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L’école Elder’s Mills
La Voix des Aigles
120 Napa Valley Ave., Woodbridge, ON L4H 1L1
Website: [email protected]
Tel: 905-893-1631 Fax: 905-893-7371
School Priorities: Well-being and Mental Health, Modern Learning, Math
Principal: RosannaTotino Superintendent: Daniel Wu
Vice Principal: Anita Arci-Martello Trustee: Nadeem Mahmood
February, 2020
Administrators’ Message
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The development of good character is a shared responsibility among students, staff, and families. When we take opportunities to teach, promote and celebrate good character, we are working on supporting learning and working environments that are caring and respectful. Throughout the school year, we focus on ten character attributes. During the month of February, we will be focusing on the attribute of initiative. Initiative is about acting without being prompted by others. We do what needs to get done without having to be prompted to do it, working towards the achievement of a goal.
Wishing everyone a happy Family Day long weekend!
Mme Totino & Mme Arci-Martello
Recess Times
All students are required to go outside twice a day. Please make sure your child comes to school dressed appropriately to go outdoors. All students should have an outdoor pair of shoes or boots, as well as an indoor pair of shoes to wear in the classroom. Students who are ill should not come to school until completely recovered as indoor supervision is not available during recess. Please make sure that your child has a change of clothes at school.
School Council Meeting – February 4
Please join us on February 4 in the school library between 7 and 8 p.m. for our school council meeting. All are welcome!
Message from Our Trustee As we enter another month of winter, this is a good time to be thinking about our health, well-being and the importance of self-care. We know that, like all of us, our students can focus better when they feel better. Our schools play an important role in health and mental health promotion and education, and fostering well-being and mental health is one of our priorities as a school board. There is a lot of work taking place in our schools and board to create healthy schools and promote mental health and well-being, including:
Providing training and resources for educators on strategies to support mentally healthy classrooms for all students, including holding a mental health conference.
Hiring identity specific mental health workers and developing partnerships with community partners to serve the diverse needs of our students.
Developing a Student Suicide Intervention Protocol to help keep students safe in the event of suicidal thoughts or actions.
Educating students about the risks of substance use and misuse, including vaping and cannabis. Providing strategies and supports for students in preparing for exams and managing stress.
This commitment is also reflected in Board policy like the Healthy Schools and Workplaces policy and procedures. Setting policy, which governs the operation of the Board, is one of the roles of trustees, and we greatly value the input provided by students, staff members, family and community members. I encourage you to look at the policies under review and share your feedback. We have a lot to look forward to in 2020. At the Board meeting in December, trustees unanimously approved the addition of new permanent Indigenous Trustee and Indigenous Student Trustee positions. We are committed to Indigenous Education in our Board and it is important that these voices are represented at the table. We hope to fill the positions as soon as possible and will share more information as it becomes available. A message from the Chair of the Board of Trustees is also available on the Board website at www.yrdsb.ca. Nadeem Mahmood Trustee, Vaughan, Wards 1 and 2
Assembly for Mme Waiser
On December 20, students and staff gathered in the gym for a short assembly to wish Mme Waiser much success as she would be transitioning into her new role as Principal of Thornhill P.S. effective January, 2020. Thank you Mme Waiser for all your positive contributions to our school!
Celebrating Diversity
Reporting Student Absences Parents are able to inform the school office of their child’s absence in three different ways. Absences can be entered into Edsby which is available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. Also, future absences can be reported at any time by sending an email to the school attendance email address at: [email protected] or parents may choose to contact the school office between 8:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. on the day of absence.
Are you Moving?
This is the time of year when we begin planning for the next school year. In order to assist us with staffing, if you know that you are moving out of the area or that your child(ren) will not be returning to Elder’s Mills in September, kindly inform the School Office at 905-893-1631.
Thank you.
Math Learning at Home Have you ever thought about using picture books to learn math with your child? Children of all ages love stories and they are a friendly way to engage in math talk about numbers and other mathematical concepts. The visual displays can help children understand the math and the story line helps them connect math to their everyday life.
Using picture books to explore math can: Help children learn mathematical concepts and skills Provide children with a meaningful context for learning mathematics Supports children’s development and use of mathematical language and communication Help children learn mathematical problem solving, reasoning, and thinking Provide children with a richer view of the nature of mathematics Provide children with improved attitudes towards mathematics.
Integrating children's literature and mathematics in the classroom: Children as meaning makers, problem solvers, and literary critics. Schiro (1997)
Sometimes it’s hard to find the math in books. Here are a few concepts you can talk about when reading the following books:
Mice on Ice by Eleanor May
Albert and his friends go skating and are making shapes in the ice with their skates. This story highlights the names of shapes and the properties that describe them.
Math Curse by Jon Scieszka
When Mrs. Fibonacci, the math teacher, tells the class that you can think of almost everything as a math problem, one of her students feels that he is cursed when he starts creating math problems out of his everyday life. This funny story will help children make connections to the many ways they engage in math problem solving on a daily basis.
IF: A Mind-Bending Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers by David J. Smith
“IF, scales down or shrinks huge events, spaces and times by comparing them to everyday objects that children understand.” This book engages readers in proportional reasoning and encourages older children to discuss complex world topics.
RESPECT RESPONSIBILITY EMPATHY FAIRNESS INITIATIVE
PERSEVERANCE HONESTY INTEGRITY COURAGE OPTIMISM
Teachers have celebrated the following students who demonstrated empathy on a consistent basis. Congratulations go to the following recipients!
Kiss N’ Ride This is a reminder to all parents who drop off their children in the loop to move up to the front of the loop rather than remain by the tarmac. We are still seeing some parents who are parking at the end of the driveway which prevents other cars from entering and this also blocks our neighbours who are on the street. We are finding that the last five minutes before the bell rings is when this is happening the most. Please be mindful of others as we strive to ensure student safety in the Kiss N’ Ride loop.
Black History Month February is designated as Black History Month. It is a time to reflect on the stories, experiences and accomplishments of Canada’s black community. This year’s theme in YRDSB is “Celebrating Black Excellence.” At Elder’s Mills Public School, we will be recognizing these Canadians who made major contributions to Canada’s culture and legacy. We will also be having a guest presenter, Errol Lee, on February 4th to promote awareness of this and also encourage what we can do to demonstrate caring on a daily basis towards everyone. A visual display in the front hallway recognizes some of the important contributions of black Canadians. We will also be sharing some of these important contributions on the morning announcements during the month of February.
Our Ukulele unit is coming to a close
for the Grade 4’s and 5’s. Some
grade 2 and 3 classes will be visiting
the grade 4’s for a ukulele lesson. The
grade 5’s will be performing the
melodies they composed over the last
month. Both grades will be moving
onto Bucket Drumming in the new
term!
Grade 6’s are finalizing their Theme
and Variation Compositions and
looking forward to performing them!
They will continue to develop their
fundamental techniques on their
instruments, and begin performing
full-length songs as a class!
Grade 7’s and 8’s have survived their
Metronome Madness Assignments
and will be performing them in the
next month. Coming up, they will be
introduced to some advanced music
theory concepts including major,
minor and chromatic scales.
Our Winter Concert was a great
success! Thank you to all the
parents/guardians, staff, and students
for supporting the EMPS Music
department. The funds raised will be
used to purchase new music and
instruments!
February Music Newsletter
Junior Concert Band
Congratulations to the Junior Concert Band
for their first performance at the Winter
Concert. They have stepped-up their level of
repertoire and are currently preparing two
contrasting pieces for Music Alive.
Musician of the Month: Olivia V.
Senior Concert Band
Senior Concert Band has been working very
hard this past month, with rehearsals and
sectionals. They are preparing two pieces
that will greatly test the band’s technical
proficiency, and their musical expression!
Musician of the Month: Brishna C.
Small Ensembles
The Jazzy 8’s continue to expand their
repertoire, taking on a latin tune, but still
staying true to their jazz roots. Lyrical
Dreams is a grade 8 band that performed at
the Winter Concert, and they have been
working on some new popular material for
the next concert. We have emerging grade 6
ensembles such as For Nations rehearsing
Another One Bites the Dust, and another
small band rehearsing Pirates of the
Caribbean.
Musician of the Month
Musician of the Month is an award given to
one student each month, one in Junior Band
and one in Senior Band. The award winner is
chosen entirely by the band members, who
vote for the member they believe has
demonstrated the most musicianship
throughout the month. Congratulations to our
November and December winners - Natalie
F, Ajay S, Claire S, and Sofia I.
Quote of the Month :
“The true beauty of
music is that it
connects people. It
carries a message, and
we, the musicians, are
the messengers.”
Roy Ayers
Joke of the
Month
Thank you for
your support!
