Attendance Line: 519-570-8123 X 3726 School Line 519-653-5532 Principal: Mr. Peter Berndt Office Manger: Mrs. Sandra Spurgeon School Council President: Mrs. Amy Willard-Brown Principal’s MessageWhere has September gone ? It is hard to believe that we have already com pleted one month of school! However, as you walk through the halls and go into the classrooms you can easily see that our students have been hard at work as they are familiar with the routines of their class and school. The walls of their classrooms are filled with the quality work they h ave completed. It almost feels like we have not stopped since last year except for the fact that we have a few new faces amongst our staff and students and we all look just a little bit older. Ryerson continues to have some small construction projects that need to be completed still from the new build, but all in all the major projects we encountered at the beginning oflast year are long gone. We have been adjusting to having another new portable, a new kindergarten class, our first grade of French Immersion in our school, around 50 new students and 10 ne w staff. Learning names is definitely a challenge now for anyone entering the building, so let’s help each other out when we meet each other. It was great to see so many of you out at our Meet the Teacher BBQ on September 8. We are hoping to see many more of you again at our Thanksgiving Assembly on October 7, our Remembrance Day Assembly on Nov. 11 orat one of our two Winter Concerts on December 21 and 22. The month of October is jam packed with events for yourchildren to be involved in so keep track of the calendar ofevents and have some great conversations with your child about their involvement in these special days. I always welcome your visits, emails or phone calls. Please feel free to contact me when you wish to discuss an issue orto share some praise for what your child is accomplishing at Ryerson. Sincerely, Mr. Peter Berndt Special DatesOct 5 World Teacher Day Oct 6 Provincial Election in our gym Oct 7 Thanksgivi ng Assembly Oct 10 Thanksgivi ng Holiday - No School Oct 12 1 st NB Remember Me Inc Lunch Oct 19 Identity Day Oct 21 Kindergarten vision screening Oct 26 1 st NB RMI Lunch Oct 31 Spirit Day – Orange & BlackHalloween Celebration Nov 3 Family Literacy Night Nov 9 School Council @ 6:45 pm Nov 11 Remembrance Day Assembly –all welcome to attend Nov 14 Interim report cards go home Nov 17 Interviews: 4 pm – 8 pm Nov 18 Interviews: 9 am – noon Dec 21 & 22 Winter Concert (Day time) Dec 23 Spirit Day Dec 23 Last Day of school before Winter Break begins October 2011 Ryerson P.S. 749 Grand Valley Drive
Attendance Line: 519-570-8123 X 3726 School Line 519-653-5532
Principal: Mr. Peter Berndt Office Manger: Mrs. Sandra Spurgeon
School Council President: Mrs. Amy Willard-Brown
Principal’s Message Where has September gone? It is hard to believe that wehave already completed one month of school! However, asyou walk through the halls and go into the classrooms you
can easily see that our students have been hard at work asthey are familiar with the routines of their class and school.The walls of their classrooms are filled with the qualitywork they have completed. It almost feels like we have not
stopped since last year except for the fact that we have afew new faces amongst our staff and students and we alllook just a little bit older.
Ryerson continues to have some small construction projectsthat need to be completed still from the new build, but all in
all the major projects we encountered at the beginning of last year are long gone. We have been adjusting to havinganother new portable, a new kindergarten class, our first
grade of French Immersion in our school, around 50 newstudents and 10 new staff. Learning names is definitely achallenge now for anyone entering the building, so let’shelp each other out when we meet each other.
It was great to see so many of you out at our Meet theTeacher BBQ on September 8. We are hoping to see many
more of you again at our Thanksgiving Assembly onOctober 7, our Remembrance Day Assembly on Nov. 11 or at one of our two Winter Concerts on December 21 and 22.
The month of October is jam packed with events for your
children to be involved in so keep track of the calendar of events and have some great conversations with your childabout their involvement in these special days.
I always welcome your visits, emails or phone calls. Please
feel free to contact me when you wish to discuss an issue or to share some praise for what your child is accomplishingat Ryerson.
School Council held its firstmeeting in September. Wewere pleased to welcome a
number of new members. Itwas wonderful to see somenew faces with great new
ideas and a willingness tohelp out and make our schooleven better. The first order
of business was the electionof members in the role of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.Amy Willard-Brown has continued on in the role of Chair with Helen Parker-Brown acting as Co-Chair. Cheryl
Schmehl will be Secretary for the year and Jennifer Snellgrove has joined us as Treasurer.This year’s members include: Carrie Labine, Elaine
Browne, Lisa Pearson, Sandra Fudge, Titi MacLennan,Dale Dobratz, Alissa Pearson, Jen Coady, Julie Ehrlich,Donna Woolcott, Holly Heise, Gopi Nivarthi, Barb Pfeffer
and Wendy Gilchrist.Fundraising goals for 2011-2012 have been set at $15, 000.We will work to achieve this through two fall fundraisers.
The first is a Donation Request in which 100% of themoney will go towards improving our school. The second,for those who prefer a more typical fundraiser, will be a
QSP magazine campaign. Watch for details coming homesoon. School Council will also be helping with eventsthroughout the school year. The first of these will be theupcoming Thanksgiving celebration. Although we have had
our first meeting and are hard at work planning events for the year, new members are always welcome. If you areinterested in coming out, the next meeting will be
Wednesday October 12th at 6:45 pm. Volunteers are alsorequired for events on an occasional basis. If you areunable to come out to our meetings, but interested in
contributing to the school, please let us know.If you would like more information about school council, please subscribe to our update newsletter by sending a
message at [email protected]. If you haveany additional questions or concerns, please feel free tocontact me at the above email address, or through theschool.
Amy Willard-BrownSchool Council Chair
Family Literacy Night
Please mark Thursday Nov. 3 on your calendar. It is FamilyLiteracy Night, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Join us with your familyfor reading games, gently used book exchange, book
making, story telling, visit our computer lab, and muchmore. Every student attending will receive a brand new book. More information to follow in late October.
Character Education at Ryerson
At Ryerson, we want students to work positively a
cooperatively in school, at home and in their communitiOur Character Education Program is based on the 8 Keys
Excellence: Speak With Good Purpose, Integ
Balance, Commitment, Failure Leads to Succ
Ownership, Flexibility, and This Is It. Students are givmany opportunities to practice the 8 Keys at school, and w
encourage them to use these habits of excellence in aspects of their lives. Each month, we have one Key thwe focus on. There is an assembly each month to highlig
the new key, and celebrate a month of success. Every clavotes on one student each month who they feel hdemonstrated that key consistently throughout the mon
and they will be recognized at the assembly, and have topportunity to win a lunch out with Mr. Berndt and tstaff member of their choice!
The Focus Key for October is SPEAK WITH GOO
PURPOSE, which is about using words to uplift a
enlighten, instead of tearing down. We want everyoneRyerson to focus on communicating in a positive waywith honesty, strength, praise and encouragement. Whave the power to control our words, and we want to thi
before we speak.
For more information about our program, please see t
Character Education page in your child’s planner. You calso visit the 8 Keys Excellence website
www.8keys.org. Wappreciate your support we all work together
guide our students towardfuture full of confidence, leadership, teamwork amotivation!
Safety Drills
Mr. Berndt
Did you know that your child h participated in 5 school wsafety drills over the past fe
weeks? We have conducted 3 fevacuation drills, 1 tornado drand 1 lock down drill. Ostudents and staff have done
great job in understanding what do and where to go in the event such emergencies. Have y
practiced a safety drill for a firetornado at your home with yochildren?
Please ensure that you respect the specially designated
parking spots for our YWCA Daycare users and for the 3handicapped parking spots. Using these spots without avalid permit, even for only a few
minutes, when no other spots are
available can result in a $301 fine.Let’s ensure that these spots areopen for those of us in our
community who need them.
NEW Food and Beverage Policy
Mr. Berndt
Starting this past September 1, 2011, the province of Ontario has instituted a standard food and beverage policy
across all Ontario schools. The standards will control whatfood and beverages are sold to children at school, both
during the school day and at special evening school events.The focus is to reduce the amount of fat, salt and sugar inthe foods made available to students at school.
As we enter into this school year, you will notice somechanges to food options available to your child. Our pizzafor instance is made with whole grain crust and low fat
cheese. As well, each school is allowed 10 days a year to be exempt from the standards for special events. Our Meetthe Teacher BBQ was one of those special events, for instance. Our staff and school council will work together
to determine what other events will round out the other 9
days we have left to use for these types of functions. Wewill keep you informed of the changes as the coming year
progresses. If you wish more detailed information, pleasevisit the Ministry of Education’s website or contact theschool.
Bikes, Skateboards and Roller Blades
Mr. Berndt
Each day we see many wheeled means of transportation
coming to school. Students, this is reminder to everyone,that riding a bike to school is a great way to start your day!Please ensure that you wear a helmet and follow proper
road safety when coming and going to school. Please use alock to keep your bike safely protected at the bike rack during the day. Remember that you are not to ride your
bike on school property, but walk it instead, in order toavoid any collisions with other students.
Skateboards and Roller Blades are notallowed at school. Please leave theseitems at home to be enjoyed at another time.
Thanksgiving Food Drive
The Thanksgiving Food Drive will run from October 5-1Please send in nonperishable food items with your chiThe class that collects the most food items will win a piz
party!
Here are the most needed items:
Small jar of peanut Butter Canned pastaPasta Sauce Apple Juice
Cereal Powered Milk
Canned Fruit Canned Vegetables
Canned Beans Shampoo
Toothpaste Balsmati Rice
Flour Oil
Remember Me Inc
Our school milk and hot lun
program is underway now withways to order, school order formand online paperless ordePlease remember wh
completing your order to fill in all the necessainformation such as your child's name, teacher, acomplete order details. Also, if sending money withsibling for another child, please make sure to fill out th
information on BOTH students’ forms. When orderionline, you can always check your order history to masure your order has been submitted the way you intend
If you have any questions or concerns about your order the program, please leave a message for Ms. Gill at tschool (519-570-8123 x 7084).
Identity Day
On Wednesday, October 19th, all Ryerson Raptors will participating in a school wide Identity Day event. Studewill have an opportunity to share something of importan
something that they are passionate about, to the rest of tschool. All students will have projects set up to share the event day and have a chance to visit other classrooms
learn about each other. Projects will take many forms amay be worked on at both home and school. Classroo
teachers may also send home additional informatiregarding classroom expectations or suggestions related this event. Please refer to the letter sent home regardiIdentity Day and check out the link on our school websas well: http://rye.wrdsb.on.ca/Identity%20Day. A
additional information can be requested from evecoordinator, Ms. Gill, or your child's teacher.
our second annual fall runningseason! Ms. Kiefer, Mme. Pedersen,Miss McMullen, and Miss Bates are
all very excited about the dedicated
runners who have been showing their commitment torunning and staying fit! All those committed runners will
be joining 14 other schools in the area at Shades MillConservation Area on October 21 for the Run for Life FallFun Run Celebration. We will be wearing our Raptor pride
as we celebrate and show off our love for running, stride by
stride! Way to go Running Club, itʼs going to be
runtastic!!!!
Ultimate Football League
By Mr. Grant, Ms. Bates, and Ms. Nichol
For a five week period in September and October, a junior intramural league has been created open to all junior boysand girls: the UFL (Ultimate Football League). The leaguehas over 40 junior participants divided into 3 teams: the
Lions, the Bills, and the Packers. Each team will play oneanother once in a round-robin schedule, and then there will be a semi-final between the 2nd and 3rd place team, and
then a championship game between the winner of the semi-final and the 1st place team. These games are all followed by some thrilling announcements over the P.A. lead by Mr.
Berndt, where game highlights are read with enthusiasmand all students gain a "sporty" nickname to distinguishtheir skills. The benefits of intramurals are numerous,ranging from increasing the physical activity level of our
kids to improving their sense of self-esteem and self worth.The goal is to provide numerous sports and leaguesthroughout the year, getting more juniors active and
engaged in organized physical activities. It is our hope thatall junior students will take full use of the intramural program in order to maximize their
quality of physical fitness and exercise.Looking forward to a great season, andmore fun to come throughout the year!
Terry Fox Update.
Dear Ryerson Families:Thank you so much for your donations to the Terry FoxCancer Research Foundation! We all know someone
whose life has been affected by this disease. Your donations will help to make the future brighter for thosewho suffer from cancer. Your contributions, combined with
countless other donations across Canada and the world, are proof that goodness and generosity runs strong in us andamong us. Our school raised a total of $537.60...almostDOUBLE that of last year! Thank you again for your
generous spirit!
THANK YOU - THANK YOU -THANK YOU
Leadership Club 2011/2012
By Mr. Grant, Miss Nichol, and Ms. Bates
Ryerson would like to thank all the grade 5 and
applicants to the leadership club. Ryerson Raptors, yhave shown your true leadership qualities yet again wover 55 applicants for us to look through. It was extremely tough choice deciding between such amazi
students and leaders. To those of you that did not get in, wappreciate your time and effort applying to the club, and wwish we could take all of you; hopefully, you can fi
many other leadership opportunities in and around RyersoThus, the leadership club members for the entire 2011/20year are: Sarah B., Jayden G., Amelie B., Nancy
Payton S., Amber H., Natasha B., Bhuvna D., Arhum MSheheryar Q., Maria D., and AngelaCongratulations for creating gre
resumes and showing you deserve be in leadership club with your grattitudes and work ethics. Way to
and we look forward to a great yeahead! See you next month for ofirst Kids Korner Leadership update!
Fresh Tracks Is back!!!
The staff and students at Ryerson would like to welcomthe 8 new students who are joining us for our Fresh Trac
Program. They will be joining us for the next eight weeand hope that over these weeks the students will make thefeel welcome.
Zehrs Tapes
Do you shop at Zehrs? Did you know that Zehrs’ receip
last year provided our school with over $500 worth sports equipment? How does this happen?
Gather up your Zehrs receipts every time you receive theand send them into school with your child. We collthem in the office. We have parent volunteers worganize the receipts and total the amounts and then se
them into the head office for Zehrs. We then receive
percentage of money back to spend on sports equipment four school based on how much we have submitted.
This simple fundraiser is something that we have bedoing for years and it has provided a large amount
equipment for all our students. Pleaseconsider becoming involved in thissimple way to support Ryerson!
