WHITCHURCH HIGHLANDS PS
PACK NEWS
FEBRUARY 2016
School Website: www.whitchurchhighlands.ps.yrdsb.ca Brad Derry Rita Cooper Paul Carew Loralea Carruthers
Dates and Events 1 2 2-5 4 4 4 8 8 10 10 10 11 12 14 15 15 16 17 17 18 22 23 23-26
24 26 26 Mar 3
PA Day (No School) Groundhog Day Gr. 8 Trip to Quebec City Gr. 1s to Markham Stouffville JK/SK Scientists in School
Gr. 2 Scientists in School Sr. Boys Basketbal @ Aurora Grove
Lunar New Year (Buddhism) Ash Wednesday (Christianity) Gr. 5’s to Safety Village Sr. Boys Basketball vs. Glad Park
Sr. Girls Basketball Tournament at Vellore Woods (after school) Vasant Panchami (Hinduism) Valentine’s Day National Flag Day Family Day (No School) Sr. Boys Basketball Tournament at Bill Crothers S.S. (after school)
Term 1 Report Cards go home Sr. Boys Basketball @ Glad Park
Sr. Girls Basketball Game Sr. Girls Basketball Game Gr. 8 Graduation Photos Gr. 7 Trip to Mini-Yo-Wi Sr. Boys Basketball Area Tourney @ Sir William Mulock Intercalary Days (Baha’i Faith) Character Matters Assembly School Council Meeting 7 PM
Principal EOAA Superintendent School Trustee
From the Administrative Team: It’s hard to believe that the year is now half over! Over the past five months we have come together to support the academic, social and emotional growth of the children in our community. Exciting learning is happening in every classroom. Students have developed strong relationships with their teachers and with each other and parents have supported all of us as we get to know our community. Our grade 8 students are considering important decisions about high school. They have been selecting courses and establishing the foundation of their secondary school careers. They were also off to Quebec City last week for their extended overnight field trip. Report cards will be going home this month. Please take the time to carefully review comments that relate to strengths, areas of need and next steps. Talk about the goals that your child is setting for him/herself at home and in the classroom. Now is a good time to review the work that students are doing at home - reading regularly, completing homework and reviewing information learned in class to prepare for the next day. Please be sure that your child arrives on time as this is a problem that continues and has an impact on instructional time and learning skills. We appreciate everything you do at home to support your child’s learning at school!
B. Derry
Principal
As a result of provincial labour negotiations, a P.A. Day has been added for all York Region District School Board elementary schools on Friday, May 6, 2016 and secondary schools on Friday, June 3, 2016. You can see the full updated school year calendars on YRDSB’s website. These additional P.A. Days are mandated by the Ministry of Education. On these dates, teachers will be taking part in professional development on provincial education priorities identified by the Ministry
Whitchurch Highlands P.S.
Are You Moving?
Additional Elementary and Secondary P.A. Days
of Education.
905-888-1980 905-888-1980 905-895-5155 905-953-0562
Are you moving before next September? If so, please let us know as soon as possible. Please call our office with any information: 905-888-1980. .
Full Day Kindergarten Registration Kindergarten registration started on January 15, 2016 for the 2016-17 school year. Registration forms are available on YRDSB’s website: www.yrdsb.ca. Children who turn four or five years old during 2016, 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 your local school. . Please pass this message on to friends and neighbours in our community who have children born in 2011 or 2012.
Updating your Contact Information Throughout the year contact information often changes. Cell phone work numbers and numbers, emergency contacts often change. Please be sure to update us at the school. Should an emergency arise and we are unable to contact you due to outdated information it could prove disastrous. As soon as this information changes, please contact the school so that we can update our records.
Bus Cancellation Notice 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 develop alternate care/transportation arrangements. Since some busing 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). • If school bus transportation in your municipality is cancelled and your child attends school in a different municipality where service is operational, your child will not be transported to/from school. • If school bus transportation in your municipality is operational and your child attends school in a different municipality where service 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 1010 AM
540 AM 1050 AM
640 AM
680 AM
860
102.1 FM 94.1 FM 99.1 FM 107.1 FM
88.5 FM 94.9 FM 99.9 FM
89.9 FM 95.9 FM 101.1 FM
92.5 FM 97.3 FM 104.5 FM
93.1
AM
98.1 100.7
FM FM
AM
TELEVISION CITY TV THE A-CHANNEL CFTO TV THE WEATHER NETWORK GLOBAL NEWS A bus cancellation message will also be available at www.schoolbuscity.com and by calling 1-877-330-3001.
VIP (Values, Influences and Peers Program) Students in grade 6 have recently completed our Values, Influences and Peers program with the York Region Police. Officer Craig conducted lessons on arson/vandalism, drugs, racism/hate crimes, and cyber bullying. Students were very receptive to his presentations and asked insightful and interesting questions.
From Mrs. Mitchell and the Band Candy-grams for Valentine's Day From Tuesday, February 2nd – Thursday, February 11, the band will be selling Candy-grams for Valentine's Day! Cost $2.00 each Students can come to the Music room, first recess during these two weeks to purchase and fill out a card. The band will attach it to candy and they will be delivered to classrooms on Friday, February 12th. All moneys will go to purchasing a bass guitar and amp for Rock Band and stand lights for the all junior and intermediate students during concerts (28 lights)! Mrs. Mitchell and the Music students of WHPS really appreciate your support!
Chinese New Year
SCHOOL COUNCIL
Our next School Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, March 3rd in the WHPS library. Please join us at 7:00 p.m.
Lunar New Year is on Monday February 8th, ushering in the year of the monkey! To celebrate, each class will be making part of a dragon and we will be doing a "Dragon Parade". Mr. Derry will wake the dragon in the gym, our primary choir will sing Gongxi Gongxi, and we will have presentations around Chinese New Year celebrations. We encourage families to come and join us in celebrating with our Chinese students and learning about an important part of their cultural heritage.
TRANSPORTATION ELIGIBILITY Did you know that students’ bussing eligibility changes throughout their school career? Your son’s/daughter’s eligibility to ride the school bus may change according to his/her grade and distance from home to school. Below are the provisions for eligibility identified in the Board’s Transportation Policy #680: • • •
All YRDSB students in JK-3 who live within 1.2 km of their school are not eligible for transportation All YRDSB students in Grades 4-8 who live within 1.6 km of their school are not eligible for transportation All YRDSB students in Grades 9-12 who live within a transit served area are not eligible for transportation
To view Board Policy #680: Student Transportation, please visit www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca . For more information about bus transportation and to determine your son’s/daughter’s eligibility please visit www.schoolbuscity.com.
Gr. 5 Students really are Making a Difference A small group of grade five students in Mr. Weinberg’s class wanted to show their empathy and leadership over the holiday season, so they spear-headed a ‘bake sale’ for the Holiday Concert held on December 16th. Their wonderful efforts helped raise $231.00- money that was donated to the York Chapter of the Children’s Aid Society. Congratulations and thank you to Claire S., Georgia L., Sienna B., Mackenna R. and Megan W. We are extremely proud of your efforts!
Junior Co-ed Volleyball The Junior Volleyball Team had a great tournament on January 28th at Newmarket High School. They won 2 out of their 6 games, and the games they lost were only a few points away! Mrs. Lam and Mrs. LePage would like to thank all the team members for a great season. We would all like to thank Mrs. Lam and Mrs. LePage for their coaching efforts! GO WOLVES GO!!!
WHITCHURCH HIGHLANDS HAPPENINGS
February 2016 Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
1 PA DAY—NO SCHOOL Pita Lunch
Thu
2
3
4
5
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
8
9
10
11
12
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
Lunch Lady
Chinese (Lunar) New Year
14
Pita Lunch
15
16 Pita Lunch
FAMILY DAY
22
24
DAY 1 Pita Lunch DAY 5 Gr. 8 Graduation Photos Gr. 7s to Mini-Yo-Wi
DAY 1
29 Lunch Lady
17 DAY 1 Term 1 Report Cards go Pizza Lunch home
23
DAY 4
6
13
Sub Lunch
DAY 5
28
Pizza Lunch
DAY 5
7
Lunch Lady
Sat
DAY 1
Gr. 8s to Quebec City
21
Fri
Sub Lunch
18
19
DAY 2
DAY 3
25
26
DAY 2
DAY 3
20
27
