JANUARY 2014

Principal: Caroline Pattison Principal’s Message Vice Principal: Jill Coates

Louise Clodd, Trustee Welcome to 2014! Never promise to do something Fostering this partnership ensures What a crazy start to January, with unless you know you can keep your the continued success of every stu- Telephone: 687-2011 three snow days in a row. The word. dent. amount of snow on our yard is in- Gravenhurst Public School is building Safe Arrival: 687-3361 credible. Thank you for ensuring character. The staff and students are Remember to READ EVERY DAY that your child(ren) come to school committed to “Making a Difference” www.tldsb.on.ca/schools/ with your child. with warm winter outwear. in this world. Trustworthiness is the GravenhurstPS key to being able to “Make a Differ- And a reminder to follow us on This month’s character trait is ence”. Twitter for up to date information TRUSTWORTHINESS. Trust- about what’s happening at GPS! worthiness requires the following As we look toward the month of ingredients: February, we complete our first grading period and all students will Honesty: Trust can only be built if C. Pattison be receiving Report Cards on Febru- there is honesty in all things. ary 14th. Communication is a vital Deception tears apart trust. It is as important to be honest in the little key to assuring understanding and things, as well as the big things. Small clarity regarding your child’s pro- deceptions can erode one’s charac- gress. Please keep in with your ter. Little things do matter. child’s teacher through the Agenda, by phone or email. Should you de- Integrity: A person of integrity makes sire an interview to discuss the first certain that their actions match their term report, contact your child’s words. They are consistent in what teacher. they do and say.

Keeping promises: People are judged on how well they keep their promise.

Dates to Remember! Winter Physical Education Program 2014 Jan. JK Registration It is almost time for Winter Electives to begin! 20-24 Week Please ensure that your child/ren have returned their forms as buses need to be ordered and numbers must be finalized. If you require a new form or assistance, please call the school office as soon as possible. Jan. PA DAY Thank you to all students who have already brought in their forms, they have received their first choice!! 30 This year's choices include: , Ice Skating, Alpine Snowboarding/Skiing, Winter Recreation at Great JAN Winter Moose Adventures - snowshoeing, survival games, cross country skiing and more, The Winter Games - board 31 Electives and gym games + outside games, Skateboarding/Scootering, and Swimming. Begin Winter Electives will run: Friday, January 31st, Friday, February 7th & Friday, February 14th P A G E 2 Gnus from the Gym

What a welcome back into the be having interested students FEAT OF THE WEEK: 2014 school year! in grades 7/8 sign up to play December 4/13- Aidan in Our winter weather certainly is Interschool . The Grade 3 for his awesome proving to be a challenge this league games will probably attitude in the gym. start in February and we will year. We ended the 2013 school December 19/13- Millie, have our final tournament in year by having a staff-student Bailey, Taylor, Micheala, early March. game during the after- Elyshia and Daniel for noon of the last school day. The At the end of this month helping out in a pinch to grade 7/8 boys and girls inter- we will be starting our Winter score-keep for the school basketball teams played Physical Activity Program for Grade 7/8 Girls’ Basket- the staff and although it was a students in grades 4-8. ball Tourney. hard fought game the small but This program is a wonderful ATHLETE OF THE mighty staff team came out as the way to get your son/daughter MONTH: DECEMBER winners in the end. We would active both inside and out for Junior: Bradley and Emily never live it down if the students either a half or a full day. A beat us so we had to work hard large number of students have Intermediate: Kaylin and to win. signed up for their first choice Brodie We will continue our intra- activity and we need to have mural basketball league into Janu- the rest of the students signed ary and will have the semi-finals up so we can order the neces- and finals sometime in the middle sary buses. If you have any of the month. Following this, we problems or questions with will invite any interested juniors this please contact either : to play Intramural Throwball and Ms. Nevison or Mrs. Sellon the Intermediates to play Volley- ball. As well, this month we will

Library News! We are encouraging our students to do a little winter cleaning & look for their overdue library books. Please help! We currently have 390 books overdue books in our system….that is more than our school population. Let’s get our books back into circulation!

P A G E 3 Battle of the Books is a Board-wide program to promote the reading of quality literature. Students read books from a teacher selected list, discuss them, quiz each other on the contents, and then compete in teams of four members to correctly answer questions based on the books in a "quiz show" format. Our TOP Junior and Intermediate Teams will go on to compete against other finalists in the Muskoka area schools. Our teams and staff are busy reading and battles will begin soon!

IMPORTANT REMINDER! Please inform the school office if you plan to keep your child(ren) home or if they will be coming to school late . Please call our the Safe Arrival telephone number 687-3361. Please remember even if it is a SNOW DAY, the school is still open.

Please to listen to one of the following radio stations for bus cancellation information: MORE FM 105.5, The MOOSE 99.5, ROCK 95.7, EZ ROCK 105.9 or CBC 94.3. . Thank you for helping us keep our students safe!

GPS would like to thank the following people/ organizations for their generous gifts of time or resources!!

Karlie Peters/Amanda Pallister

Canadian Tire Gravenhurst

Salvation Army Thrift Store Gravenhurst

Giant Tiger Gravenhurst

Cottage Country Family Health Team Gravenhurst

St. James Anglican Church Gravenhurst

Shopper's Drug Mart Gravenhurst

Fabriccare Cleaning Gravenhurst

Rotary Club of Gravenhurst Kindergarten Registration for September 2014 Register your child the week of January 20th.-24th. What you need to bring:

 Birth certificate

 Child’s Immunization Record

 Ontario Health Card Number (optional) JK student must be 4 years old by December 31, 2014

School Reminders!

 Students should come to school dressed for the weather, winter coats, snow pants, hats mitts and boots are all important !

 Check lost and found frequently, you may find something you are missing!

 Keep us informed! Please make sure that the school office has your current contact telephone numbers.

 Students must have indoor shoes and gym clothes, please ensure your child is prepared for the day!

READ with your child every night & help them become a better reader! We appreciate your support! Thank you for helping our students succeed!