120 Napa Valley Avenue, Woodbridge, On L4H 1L1 (905) 893-1631 Tel www.eldersmills.ps.yrdsb.ca (905) 893-7371 Fax février 2015 email: elder’s.mills.ps@yrdsb.ca

School Priorities: Curriculum Implementation: Effective Literacy and Critical Thinking Skills School Climate Positive, Safe and Inclusive Learning Environment and School Community Student Engagement: Student engagement in explicit and purposeful learning

Principal’s Message/Un mot de la directrice: Principal: Kimberly Walke

Administrative Assistant:

Cathy Consiglio

Secretary: Suzana Kil

Lead Caretaker:

David Nonis

Superintendent of Schools CEC West:

Becky Green (905)764-6830

Trustee:

Anna DeBartolo (905)727-0022 Ext 2829

Your child’s 2nd Term Report Card will go home on

Wednesday February 18, 2015

“Parental participation in schools positively influences student achievement” Joyce Epstein,

Student safety, well-being and achievement are the intertwined priorities we work on each day in York Region schools. Through ongoing class community circle discussions and weekly social skills classes, we help students develop a positive self-esteem along with their social reasoning and conflict reasoning skills. In addition, over the last month here at Elder’s Mills Public School, our Grade 3-8 Student Leadership Team and our Grade 4-6 Initiative Team have been discussing what “bullying” is and brainstorming ideas on how we can increase student awareness about how bullying hurts everyone and how we can stop it in our school. Please look inside this newsletter to see what some of our student leaders think about what bullying is. Over the next few months, we will share with you all the activities we are planning to increase student voice in our school and help them gain confidence in recognizing bullying and becoming “good” citizens who say “no” to bullying.

Creating a safe school is a shared responsibility. Students are encouraged to report bullying incidents to school staff immediately and tell their parents too before things escalate. If your child or someone you know has a problem with bullying or any other problem that is affecting their self-esteem and well-being, call the school today. Support services and community resources include: 1. Call 310-COPE 2. See http://www.cmha.ca 3. York Region’s “ Report It” Support Service can be accessed: http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ Reporting incidents of bullying as they occur to school staff is the most effective means of addressing things before they escalate. The York Region District School Board offers an additional support for reporting non-emergency student reports of bullying between students in the York Region District School Board. This reporting feature is meant for ‘non-emergency' reporting as it is not monitored 24 hours per day - if a student needs immediate assistance or counseling please contact Kids Help Phone or 911. Completing a report online is not a substitute for having a discussion with school staff. If you have any questions, please call me at 905-893-1631. Mme Kimberly Lefevre-Walke Principal

A student’s perspective… Bullying?

Never be a bully.

By Ana, Grade 2 Student

Bullying is when a person is not respectful to you.

Bullying is when you push people around.

Bullying is when you are doing something mean like taking a picture and posting it

online without the person’s approval.

Bullying is when someone is teasing you over and over again.

Bullying is when someone doesn’t let a person play or excludes a player from the game.

Bullying is when you attack someone by hitting them, yelling at them or copying him/

her.

Bullying is when you harm a person.

Bullying is when

somebody is constantly

abusing someone

verbally, physically or

mentally.

Sakett, Grade 6

L’intimidation C’est quand une personne commence a exclure une

autre personne ou batailler quelqu’un ou faire des méchantes actions.

What is bullying? “Bullying is defined as typically a form of repeated, persistent and

aggressive behaviour directed at an

individual or individuals that is intended

to cause (or should be known to cause)

fear and distress and/or harm to another

person's body, feelings, self-esteem or

reputation. Bullying occurs in a context

where there is a real or perceived power

imbalance.” Ontario Ministry of Education

ELDER’S MILLS PUBLIC SCHOOL

STUDENT LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE

Il y a trois types

d’intimidation; social,

verbal, physique et cyber.

Terri, Gr. 4/5

Bullying is being mean

to other kids.

Eqaan Gr. 1 Bullying is when you

keep making fun of or

hurting someone and

using words to hurt

someone.

Elise, Gr. 4/5

L’intimidation n’est pas

bien…c’est quand on se

fâche ou on est triste et

on est méchant à une

autre personne.

Arthiga, Gr. 3

L’intimidation est

quand il y a

quelqu’un qui te

dérange ou quand une

personne te fait mal.

Alex, Gr. 3

L’intimidation n’est

pas bon…Stand up

for yourself.

Jack, Gr. 2

Bullying is when

someone (the

bully) hurts

someone else (the

victim) physically

(with their body,

verbally (with their

words), or online

(also known as

cyberbullying).

Another type of

bullying is

exclusion (social).

Bianca, Gr. 6

Bullying means

being mean to

someone or

making fun of the

person. And it

also means

intimidating

someone too.

Jennifer, Gr. 5

Le bullying…c’est quand une

personne te traite dans une

mauvaise façon.

Zara, Gr. 2

Bullying is when you

are not nice to people.

Alexandra, Gr. 1

Bullying is a bad habit

to do and it’s when you

say mean things to other

people.

Helya, Gr. 6

Bullying is when a person is

not respectful to you.

Bullying is when you push

people around.

Ana, Gr. 2

Bullying…having never wit-

nessed it, I can’t say exactly

what it looks like...unless

you’d like to talk about the

scenes in movies which are

obviously staged…it shows

that bullying hurts…

Megan, Gr. 6

L’intimidation est quand

quelqu’un est méchant(e) à

toi ou n’importe qui. C’est

quand les personnes ne

t’inclus pas, te pousse,

t’appelle des noms.

L’intimidation peut se

passer à tout le monde.

Juliana, Gr. 3

L’intimidation est

quand une personne

fait mal à

quelqu’un…verbal,

social ou physique.

Travis, Gr. 5

L’intimidation

est physique, verbal et

social. L’intimidation

c’est quand tu ne

respecte pas les autres

personnes.

Hason, Gr. 4

L’intimidation…quand

quelqu’un est méchant à toi.

Stand up for yourself and

don’t let people bother you by

what they say and what they

say.

Dylan, Gr. 2

page 4 l’école Elder’s Mills février 2015

Through a directive from the Ministry of Education and Training, all School Boards are to implement a safe arrivals program in their schools. The York Region District School Board has been

working very closely with the York Regional Police to ensure the safety of our students. The safe arrival program at Elder’s Mills PS depends on parents to notify the office in the event of their child’s late arrival or absence. Please call the school (905) 893-1631 and press “1” for the attendance line if your child is going to be absent or late. You may leave a message on the answering machine if calling before 8:15 a.m. or after 4:15 p.m. Please leave your child’s name, teacher’s name and the reason for the absence. If calling is not possible, please inform the school in person or send a note in your child’s agenda ahead of time. Please note that if the contact person cannot be reached, then the school will notify the York Regional Police that a child is missing. You may be interested to know that the secretary often spends up to 2 hours following up on the numerous unreported absences. Often we are forced to contact York Regional Police to assist in finding a missing child. The child is often found with his/her parent. Please help us out by remembering to notify us of your child’s absence at school.

Reporting an Absence SUPERVISION BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL

Staff members begin duty in the morning at 8:30 a.m. Parents are asked not to drop off your child prior to this time and students are reminded not to arrive alone at school before supervision begins to ensure students safety. Our school day ends at 3:15 p.m. Students must be picked up at this time or go on their allotted bus. Students are not to be left on their own. In the event that parents/guardians are not able to pick up at 3:15 p.m., we ask that you make alternate arrangements and communicate this with your child’s teacher prior to that time. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Kiss and Ride/ Bus Loop Thank you to those who are following our safety parking lot rules. We ask that all parents please be aware that if you drive your child to school and are entering our parking lot, you CANNOT park your car at the entrance curb/Bus Loop or along our Kiss ’n Ride curb. It is a safety hazard. As well it interferes with our safe bus service and blocks our busses. Please park in a parking spot or simply drop your child/ren after 8:30 a.m. and quickly and safely continue along your way. If you must park your car, please do so in a designated spot.

Are you

This is the time of year when we begin planning for the next school year. In order to assist us with staffing, if you know that you are moving out of the area or that your child(ren) will not be returning to Elder’s Mills in September, kindly inform the School Office or call us at 905-893-1631.

Thank you

2014/2015 School Year…

If you are taking a family vacation? Please remember to notify the school office and send a written note to your

child’s teacher indicating the duration of your trip. We appreciate your

co-operation.

page 5 l’école Elder’s Mills février 2015

Grade 3 Remembrance Day Contest Winners As one of its primary goals, fostering Remembrance is a part of everything the Royal Canadian Legion does. Thanks to the longstanding tradition of the Annual Literary and Poster Contests, they have been able to involve Canadian school children in helping them to promote not only the National Remembrance Day Service, but also the act of honouring our military heritage. This year, the Woodbridge Branch received over 305 entries, several of them coming from our students at Elder's Mills. Thank you to all students who submitted a poster, an essay or a poem. A special congratulations to Emily C. and Anna B. in Mme Colonna's class who won an award in the competition. Emily won first place in the category of Primary black and white poster. Anna won second place in the same category. Emily's poster went on to the second round of judging and also won an award. Félicitations les filles!

Family Literacy

Scholastic Contest Scholastic has released the winners for a contest that was organized a few months back. The task was to write a story in French using anagrams. Anagrams are words that can be created using the same letters but in a different order. We are proud to announce that Mme Colonna's class was one of the winners of this contest. Their story was entitled "L'étrangère en Angleterre - Une aventure en anagrammes". The students have each won an autographed copy of the book "Le Voilier d'Olivier", written by Mireille Messier. Félicitations tout le monde!

la classe de Mme. Colonna

Let’s get comfy in

our pyjamas

and read!

Felicitations! Congratulations to all students who created such amazing bookmarks! And a special congratu-lations to each of the class winners. Their bookmark will be featured on their class Yearbook page, and it will be printed in colour for each of their classmates! Keep reading! Hadia, Mme Yususf, Jason, Mme Bergeron, Isabella, Mme Sampogna, Maxim, Mme Trivedi, Sabahat, M. Villa, Sabrina, M. Kouri, Chloe, Mme Constantin, Gabrielle, Mme Bianchi, Anastasia, M. Thompson, Suravi, Mme Nakhla, Juliana, Mme Konjikusic, Anna, Mme Colonna, Naresh, M. Ghomffo, Anna, Ms. Fancy, Jennifer, M. Petrilli, Martina, Mme Ing and Allana, Ms. Bassett.

Bookmark Winners!

Forest of Reading Program Once again, EMPS is participating in the Ontario Library Association’s Forest of Reading Program. Thank you to the

generous funds of the Parent Council, several copies of books have been ordered so that all classes can have access them. This year, our students will be reading books from Le Prix Peuplier, Le Prix Tamarack Express, Le Prix Tamarack, Silver Birch Express, Silver Birch Non-fiction and Silver Birch Fiction. There are ten books in each of the categories, and students must read a minimum of five books in order to vote for their favourite book at the end of April. Our students will have opportunities to read the books in class, as well as borrow the books in the coming months. For more Information on the Forest of Reading, see the following website: www.accessola.org

page 6 l’école Elder’s Mills février 2015

Events Around the School

February is Black

History Month on

Tuesday, February 24, at 1:35 p.m.,

we will be welcoming Terry Downey, a speaker from Passages Canada, who will speak to our students in grades 4 to 6.

Chess Club / Le Club des Échecs EMPS students love to play chess! Students from grades 1 to 6 meet in the library every Wednesday at

lunch recess to play and/or learn how to play chess. We have so many students signed up that students are

encouraged to bring their own chess set on Wednesdays. EMPS students also have the opportunity to

participate in the 2015 Canadian Chess Challenge Vaughan Area Tournament on February 19 at Chancellor

Community Centre. M. Villa, Mme Nursimulu and Mme Esposito will be choosing 4 students per grade to

represent our school at the tournament. Good luck to those students who make the Chess Team!

Grade 3 Math Caribou Contest Congratulations to all the grade 3 to 6 students who

participated in the Caribou Math Contest on January 14. A

special congratulations to Himanshu in grade 3 and Maya in

grade 4, who came in first and second in our school for the

grade 3 and 4 contest. Congratulations to Nima in grade 5

and Daniel in grade 6 who came in first and second in our

school for the grade 5 and 6 contest.

The next Caribou Math Contest is on February 11.

Good luck to all!

Library Corner

Éditions Foulire Reading Challenge Éditions Foulire is challenging all classes to read 100 of their books! Each student in the class must read at least one book. Several books from their collections have been added to the library catalog. Look for the Foulire logo, and keep reading! The contest ends at the end of April!

Yearbook Order Form 2014-2015

We are having a wonderful year at Elder’s Mills P. S. and now you can remember your child’s friends, teachers and school events forever! We will be working on our school yearbook so that all students and parents will be able to look back at the 2014/2015 year. This full-colour, professionally printed yearbook will include approximately 60 pages, with pictures of various assemblies, school events, student clubs and teams, class pictures, and much more! Each child, from grades 1-6, will appear in the yearbook.

See your children play, have fun, and learn at Elder’s Mills! These are the moments that you do not want to miss! Vas-y les aigles!!! Go Eagles!!!

Ordering a Yearbook If you are interested in buying a yearbook, please fill out the form below with a cheque payable to Elder’s Mills P.S. or cash in a sealed envelope and return it to the school by Friday, February 6, 2015. It is important for us to have numbers for orders so please do not delay to order your yearbook. Only students who order a yearbook will receive one – extra yearbooks will not be available. Yearbooks are expected to arrive in mid- June 2015. Sincerely, Yearbook Committee

Yearbook Purchase Student Name: _____________________________ Homeroom Teacher: _________________

Yes, I wish to order _______ yearbook(s) and I am enclosing a cheque or cash for $25.00 per yearbook. Total amount of cash or cheques submitted: _______________

Yearbooks are expected to arrive in mid-June 2015.

page 7 l’école Elder’s Mills février 2015

page 8 l’école Elder’s Mills février 2015

Our Eco Club at Elder's Mills is always busy! We continue to thank our Eco Club members for doing a fabulous job each day to audit each class and keep track of our school's waste management, recycling and composting practices, and energy consumption and conservation. Thank you for continuing to do the following things to help support our school's Eco initiatives. Collect any of the following items and send them to school with your child: • Dead batteries • Old cell phones and chargers • Ink and Toner Cartridges

ECO CORNER

Vermicomposting On January 22nd, the grade 3s participated in a unique presentation about Vermicomposting with worm expert, Cathy Nesbitt. It was an interactive workshop designed to get students excited about the environment and the study of worms. Students had fun learning how to setup and maintain a Vermicomposter. They explored the basics of worm biology and other environmental issues. Students had the chance to take home their own mini-vermicomposter. Vermicomposting, or worm composting, is an excellent way to convert household garbage into nutrient rich fertilizer. Composting with special composting worms is an efficient and environmentally friendly way to save tonnes of waste from going to landfill.

Why Everyone Should be Vermicomposting

If you Vermicompost you will reduce the amount of garbage being transported out of the province -

The average Canadian produces a tonne of waste each year. Estimated 1/2 to 1/3 of household waste is organic matter.

Worms produce beautiful black castings - a nitrogen rich natural fertilizer. Totally organic and one of

the best soil additives on the planet. Use worm castings in house plants and gardens. Odourless when operating effectively - worms eat decomposing matter, therefore eating away any nauseous odours and leaving a fresh earthy smell. For more information, please visit: www.cathyscomposters.com

SCHOOL COUNCIL CORNER

Did you know? The Hot Lunch program on Mondays has meals provided by

Boston Pizza. These meals all meet the nutritional and dietary guidelines of the

YRDSB. For more information you can visit the Boston Pizza website.

Please join us for our next meeting on February 10th at 7:00 p.m. in the staff room.

Child care available in the library.

To help ensure parents understand the Board Transportation Policy and applicable service levels, parents registering their children in French Immersion and Gifted programs for September 2015 please be informed that the large size of the attendance area for Gifted and French Immersion programs can increase the length of time students are required to travel on a school bus. School bus service for all students is created in accordance with Board Policy and adheres to the following guidelines;

Students who live the furthest from school often have the longest ride times.

Ride times will not exceed 60 minutes unless under exceptional circumstances.

All students will be assigned to centrally designated corner bus stops.

Elementary students can be expected to walk up to 400 meters to a central bus stop location. Parents can confirm transportation arrangements by accessing the Student Transportation Services website at www.schoolbuscity.com after Monday August 24th, 2015.

To ensure the safety of students, school bus service may be cancelled from time to time due to inclement weather, extreme temperatures and/or poor road conditions. In these cases, parents and students should develop alternate care/transportation arrangements. Since some busing schedules begin by 7:00 a.m., cancellation decisions must be made by 6:00 a.m. to allow time to communicate this message to bus drivers. Cancellation decisions will only be made after thorough consultation with the Safety Officers of school bus companies servicing York Region and are based on several factors including precipitation, air temperature, road conditions and weather forecast. Please note the following:

A decision to cancel school bus service will be region-wide meaning all school buses, vans and taxis will not

operate.

School bus routes may be cancelled when severe weather is not affecting all municipalities in York Region.

Both the YRDSB and YCDSB operate many regional educational programs. Students attending these programs are transported over large attendance areas encompassing several municipal boundaries. This limits the ability to cancel bus service using a municipality or zone methodology. Unless otherwise stated, schools will remain open and parents can make arrangements to transport their children to and from school even if school bus service is cancelled. If buses are cancelled in the morning, they will not operate in the afternoon. Therefore, students transported to school by parents will require the same transportation home. Parents, students and school staff are asked to access the following radio and television stations after 6:00 a.m. to receive bus cancellation information: RADIO 590 AM 640 AM 680 AM 860 AM 1050 AM 540 AM 1580 AM 1010 AM 88.5 FM 89.9 FM 92.5 FM 93.1 FM 94.9 FM 95.9 FM 97.3 FM 104.5 FM 100.7 FM 107.1 FM TELEVISION CITY TV CTV Barrie CFTO TV CP24 GLOBAL NEWS A bus cancellation message will also be available at www.schoolbuscity.com and by calling 1-877-330-3001, or by following the YCDSB and YRDSB on twitter. Please note that school bus charters will not operate when home to school bus service is cancelled.

page 9 l’école Elder’s Mills février 2015

A NOTICE FROM OUR TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT

Board Transportation Policy

Character Matters! We encourage our students to display positive character traits always and we celebrate their efforts at our monthly Character Assemblies.

February’s focus is: la persévérance

Respect/le Respect Honesty/l’honnêteté Fairness/la justice Perseverance/la persévérance Optimism/l’optimisme Courage/le courage Initiative/l’initiative Responsibility/le responsabilité Integrity/l’intégrité Empathy/’empathie

page 10 l’école Elder’s Mills février 2015

The Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) and the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF) are proud sponsors of the OTIP Teaching Awards. For many years, these awards have recognized the excellence of our teachers in publicly funded education. There are three categories of awards: elementary school teacher, secondary school teacher and beginning teacher in the first five years of teaching. A teacher may be nominated by anyone – professional colleagues, students, parents, or the general public. Nominations are now open for the 2015 awards. The deadline for receipt of nominations is March 31, 2015. Further information is provided on the attached PDF and is also available at www.teachingawards.ca We are proud of the excellence of teachers throughout the province. These awards allow us to recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions that our members make to their students’ education, to their schools, and within their communities. Thank you for your cooperation and assistance in promoting the OTIP Teaching Awards program!

dimanche lundi mardi mercredi jeudi vendredi samedi

1 2

PA Day/No School

3 Lunch Lady

4

5

6

Pizza Lunch

7

8

9 Carnaval begins

Ceinture Fléchée

Day

Boston Pizza

10 Carnaval Bingo

Jersey Day

Lunch Lady

Parent Council Meeting at 7 p.m.

11 Carnaval Bingo

Rouge Blanc et

Rose Day

12 Carnaval Bingo

Tuque Day

13 Carnaval Bingo

Mitten Day

Indoor and Outdoor Activity Day

Pizza Lunch

14 Bonne Saint-

Valentin

15 16

Family Day/ No School

17

Lunch Lady

18 Report Cards go

home

19

20

Pizza Lunch

21

22 23

Boston Pizza

24 Lunch Lady

Visit from

Terry Downey in celebration of Black

History month Grades 4 - 6

25

26 Black History

Month Character Assembly

@11:30 a.m.

27

Pizza Lunch

28

l’école Elder’s Mills

Perseverance

“Be like a postage stamp, stick to something until you get there!” –

Josh Billings

Bonne Saint-Valentin