Stonehaven Elementary School, 875 Stonehaven Avenue, Newmarket, ON L3X 2K3 Phone: (905) 898-2077 Fax: (905) 898-3762 Email: [email protected] Website: www.stonehaven.es.yrdsb.ca

Principal: Paul Oabel Vice Principal: Susan Wansbrough Superintendent: Drew McNaughton 905-895-5155 October 2016 Trustee: Martin Van Beek 905-830-6776

A Message From Mr. Oabel and Ms. Wansbrough Administrator’s Message

As we enter October, Stonehaven ES is moving forward in all aspects! Engaging curriculum is being delivered in classrooms, sporting teams and clubs are being formed and class trips have already taken place. The school had a well attended and successful curriculum/BBQ night and staff are looking forward to building on this good start (350 burgers were sold!). As always, if you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at the school.

Tea and Chat We are having our second tea and chat on Wednesday, October 19th from 9:00-9:45am (Topic: Student Resil- iency). Our September Tea and chat was very successful with twenty parents attending (Topic: Strategies for student Transition for September).

EQAO Results Grade 3 and 6 students did an exceptional job on the provincial testing last June. Grade 3s and 6s excelled past pro- vincial in reading and writing Grade 6 students. An area for improvement is primary and junior math which is a pro- vincial trend. All results can be found on our school website.

Safety Week In the month of October, Stonehaven ES will review a number of policies with regards to safety and well being of students and staff. Events that will occur are bus safety and VIP officer visits to the classroom as well as Fire Drills and Lockdown Drills. By law, each school in the province of Ontario must practise six fire drills and two lockdowns within a school year.

Report Cards and Parent Teacher Interviews Progress Reports will be going home on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016. The dates for Parent Teacher Interviews will be on the evening of Thursday, November 24th and the morning of November 25th, 2016.

Volunteers in the Classroom. Volunteers are always welcome in the classroom. All classroom volunteers are required to comply with York Region District School Board Policy #280 Volunteers in our Schools. You are required to:

 submit a vulnerable screening (completed within the last six months, or sign an Annual Offence Declaration (returning volunteers) and  Sign an a Confidentiality agreement.

Vulnerable sector screenings are available at Hillcrest Mall and York Region Police in Aurora or online. If you have any questions, please contact the office. Please visit our website frequently for updates: http:www.yrdsb.ca/schools/stonehaven.es/Pages/default.aspx

Follow us on Twitter @ stonehavenes Stonehaven Star Page 2

Message from School Council

We were so thrilled that our first School Council meeting was very well attended by over 30 parents! This year’s School Council includes the following members:

Executive Members: Shameela Shakeel (Chair); Cathy Miles (Secretary); George Halkidis (Treasurer)

School Representatives: Karen Hodgkin and Lesley Mercer (shared/one vote)

Other Voting Members: Abby Kassar, Aliya Syed, Anne Scott, Barb Whelpley, Cherylynn Hunt, Daisy Wei, Jennifer Strong, Julie McWilliams, Kelley Ciavatta, Rahila Iqbal and Roni Silbershatz

We are looking forward to another productive school year as we all work together to provide informa- tion and advice on school matters and to help strengthen the important relationships among school staff, parents/guardians, school community members and the Newmarket community.

School Council meeting dates: November 7, January 9, March 6 and May 1 (all Mondays)

Upcoming School Council events:

Monday, October 31 ~ Halloween Dance (all day during school hours) Students can wear costumes or wear black and orange clothing if they choose NO CHARGE for students to attend the dance with their classes in the school gym students may bring a bit of CASH to purchase Halloween-themed treats.

Wednesday, November 23 ~ Holiday Artisan Market in the school gym (3 to 7 PM) We are currently accepting applications from local vendors. Please save the date and plan to do some of your holiday shopping!

Friday, December 9 ~ White Elephant/Loonie Sale Please save your garage sale type items to donate the week of the event. Items will be sold to students for only $1 each. Parent and student volunteers will wrap presents for students who buy gifts.

Reminders: Subway (Mondays) and Il Bistro pizza/pasta (Fridays) lunch orders must be placed through www.HealthyHunger.ca Popcorn orders must be placed through www.SchoolCashOnline.com

We welcome parent volunteers. Please join us at School Council meetings, volunteer for ongoing initia- tives and events, and keep communicating with us. Feel free to contact Shameela anytime at [email protected] and checkout our School Council website at www.stonehavencouncil.com for more information. Stonehaven Star Page 3

Learning Commons Hours: The library is open everyday period 6 for Primary Open Book Ex- change, period 1 on days 2 and 4 for Junior Open Book Exchange and period 7 on day 5 for Inter- mediate Open Book Exchange. We hope to see your child in the library.

Scholastic Book Fair: Our Book Fair was a huge success this year. Our goal was to raise monies to purchase more books for our library while fostering a love of reading….and we have done just that. Thank you for supporting it! This year we will be having another Book Fair at the end of No- vember during Student Led Conferences. More information will follow closer to the time.

Learning Commons Monitors: The Stonehaven Learning Commons Monitor program has changed this year. We are very fortunate to have so many responsible students who wish to help out! Training will be taking place shortly at morning recess for students interested in helping out. If your child is interested in helping in the library they will be helping at recess time only.

Halloween Costumes On Monday, October 31st, many of the students will be arriving dressed up in their costumes. This is a reminder that there are very strict guidelines regarding costume accessories. Please be advised that costume accessories including, but not limited to, toy guns, knives, axes, swords, etc. are in non-compliance with the York Region District school Board’s Safe School Policy #668.0. These items fall under the category of “weapons and replicas” and are not allowed in schools. Please note that this pol- icy applies to all students at all levels, including JK/SK. We would also ask that masks not be worn to school for often they are too scary for many of our primary students to handle. Please leave them at home for the day. Your attention to these matters and cooperation is greatly appreciated. We look forward to seeing how creative students can make their costumes!

Treats Please remember that Stonehaven E.S. is an Allergy Aware School. In order to protect our many students and staff with life-threatening allergies to nuts, we ask that no treats be sent to school. Stonehaven Star Page 4

Medication The Cross Country Club is up and run- If your child needs to take medication during ning! The Area meet is October 5th at school hours, please obtain the necessary Richardson Park and the Area Champion- forms for the administration of medication, ships is October 19th at from the office. For legal and safety reasons, Bruce’s Mill Park. written permission is required for ALL medica- tion, including Inhalers, Benadryl, Advil and Tylenol. We Mark your Calendar request that medication be kept in the office. October 19th– Tea and Chat -” Resiliency” Please ensure that the medication is brought October 27th- is Picture Day! directly to the office. We strongly advise that you do not send medication to school with October 28th– P.A. Day Babysitting younger students. Course October 31st- Halloween Dance

The Chess Club is meeting every Monday at lunch recess in the Learning Commons. Welcome to all returning and new members this year!

Parking Lot Safety We are trying to keep the community safe here at Stonehaven, especially dur- ing pick up and drop off times. In order to ensure the safety of everyone we are asking that you drop off your child/ren on the north side of the parking lot and then continue moving. This is not an area where anyone should be parked. If you need to get out of your car, please find a parking space (in our lot or on Best Circle) and walk your child to the appropriate area. You are allowed to drop off your child on the north side of the parking lot, but you cannot wait in this area. Also, PLEASE keep moving forward once you have dropped off your child/ren, and do not back up. If you have a kindergarten student to drop off please pull up to the south end of the school and we will assist your child to the Kindergarten gate. Thank you to all parents for helping us make sure all students are safe. Mr. Oabel and Ms. Wansbrough will be out supporting this safety.

Lunch/Snack Programs MONDAY: Subway TUESDAY/THURSDAY: Lunch Lady WEDNESDAY: Popcorn FRIDAY: Pizza/Pasta

Please visit www.HealthyHunger to register and order Monday & Friday lunches. Stonehaven Star Page 5

Yard Supervision ****Lunch Assistants Needed**** Outside yard supervision of students Lunch assistants are needed to supervise stu- begins at 8:10 a.m. daily. Please do not dents during the lunch hour from 12:15pm to send your children to arrive at school before 1:15pm. This is a paid position. Please con- this time. tact the office at 905 898-2077 if you are able to help.

Safe Arrival Please remember to call the school at (905) 898-2077 when your child is absent. The answering machine can be used to leave Perfumes/Scents a message at any time. Safe School Policy Please remember that we have several states that we have to account for every people who suffer asthma attacks from child every day. We will attempt to contact exposure to certain fragrances. If sending you if you have forgotten to call the school, products to school with your child, i.e. but in the event that we cannot get hold of hand sani- tizer, or deodorant please you, Safe School Policy states that we are to make sure it is unscented. Thank you for call the Police. your consideration.

Lego Club Lunchtime Lego club is back at Stonehaven! The program runs for 5 weeks on Tuesdays or Thursdays, starting on October 18th. Please regis- ter your child by October 11th. Forms available at the office or online at: http://bit.ly/StonehavenLunch

Volunteering at Stonehaven E.S.

Thank you for volunteering at our school! Please note that all our volunteers need to have a Volunteer Vulnerable Screening Police Check.

If you completed a Police Check last year, and you would like to volunteer again this year, please complete a Volunteer Annual Offence Declaration form, (available from the office).

If you need to complete a Police Check, please let your child’s teacher know and the office will give you a Volunteer letter to use in the application process.

Please see the link below for more information;

https://www.yrp.ca/en/services/background-checks.asp Stonehaven Star Page 6

The Character Trait for October is Responsibility We are accountable for all our actions. We follow through on our commitments.

MONDAY: Subway TUESDAY/THURSDAY: Lunch Lady WEDNESDAY: Popcorn OCTOBER2016 FRIDAY: Pizza/Pasta

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

3 4 5 6 7 Area Cross Country

10 11 12 13 14 Thanksgiving

17 18 19 20 21 Regional Cross JK/SK and SK/1 Country to Brooks Farm

Tea and Chat 9:00am

24 25 26 27 28 Vaccinations Picture Day P.A. Day Grades 7 & 8

Babysitting Course

31 Halloween Dance

International Baccalaureate Program Information Evening

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is student-centred with a focus on developing intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills for students who live, learn and work in a rapidly changing world. The program emphasizes critical, compassionate thinking, community involvement and intercultural understanding. It is founded on international standards and assessment. Students who complete the program earn both an Ontario Secondary School Diploma and an IB Diploma.

We are pleased to announce the expansion of York Region District School Board’s IB Program offerings. In addition to Bayview Secondary School’s IB Program, YRDSB has four candidate school sites for the Diploma Program:

 Alexander Mackenzie High School  Dr. GW Williams Secondary School  Maple High School  Milliken Mills High School

Current Grade 8 and Grade 9 students and families interested in YRDSB’s IB Program are invited to attend an information session to learn more about the program and application process. No registration is needed.

IB Information Evening – Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Location: Le Parc 8432 Leslie Street, Thornhill, Ontario L3T 7M6 Hall: to be announced

Times: Families living EAST of Yonge St. 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Families living WEST of Yonge St. 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Students eligible for Grade 9 and Grade 10 in September 2017 may apply.

Assessment Dates – Saturday, November 19 or Tuesday, November 22, 2016 Admission to the York Region District School Board IB programs includes an assessment. At the time of application, students will select to write in either the a.m. or p.m. on Saturday, November 19 or in the evening on Tuesday, November 22.

There is a $35 fee to apply to this program.

For additional information, please visit www.yrdsb.ca/IB. Is there a vaccine for West Nile virus? Researchers are working hard to develop a vaccine to protect humans from West Nile virus. At this time, no vaccine is available. How can I protect myself and my family? There are simple steps that can be taken to prevent mosquito bites and reduce the chance of getting West Nile virus: • Consider using insect repellent when outdoors. • Cover up by wearing long sleeved shirts or jackets, long pants and socks. • Avoid outdoor activity in the early morning and early evening when mosquitoes are most active. • Clean up around your home by emptying containers where water collects, such as in old tires, flower pots, bird baths and wading pools. Mosquitoes like to breed in standing water.