PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
We have had an action-packed few months with our sports teams, our lunch and afterschool clubs, our Lunch Mom program, excursions, presentations, concerts, and assemblies here at Brown P.S. Our World Changers, with the help of our students and parent community, have helped make a difference during our We Scare Hunger campaign. We raised a record-breaking amount of food for families in need. Our World Changers recently extended their help to other children in our Family of Schools who were in need of warm clothing. We thank everyone who was able to help that community and look forward to the lightly used Sports Equipment Drive in the New Year.It was great seeing many of the parents/caregivers during the parent-teacher conference evenings. Parents/caregivers who were unable to meet with teachers to discuss the progress of their child may contact the teacher at any time to set up an appointment.
SK French Immersion:
PARS (Program Application and Registration System)
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 registration system for SK French Immersion will open on January 6, 2014. Deadline for applications: January 30, 2014. The application site can be found at www.tdsb.on.ca
The Early French Immersion Information Evening will take place at Brown P.S. on
January 9, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. in the library. This will be an informative evening about the process and an opportunity to hear parents and staff talk about their experiences with the French Immersion Program.
Winter Fest - December 12th
We hope to see many of you at the Winter Fest/Ival D’hiver on Thursday, December 12. The morning concert is from 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Our students and teachers have been busy preparing for a wonderful morning of holiday cheer. We also look forward to the afternoon Kindergarten Concert on December 12, starting at 1:00 p.m., as it will be the first time that we will have six full-day Kindergarten classes performing at Brown P.S.
Drama Performance
Miss Holland has been preparing students for a drama presentation which will be performed on Monday, December 16 in the gym. Parents of students who will be performing will be receiving further information through the teacher and parent reps.
We need your help to fill one more Holiday Hamper
Our Social Worker, Lynn Adirim has asked if we could kindly help one more family this holiday season. The family is headed by a single mom, who has been having major health issues, preventing her from working for the past several years. There are three girls (grades 10, 7 and 6) in the family who love what all girls love - clothes. They also love music, reading, and movies. Therefore, gift certificates to Indigo, movie passes, Gap, H&M, and Old Navy would be appreciated. They shop for groceries at No Frills and Walmart. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. Items for this family will be collected in the main office.
Fall Fling
Thank you to all for an incredible Fall Fling. Big thanks to the organizing committee, parents, staff and students who participated this year in making the event a true community success. Our staff and students are currently working with our Outreach Committee to create holiday hampers for families that need some help during this season. We kindly appreciate all the donations and generosity from our community to help those who are less fortunate. School Art Calendars will be available at the Winter Fest concert on Thursday, December 12 or by printing the form at www.brownschool.ca (see Forms) and bringing it to the Office by Monday, December 16.
Parents who won auction certificates for Principal or Vice-Principal for half a day are asked to contact us by phone or e-mail to advise us. We would like to honour and schedule these Spirit Items before the end of the year. We look forward to creating a special opportunity for our students.
Emergency Drills
We had three fire drill exercises during November and December. Students and staff did a great job exiting the school in an orderly and safe manner. Staff and students will be learning Lockdown, Hold and Secure procedures in the next couple of weeks as we prepare to practise both safety measures throughout the year. These routines are part of our School’s Safety Plan and the TDSB protocol and procedures.
Inclement Weather
Inclement weather routines have been established at our school over the years. We continue to show movies and allow students to play games during lunch hour in the gym for the grade 3-6 students and in the library for the grade 1 and 2 students when it is too cold or wet to go outdoors. On December 18, we will be having a holiday movie event in the library and the gym for our students during lunch hour.
Roots of Empathy
Mme Ibrahim’s class (Room 21) has been invited to participate in the Roots of Empathy Program this year. This program teaches children about feelings, their own feelings, and the feelings of others. Once every three weeks, a baby and his parents will visit the classroom as a trained Instructor gathers the children in the classroom around a green blanket and together watch the baby grow. We look forward to many baby stories and pictures from Room 21.
Wings of Hope
Mrs. Severino is one of our new Full Day Kindergarten teachers who is asking interested students to submit pictures and written works for the next edition of the Wings of Hope book. Wings of Hope is a collection of inspiring words and images that will be distributed to the Princess Margaret Hospital, 17 children's hospitals and treatment centres in Canada, select clinics, charities, hospices and doctors’ offices.
Along with an acknowledgement in the Wings of Hope 2014 book:
- the student who submits the most inspiring written selection will receive $100
- the student who submits an artistic selection chosen for the book cover receives $100
- the school with the most submissions will receive a plaque
Written submissions maximum length: 350 words
Art submissions no larger than 8.5 x 11
Please label all submissions with student's full name, grade, school and teacher's name. Submissions will be collected by Mrs. Severino by December 19 and delivered to the proper offices the following day.
Fit2Dance
The Fit2Dance group will be coming back to Brown P.S. to get everyone in the groove again with dance and fitness moves in the gym. Our students continue to enjoy this repeat performance. We look forward to everyone “groovin” in the gym.
One Person Can Make a Difference, Together We Can Change the World!
Music Movement and Motivation Anti-bullying Presentation
This presentation is coming to Brown P.S. on January 9. Students will learn about diversity and how they can make a positive change. This will involve two separate presentations for our Primary and Junior students followed by Hip Hop workshops for our junior students. It will be a full day of learning, motivational speeches integrated with movement.
Power of One - Back by popular demand
Soren Bennick’s production about bullying, the bystander and the Bully Prevention Oath will be performed on Friday, February 7. There will be two separate performances for our Primary and Junior students during the afternoon. Parents are welcome to come to this presentation as it clearly outlines what bullying is, looks like and sounds like at school, at home and in the playground. It is a powerful presentation that many of our students remember and request every year.
Mark your calendars Song Sung Brown: June 5
Song Sung Brown will have a brand new format this year. This year the grade 6 students will have the opportunity to showcase their talents during this performance. It will be a peer selected talent show. More details will follow about the evening. We are excited to be hosting yet another event in which our students have the opportunity to shine.
Safe and Caring School Committee
Each school must have a Safe and Caring Schools Committee with teacher and parent representation. This committee meets once a month to discuss safety and supervision issues. The committee recently met and has put a motion forward to change our school hours for the September 2014/2015 school year. With our increasing enrollment, safety is our utmost priority and we are examining how to alleviate the congestion in our school yards during entry and dismissal times, recesses, lunch and afterschool. We will continue to inform the community as we get closer to finalizing entry and dismissal times for the next school year.
Basketball Nets
There have been many concerns about why the basketball nets have not been put up again after construction. There were many site modifications and monetary decisions that had to be considered before we could assemble the basketball nets again. The nets have been placed in the tennis court area. This area will be monitored for noise and any inappropriate behaviour in the next few months. The area will be locked each night to avoid vandalism and strangers using our courts and basketball nets. We remind our community that the school is permitted every day and every night by Brown Public School and we do not allow unauthorized people/organizations on school premises to use our outdoor facilities including the turf area. We ask for your co-operation and support in keeping our school and facilities safe.
The Learning Disabilities Association
The Learning Disabilities Association is offering some great workshops for students and parents. Workshops and Programs being offered include: The Mindfulness Program, Keyboarding for Kids, Assistive Technology Training, Parent Groups and more. For more information: Please call 416-229-1680, email programs@ldatd.on.ca or visit their website at www.ldatd.on.ca for more information and registration.
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 before the holidays. Remember to label items (esp. lunch bags) with a permanent marker.
December’s Character Trait is Kindness and Caring
Our Brown students display acts of kindness and caring on a daily basis. What is kindness and caring?
- Showing understanding of others by treating them with compassion, generosity, and a forgiving spirit
- Being gentle, willing to help, friendly, and considerate
- Showing concern or sympathy for others
- Being sensitive to the needs of others
- Offering support
- Giving your time, talents, and resources to help others
- Talking positively about others
- Considering the needs of others, not just your own
Quotations
“Give to another human being without the expectation of a return.” ~Bill Bradley
“Don’t wait for people to be kind, show them how.” ~Unknown
“Kindness in words creates confidence, kindness in thinking creates profoundness, and kindness in feeling creates love.” ~Lao-Tzu
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” ~Albert Schweitzer
What does kindness/caring look like and sound like?
- Smiling at those you know and those you don’t know
- Saying “Good Morning”
- Reminding someone who is feeling down about how special he or she is
- Saving to buy something nice for someone
- Donating to a charity
- Volunteering time to help others in need
- Cooking a meal for someone
- Giving friends and family members encouragement and sharing kind words
- Asking, “How can I help?” or “How are you?”
- Doing something nice for somebody––a random act of kindness
- Cleaning up a space that is shared with others
- Helping to keep the environment clean
- Taking care of someone who is sick, or wishing them a quick recovery with a visit or a card
Responsibility and Empathy certificates will be given to students at the December 12 assembly. Congratulations to students who have received certificates so far this term.
The holidays are always a special time of year. On behalf of the Brown Public School staff, we wish you all a safe, restful and joyous holiday season with your family and friends.
Health and Happiness to all,
Gina Christakis
Principal
