- Principal's message
- JK and SK registration: Feb 4-8 by appointment only
- Full day kindergarten
- SK French Immersion: Information and Registration
- Upcoming special events and performances
- January's character trait: Teamwork
- Important reminders
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Happy and Healthy New Year to All!
It is the end of the day on this January 11 as I am writing this message to you. It has been an unprecedented week for us here at the Toronto District School Board with many changes and moments of uncertainty. Nevertheless, our teachers continue to do a great job and our students continue to be the best students I have personally had the pleasure of working with.
On Monday, I will be visiting the grade 5 and 6 students to advise them of the Island School trip that will take place in February. Our grade 5 and 6 teachers will be accompanying our students on this trip. We are still working out some of the logistics of the trip. We ask that parents sign the forms as soon as possible to avoid any disappointment as spaces will be limited. The trip will consist of two overnights on the island.
Our teachers are preparing for the First Term Report Cards that will be sent out on February 13 and/or February 14. Parent Teacher Interviews will be scheduled on February 14 from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and February 15 from 9:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Teachers will be notifying you regarding these interviews shortly.
Our annual French Immersion Parent Information Night will be held on Wednesday, January 16 at 7 p.m. in our library. Information about our French Immersion program will be presented to parents interested in applying for the September 2013 year. Applications for the program must be submitted on line. The Early French Immersion program begins in Senior Kindergarten.
If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to call us. Sonja and I are always happy to help you. We wish you all the best and thank you all for your continued support.
Gina Christakis
Principal
JUNIOR AND SENIOR KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
2012-2013
Kindergarten Registration will take place
FEBRUARY 4-8
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
*Brown P.S will be a Full Day Kindergarten school as of September 2013. Construction for this program will begin in March 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.
FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN
We are getting ready for Full Day Kindergarten (FDK) at Brown Public School. FDK will be open to students in our catchment area only. We are working closely with Unicorn Daycare to ensure that only students living within our boundaries will be eligible to register for Brown’s FDK. We will continue to work collaboratively to ensure a fluid and smooth transition to this endeavour. We will have 5 full day units of Kindergarten; 3 English classes and 2 SK French Immersion classes.
Job Opportunities
We will require noon hour assistants for the Full day Kindergarten classes to help with lunch hour and school yard supervision. 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.
SK FRENCH IMMERSION: INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION
The Early Immersion Program begins only 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 Brown Public School Senior Kindergarten French Immersion Information Evening will take place on January 16, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. in the library (second floor). The registration system for SK French Immersion will open on January 7- January 31, 2013. You can register by going to this link: https://secure.tdsb.on.ca/pars/(S(dvw25l555e1awtjtsont3045))/public/welcome.aspx
SPECIAL EVENTS and PERFORMANCES coming up for our BROWN students
On January 16, 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. Thank you to Mlle Bondy for organizing this event for our students.
On January 28, Ballet Creole will be at our school with a special presentation for our students. Thank you to Mme Gagnon for organizing this presentation.
Back due to popular demand on February 14 - THE POWER OF ONE for our K-grade 4 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 February 25, the grade 4-6 students will have a CYBERBUSTERS presentation in the gym. This production is by the same group that will perform THE POWER OF ONE. 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 also.
JANUARY'S CHARACTER TRAIT: 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 and 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
Students who exemplified December’s Character Trait of Kindness and Caring will receive Certificates at our Character Education Assembly this month. We encourage our Brown students to be the best that they can be at all times by caring, sharing, being empathetic, charitable, kind and most importantly, respectful and responsible. We would like all of our students to receive a certificate by the end of the year.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Yard Supervision
Yard Supervision for Grades JK to 6 begins at 8:35 a.m. and ends at 3:45 p.m. Afternoon Kindergarten supervision begins at 12:45 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 on a lanyard. 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 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.
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.
