: http://www.deerpark.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca YRDSB New Slogan! “Inspire Learning!” This beautiful photo of our school on January 6, 2014 was take by our School Council Co-Chair— Mrs. Jodie Smith. We thank her for sharing!
Transcript
Happy New Year! I hope that all of our families enjoyed the holiday season
and their time together.
As we move forward with Term One work, our staff continues to work hard on
our school’s literacy and math goals. Our focus continues to be on helping our
students make their critical thinking visible. The academic achievements of our
students and helping them to set new goals for their achievement is continually
being addressed. Our students in all grades are working each day to improve
their literacy and math skills and we are proud of their efforts. Term One will
be completed on January 31st and your child’s report card will be coming home
on February 13th. We thank you, the parents and guardians, for your support
at school and at home as you encourage your child(ren) to always try their best.
Please keep in mind that we have a PA Day on January 17th
A message from Mrs. Kukurudza….
Deer Park Digest
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 4
O P T I M I S M
“Make a Difference” 605 Varney Road, Keswick, Ontario L4P 3C8
Phone: 905-476-4185 Fax: 905-476-7648
York Region Mission: To advance student achievement and well-being
through public education, which motivates
learners, fosters inclusion, inspires innovation
and builds community.
January
Events
First Day Back 6th
PA Day 17th
Movie Night @ GEM
“Free Birds” -Rated G 20th
School Council @
6-8 p.m. 22nd
Tie Spirit Day! 31st
Next School
Assembly/Tie Spirit
Day
Jan.
31st
Principal: Anne Kukurudza Superintendent: Dianne Hawkins 905-895-5155
School Office Administrative Assistant: Kathy Scaini Trustee: Nancy Elgie 905-476-4184
Secretary (Mon./Wed.): Kelly Highet
School Website: http://www.deerpark.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca
YRDSB New Slogan!
“Inspire Learning!”
This beautiful photo of our school on
January 6, 2014 was take by our
School Council Co-Chair—
Mrs. Jodie Smith.
We thank her for sharing!
D E E R P A R K D I G E S T
P A G E 2
NEW “Safe Welcome”
Locked School Doors
Beginning February 3, all school doors, including
the front doors and doors to portables, will be locked
15 minutes after the morning entry bell. The doors
will remain locked for the rest of the day. Anyone
arriving at the school after that time must buzz in
and sign in at the main office.
Measures will also be put in place for parents/
guardians to buzz in and pick up students participat-
ing in before and after school programs. More
detailed information will be available later in
January. Measures will also be put in place to lock
port-a-pack doors.
Our school continues to be a safe place where parent
and community member involvement is welcomed
and encouraged. This additional step will enhance
the measures we already have in place, and ensure
that all visitors sign in at the main office upon
arrival.
Deer Park Has A Facebook Page!
It’s something new for families who are on Facebook.
Our School Council has created a Deer Park Facebook page
and will be trialing it this school year. To find this page go
to search groups, find Deer Park Public School,
Administrator Jodie Lehman Smith and request an invite.
Jodie Smith, our School Council Co-Chair will continue to
update this page with information about our school!
The current School Council would like to extend an invitation to anyone who would like to join us for our monthly School Council meetings. This month’s meeting is on Wednesday January 22 from 6-8 p.m. in the library.
Milk Program 2014
Milk is still available for sale every
day for .75 cents.
A Message from our School Council
School bus service may be cancelled from time to time due to inclement weather and/or poor road conditions. In these cases,
parents and students should develop alternate care/transportation arrangements.
Since bussing schedules begin by 7:00 a.m. or earlier, all cancellation decisions must be made by 6:00 a.m. to ensure the safety of
our students. Cancellation decisions will only be made after thorough consultation with school bus companies servicing York
Region. Decisions are based on several factors including precipitation, air temperature and road conditions.
Please note the following:
• A decision to cancel school bus transportation may be system wide (where all buses in York Region are cancelled) or
municipality specific (where buses in one or more municipalities are cancelled).
• Even though transportation in your municipality is running, if your child attends school in a different York Region municipality
where transportation is cancelled, your child will not be transported to/from school.
• Even though your child attends school in a different York Region municipality where transportation is running, if transportation
in your municipality is cancelled, your child will not be transported to/from school.
If buses are cancelled in the morning, they will not operate in the afternoon. Therefore students transported to school
by parents will require the same transportation home.
Parents, students and school staff are asked to access the following radio and television stations after 6:00 a.m. to receive bus
cancellation information:
RADIO 590 AM 640 AM 680 AM 860 AM 1010 AM 1050 AM
102.1 FM 1540 AM 1580 AM
88.5 FM 89.9 FM 92.5 FM 93.1 FM 94.9 FM
95.9 FM 97.3 FM 98.1 FM 99.1 FM 99.9 FM 101.1 FM
104.5 FM 100.7 FM 107.1 FM
TELEVISION CITY TV, CTV Barrie, CFTO TV, CP 24, GLOBAL NEWS
A bus cancellation message will also be available at www.schoolbuscity.com and by calling 1-877-330-3001.
Thank you for your support as we focus on providing safe transportation for all of our students.
Are you moving before next September? Is there someone in your neighbourhood with first-time Kindergarten age children? If so, please let us know as soon as possible.
We are currently projecting our student enrolment for September 2014. These numbers help us hire sufficient staff and support personnel. It is important that we know as soon as possible whether you may be leaving the Deer Park community before September. If there is someone with a 4 year old in your neighbourhood who has not yet started school, let them know that registration begins January 17th. If you know of someone moving into your neighbourhood with school-aged children, we would like to know as well. Thanks for your assistance in preparing for the next school year.
Call our office with any information please: 905-476-4185.
Projected Enrollment
P A G E 4
Are you looking for a part-time job? There continue to be opportunities for back up Lunch Assistants/Yard
Supervisors. We are looking for someone who would like to work one hour per
day (lunch hour) from Monday to Friday as a back up Assistant. This is a paid
position. You must have your police check . If you are interested please
contact our office 905-476-4185 for more information.
Before and After School Care Program Survey Dear Parents/Guardians: In order to determine if there is a need for a Before and After School Care Program on-site at Deer Park Public School, we are surveying the school community. If you have a need for a before and after school program, please complete the survey
posted on our website: http://www.deerpark.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/
The survey would need to be printed out, completed and sent into the school office. If you would rather we send you a hard copy of the survey to complete, please call the school or send in a note with your child. All completed surveys need to be back into the office no later than February 7, 2014. If there is a need, a program would operate before and after school as well as full day programs (7am – 6pm) on Professional Activity days, March Break and if a need is apparent, through the summer months for children ages 4 – 12 years. If significant interest is shown (at least 15 positive responses); we will explore the opportunities of meeting the needs of the community. If you require further information, please contact Sandra Sanz, Coordinator of Child Care for the York Region District School Board at (416) 969-7170 Ext. 3581 Sincerely, Anne Kukurudza Principal
D E E R P A R K D I G E S T
Cold
weather…
It’s coming!
What to wear!
We wish to remind students that at Deer Park we believe that children learn better when they receive regular intervals of exercise and fresh air. We send the children out for either a full or a shortened recess in everything but the most inclement weather. We ask that children are appropriately dressed for the weather: warm hat, gloves, scarf, coat, pants and boots at this time of year.
Volunteers Really, Really Needed!! If you have an hour once per month we would love your help to change our
outdoor message sign. We need two adults to do this task. If you’re
interested please let our office know by telephone or note.
Our second request is for help reshelving books in our library. Mrs. Firth
could really use some help each week with this task. If you have an hour
during the week to offer then please let Mrs. Firth know.
Responsibility for chores helps children learn self-discipline, how to apply themselves to a job and how to help with the running of a household. You will find that you have more time with your child and yourself if you give your child chores. KEY STEPS:
Explain why it is important for everyone to help around the house Decide on a list of chores and who will do them Draw up a job roster Let your child know when their chores must be finished Tell your child exactly what needs to be done for the job to be satisfactory Talk about rewards and consequences Praise and reward your child for completing their chores Apply a consequence if your child does not complete their chores satisfactorily
Don’t forget to check out the new Triple P Ontario website for online resources and podcasts for parents of children from birth to teens. www.triplepontario.ca
Triple P Tip for January– Chores!
CANADA Family Literacy Day is
officially on January 27, 2014
Please join us in celebrating
“LITERACY” on
January 27th, 2014 by wearing orange! We will continue to enjoy literacy
activities everyday but will join Canadians across the
country in a sea of orange on Family Literacy Day. Did you
know that numeracy, oral communication, thinking, docu-
ment use, computer use, reading, writing, working with
others and continuous learning are deemed essential skills
for the workplace? Literacy is for life!
The link below has many ways to learn more about family
literacy, financial literacy, workplace literacy and more.
Information sessions for the French Immersion (FI) program will take place at Keswick Public School. on January 16, 2014 at 7 p.m. FI registration will begin January 17, 2014. In order to streamline the registration process, parents or guardians of Senior Kindergarten students entering Grade 1 in 2014, and wishing to enroll in the FI Pro-gram, can visit or call the school office and request an Office Index Card - short ver-sion. The Office Index Card must be signed by the principal of the home school. Par-ents or guardians then take this form, along with one piece of identification showing their address to Keswick P.S. to register between January 17 and February 14, 2014. This eliminates the need to provide duplicate enrollment information or to pre-register. YRDSB’s FI Accommodation Plan provides long-term consistency and equity of access to all students in York Region and will enable YRDSB to continue to offer the FI pro-gram to all who wish to enrol. The FI program will be offered in Dual Track or Single Track settings, in a variety of configurations. In order to meet community needs and optimize available space in our schools, a community's Grade 1-8 FI program may be provided over more than one school during the course of a student's FI education. This will allow flexibility in addressing community needs and the opportunity to use existing space in schools. More information is available on the Board’s website: www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca. Please note: Some of the FI accommodation plans will require facility modifications or the development of new schools and will require short-term transition plans that might include overflow while we work toward the long-term vision. Overflow refers to situations in which the Board directs students to attend a school other than their community school or optional program for a specific period of time, as defined in Policy #108.
D E E R P A R K
Snowball
Throwing With the winter season upon us, people of all ages are looking forward to the joys of
snow. Most children rank snowballing high on the list of fun winter activities. Unfortu-
nately, when we have hundreds of students tramping through a small area of snow, that
snow quickly becomes icy and SAFETY becomes a major concern. We have instructed all
of our students that for SAFETY REASONS SNOWBALLING IS
FORBIDDEN.
There may be times where a teacher may supervise a snow activity such as snow/ice
sculpture building if conditions are appropriate; however, with the exception of these
activities, and the making of snowmen or snow forts, SNOW MUST STAY OUT OF
Province-wide implementation of full-day early learning will expand in phases between now and the 2015-16 school year. The Province of Ontario intends to work with school boards, educators, child care providers, municipalities, and other partners in com-munities across Ontario as it proceeds with implementing the program across Ontario. The York Region District School Board welcomes you and your child to our education system. We are proud to be one of Ontario’s top achieving school districts and to provide quality educational programs for all our students. Kindergarten is a big step on the journey of learning and this is an exciting time for you and your child. We strongly believe that forming strong partnerships with our parent community is a main factor in achieving success; and encourage you to engage in your child’s education. The York Region District School Board’s mission is to unite in our purpose to inspire and prepare learners for life in our changing world community. We look forward to having your child join us and working with you toward his/her success.
All students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 are expected to go out for every recess unless the principal decides that weather conditions are so poor that it would be detrimental for them to be outdoors. Students are to come to school ready for winter and prepared to be outdoors up to 40 minutes after lunch. We always monitor the weather and, in extreme condi-tions e.g. wind chill; we keep the students indoors or shorten the recess breaks.
We often receive requests from parents asking us to keep their children indoors during recess times because they are not feeling well. Unfortunately, we do not have the staff or facilities to supervise students who are sick or still recovering from an illness. Students with heavy colds, etc., which are serious enough to prevent them from participating in physical education, recesses or other outdoor activi-ties, should remain at home until their condition improves. This will likely benefit the students concerned and prevent the spread of this illness to others. Please make sure that your children are dressed properly for our invigorating winter days. It is advisable for students to bring extra pants and socks. A change is often necessary due to the wet and cold weather of the winter months. To avoid adding to our clothing collection in the Lost and Found, please be sure to label all articles of clothing. Boots, hats, mitts/gloves, scarves, and snow pants for the younger children will help make recess an enjoyable time. Exceptions are made on an individual basis for children who may need to remain indoors for an extended period of time because of a physical condition or recovery from a serious illness or accident. In such cases, a letter from the doctor is required.
Little Deer Program Returns for New Kindies!
Weather Watch
Full Day Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten Registration begins at Deer Park PS on January 17th, 2014 for the 2014-15 school year. Registration forms are available on YRDSB’s website: www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca. Children who turn four or five years old during 2014, live within the school boundary and whose parents are public school tax supporters will be eligible to register for kindergarten. A kindergarten information session for parents is being planned for this spring. For more information please visit the YRDSB website or contact our office at Deer Park. Office hours for registration are from 8:15-12:00 and 1:05-3:30. Please bring the required documents to register your child: Proof of child’s age (one of the following: Birth Certificate, Birth Registration, Statement of Live Birth, Passport) - Proof of residency (one of the following: Property Tax Assessment , Proof of Purchase, Rental Agreement, Lease)
CAPC will again be running our Little Deer Program for our incoming JK or new to kindergarten
students. This program will run weekly for 8-10 weeks starting from April to June, 2014. The
program has a student component and a parent component. It will run for 2 hours per week. It’s
FREE! The intention of the program is to help our little JKs transition into school in a comfortable
and fun way. This program has been running for years and has been a huge success! Please watch for
an information flyer that will be included in the JK registration package and in our
February Newsletter. We look forward to meeting our newest students. Please spread the word to
Frustrated? Need a place to go to help you understand your teen’s world? (12 years old & up)
Come out and meet with other par-ents and enjoy a relaxing evening where you can:
– what works and doesn’t
The first Wednesday of the month, NEW January 8th, 2014 time February – June, October - December! Keswick Library 7.00pm – 9.00pm Refreshments provided. No registration required- just drop in
