ST DAVIDS PUBLIC SCHOOL December, 2013 1344 York Road, St. Davids, ON, L0S 1P0 905-262-4533 Principal: Tammy Chilcott MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL... Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Eid Al-Adha or another special event this holiday season, the staff at St Davids wishes you a safe and joyous time with your family. We are very grateful that you have entrusted your children to our care. At St Davids, we believe that every child can achieve to a high standard. We believe that good character and good citizenship are integral components of academic achievement and success in life. We believe that parents and teachers, working together, can achieve great things for children. We are very proud of the positive climate in our school and are committed to working together for even greater student success. Our Christmas Concert and Basket Raffle will be held on Wednesday, December 18, at 6:00 pm. We hope that you can join us for a special time that will bring the community together. If you are unable to attend at 6:00 p.m. there will be a dress rehearsal at approximately 2:00 p.m. Special thanks to Mrs. King and Mrs. Wieler who have worked so hard with the students in preparing to spread Christmas cheer. Please remember that we will be collecting nonperishable canned goods for Newark Neighbours. St. Davids parents are wonderful bakers. The show of care and creativity at each bake sale is absolutely show-stopping! Baked goods will be sold in the am and pm on the day of the concert. This Christmas Bake Sale has traditionally been a time when you can purchase some goodies for Christmas get-togethers! Don t miss out. PARENT COUNCIL Our next Parent Council meeting at St Davids will be on Tuesday, January 28 at 6:00 p.m. Please join us! BAKE SALE UPDATE Bake sale proceeds will support the math resources and athletics throughout the year. Thank you for your support. We made $265.00 for November! CALLING HOME Students are required to get permission from school staff every time a call home needs to be made. If parents are granting permissions for students over the phone, they must speak directly to school staff. It is not appropriate to pass on messages to staff through students. As a general rule, written notes by parents are required for permissions. Calling home should be the exception. Cell phones should never be used to contact home through the school day. Please review this procedure with your children at home.
JOY DAY RED AND GREEN DAY Each year at St Davids, the staff and students celebrate the coming of winter, and Christmas, specifically. A Joy Day is set aside early in December, on which students spend a couple of hours decorating the school and classrooms in a festive way. Don t forget to wear your Christmas colours of red and green! This year, it is on Friday, December 6 th beginning at 1:35 p.m. and ending at 3:00 p.m. If you would prefer your child not participate in this event, please send a note in your child s agenda in advance. We may plan an alternative activity. CANADIAN TIRE MONEY DRIVE Once again this year, students and staff at St. Davids will be collecting Canadian Tire Money (gift cards and cash accepted as well) in our annual Canadian Tire Money Drive. Each year, the money is used towards gifts for needy families across Niagara, just in time for Christmas. The students look forward to this worthwhile fundraiser as a group of students travel to Canadian Tire and go on a shopping spree for toys! The campaign started Monday, November 26 th and will run through Monday, December 10 th. Just to make it a little more fun...the class that brings in the greatest amount per capita, will win a pizza party and movie! Last year we collected over $700.00 dollars and we are hoping to match or better that total! GO DRAGONS GO! MATH HOMEWORK HELP All students in Grades 7 and 8 have access to live, interactive online math help through the expansion of a pilot project funded by the Ministry of Education. Homework Help is free, real-time math tutoring by certified Ontario teachers. Students can log in from Sunday to Thursday, 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST for 20 hours a week of individualized confidential math tutoring. There are discussion rooms for each grade where students can join in and see what questions other students are asking, watch the tutors draw on the whiteboard and ask their own question for on-the-spot help. Go to https://homeworkhelp.ilc.org for more information. Clothing PLEASE put your child s name in their coat and winter boots. We continue to have several articles of clothing sent to the lost and found and very few of them get claimed. We try to keep them as long as possible, but the pile becomes unruly. We will be packaging up this latest collection after December 14 th. Please encourage your child to check Lost and Found.
AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES There may be times during the school year where inclement weather or other situations could cause transportation cancellations or school closures. At times when student transportation has been cancelled and schools remain open, the decision of whether or not to have children in school on that day rests with the parent or guardian. Should you decide not to send your child to school in the event that transportation is cancelled but schools remain open, or if your child is ill or late, please ensure that you call your child s school to inform them of your child s absence. A key resource in any emergency is the DSBN Emergency Information form that you filled out at the beginning of the school year. Please let the school know of any changes in contact information or procedures you wish to be followed throughout the school year. For secondary schools it may become necessary to cancel late buses. Notice will be provided via school announcements and on the websites and subscription features by 11:30 a.m. Information about transportation cancellations and school closures will be available as soon as it is available through the following channels: Websites: www.dsbn.org www.nsts.ca Subscription Features: DSBN Facebook or Twitter, NSTS Transportation Delay or Cancellation Alerts Phone: Niagara Student Transportation Services 905-346-0290 Voice Auto Attendant Radio Stations: CKTB (610 AM) St. Catharines WAVE (94.7 FM) Hamilton CKOC (1150 AM) Hamilton CHML (900 AM) Hamilton CHAM (820 AM) Hamilton Y-108(107.9) Hamilton CHRE (105.7 FM) St. Catharines CHTZ-FM (97.7 FM) St. Catharines CKEY (105.1 FM) Niagara Falls/Fort Erie K-LITE-FM (102.9 FM) Hamilton GIANT FM (91.7 FM) Welland Television Stations: CHCH Hamilton CTV Toronto CityTV Breakfast Television Cogeco Channel 10
DSBN High School Open House Dates A.N. Myer Secondary School January 15 6:30 p.m. Eden High School January 13 7:00 p.m. Governor Simcoe Secondary School January 16 6:30 p.m. Laura Secord Secondary School January 14 7:00 9:00 p.m. Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School January 16 6:30 p.m. St. Catharines Collegiate January 15 6:00 p.m. Stamford Collegiate January 16 6:30-8:30 p.m. RESPECT STUDENTS OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER Congratulations to students chosen for their demonstration of respect and personal accomplishments during November. TEACHER STUDENT OF THE MONTH CHARACTER TRAIT JK AM Parkhouse Matteo Serluca, Kameron Morley Mariska Colcuc JK PM Wieler Avery Janzen Maddax Loum SK Ayotte Aiden Harber, Aidan Skelton Malea Viola SK Black Liam Fenwick Carter Lidstone, Julian Belvin Gr. 1 Kotsanis Blake Coleman, Andrew Christie Lucy Hopkins Gr. 1/2 Furtney Eddie Friesen, Maya Dueck Lauren Janzen Gr. 3 O Sullivan Jonathan Colcuc Calvin Schouten Gr. 3 Feduck Austin Roy, Sophia Kelly Rachel Wagner Gr. 3/4 Climenhage Josh Pasco Makayla Delaney Gr. 5 Zelem Gabriel Arseneault, Logan Warner Ellie Harrison Gr. 6/7 Magistrale Josh Ciemitis, Julia Maves Ewan Fenwick Mme. Borrowman Daniel Penner, Braulio Ojeda Gr. 7/8 McNamara Valencia, Jason Chen Mohamed Al Habboub, Jackie Campbell Spencer Fansolato The character trait for December is RESPONSIBILITY
ST. DAVIDS SCHOOL LETTER Academic Points Honours overall Honours 2 subjects Honours 3 or more subjects Subject Award Recipient House Leagues: Volleyball Soccer 3 on 3 Basketball School Teams: Soccer Volleyball Basketball Cross Country 3 Pitch Tag Rugby Badminton Athletic Service/Citizenship Library Helper Student Secretary Tuck Shop Helper Outdoor Sign Crew Yard Clean-Up Crew Recycling Milk Movers AV Crew Bus Monitors Kindergarten Helpers Lunch Monitors Chair Crew Stone Sweepers Lost & Found Equipment Room Team Green Crew Lions Spaghetti Helpers Extracurricular Organized Clubs: Chess Club School Photographers School Reporters Robotics Me to We Authors Club Eco Choir Historica Public Speaking Time Keepers In the month of December, Jr/Int students will be reviewing their participation in the point system to receive their school letter or certificate. Grades 4-6 receive a certificate and Gr. 7 & 8 s a school letter. Snow Safety Students at St Davids School are not allowed to throw or kick snow while on school property. Cold, frozen snow presents a threat to student safety especially when thrown. Parents/Guardians are asked to please review this policy at home and we will continue to remind students here at school. Consequences for throwing snow are as follows: 1st time: Letter home with a detention 2nd time: Letter home and Loss of Privileges/Detention 3rd time: Formal at-home suspension
School Teams - Volleyball Intermediate Girls Volleyball Championships We are proud of the intermediate girls who maintained a great season and played like champs winning the consolation finals against Parnall. Great season Girls! Intermediate Boys Volleyball Championships Congratulations goes out to the Intermediate Boys Volleyball team! Our Dragons faught hard to pull off a win in the DSBN tournament and will now be facing off against Gracefield on December 2nd at Eastdale Secondary School for the DSBN Championship game! The game will be at 5pm and we would appreciate any fan support that we can get. Great job boys! Junior Volleyball The Junior volleyball season is coming to an end. The team represented St Davids very well and played with such enthusiasm. Great development of serving, bumping and setting! Below is a list of the students on each team. Junior Boys Volleyball Team Noah Schouten, Macgregor Armstrong, Winston Doppenberg, Brett Wilson, Kurtis Zwierschke, Lathan Barrie, Christian Maniatis, Josh Pasco, Ben Janzen, Michael Ivanov, Ewan Fenwick, Austin Gould, Brodie O Toole, Ethan Carmichael, Braulio Ojeda Valencia, Owen Holmes Thank you to our coach, Mr. Climenhage. Junior Girls Volleyball Team Angelina Maniatis, Paige Hoadley, Makayla Delane, Mackenzie Gould, Breanne Roacht, Jordana Parliament, maddie Critchley, Phoenix Williams, Georgia Ledwez, Arianna Zumpanno, Jordyn Devries, Julia Maves, Kate Fenwick, Elizabeth Penner Thank you to our coaches Mrs. Kotsanis and Mrs. Cook The French Immersion program is open to all students in Senior Kindergarten and Grade 3. If you want your child to develop a high proficiency and fluency in Canada s two official languages then French Immersion has a great deal to offer. French Immersion Parent Information Nights Central Public School January 22, 2014 6:30 7:30 p.m. Dalewood Public School January 21, 2014 6:30 7:30 p.m. Garrison Road Public School January 23, 2014 6:30 7:30 p.m. Gordon Public School January 28, 2014 5:30 6:30 p.m. Jeanne Sauvé Public School January 23, 2014 6:30 7:30 p.m. *Hosted at Sir Winston Churchill John Marshall Public School January 23, 2014 6:30 7:30 p.m. McKay Public School January 22, 2014 6:30 7:30 p.m. Prince Philip Public School January 22, 2014 6:30 7:30 p.m. Princess Elizabeth Public School January 21, 2014 7:00 8:00 p.m. To confirm which French Immersion site your child would attend, please speak with your child s principal. Registration will begin online January 6, 2014 at 12:00 p.m. Go to www.dsbn.org/fi to register. For more information please contact: Julie Stapleton, French as a Second Language and International Languages Consultant, School Support Services 905-227-5551 ext 52220 or Julie.stapleton@dsbn.org OR Kelly McDonnell, Student Achievement Leader French Immersion, School Support Services - (905)-227-5551 ext 52402 or Kelly.mcdonnell@dsbn.org
Tips on Learning Math - Take a MATH Hike You can help your children continue to learn and stay active by taking a math hike. Walk or bike together through your neighbourhood or along one of the many beautiful trails or bike paths in our area. You may want to use a pedometer to track your steps. You can also have children help to plan the outing by discussing how far you might go, how long it will take and how fast you might travel. Children can be math detectives as they consider and discuss some of the following: Can you find leaf or petal clusters in groups of 3,4,5,6...? Can you find spirals? What geometric shapes can you find, manmade or natural? What patterns can you see? What equations might you use to describe the patterns you see? How could you estimate how tall or wide something is? Do you see symmetry anywhere? Are there arrangements that make it easy to count how many objects you see? Can you guess the angles formed by branches or leaves? How did you estimate? Do you see numerals anywhere? What do they tell us? For long lasting fun, take along a camera to capture pictures of the math you see or a notebook to draw and label your discoveries. Other friends or family members can guess what the image is and where the image came from as well as talking about the math that they see! You could even create a collage, scrapbook or slideshow. The new "mathies" site from the Ministry of Education is up and running. It has great games, learning tools and parent supports. It can be accessed at www.mathies.ca.