York Region Dist r ic t Schoo l Board

JOHNSVIEW VILLAGE P.S .

NEWSLETTER

41 Porterfield Crescent

Thornhill, Ontario

L3T 5C3

Tel: (905)881-3360

Fax: (905)881-4291

Email: Johview.village.ps@yrdsb.ca

Principal: Ms. G. Emmerson Superintendent of Schools, West Education Centre

Trustee: Ms. S. Geller (905) 763-8682 Ms. Jackie Young (905) 764-6830

P r i nc i pa l ’ s Message

From the Desk of Terry Weatherill

It's Cold Outside...We wish to remind students and parents at Johnsview Village that we believe children learn better when they

receive regular intervals of exercise and fresh air. We send the children out for either a full or a shortened recess except for the

most inclement weather days. We keep a close eye on all weather conditions, including wind chill before making our decisions.

When conditions necessitate, we may decide that students remain inside for recess. Conditions may vary from school to school, so

it’s important that we continue to make decisions based on conditions at our school. In the first nine days of school in January we

experienced extremely cold weather and as a result our students have been kept indoors at recess time for six of those days.

Consequently, we request that children are appropriately dressed for the weather: warm hat, gloves, scarf, coat, pants and boots

at this time of year. We are aware that this winter has seen changing temperatures, however it is best to be prepared for the

worst.

One of our goals is to maintain a good relationship with our neighbours. We ask parents who drive their children to school in the

morning and/or pick them up at the end of the day, to make sure they are not blocking the driveway entrances. It is important for

our community members to be able to get out of their driveway and be about their business in the morning and also to be able to

access it when they return. Your cooperation in this regard is greatly appreciated.

The staff and parents of Johnsview Village Public School are committed to encouraging the ongoing student improvement of

academic achievement. We know that a positive and supportive home environment is most influential on a child's achievement.

Our students are most fortunate in being surrounded by such a caring and nurturing community. For many parents the

recommendations indicated below will reinforce practices already occurring at home and some recommendations pertain to how

the school and home are able to work together to support student achievement.

Terry Weatherill

Interim Principal

FEBRUARY, 2015

January 28 - Co-Ed Junior Volleyball February 12 - Character Assembly January 30 - Spirit Day February 16 - Family Day February 2 - P.A. Day & Ground Hog Day February 17 - Markham Fire Dept (Gr. 2) February 3 - Scientists in School (Gr. 2) February 26 - School Council Meeting February 4 - Grad Photo Day & Winter Carnival

UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PARENTS

Reading: Involve yourself with your child's reading

by reading to your child; listen to your child read

and talk to your child about what she or he reads.

Make a greater range of reading materials (fiction/

non fiction materials) available perhaps by visiting

the community library so that boys and girls are

motivated to read outside of their classroom

assignments.

Writing: Encourage children to use writing as a

means of communicating thought, feelings, and

information outside the school environment, and

for authentic reasons. Continue to talk to your child

about what they have written; listen to your child

read what they have written and encourage writing

activities beyond those assigned in classrooms.

Mathematics: Encourage your children to apply

their skills to real-life situations beyond the

classroom. Provide opportunities for children to

communicate their knowledge and skills in

mathematics by talking through math problems.

A current, relevant and age-appropriate Health and

Physical Education curriculum will be introduced in

Ontario classrooms in September 2015. The

curriculum will support students in developing the

knowledge and skills they need to do well in today's

rapidly changing and connected world.

"Students need to have the best information

possible so they can make informed decisions about

their health and well-being. In our increasingly

interconnected world, students often get

information from unreliable and inaccurate sources.

That is why an up-to-date, relevant and appropriate

health and physical education curriculum is needed

now more than ever, and is why we are committed

to having one in place for the 2015 school year." -

Liz Sandals, Minister of Education

Quick Facts:

- The Growth and Development section of the

elementary Health and Physical Education

curriculum has not been updated since 1998 -

before the widespread use of social media and

smartphones.

- More than 70 health-related organizations

submitted reports for consideration and more than

2,400 people provided feedback on the draft

curriculum.

- Studies have shown that girls as young as 7 and 8

years old are entering puberty, which is significantly

earlier than in previous generations.

- The World Health Organization has found that

providing kids with comprehensive sexual health

information helps prevent early sexual activity and

negative health outcomes.

As part of extensive provincial Health and Physical

Education curriculum consultations, Ontario is

listening to more input and feedback from parents

across the province.

Parents can provide comments and input by using

the following link to go to the "Contact Us" page on

the Ministry of Education website: http://

www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/about/contact.html. About

halfway down the page there is a section that allows

parents to provide feedback on any issue they wish,

which in this case would be their thoughts about the

updated Health and Physical Education curriculum.

Select "Other" in the drop down list, then click on

the "I have a comment" button. Next, enter

comments in the "Enter your message" box.

As the new curriculum is finalized, the insights and

advice provided will be considered along with

research and information from earlier consultations

and focus groups with students, teachers, parents,

faculties of education, universities and colleges, as

well as other organizations and stakeholders.

PROTECTING THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

OF STUDENTS-MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

ENGAGING PARENTS ON HEALTH AND

PHYSICAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM

Page 2

Important Please be reminded that

February 2, 2015 is a P.A. Day.

There will be no school for students.

School staff will focus on

School Improvement Plan and Report Cards.

STUDENTS AND FAMILIES SUPPORTING

THOSE IN NEED

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Over the past week, the “Students For Change

Committee” has been collecting new and unused

personal care items, as well as everyday necessities

to donate to the North York Women’s Shelter. The

North York Women’s Shelter serves over 150

women and children, and answers over 850 calls

each year. In such cases as these, we feel it is our

duty and privilege to be able to help these people.

We want to help this shelter fulfill their initiative

which is to create a place of safety, support and

hope for women and their children who are

survivors of violence and abuse. We appreciate and

thank all of the people who helped and donated. -

Sheri Grach (Grade 7)

In 2008, the Government of Ontario announced the

creation of Family Day as a province-wide statutory

holiday. This year Family Day will be held on

Monday, February 16, 2015. Please note that school

will be closed on the 16th.

The sale of Candy grams will commence February

3rd and the last day to purchase is February 12th.

All Candy grams will be delivered on Friday,

February 13th.

Cost: 1 Candy gram - 25 cents

25 Candy grams - $5.00

Groundhog day is an annual holiday celebrated on February 2nd. It is held in the US and Canada. According to folklore, if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day fails to see its shadow, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end. If, on the other hand the groundhog sees its shadow, the groundhog will supposedly retreat into its burrow and winter will continue for six more weeks.

Source: http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day

FAMILY DAY

GROUNDHOG DAY

CALLING ALL GARDENERS

Character Matters!

February’s highlighted Character

Trait is Fairness

CANDY GRAMS We are looking for volunteers to invest

some time on much needed care of our

school’s outdoor classroom and the front

area of the School.

If you are interested, please contact our

Principals, Terry Weatherill or Gwen Em-

merson or our School Council Chairs, Ligia

Efford or Denis Bahadur at 905-881-3360.

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Page 4

Kindergarten registration began

January 15th

, 2015 for the 2015-16

school year. Registration forms are available on

YRDSB’s website: www.yrdsb.ca or the school office.

Children who turn four or five years old during 2015,

live within the school boundary and whose parents

are public school tax supporters will be eligible to

register for kindergarten. A kindergarten

information session for parents is being planned for

this spring. For more information please visit the

YRDSB website or contact your local school.

DATE: February 4, 2015

TIME: 11:10 a.m.

LOCATION: JVPS Grounds

SNOW DAY: February 11, 2015

PUNCTUALITY

A reminder that our day begins at

9:00 a.m. Supervision begins at 8:45 am.

Late arrivals disrupt learning for all students in

the classroom.

PLEASE BE ON TIME FOR SCHOOL

PUNCTUALITY

SPirIt dAy

WINTER CARNIVAL—SAVE THE DATE

BOARD GAMES

The school is looking for lightly used board

games for students of all ages which will be used

during subzero days when students are to remain

indoors during lunch recess.

If you have any you wish to donate to the school,

please have your child bring

them to the office.

The Junior volleyball team has

been working hard to master

their skills and to come together

as a team before they compete

in the Area tournament on

January 28th at Woodland Public

School. The team has

transformed from timid and uncertain in their

abilities to confident and proud in what they are

capable of. They are getting better everyday and

can't wait to see how they match up against the

Area schools. 1... 2... 3... Jaguars!

CO-ED JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL Come dressed in your finest wacky clothes on

Friday, January 30th, 2015

YELLOW BRICKHOUSE

JVPS has received a letter from the Executive

Director of the Yellow brickhouse, thanking all

parents, students and staff for the generous gifts

that were donated during the holiday season.

Page 5

HOT LUNCH VOLUNTEER

Johnsview Village Public School and the School

Council are looking for a volunteer who will

offer their support in organizing and running the

schools’ hot lunch program. Our current school

council volunteer Ligia Efford has offered to train.

We appreciate the time you have to offer so

please call the school at 905-881-3360 or email

Johnsview.village.ps@yrdsb.ca and help make a

difference.

We are excited to announce that we will be adding new snacks to the

snack program! In addition to the snacks we already offer, we will also be

providing clementines, oatmeal biscuits (high in fibre), banana, banana-

blueberry and blueberry bran muffins, and whole wheat mini bagels. We

are also excited to announce that the snack program will be running at

morning recesses on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays!

Our snack program provides snacks that are all-natural, GMO free, free from artificial colours,

flavours and preservatives, free from refined sugars, cholesterol free, lactose free, trans fat

free, low in saturated fat, 100% vegan (no animal by-products, dairy and egg free).

We hope you are excited about our news! Thank you for your continued support of the snack

program at Johnsview Village!

The Healthy Schools Committee

HEALTHY SCHOOL COMMITTEE NEWS

Page 6

Over the past week, the “Students For Change Committee” has been collecting new and unused personal

care items, as well as everyday necessities to donate to the North York Women’s Shelter. The North York

Women’s Shelter serves over 150 women and children, and answers over 850 calls each year. In such cases

as these, we feel it is our duty and privilege to be able to help these people. We want to help this shelter

fulfill their initiative which is to create a place of safety, support and hope for women and their children who

are survivors of violence and abuse. We appreciate and thank all of the people who helped and donated.

- Sheri Grach (Grade 7)

Students for Change Committee

Page 7

There are new things happening in the library at Johnsview Village P.S. To help the school library continue to

develop, money was put towards the purchase of many new and exciting books with the interests of

different age groups in mind. Students were asked what kinds of books they wanted to see in their school

library we are trying to get these titles in. Many non-fiction books were also purchased that support student

learning in curriculum areas. The successful Winter Book Fair helped also to raise funds for purchase of

material and books for student learning and enjoyment, as will the Spring Book Fair in May. The goal is to

create a library that is for the discovery and enjoyment of literature and we have a good start. With ongoing

feedback from our students and teachers our library will continue to grow and develop into an even more

exciting place to learn.

Student learning can also be enhanced through access to wonderful online resources that are available to

them 24/7. By visiting our school website at www.yrdsb.ca/schools/johnsviewvillage.ps and going to the

library link you can be connected to the online data bases and world of information and discovery. Students

should know the password either from their teacher or library visit. If you need more information about the

resource please contact Mrs. Nayir at 905-881-3360.

JVPS Library Corner

Welcome back from the winter holiday break!

Your School Council’s fundraising efforts for last term culminated with the Basket Fundraiser during the

Holiday Concert in December. This is always a much anticipated event with amazing raffle baskets, the

contents of which are 100% donated by the school community. This year, the Basket Raffle sales raised

approximately $750.00! On behalf of Council, thank you all for your ongoing support of the school, and

especially to the members of the Fundraising Committee who helped make this such a huge success.

Your fundraising dollars have already begun to make their way back into the classroom. Last term, we were

pleased to be able to allocate the amount of $4091.04 to Technology Cost Sharing; these monies are used to

purchase technology to support your children. With the Board’s matching grant, this translated into $

12,273.12 (2:1) going into the classrooms.

The new term is already in full swing, and we have already had our first Council meeting of the term. We

were again very pleased to allocate $200 to each grade from KG to Grade 6 for the Scientists in the School

Program. Council’s fundraising will continue with the Lunch Program this term.

Council meetings are the best way to learn about what’s happening in your school, and to participate in

discussions about issues which will directly affect your children’s education. If you are unable to attend,

you can always keep updated by going to the school website where the minutes from the meetings are

available.

Our next Council meeting is on Thursday 26th

February, 2015 at 7:00 pm in the school library. We look

forward to seeing you there.

Ligia Efford

Chair, Johnsview Village Public School Council

Page 8

SCHOOL COUNCIL

CHARACTER ASSEMBLY

Page 9

CHARACTER ASSEMBLY (Cont’d)