Happy and Healthy New Year to All!
It is the end of the day on this January 14 as I am writing this message to you. The power outages and ice storms left many of our families in challenging situations throughout the holiday season. We hope everyone is now safe and recovering. We can only hope that many of us will be better prepared for those moments of uncertainty next time.
Our students are back and engaged in their learning and extracurricular activities. Our basketball and hockey teams just finished a weekend of tournaments at Upper Canada College and our volleyball teams are practising for their upcoming games.
Our choir will be singing the American National Anthem and a song of their choice at a Marlies game on Sunday, February 23. Tickets for this event are being offered at a discounted price for our students and family members. More information will be announced about this event soon.
The Grade 6 Graduation Trip presentation to parents will be held on Thursday, January 23 at 7:00 p.m. in the library. Brightspark Tours will be here to present the itinerary and answer your questions about this year’s Graduation Trip, May 5-7. This year’s destination is Ottawa and Montreal.
Our teachers are preparing for the First Term Report Cards that will be sent out on February 12 and/or February 13. The interviews for this reporting period are based on Parent/Guardian-Teacher conference invitations in the circumstances for students who are experiencing:
- Promotion at risk;
- Significant decline in achievement;
- Placement in alternative or special education program considered;
- Parent/guardian request
If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to call us. Norbert and I are always happy to help and support our community. Best wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year!
JUNIOR AND SENIOR KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION for 2014-2015
Kindergarten Registration will take place
FEBRUARY 10-14
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
The following items will be required at time of registration:
* Child’s birth certificate
* Immunization records
* Two proofs of address
* Health card
* Landed immigrant status information
Please plan to spend at least 15-20 minutes to fill out the registration forms. Tours will be planned on a later date during the spring. Brown P.S. has been a Full Day Kindergarten school since September 2013. Full day means children will be in school the whole day, not half a day. Please call our school 416-393-1560 to book your appointment
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Our Family of Schools is in need of lunch time supervisors to help with lunch room and school yard supervision. These are paid positions by the TDSB. If you know anyone who would be interested in applying for this 75-minute a day position, please speak to the Principal or Vice-Principal.
JANUARY'S CHARACTER TRAIT IS TEAMWORK.
Our Brown students display great TEAMWORK all the time. What is teamwork?
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” ~Helen Adams Keller
“If you have an apple, and I have an apple, and we exchange apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” ~George Bernard Shaw
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu
What does teamwork look like/sound like?
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Yard Supervision
Yard Supervision for Grades 1 to 6 begins at 8:35 a.m. and ends at 3:45 p.m. Kindergarten supervision begins at 8:50 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m. Parents are responsible for their children’s safety and conduct in the yard before and after these times.
Visitor Sign-In Book
Visitors are requested to sign in at the main office and wear a ‘visitor tag’. This is a safety measure to ensure that visiting adults are recognized and encouraged to feel welcome in our school. Thank you!
Sign-In and Sign-Out Procedures
We understand that students may have to attend appointments during the instructional school hour day. Parents/Guardians are reminded that students must be signed out and back in for safety and attendance reasons. The sign-in and sign-out binders are located in the main office.
Kiss 'n Ride
Do not use the Avenue Road driveway as this is the school bus pick up and drop off area for our students.
Please pick up and drop of your children at the Kiss 'n Ride designated area on Poplar Plains Rd.
Community Issue
Our neighbours have recently been concerned about cars blocking their driveways during drop off and pickup times. Please ensure that you are not parking in front of anyone's driveway, as they need to be able to get in and out of their own driveway safely and promptly. There is one-hour parking on Balmoral in the event that you have to come into the school. We do everything we can to cooperate with our neighbours and would appreciate this is taken into consideration.
Safe Arrival Program
The Safe Arrival program is used by parents/guardians and schools to account for any student’s unexplained failure to arrive at school. Please call the school safe arrival number 416-393-1557 before 8:55 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. (for an afternoon absence) if your child will not be attending school or plans to be late. This line is available 24 hours a day with voice mail. If your child is absent and we have not heard from you, we will make every effort to contact you using the information provided on the Emergency Form. The name and telephone number of an emergency contact is absolutely essential.
Preserving the Learning Environment - from the Office Staff
In the event of an emergency, we always do our utmost to relay messages to students; however, we will not disrupt classes and interrupt instruction time to give messages to individual students. Our Office Administrator and clerical staff are very busy during the day. To minimize the numerous phone calls they are currently receiving, we kindly ask for your cooperation to please make arrangements for special pick-ups prior to your child’s coming to school. The agenda is an excellent tool for communication between home and school for dental and medical appointments when your child needs to leave early.
Letters are required to our office staff to notify us that your child is leaving the school early for an appointment or other matter. Parents who are picking students up must sign out the student at the office. Please help us with this process and make this a best practice at Brown P.S.
Safe practices picking up your children
It has been brought to our attention that friends or other nannies are picking up children without permission from the parents and without notification to our office staff. This is not a safe practice as it can cause undue stress when we receive phone calls from parents regarding the whereabouts of their child/children. Parents must notify the office if their child is going to be picked up by another family member or nanny who is not on the office list. If a parent is going to be late at dismissal time, please contact the office and we will notify your child to wait in the office until your arrival.
Swim Attire
Many students are forgetting their swim gear and having to call home. This is another disruption for the office staff and to instruction time. Please check your child’s timetable and ensure they have their swim attire on a regular basis. Possibly send the swim attire a day before the actual swimming class.
Hallway Safety
We kindly ask that parents and caregivers drop off their children in the school yard as a best practice and allow the students to go to their classrooms on their own upon the entry bell. Our hallways are narrow and when too many people congregate in the hallways, it creates a great deal of congestion. To ensure the safety of our students, please help us make this a best practice also.
Reminder - Oh the weather outside is Cold!
BRRR! It's COLD outside! With the arrival of cold weather, we are requesting that parents ensure that children are dressed properly for the weather, which means wearing hats, mittens or gloves, scarves, snow pants and boots. Please take a few moments to review the reasons for wearing (not just bringing to school) warm clothing in winter. A great idea is to label clothing and belongings with your child's name, as this allows us to identify clothing that has made its way to the Lost and Found. During wet and slushy days please ensure your child has a pair of shoes that can be worn inside (but that are not worn outside) while boots are left outside the classroom to dry. This ensures that carpets in classrooms stay dry, and helps to eliminate slippery floors.
Lost & Found
Parents, please check our lost and found collection. There are many items currently in the Lost and Found area that need to be recovered. Remember to label items (esp. lunch bags) with a permanent marker.
JUNIOR AND SENIOR KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION for 2014-2015
Kindergarten Registration will take place
FEBRUARY 10-14
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
The following items will be required at time of registration:
* Child’s birth certificate
* Immunization records
* Two proofs of address
* Health card
* Landed immigrant status information
Please plan to spend at least 15-20 minutes to fill out the registration forms. Tours will be planned on a later date during the spring. Brown P.S. has been a Full Day Kindergarten school since September 2013. Full day means children will be in school the whole day, not half a day. Please call our school 416-393-1560 to book your appointment
SK FRENCH IMMERSION 2014-2015
Program Application and Registration System (PARS)
The Early French Immersion Program begins in Senior Kindergarten (SK). It offers 100% French instruction in the classroom until the end of Grade 3. All subjects are taught in French. English instruction is gradually introduced beginning in Grade 4 until it becomes a half-day program from Grades 6-8.
The registration system for SK French Immersion opened on January 6. Deadline for applications: January 30, 2014.
Please visit the application site www.tdsb.on.ca/pars
The Brown Public School Senior Kindergarten French Immersion Information Evening took place on January 9, 2014. Anyone requiring further information is asked to kindly contact our office.
Program Application and Registration System (PARS)
The Early French Immersion Program begins in Senior Kindergarten (SK). It offers 100% French instruction in the classroom until the end of Grade 3. All subjects are taught in French. English instruction is gradually introduced beginning in Grade 4 until it becomes a half-day program from Grades 6-8.
The registration system for SK French Immersion opened on January 6. Deadline for applications: January 30, 2014.
Please visit the application site www.tdsb.on.ca/pars
The Brown Public School Senior Kindergarten French Immersion Information Evening took place on January 9, 2014. Anyone requiring further information is asked to kindly contact our office.
SPECIAL EVENTS and PERFORMANCES coming up for our BROWN students
On January 20, we have the Fit2Dance group coming in to get everyone in the groove again with dance and fitness moves in the gym. Our students enjoyed this last year and we felt it was definitely worth a repeat performance.
Back due to popular demand on February 7 - THE POWER OF ONE for our K-Grade 6 students. This is a great presentation teaching students about bullying, the bystander, and strategies to deal with bullies and challenging situations. This presentation will take place in our gym at 12:45 p.m. I am encouraging and inviting parents to attend this worthwhile 40-minute presentation.
On January 20, we have the Fit2Dance group coming in to get everyone in the groove again with dance and fitness moves in the gym. Our students enjoyed this last year and we felt it was definitely worth a repeat performance.
Back due to popular demand on February 7 - THE POWER OF ONE for our K-Grade 6 students. This is a great presentation teaching students about bullying, the bystander, and strategies to deal with bullies and challenging situations. This presentation will take place in our gym at 12:45 p.m. I am encouraging and inviting parents to attend this worthwhile 40-minute presentation.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
Our Family of Schools is in need of lunch time supervisors to help with lunch room and school yard supervision. These are paid positions by the TDSB. If you know anyone who would be interested in applying for this 75-minute a day position, please speak to the Principal or Vice-Principal.
JANUARY'S CHARACTER TRAIT IS TEAMWORK.
Our Brown students display great TEAMWORK all the time. What is teamwork?
- Using the skills and strengths of all members
- Working toward a common goal
- Taking a small part in a large job
- Working together
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” ~Helen Adams Keller
“If you have an apple, and I have an apple, and we exchange apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” ~George Bernard Shaw
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~Archbishop Desmond Tutu
What does teamwork look like/sound like?
- Agreeing on a common goal
- Having each member make use of his or her strengths while working equally toward a common goal
- Supporting each other in completing tasks and overcoming obstacles
- Learning from, and sharing with, each other
- Sharing feelings and taking responsibility for your own actions
- Sharing thoughts and opinions freely and being open to the thoughts and opinions of team members
- Not letting personality differences get in the way of the task
- Apologizing when necessary and accepting an apology when necessary
- Celebrating the successes of others
- Spending some time thinking about what is working in the group and what needs to change to make the group more successful
- Learning to work with many different personality types
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Yard Supervision
Yard Supervision for Grades 1 to 6 begins at 8:35 a.m. and ends at 3:45 p.m. Kindergarten supervision begins at 8:50 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m. Parents are responsible for their children’s safety and conduct in the yard before and after these times.
Visitor Sign-In Book
Visitors are requested to sign in at the main office and wear a ‘visitor tag’. This is a safety measure to ensure that visiting adults are recognized and encouraged to feel welcome in our school. Thank you!
Sign-In and Sign-Out Procedures
We understand that students may have to attend appointments during the instructional school hour day. Parents/Guardians are reminded that students must be signed out and back in for safety and attendance reasons. The sign-in and sign-out binders are located in the main office.
Kiss 'n Ride
Do not use the Avenue Road driveway as this is the school bus pick up and drop off area for our students.
Please pick up and drop of your children at the Kiss 'n Ride designated area on Poplar Plains Rd.
Community Issue
Our neighbours have recently been concerned about cars blocking their driveways during drop off and pickup times. Please ensure that you are not parking in front of anyone's driveway, as they need to be able to get in and out of their own driveway safely and promptly. There is one-hour parking on Balmoral in the event that you have to come into the school. We do everything we can to cooperate with our neighbours and would appreciate this is taken into consideration.
Safe Arrival Program
The Safe Arrival program is used by parents/guardians and schools to account for any student’s unexplained failure to arrive at school. Please call the school safe arrival number 416-393-1557 before 8:55 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. (for an afternoon absence) if your child will not be attending school or plans to be late. This line is available 24 hours a day with voice mail. If your child is absent and we have not heard from you, we will make every effort to contact you using the information provided on the Emergency Form. The name and telephone number of an emergency contact is absolutely essential.
Preserving the Learning Environment - from the Office Staff
In the event of an emergency, we always do our utmost to relay messages to students; however, we will not disrupt classes and interrupt instruction time to give messages to individual students. Our Office Administrator and clerical staff are very busy during the day. To minimize the numerous phone calls they are currently receiving, we kindly ask for your cooperation to please make arrangements for special pick-ups prior to your child’s coming to school. The agenda is an excellent tool for communication between home and school for dental and medical appointments when your child needs to leave early.
Letters are required to our office staff to notify us that your child is leaving the school early for an appointment or other matter. Parents who are picking students up must sign out the student at the office. Please help us with this process and make this a best practice at Brown P.S.
Safe practices picking up your children
It has been brought to our attention that friends or other nannies are picking up children without permission from the parents and without notification to our office staff. This is not a safe practice as it can cause undue stress when we receive phone calls from parents regarding the whereabouts of their child/children. Parents must notify the office if their child is going to be picked up by another family member or nanny who is not on the office list. If a parent is going to be late at dismissal time, please contact the office and we will notify your child to wait in the office until your arrival.
Swim Attire
Many students are forgetting their swim gear and having to call home. This is another disruption for the office staff and to instruction time. Please check your child’s timetable and ensure they have their swim attire on a regular basis. Possibly send the swim attire a day before the actual swimming class.
Hallway Safety
We kindly ask that parents and caregivers drop off their children in the school yard as a best practice and allow the students to go to their classrooms on their own upon the entry bell. Our hallways are narrow and when too many people congregate in the hallways, it creates a great deal of congestion. To ensure the safety of our students, please help us make this a best practice also.
Reminder - Oh the weather outside is Cold!
BRRR! It's COLD outside! With the arrival of cold weather, we are requesting that parents ensure that children are dressed properly for the weather, which means wearing hats, mittens or gloves, scarves, snow pants and boots. Please take a few moments to review the reasons for wearing (not just bringing to school) warm clothing in winter. A great idea is to label clothing and belongings with your child's name, as this allows us to identify clothing that has made its way to the Lost and Found. During wet and slushy days please ensure your child has a pair of shoes that can be worn inside (but that are not worn outside) while boots are left outside the classroom to dry. This ensures that carpets in classrooms stay dry, and helps to eliminate slippery floors.
Lost & Found
Parents, please check our lost and found collection. There are many items currently in the Lost and Found area that need to be recovered. Remember to label items (esp. lunch bags) with a permanent marker.
