120 Napa Valley Avenue, Woodbridge, On L4H 1L1 Tel: 905-893-1631 www.eldersmills.ps.yrdsb.ca Fax: 905-893-7371 juin 2014 COMMUNITY BBQ AND FUN Principal’s Message Un Mot de la Directrice: FAIR May was a very busy month and as we look ahead to June, we recog- On Thursday June nize that we have many exciting events taking place to complete what 5, 2014, 6:00– 8:00 has been a very memorable year. In the month of May we had a very we will be having successful Read-a-thon, field trips, a musical performance and held a our Community BBQ rigorous Track and Field meet for our Junior students. Last week, we and Fun Fair. were happy to welcome many of our new Grade 1FI students and parents at our Grade 1 Open House. We also enjoyed a wonderful Please join us for an evening Spring Concert highlighting much of the talents of our students. of fun, games and laughter. This week on June 4th, we will have our Volunteer Appreciation Tea DJ entertainment, where we will take the time to thank the many parent volunteers that Bouncy Castles have helped us throughout the year. See your there at 2:00 p.m.! and much more. Hope to see you As we move into June we look forward to seeing many of you at our there!! annual Community BBQ sponsored by our School Council on June 5th. We also look forward to our very popular annual Peace Tree Day on June 17th to celebrate the diversity of our school and talented students. As always, we welcome parents to join us and enjoy our student perform Principal: in the talent show in the morning. Other special events for the month Micheline Joseph include our Area Track and Field meet and our FI Primary Spelling Bee on June 19th. Superintendent of Schools: This is also the time of year when we bid farewell to our departing staff Susan Logue members that will be moving to other opportunities next year and Tel: 905‐764‐6830 welcome new members. It is with regret that we will be bidding adieu to Mme Montana, Mme Alberga, Mlle Joachim and Mme Hendricks all of Trustee: whom are talented teachers who have made a huge contribution to our Anna DeBartolo school over the years. We also want to announce that Mme Hintz our Tel: 905‐727‐0022 Ext 2829 head secretary will be moving to a school closer to home and will be sorely missed. We wish them all the best and much success in their future endeavors. We know that parents and students of Elder’s Mills School Priorities: will join us in thanking them for their hard work and wishing them well. Literacy: “Once an Eagle, always an Eagle!” Reading Comprehension Assessment for Learning We want to welcome new teachers, Ms. Bassett and M. Villa who will be joining us next year and congratulate Mme. Consiglio who will take on Parental & Community the role of head secretary. Engagement: Supporting Student Learning As we work towards our final Report Cards, all of our students continue at Home in our Changing to work hard at activities to support the completion of their school year Community and to prepare them for the commencement of next year. Thank you for your help ensuring a continued focus on your children’s studies. Effective Schools: Creating a Safe and Supportive Respectfully yours, School Mme. Joseph page 2 L’école Elder’s Mills juin 2014 Positive School Climate and Student Achievement: School Climate Student Surveys: To help us with our ongoing commitment to a positive school climate and improved student achievement at Elder’s Mills, we asked all our students from Grade 1 to 5 survey questions focussing on school safety as well as questions relating to student improvement. This was an anonymous survey in which we also asked them to express their thinking to support their responses. In this way, we hope to identify and address more spe- cific student concerns in our classroom discussions. Generally, the results we have received so far are en- couraging. We will be using this data to help us develop strategies to improve our practise and our school. Safety and Positive Climate: 1. I feel safe at this school - 89% 2. There is an adult I feel comfortable speaking to if I see someone being bullied or am bullied - 84% 3. I feel accepted and included by students in my school - 84% Student Improvement: 1. I understand what I need to do to improve my work - 94% 2. I use feedback to set my goals for improvement - 90% 3. I try hard with my school work even when I find it difficult – 90% 4. I find school work interesting- 78% Early Dismissal in Elementary Schools Student Bussing Eligibility All schools in the York Region District School Board are committed to improving student achievement and Did you know that students’ well-being. On Thursday, June 26th, 2014 an early bussing eligibility changes release day will take place to allow elementary teachers throughout their school and support staff to take part in meetings during the after- career? Your son/daughter’s noon of that day. These meetings will allow for school eligibility to ride the school staff to engage in culminating activities regarding the bus may change according to their grade and review and revision of the School’s Improvement Plan as distance from home to school. Below are the well as year-end and transition activities that support stu- provisions for eligibility identified in the Board’s dent success. Transportation policy #680: As has been our practice in all York Regions schools that students will attend school during the morning of Thurs- All YRDSB students in Grades JK-3 who day, June 26th, 2014 only. Students will be dismissed live within 1.2 km of their school are not eli- early that day at 11:45 a.m. Arrangements will be made gible for transportation. to ensure that students who are normally bussed to and All YRDSB students in Grades 4-8 who live from school will receive transportation at this time. Parents within 1.6 km of their school are not eligible whose children attend after school child care should make for transportation. appropriate arrangements to address this change in All YRDSB students in Grades 9-12 who live schedule. within a transit served area are not eligible for transportation. Report Cards go home To view Board Policy #680 Student transporta- on June 25th tion, please visit www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca. For more information about bus transportation and to determine your son/daughter’s eligibility, please visit www.schoolbuscity.com page 3 L’école Elder’s Mills juin 2014 School Council Corner Teacher Appreciation Lunch Thank you to everyone who participated and donated to our annual Teacher Appreciation lunch. Everything was delicious—a small gesture to the staff who make Elder's Mills such a successful and unique school. School Community BBQ is almost here! Join us on Thursday, June 5th from 6-8 p.m. at the School Community BBQ! The event will feature Jet Entertainment DJ with Jennifer Pappas (“Chloe”) from The Next Step, bouncy castles, and so much more! Don’t forget to bring your meal tickets if you pre-ordered your combo meals! A limited number of hamburgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers will also be available for sale on site. Event will be held rain or shine!! (Back of school or, in case of rain, inside the gym.) Volunteer Appreciation Tea We look forward to the Volunteer Appreciation Tea on Wednesday, June 2nd at 2:30 p.m. hosted by the staff of Elder's Mills. We appreciate your thoughtfulness – what a lovely way to close out the school year! As we come to the end of another school year... The School Council would like to take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to the staff at Elder’s Mills for all of your hard work on behalf of our students and school community throughout the past year! It’s been an amazing first year as a single-track FI school and we look forward to continuing to work together next year. A big thank you as well to all School Council members and volunteers – we truly could not have done it without you!! Our first school council meeting is Wednesday September 17th, 2014. We’ll see you all in the fall! First Day of School Paint-a-Plow Contest Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Our Grade 5 Students participated in the Paint-a-Plow Art Contest. This If your child will not be in was a contest that the Public Works Department for the City of Vaughan attendance on the first day of put on. Students had to create a mural that represented our neighbour- school in September, please notify hood. Winning schools will be declared next month. Great Job Eagles! our school office at 905-893-1631 or at the school your child will be attending in September. Students who will be absent on extended vacations in September are required by the Ministry of Education Bill 52 to complete a form indicating their expected return to school. Please drop by the office if you require a form. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter. page 4 L’école Elder’s Mills juin 2014 LIBRARY NEWS… LES NOUVELLES DE LA BIBLIOTHEQUE… The Forest of Trees was an amazing day! A huge thank you to all the parents that helped supervise on this event! We had lots of fun and we hope to go again next year.