York Region District

School Board

Lincoln Alexander P. S.

NOVEMBER

2013 G.Young-Principal P.Miller-Vice-Principal Dr. L. Walsh-Superintendent A.Yeung-Trustee School (905) 284-4513 Fax (905) 284-8242 School Website - www.lincolnalexander.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

Administrator’s Message

Dear Lincoln Alexander Families, As October comes to a close and we find ourselves settled into the routine of school at Lincoln Alexan-der PS, we shift towards thinking about your child(ren)’s progress within the curriculum and their learn-ing skills. On November 12, 2013. Progress Reports will be sent home. Progress Reports provide an opportunity for teachers to share progress to date in relation to Academics and Learning Skills and will serve as a central part of rich discussions between home and school. Progress Reports will be sent home with students on November 12, 2013 and Stu-dent Led Conferences will take place the evening of Thursday, November 14, 2013 and the morning of Friday, November 15. 2013. Ontario has designated the week beginning on the third Sunday of November as Bullying Aware-

ness and Prevention Week to help promote safe schools and a positive learning environment. During

Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week – November 17-23, 2013 – Ontario students, school staff

and parents are encouraged to learn more about bullying and its effect on student learning and well-

being. Bullying is defined as a form of repeated, persistent and aggressive behavior directed at an

individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress

and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, self-esteem or reputation. Bullying occurs in a con-

text where there is a real or perceived power imbalance. At LAPS, we will use this opportunity to ex-

plain the different forms bullying can take and what we can do to prevent bullying from happening.

Our Lincoln Alexander Public School Remembrance Day Assembly will take place on Monday, November 11, 2013 beginning at 10:40 am. All members of the LAPS community are welcome to at-tend.

Remembrance Day

On Monday, November 11, 2013, we will be holding our

annual Remembrance Day assembly, a solemn time when students from all grades hon-

our those who fought for our country. The assembly will take place at 10:40 a.m. We are fortunate this year to have the York Regional Police Chorus joining us for our assembly. The Police Chorus will be performing several songs of remembrance for us. Families are wel-come to attend.

Each student will receive a poppy to wear as a tribute to the more than 117, 000 Canadians who have given their lives in the service of their country. Students are asked to consider making a small donation when receiving their poppies. Any money raised is collected by the Royal Canadian Legion, placed in a trust account, and shared amongst needy veterans and their families. This is an excellent way to honour those who have given so much for us and our freedom.

MESSAGE FROM THE SCHOOL COUNCIL

Hello LAPS Families The work of your school council is busily underway for the 2013-2014 year. The executive members for this year are as follows: Co Chairs: Famida Jiwa, Vijie Kathir Treasurer: Afzan Lalani Secretary: Sandy Ho-Lam

Our most recent meeting was held on Monday October 7th. The meeting focused on planning council activities

for the year and included discussions on fundraising, and implementation of a new program entitled Parents

Helping Parents. This program will consist of informal sessions for parents in conjunction with community part-

ners. The aim of this program is to provide exposure to and support access of the various services and pro-

grams available to parents within York region. Please join us on the evening of November 14th in the gym

(during parent/teacher interviews), for our first session.

Our next council meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, November 20th, 2013 at 7:00pm will take place in our

school library. We encourage you to join us and participate in your school’s council. Your ideas and participa-

tion are most welcome.

Call for volunteers:

Council is in need of parent volunteers to assist with our fundraising and pizza programs, in addition to other

administrative tasks. If are interested in participating, please contact Famida or Vijie through the school office.

Famida Jiwa and Vijie Kathir Co Chairs, LAPS School Council

MILK PROGRAM IS BACK!!!

Milk is at LAPS once again. Order forms for the new year will come out later this month. Remember, milk is not only a good source of calcium for bone and teeth but it also helps your child to grow!

Traffic and Personal

Safety

We continue to observe traffic flow in and around our

school, parking lot and drop off areas especially during in-

clement weather. The realization of the potential danger to

our students is still evident. Although we recognize the con-

venience of driving children to school, the incredible vol-

ume of parents dropping their children off either in the bus

loop, at the front of the school by the curb or in the parking

lot has the potential for accidents to occur. Please remember

safety over convenience.

In addition, many children are not safely secured in car seats

and with seat belts. It is required by law that all children ride

in appropriate car seats and more importantly it ensures their

personal safety should there be a car accident. Students’

safety must be our primary concern.

INFORMATION NIGHT FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN ATTENDING BILL CROTHERS SECONDARY SCHOOL

FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 2014-2015?

Bill Crothers Secondary School (BCSS) is a system

-wide school with a focus on healthy active living

and sport. The school is open for Grade 9 to 12 students. Students and parents from across the re-

gion are invited to attend an information evening.

Information will be shared regarding the vision,

mission, schedule, programs, transfer policy and

application process.

All information sessions will occur at Bill Crothers

Secondary School, 44 Main Street, Unionville,

Ontario, L3R 2E4 from 7 – 8:30 in the cafetorium.

Tuesday, November 5th – Students in the East Region

Thursday, November 7th – Students in the Cen-tral Region

Due to building capacity regulations, we request

that only students and parents interested in attend-

ing BCSS for the school year 2014 - 2015, attend

one of these evening. Parking is limited so we ask

that parents carpool or park at the GO Station.

Markham By-law officers regularly enforce the

parking regulations on school property.

NOVEMBER DATES TO REMEMBER

November 5 - Ripley's Aquarium - Grade 4’s

November 5 - Milk Program Starts

November 5 - Fire Safety Visit - Grade 1’s

November 6 - Invitational Girls’ Volleyball Tourna-

ment at LAPS

November 6 - Photo Re-Take Day

November 6 - Richmond Green Secondary School -

Grade 8’s

November 11 - Remembrance Day Assembly

November 12 - Progress Reports Go Home

November 12 - Wishing Well Animal Sanctuary - Mr.

McAleese’s class and Community Class

November 13 - Boys’ Invitational Volleyball Tourna-

ment at LAPS

November 14 - Student Led Conference - Starting at

5:00 pm

November 15 - Student Led Conferences - Starting at

8:30 am

November 20 - Area East Girls’

Volleyball Tournament

November 21 - Area East Boys’

Volleyball Tournament

November 20 - School Council

Meeting - 7:00 pm

SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL!

We are looking for people that sew and can help make mittens and tails as part of our costumes! Material is provided, we just need your talent! If you're able to help, please contact Ms Arcand at (905) 284-4513. Mittens and tails would need to be completed by the end of January.

Our QSP Magazine Campaign will run from

November 18, 2013 to December 2, 2013

this year

Scholastic Book Fair

We will be running our Book Fair November 13 through No-

vember 15 this fall. Students will be invited to preview the

Book Fair on November 13 and we will be open for purchas-

ing on November 14 and November 15. This coincides with

our Student Led Conferences this year, so please plan to

stop by, before or after your appointments!

SAVE THE DATESSAVE THE DATESSAVE THE DATESSAVE THE DATES

WINTER CONCERTS

Monday December 2, 2013 Tuesday December 3, 2013

Details to follow…..

A Message from the Eco-Team about Boomerang Lunches

Our school wide goal this year is to minimize as much waste as we possibly can. Starting in No-

vember our school will begin Boomerang Lunches. Boomerang Lunches are when your child

brings home packaging from their lunches. We will start by doing this twice a week. Eventually

we hope to eliminate the garbage bins and the amount of packaging we

use (e.g. wrappers, zip-lock bags and aluminum foil). This will help us

slowly decrease the amount of garbage our school generates. You can

help us with this initiative by using reusable containers and not buying in-

dividually wrapped snacks.

LINCOLN WATER BOTTLES STILL AVAILABLE FOR JUST $ 4.00 (NAME ENGRAVED INCLUDED)!! SEE OFFICE FOR FUR-THER DETAILS.

To ensure the safety of students, school bus service may be cancelled from time to time due to inclement weather, extreme temperatures and/or poor road conditions. In these cases, parents and students should de-velop alternate care/transportation arrangements. Since some busing schedules begin by 7:00 a.m., cancellation decisions must be made by 6:00 a.m. to allow time to communicate this message to bus drivers. Cancellation decisions will only be made after thorough consultation with the Safety Officers of school bus companies servicing York Region and are based on several factors including precipitation, air temperature, road conditions and weather forecast. Please note the following; A decision to cancel school bus service will be region-wide meaning all school buses, vans and taxis will not operate.

School bus routes may be cancelled when severe weather is not affecting all municipalities in York Region. Both the YRDSB and YCDSB operate many regional educational programs. Students attending these programs are transported over large attendance areas encompassing several municipal boundaries. This limits the ability to cancel bus service using a municipality or zone methodology. Unless otherwise stated, schools will remain open and parents can make arrangements to transport their chil-

dren to and from school even if school bus service is cancelled. If buses are cancelled in the morning, they will not operate in the afternoon. Therefore students trans-ported 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 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 102.1 FM 104.5 FM 100.7 FM 107.1 FM TELEVISION CITY TV CTV Barrie CFTO TV CP24 GLOBAL NEWS

A bus cancellation message will also be available at www.schoolbuscity.com and by

calling 1-877-330-3001, or by following the YCDSB

and YRDSB on twitter.

Please note that school bus charters will not operate

when home to school bus service is cancelled.

School Bus Cancellation Notice

LINCOLN ALEXANDER WEATHER WATCH

All students from JK to Grade 8 are expected to go out for every recess

unless the Principal or Vice-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 conditions (e.g. wind chill) we keep the students indoors or shorten the recess breaks. To determine an indoor recess due to the severe weather conditions we always check Environment Canada websites, consult with staff and monitor outdoor. If the temperature outside, coupled with the wind chill factor is below –10 we will shorten outdoor recess. 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 pre-vent them from participating in physical education, recesses or other outdoor ac-tivities, 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 win-ter days. It is advisable for students to bring extra pants and socks. A change is of-ten 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.

FOOD BITES

November 2013

Back to Basics

Last month we glimpsed at what it is to be a Generation X parent, growing up in a world exploding with techno-

logical growth and yet being able to appreciate the treasured traditions and simple pleasures of our childhoods.

Our children on the other hand are born into this fast-paced, hi-tech environment and being constantly ‘linked-in’

is the world they know. Most of us parents are on a quest to find a balance between tradition and innovation.

How do we ensure our children stay grounded, value some basic traditions and not be absorbed into the cyber-

world?

There are some simple experiences and moments that evoke human emotion that technology simply cannot re-

place. The paradox is that while technology helps us get more connected, it has also displaced human interac-

tion.

As our kids rely more on texting, emailing and social media to keep in touch, basic social skills are lost. While our

kids may know texting etiquette, basic spelling and cursive writing skills are missed.

As parents, we must help foster social skills and encourage human interaction to give our children a true advan-

tage in life. Our children will need social skills to go to job interviews, converse with colleagues and build client

relationships. And most importantly enjoy special relationships and memories with friends and family.

As you navigate through your busy day, stop and think about simplifying life and enjoying basic pleasures. Here

are a few ideas to bring more simplicity and humanness into our everyday lives.

Pick up the phone and call an old relative. Hear their voice, reminisce over old stories.

Handwrite a note for your kids and put it in their lunch bags as a surprise.

Plan a family dinner together with no phones or TV and talk about your day.

Mail or hand out invitations to a party instead of using Evite.

Turn off the DVD on a road trip and play word games or observe the scenery.

Encourage your kids to go out to play instead of playing video games remotely with friends.

Plan a games night with friends or family.

Work on a craft or project around the house together.

Allot a time limit on tech devices to browse or play.

Refrain from carrying your phone around with you. Give your attention fully to who you’re with.

Go for a walk or bike ride or do some other activity together.

Make a fresh meal and take it over to a friend or family member who can use some company.

Cuddle together and watch a funny movie.

Make your own Earth Day and turn off all electrical gadgets for an evening.

Volunteer for a charity or youth sports organization.

Ultimately, the number one way to encourage and teach our kids is by setting an example ourselves.

Did you know? Kid’s Kitchen serves hot lunches at your school. To find out more details visit www.kidskitchen.ca or call us at

905-944-0210.

Leave the lunches to us! Take a break from making lunches and place your orders with Kid’s Kitchen today.

Lunches are delivered fresh and hot to children at the school at lunch time. Allergies? No problem, we take care

of it all.

For more information visit www.kidskitchen.ca or call us at 905-944-0210.