By appointment only
February 10-14
Our Full Day Kindergarten Registration is by appointment only during the week of February 10-14. Due to our high enrollment we will be doing registrations differently this year. Registration will not be approved until the information has been carefully assessed. Our office staff will contact parents once the registration has been approved. We are a “closed” school and are only able to register children who are in our catchment area. Kindergarten registrations will continue throughout the rest of the year by appointment even after the registration week. Please call our Office Administrator at 416-393-1560 for a morning or afternoon appointment.
The following items will be required at time of registration:
-Child’s birth certificate
-Immunization records
-Health card
-Two utility bills with proof of residency
-Property ownership/rental agreement
-Landed immigrant status information/permanent resident card (if applicable)
Registration packages can be picked up from the office ahead of scheduled appointment times to speed up the process.
Kindergarten Tours are scheduled for June 17, 2014
at 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.. Please R.S.V.P 416 393-1560 between June 9-13.
Full Day Kindergarten and Unicorn Daycare
Full Day Kindergarten is available to students in our catchment area only. We work closely with Unicorn Daycare to ensure that only students living within our boundaries are eligible to register for Brown’s FDK and the Daycare programs. We work collaboratively to ensure a fluid and smooth transition for this endeavour each year. We currently have 6 full day units of Kindergarten: 4 English classes and 2 SK French Immersion classes. Before and after school day care is available and a hot lunch program is offered. Please contact Unicorn Daycare at 416-929-6841 for more information.
Grade 6 Graduation Trip
The Graduation Trip to Ottawa/Montreal is happening once again this year for our students between May 5-7. Permission forms and Itinerary information will be sent home the week of February 10-14. Parents/Guardians are asked to fill out the forms and follow payment instructions. We really want 100% participation for this trip. Should parents need to discuss their child’s participation in this trip, please contact Gina Christakis-Principal.
Job Opportunities
Our Family of Schools continues to need lunch hour supervisors. If you know anyone who would be interested in applying for this one-hour-a-day position, please speak to the Principal or Vice-Principal at Brown P.S.
Your Donations to Brown P.S
Generous donations are made to our school every year. We are very fortunate and proud to have a fundraising committee and active parent community that help support the many wonderful activities and events we are able to bring to our students.
Fundraising dollars are raised each year with a clear vision of where the monies will be spent. Last year we created three buckets that we felt your donation dollars would best support our school. We have a bucket for school resources, a technology bucket and an extracurricular/ special presentations/activities/events bucket.
Since I have been at Brown P.S. we have purchased computers and a computer cart for the third floor; Wi-Fi routers for the whole school; SMART BOARDS for our Primary and Junior Divisions and PROMETHEAN BOARDS for our Kindergartens. Your dollars have helped with our many special presentations, art and science activities, field trips and our various sports teams and events. A monthly statement of these expenditures is always available to those interested in knowing where the money is being spent. Our school council treasurer has a full report of these expenditures and presents them at the School Council meetings on a monthly basis.
We truly appreciate the generosity of our Brown P.S families. With your continued support we will continue to fulfill our vision and our three buckets.
Recent events at Brown
In January we celebrated PIZZAZZ week. Our students brightened up our hallways during those cold January days with sparkles, rhinestones and glitter for a whole week. We enjoy spirit days here at Brown P.S. and PIZZAZZ week kicked off one of our first spirit week events for the New Year. Twins day will be coming up very soon.
From Basketball tournaments and hockey tournaments to our current volleyball and swimming tournaments, our students have been busy with tryouts, practices and a good dose of healthy competition. Our music department has been just as busy preparing for our big day at the February 23rd Marlies Game. This year our Junior Choir will be performing at the Music Festival and we will continue to look forward to their many performances at our Spring Concert and our Song Sung Brown Event. Our school is even getting reading for a Lip Sync and Talent Show. We will keep parents informed of all of these events throughout the next few weeks and months.
Many thanks to our Kindergarten students and staff who entertained us with their Chinese New Year Parade. Our students wore costumes, made instruments and carried their colourful dragons during the parade as they celebrated this festive occasion here at Brown P.S.
On February 7, The POWER OF ONE presentation taught our students about bullying, the bully, the target, the bystanders, and strategies to deal with bullies and challenging situations. Our students took the Bully Prevention Oath and pledged the following:
I will not bully others.
I will not stand by whole others are being bullied.
I will report and deal with bullying whenever I see it…
….Because I have
the POWER of ONE
Flu Season!
The flu virus spreads quickly and easily among children at school and at play. The flu is spread by coughing and sneezing and from touching contaminated surfaces like toys, doorknobs and computer keyboards after someone with the flu has touched them. Children should be reminded to wash their hands frequently during the day and to cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing.
FEBRUARY IS...
Canadian Heritage Month
This month we honour the culture and background of many of our students. We are a diverse school community with wonderful opportunities to learn from each other, particularly at these special times of the year.
African Heritage and Black History Month
The Toronto District School Board values the cultural richness offered by the diversity of our student and parent communities. The school board recognizes African Heritage Month, and acknowledges the tremendous history and contributions of peoples of African descent within our school communities and is an occasion for all our schools and workplaces to renew our knowledge and understanding of the history, achievements and experiences of people of African descent in Canada and throughout the world.
Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story will be presented to our Junior grades on February 18 at 9:00 a.m. in our gym. Parents are welcome to come to this moving presentation. This 40-minute play retells the true story of the 1958 Springhill mining disaster with an entertaining and educational musical twist.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi_kCBuQPV8
CHEX Report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEHd__ScxTw
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festival in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year". This year, Chinese New Year's Day fell on January 31, 2014, welcoming the Year of the Horse. Happy New Year to our families celebrating during the month of February!
Family Heart Healthy!
February is Heart Month. Three things that will keep your heart strong and healthy are healthy eating, physical activity and not smoking or being around smoke. As parents you can start teaching your children these three messages at a young age to help them become healthy adults.
How can you do this?
- If you smoke, think about quitting and make your home smoke-free
- Have fun with your children and plan family activities like cycling, walking, swimming and ice-skating
- Buy, prepare and enjoy healthy foods
During February, teachers will have the chance to teach your children heart health.
Getting on the Right Track re: homework routines
Establishing consistent homework and study routines are critical components in assisting students to be the best learners they can be.
The following tips will assist you in setting up a homework/study space:
A complete assignment notebook/agenda
-Write down all assignments right away
-Know exactly what you are supposed to do
-Start immediately after you sit down
-Have everything you need with you
Plan what you wish to accomplish
-Plan when you will study
-A consistent time and place is best
-Break down large tasks into smaller ones
-Keep a record of what you do accomplish
Good lighting
-Not too bright, not too dim
Chair
-Use one that is comfortable
Books
-Have all necessary text books & reference books handy
Supplies
-Pencils, pens, markers, erasers, white-out, ruler, stapler, paperclips, pencil sharpener, post-it notes, paper, scissors, calculator, etc.
Clock
-This will help you manage your time
Distraction-free
-This would include TV, loud music
-Soft, background music may be helpful
To maximize learning:
-Get enough sleep
-Eat regular meals & healthy snacks
-Exercise regularly
-Schedule short breaks during study time
Our Brown students continue to learn about FAIRNESS. What is fairness?
Your child can show fairness by:
* playing and working fairly with others in the family
* treating family members with respect and without prejudice
* treating others in the family in the way that they would like to be treated
Questions to discuss with your child:
* What is fairness, and what does it mean to be fair?
* Do you treat others the way you would like to be treated?
* When someone is unfair, how does that make you feel?
* Does equality mean that everyone gets the same, or that everyone gets what they need?
Projects to do together:
* Watch a television program together. Talk about the various ways in which certain characters acted unfairly toward each other. Discuss how the situation could have been avoided.
Encouraging fairness in your child:
* Listen to your child if he or she has a concern or request. Engage in fair discussion to resolve the issue.
* Show that fairness is important, and that it is crucial to treat others with respect and without judgment.
* Share a situation in which you felt you were treated fairly or unfairly, and describe how that impacted your day.
Quotations
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” ~Mahatma Gandhi
“Hear both sides before judging.” ~H. Jackson Brown
“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.” ~Sir James Dewar
“Beware as long as you live, of judging people by appearance.” ~Jean de la Fontaine
“If you judge people you have no time to love them.” ~Mother Teresa
We encourage our Brown students to practise fairness and be the best that they can be at all times by caring, sharing, being empathetic, charitable, kind and most importantly, respectful and responsible. Thank you for supporting our Character Development program at Brown P.S.
Sincerely,
Gina Christakis
Principal
IMPORTANT SAFETY 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 and the new parking bylaw
Do not use the Avenue Road driveway as this is strictly an out of bounds area for unauthorized vehicles. The parking lot underneath the tennis court area is for staff only. Staff vehicles now have special identification and unauthorized cars will be ticketed. Please pick up and drop of your children at the Kiss 'N Ride designated area on Poplar Plains Rd. With the new $150 fine for illegal parking, we encourage parents to use the Kiss 'N Ride program.
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.
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.
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 before the holidays. Remember to label items (esp. lunch bags) with a permanent marker.
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 AM or 12:30 PM (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.
Reminder - Oh the weather outside is Cold!
BRRR! It's COLD outside! With the arrival of cold weather and snow, 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. We ask that parents remind their children about dressing warmly for the cold weather as they are outside frequently over the course of the day. 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.
On bitterly cold days, we will have indoor recess and will call students into the school before morning entry. As we sometimes have wet snow or rain in the yard, we remind the children to wear boots to school. Many children continue to wear only running shoes and often have to sit with wet feet in class. When children wear boots, they also need indoor sneakers/shoes. It is unpleasant for them to sit or walk around with sock feet on floors that are often wet and/or cold. It is also unsafe as they can easily slip or fall. In an emergency, or a fire drill, the children must have footwear on. Thank you for your help in ensuring your child is safe, comfortable, warm and hopefully, dry.
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.
