MacLeod’s Musings

June 25, 2014. Volume #8, Issue #11

MacLeod’s Landing P.S.

Brad Derry Principal 905-398-7945 Nadia Russiello Vice Principal 905-398-7945 Gayle Brocklebank-Vincent Superintendent 905-884-4477 Diane Giangrande Trustee 905-770-0826

Dates and Events

JULY

1 – Canada Day 9 – Martyrdom of the Bab (Baha’i Faith) 12 – Wassana (Buddhism) 23 – Lailat-ul-Qatr (Islam) 29 – Eid-ul-Fitr (Islam)

AUGUST

1- Lammas (Wicca) 4 – Civic Holiday 5 – Tish ‘a B’av (Judaism) 10 – Raksha Bandhan (Hinduism) 17 – Sri Krishna Jayanti (Hinduism) 18 –Naw Ruz (Zoroastrianism)

SEPTEMBER

1 – Labour Day 1 – First Parkash (Sikhism) 2 - First Day of School 8 – Ananta Chaturdasi (Jainism) 11 – Coptic New Year (Christianity) 22 – Mabon (Wicca) 22 – PT Day (no school) 25 – 26 – Rosh Hashanah (Judaism)

Warm Welcomes

As our school continues to grow we have the pleasure of welcoming many new staff members. We extend a warm welcome to the following new staff members that will be joining our school community in September: Ms. Walters, Ms. Jubas-Bernstein, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Lebovici, Ms. Panacci, Ms. Lalonde, Ms. Vien, Ms. Aleyassin and Ms. Hou. We also welcome Mrs. Cortese and Mrs. Raun who are returning from leave.

We look forward to working with all of you next year!

Fond Farewells

It is always a sad time when we take pause to say good-bye to staff members who are moving on to different opportunities for the upcoming year. We say good-bye to Ms. Temple who will be joining the Thornhill P.S. staff and Mrs. Rye-Brown who will be joining the Mackenzie Glen P.S. staff in September as a newly appointed Vice Principal. We would also like to extend our best wishes to Mrs. Roldan as she enters her retirement after a wonderful career teaching with the York Region District School Board. We also wish Mrs. Varone, Ms. Davey, Ms. Farrow, Ms. Boulet, Ms. Grant, Mr. Fish, Ms. Beaupre and Mrs. Merekar all the best in their future endeavours. We would also like to wish Mrs. Anderson all the best as she is ‘expecting’ and due in the summer months. Thank you for all you have done to enrich the MacLeod’s Landing PS community! We will miss you all!

From the Administrative Team: Finally, it appears the summer weather that we have been waiting for has arrived and it is just in time for us to enjoy it! June has been full of many activities at MacLeod’s Landing PS. Track & Field, camping at Camp Belwood, grade three swimming, the Talent Show, and the Spring Concert are just some of the many activities that took place. We also welcomed many families to MLPS during our Spring Kindergarten Concert. What a great way to draw our eighth year of operation to a close! We would also like to wish our Grade 8 graduates the best of luck as they enter high school! We would like to take the opportunity to thank the teaching and support staff for all of their efforts to enrich the lives of your children. The students will have many fond memories as a result of their hard work and commitment. To our parents and community members we say, “Thank you for all that you have done to support us in these endeavours. We cannot do what we do for your children without you being there to assist.” Your help is invaluable. We encourage all of our parents to become a member of our army of volunteers. Your contributions are so valuable to the growth and development of the children of this community. On behalf of our staff members we wish each of you a safe and happy summer. Sincerely,

B. Derry N. Russiello B. Derry N. Russiello Principal Vice-Principal

June 16th

Spring Carnival

Mother Nature worked in our favour and our 4th Annual MacLeod’s Landing

Spring Carnival was a huge success! Games, jumping castles, food and a

whole lot of fun were had by all. We would like to take this opportunity to

thank School Council members involved in the coordination of the event.

Way to go! The efforts of a number of volunteers, both from the high school

and our community were appreciated.

Report Cards

Are You Moving?

Are you moving before next September? If so, please let us know as soon as possible. Please call our office with any information: 905-398-7945

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STUDENT BUSING ELIGIBILITY

Did you know that students’ busing eligibility changes throughout their school career? Your son/daughter’s eligibility to ride the school bus may change according to their 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 Grades 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/daughter’s eligibility please visit www.schoolbuscity.com.

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Summer Registrations

Summer Registration will take place for two weeks in July/Aug. Location: CEC-Central office 317 Centre Street East, Richmond Hill. Tel. 905-884-4477

July 7 – 10 and

August 5 - 7, 9:00am to 3:00 pm.

Class Placements

You will notice on your child’s report card that only the grade level has been noted. This is a standard practice that has been adopted across the York Region District School Board. This is a result of the uncertainty that has been created due to the primary class size caps. We recognize that if we were to identify class placements and teachers on report cards now, it could very well look different by September. For this reason placements will be worked on over the summer, changing as we get new information about registrations. Please understand that combined grade classes continue to

be a very common reality.

September Reorganization

Prior to our departure at the end of the week we will be doing additional work towards September’s organization. Although it will provide us with a framework it will certainly not be our final structure. Registrations that we will be accepting over the summer will inevitably change the organization, requiring us to make more changes. Of course this will continue throughout the month of September as more families move into our community. On September 22

nd, we will be required to meet the requirements for

primary class size as set out by the Ministry of Education. This may necessitate a reorganization of our classes. This has become common practice across the province and in our community. We recognize the disruptive nature of this process but we must comply with Ministry expectations. In these situations our children will take their lead by the example that we set for them. If as adults we approach these changes positively, so too will our children. Please prepare yourselves for the fact that we must comply with Ministry of Education requirements and that it may necessitate the shuffling of our class organization in order to do so.

Report cards were sent home on June 24th. Please sign and return the appropriate pages of the report card to

your child’s teacher tomorrow. Staff will be at the school until June 27th to answer any questions you may have

about your child’s progress.

September 2nd

is our first day of school in September. All students from grades 1-8 are asked to meet on the

back tarmac area first. At that time class lists will be shared. Senior Kindergarten students will meet in the

Kindergarten enclosure.

Get Out and Have Fun this Summer!

The Fun Pass is back! And it’s packed with money-saving coupons. Kids can get in free at 20 Ontario attractions when accompanied by a paying adult. Families also receive $2 dollars off a daily parking permit at participating Ontario Parks locations. Starting in June, students’ final report includes the Fun Pass booklet. You can also access your Fun Pass coupons at www.ontariofunpass.com. Simply type in the name of the school board, print the coupons and redeem them at any of the participating Ontario attractions. It’s that easy! The Ontario Fun Pass – your ticket to the world of history and science, art and nature.

Track & Field News

On June 11th

, approximately 85 students from grades 4 through 8 participated in the Area Track

and Field meet at Langstaff S.S. It was a terrific day with many students achieving personal

best results – 11 earning top 6 ribbons. From the area qualifiers, we had six students advance

to the Regional Meet held in Stouffville last Wednesday. Once again, the spirit of competition

was high and students from MacLeod’s Landing represented us proudly. Congratulations to all

athletes, with special mention to Jayden F. who finished second in the 100m, Brayden F. who

posted third in the 400m and Edward C. who jumped fourth in long jump. Special mention to

Hanita L, Leora H, and Leo C. for participating at the Regional Meet! Go MacLeod’s Landing!