January 2016

Perth Avenue Public School

14 Ruskin Avenue,

Toronto, ON

M6P 3P8

Tel: 416 393-1410

Fax: 416 393-1403

Principal’s Report

PERTH PULSE

UPCOMING EVENTS

January 11—Bullying

Awareness Presentation for

JK to 6,

January 12—Vision Screen-

ing, Grades 1,2 and 5

January 20—SAC Meeting,

6:30

January 22—PA Day

January 29—School Spirit

Day—PJ Day!

February 8—Report Cards

home

February 11/12—Parent

Teacher Interviews

Happy New Year! Welcome back to Perth. Hope everyone got to spend the holidays with friends

and family. Huge thank you to everyone in the school community who donated items to our Food

Drive and Syrian Refuge Boxes. It really goes a long way! We have prepared and given away many

boxes for children already.

It was standing room only at the Kindergarten Holiday Concert on Friday, December 11. There are

some pictures in this newsletter. We are planning an evening Spring Concert on Thursday, April 21

at 6:30 pm. Please mark your calendars early! More details will be forth coming.

Thank you to SAC for organizing a student performance on Friday, December 18th. We were de-

lighted to enjoy the Esmerelda Spanish Dance Company performance at Perth.

Reminder—Students with Life Threatening Allergies: Parents please be reminded that we have

students in our school with life threatening allergies. We ask that no products with nuts or even

traces of nuts be brought to school. This includes the product “nutella”. Please be vigilant in check-

ing food labels.

Construction Rooms 104 and 105: Construction began over the holidays in rooms 104 and 105. In

early spring, Perth LEF will have a newly constructed daycare space for their program. As a result,

Ms. Lee’s program has been relocated to Room 106. The project is scheduled for completion by the

end of March 2016. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, although disruption to the

daily running of the school will be minimal.

On Monday, January 11, guest speaker—Anthony McLean will be at Perth to discuss Bullying Preven-

tion and Awareness for students. Anthony is a dynamic and entertaining guest speaker and will dis-

cuss with students what bullying is and what it isn’t, cliques, internet usage, etc.. He will do two

assemblies, one for Grades K to 3 and one for Grades 4-6.

Here’s to a great month at Perth!

Yours in Partnership, Andrea McPherson, Principal

The month of February is Kindergarten Registration month in the TDSB. If you have a

child born in 2012, they will be eli-

gible for Junior Kindergarten, chil-

dren born in 2011 are eligible for

Senior Kindergarten. Please call

the main office to pick up a regis-

tration package or if you have any

questions.

Kindergarten Registration for 2016-2017

Hour of Code at Perth Ave JPS

Page 2

For the first time ever, students at Perth were involved in the Hour of Code. Students in Ms. Zuberi’s Grade 4/5 class

took a leadership role in the Hour of Code at Perth. Ms Zuberi trained all her students in coding and gave them oppor-

tunities to train other students in coding. Check out the leaders in action in Room 210!

Hour of Code Review by Lillian Room 210: The “Hour of Code” provides kids with an excellent and friendly collection

of programming instructions, taught in over 40 different languages so kids of all ages all over the world can participate

in the Hour of Code. The Hour of Code website is full of programming instructions for students, and everyone should

be able to find an activity that matches their interests, such as drawing, designing games or creating stories.

December Recognition Assembly– Kindness and Caring Congratulations to all the Award Winners this month for Kindness and Caring. Well done everyone!

The students in Mme Gonzalez class visited the Perth Dupont Community Garden early December. The children learned

about winter garden preparation in the Community Garden. Students also enjoyed making bird feeders for animals in

winter. Check out the great photos!

Page 3 PERTH PULSE

Room 107 visits Perth Dupont Community Garden

Dancing Buddies—TDSB Web Story—December 8, 2015 Perth made headlines on December 8, 2015 where the TDSB published the following story about a popular pro-

gram here at Perth:

Dance is a universal language. That principle is the starting point for creating a meaningful bond between Perth

Ave PS junior students and their kindergarten friends through a program called Dance Buddies.

Similar to Reading Buddies, the program pairs students from two different grades: one in grade 4 or 5 and the

other in kindergarten. However, they communicate using their bodies rather than their voices.

Teacher Arwyn Carpenter conceived the program as a way for junior students to guide the youngest dancers in

designing and controlling their movements. In this way, the program offers opportunities to enhance student lead-

ership skills. “Students also develop keen awareness of their physical selves, helping with self-regulation and ex-

pression,” she added in describing some of the other benefits of the program.

Teaching is Carpenter’s second career. She brings the experience of her first career as a dance artist and cho-

reographer to her capacity as an educator for the TDSB. Her program has come to be a favorite for students.

Grade 5 student Maria said that in Dance Buddies, everyone works together in a group to create something beau-

tiful. Kindergarten student Gracie agreed, adding simply “I like to dance and I am good at it.”

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO USE RENEWABLE ENERGY?

By Shawasi Morgan Grade 5

The world currently relies heavily on coal oil and natural gas for its energy fossil fuels are non-

renewable resources but still its draws in people but to stop that we used technology to make new

sources like solar, water, tidal, and wind energy. Fossil fuels are becoming too expensive or too

environmentally damaging to retrieve. Coal plants produce a lot of carbon dioxide and a nuclear

power plant produces nuclear waste which takes centuries to break down. Sometimes renewable

energy can be expensive like tidal energy that can be about 30 billion dollars it is renewable but

not cheap. Solar is the cheapest and does not harm any animals because is harness the power of

the sun. The sun’s energy charges a battery which is used in the night when the sun is not out.

Then comes water energy which uses the flow of water and gravity to turn a turbine which con-

nects to a generator and creates electricity by using a transformer.

Student Opinion, Letter to the Editor

Page 4

The Rudolph Red Nose Sale was a big success!

Snapshots from the Kindergarten Concert- December 11

Many students bought red flashy noses for $3 each at room 105 during

last recess since the first week of December. The volunteers had a very

fun time selling the noses to raise money for the Toronto Foundation for

Student Success. We thank the volunteers: Drishti, Vicky, Anastasia, Ne-

veah, Jahziel, Olivia, Nishat, Raquel, Aayana and Ms. Lee, thank you so

much! Special thanks to Mrs. McPherson for allowing us to sell the noses on

school property. By Drishti, Room 211

Page 5 PERTH PULSE

Get to know Perth Staff—an interview with Mr. Dutton

Our school is clean and tidy due to the ongoing efforts of our dedicated caretaking staff and

Head Caretaker—Mr. Dutton.

Q—How long have you been at Perth?

Mr. Dutton—Since June 1997, so 19 years. I have worked for the TDSB since 1989.

Q—What do you enjoy most about your job?

Mr. Dutton—I enjoy helping staff and students. I am a people person.

Q—What are the challenges of your position?

Mr. Dutton—Snow and ice removal are definitely challenges in the winter. I don’t like it when I

see vandalism or broken glass on school premises.

Q—Do you have any advice for our students at Perth?

Mr. Dutton—Treat school like your home.

Q—What do you do in your spare time?

Mr. Dutton—I referee Ice Hockey in the GTHL, most weekends and after school.

Q—Tell us about your children?

Mr. Dutton—I have a son who is 18 and goes to Central Academy. My step daughter is 32 and

teaches at Marc Garneau CI.

Q—Tell us one thing people don’t know about you?

Mr. Dutton—I am a nice guy!

Thank you for everything you do for us Mr. Dutton.

We talked about different celebrations at this time of year. Hannukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa use candles as part of

celebration to remember important things to a community of people. In the Jewish faith the people remember the re-

dedication of the temple at Channukah when they light a candle each of the eight nights with a candle called the

shamesh. Anna says she likes the presents and plain latkes.

Christians light a candle each week for 4 Sundays before Christmas. There are 3 purple, 1 pink and 1 white candle in the

centre of an evergreen bough. The white candle is lit on Christmas Eve. They read scripture about the coming of their

saviour.

Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 – January 1. The celebration started in North America as a cultural remem-

brance of African heritage. The kinara has 3 green candles representing hope, 3 red candles representing the blood

and suffering of the people and 1 black candle in the middle to represent the skin of the people. There are handmade

gifts exchanged and the sharing of food. The people talk about unity, self-determination, creativity, working together,

economic cooperation, faith, purpose for living. We made mats like Mkeka of Kwanzaa.

News From Room 110—Festival of Lights

Page 6

Salle 111—Kindergarten Concert and Dance Buddies Students in Kindergarten performed beautifully in their Holiday Concert on December 11. Here’s what Salle 111 stu-

dents had to say:

Julin: I felt wonderful because I love singing

Rae: I love how everybody’s voices sounded together. I love the broken nose part.

River: I love the “facteur” part because I like marching.

They were also featured in the TDSB news article about Dance Buddies where they work with students in Ms. Zuberi’s

Grade 4/5

class. Pho-

tos by par-

ent Joanne