Candy Cane Reindeer Sales

The Ontario Kindergarten program is an inquiry based program that allows students to explore topics that interest them, while still learning important skills like reading, writing, and mathematics. 

This past month, our kindergarten classes have been interested in pet care and animal adoption and have also been learning about Kwanzaa. 

Through the inquiry of these topics, students learned that there is a need for local and global community outreach to support children in Africa as well as animals in need right here in Canada. 

As contributing citizens, the kindergarten classes have made Candy Cane Reindeer to sell for $1 each during snack recess all week next week. All proceeds will be divided evenly and donated to SOS Children's Villages Charity and the Underdog Railroad Canada Charity. 

If you wish to support our Kindergarten students' efforts, next week send your child(ren) with a loonie for a Candy Cane Reindeer that supports two good causes and one priceless learning opportunity.

Grade 1 French Immersion Information Sessions and Registrations

Information Sessions

Information sessions for Grade 1 entry into the French Immersion (FI) program will take place at French Immersion schools that have a Grade 1 program on January 16, 2020 at 7 p.m. 

Please visit YRDSB’s website in January 2020 http://www.yrdsb.ca/Programs/fi/Pages/Program-Locations.aspx to find the FI program location for your elementary school location. 

Registration

FI registration will begin on January 17, 2020. Parents or guardians of Senior Kindergarten students entering Grade 1 in 2020, and wishing to enrol in the FI Program, can visit or call their home school office and request an Office Index Card - short version. This Office Index Card must be signed by the principal of the home school. Parents or guardians then take this form, along with one piece of identification showing their address to the designated FI program location to register, between January 17 and February 7, 2020.  Registration during this period is not first come, first served.

Late Registrations

Late registrations are those submitted after February 7, 2020.  Late registrations will be treated on a first- come, first-served basis and will be considered subsequent to registrations received during the registration period should overflow be necessary.

Accommodation Plan

YRDSB’s FI Accommodation Plan provides long-term consistency and equity of access to all students in York Region and will enable YRDSB to continue to offer the FI program to all who wish to enrol. The FI program will be offered in Dual Track or Single Track settings, in a variety of configurations. In order to meet community needs and optimize available space in our schools, a community's Grade 1-8 FI program may be provided over more than one school during the course of a student's FI education. Space requirements at some schools may mean that siblings are in different schools for primary dual track French Immersion programs due to differing grade structures. Like any of our schools across the Board, changes to school boundaries, and/or the accommodation model for the French Immersion program may need to be considered when new schools open, a school experiences enrolment growth, and program changes occur. This will allow flexibility in addressing community needs and the opportunity to use existing space in schools. 

More information is available on the Board’s website: www.yrdsb.ca. Please note: Some of the FI accommodation plans will require facility modifications or the development of new schools and will require short-term transition plans that might include overflow while we work toward the long-term vision. Overflow refers to situations in which the Board directs students to attend a school other than their community school or optional program for a specific period of time, as defined in Policy #108.

Scheduled Painting

Please be advised that our school is scheduled to have painting take place in the near future. 

The painting of selected areas within the school has been scheduled to start on December 2nd and will only take place after school hours.

The areas which will be painted are as follows:

Interior Doors

Interior Door Frames

Exterior Doors

Exterior Door Frames

The paint used by the York Region District School Board is a water based (latex) product. 

Individuals that are not hypersensitive to latex paint should suffer no ill effects.  Safety Data Sheets (M)SDS will be on site for information.

Please contact the school if you require further information at (905) 294-3484.

A Message from our Trustee

One of our top priorities as a school board is creating an environment that enables our students to focus on learning and be successful. That means creating environments where students are safe and feel safe, where all of our students know that they are welcome and supported, and where they see their identities reflected, valued and celebrated. 

Championing Equity and Inclusivity

Championing Equity and Inclusivity is one of the priorities outlined in the Board of Trustees’ Multi-Year Strategic Plan. We are fortunate to live in one of the most diverse regions of Canada, and welcome students, staff and families with a broad range of identities and experiences. There has been much work underway at the Board in the past few months to ensure we are providing all of our students with a safe, equitable and inclusive learning environment, including: 

 Providing Board-wide training for over 12,000 school staff on anti-Black racism.

• Bringing together over 250 students and staff at our annual SpeakOut conference for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
• Acknowledging Treaties Recognition Week, and learning about the importance of treaties and treaty relationships in Canada from First Nations community members.  
• Hosting a labour market information night for parents to learn about current and future career opportunities and employment trends.
• Bringing together hundreds of members of the education community for three days of learning focused on Indigenous Education and Equity at our world-renowned Quest conference. 

This is in addition to the ongoing work taking place in our schools. It is also important that our families know and feel that they are a valued, respected and important part of our school community. We recently held regional school council forums that brought together school council members from across the region to learn and share together on important topics such as engaging families, vaping and more. It was wonderful to see so many family members there. 

The Board of Trustees was also pleased to receive and commit to taking action on the recommendations in response to the Anti-Black Racism, Antisemitism, Classism and Islamophobia community consultations.  

Winter Months

With the winter weather already upon us, I also want to remind families that school transportation may be cancelled on extreme cold or inclement weather days, and there may be rare occasions when emergency weather conditions result in school closures.  To ensure families are aware, last month, we tested a new system to send text messages to families in emergency situations only. Information about transportation cancellations and school closures will also be available on Board and school websites, Board social media channels and local media. 

Many of our students and families will be celebrating days of significance and holidays in the coming weeks and months, and I wish you all the very best for the season. I hope everyone has a safe and happy winter break and we look forward to welcoming students back in January. 

Allan Tam

Trustee, Markham, Wards 4 and 5

Fundraising Priority Survey

Dear James Robinson Community,

尊敬的 James Robinson 社区(家庭)，

We are looking for community input for our 2019-2020 fundraising plan with this linked survey. While we would like to buy everything we want, we need to prioritize our spending. In a typical year, we raise $20000-$25000.

我们学校正在寻找社区对我们 2019-2020 学年度的筹款计划的资助。虽然我们想要购买所有适合学生学习的一切所需，但我们首要考虑到的是支出。通常，我们会筹集$20000-$25000。

Some of the proposed items on our fundraising plan are:

我们的筹款计划中的一些拟议项目包括：

Computers and iPads ($2000 +)

电脑和Ipads

·                  Currently, 94 computers were retired from our inventory by YRDSB

·                  目前，教育局已经从我们的库存中淘汰了94台电脑

·               The board will match $1.50 for every $1 the school will use to buy computers up to a maximum of $3000 (Total value = $5000, cost to school $2000)

·                  董事会将为学校用于购买电脑中每$1支付$1.5的补贴，最高会补贴到$3000。(合计＝$5000，学校成本为$2000)

Math ($1400)

数学

·         Mathletes special event

·         数学课外活动

·         Math Manipulatives  and resources for students

·         数学教材的资源补助

Literacy ($2300)

读写

         Forest of Reading Contest Books

 Raz Kids

Author Visit

 作家访问

Science ($1000)

科学

·         Equipment for STEM and SPARC projects

·         STEM 和 SPARC 项目的设备配置

·         Robotics equipment and tournament fees

·         机器人设备和比赛费用

Music and Arts ($1100)

音乐和艺术

·         New instruments for our Orff band

·         乐队的新乐器替换

·         Musical scores for performances

·         表演的乐谱

Mental Health are Well-Being Resources
身心健康是幸福的资源

·         Raven’s Nest, Robinson Recess Rangers

Outdoor Play and Learning ($2000)

户外游戏和字习

·         Outdoor equipment for the kindergarten pen

·         幼儿园户外玩的玩具

·         Tarmac painting ~ recess games that can be painted on the tarmac such as hopscotch, 4-sqaure, labyrinth etc

·         画在学校外面操场地面上玩的游戏，例如: hopscotch, 4-sqaure, labyrinth 等等

Currently the tarmac games are faded and need to be refreshed

因目前画在操场地面上的游戏已经褪色，需要重新刷新。

Grade 8 Graduation ($700)

8年级毕业费用

·         Awards

·         奖品

·         Decorations

·         装饰

Field Trip subsidy ($4950)

课外活动 (旅行) 补贴

·         Each student in the school will be subsidized $10 for a field trip and the funds may cover the entire cost of a field trip in some cases.

·         学校将为每位学生提供 $10 的课外活动补贴，在某些情况下，这些资金可能已经包括所有课外活动的全部费用。

Play Structure ($50000+)

滑梯设置 (操场里的公园)

·         Our current play structure is outdated and in need of replacement. The total project would cost between $50000-$90000. We would need to prioritize this item over the next few years in order to raise the funds to replace it.

·         我们现有的滑梯设置已经过时老化，需要更换整套的滑梯设置。整个项目的费用预算在 $50000-$90000 之间。我们将需要在未来几年内来筹集资金来替换它。

Please take a moment to complete this online survey to let us know which items you feel would be important to our students and school community. (https://forms.gle/ugkVmAKAtRzZyJ3C6 )

尊敬的 James Robinson 社区 (家庭)，敬请大家抽点时间完成这份网上调查，以让我们知道您觉得哪些项目对我们的学生和学校社区最重要。

Thank you！

谢谢！

Translation Services Needed

We are in need of finding someone in the JRPS community who could support us with written translation of some of our school to parent community communications. We need help with the following languages:

Simplified Chinese
Arabic
German
Spanish

If you would be willing to join our team, please contact the main office.

Morning Drop-Off and Dismissal Pick-Up

This is a gentle reminder to families that open entry morning supervision inside the school takes place between 8:15 - 8:30 a.m. and dismissal is at 3:00 p.m.. 

In the morning, please drop off your child at the school after 8:15 a.m. 

After school, make arrangements for pick up or child care at 3:00 if your child is too young to walk home and does not ride the bus.

Students in the school before 8:15, or left at school after 3:00 will be asked to go to the Highbirch Before and After School program and parents will be billed accordingly.

Photo Retakes November 21st

Closed eyes?

Bed head?

Not to worry!

Photo retakes will be November 21st. If you child requires a photo retake, please let your homeroom teacher or our main office know. Only students with parental permission to have a retake will be sent to the photographer.

Homework Night!!! November 27th from 6:15-7:30 p.m.

You are invited to James Robinson Public School’s

Homework Night!!

We will have many sessions to choose from including: ·      Games – how to promote oral language, math skills, turn-taking, etc. ·      What to do when your child says, “I have no homework.” ·      Representatives from TVO to provide information on their amazing programs – Mathify, Mpower, Homework Help ·      Technology to help out with homework – logging into Google Chrome, how to use Read and Write…and more! ·      Literacy – how to read with your child at home, math games for younger students ·       Math, Study Habits, and Google Classroom for Junior/Intermediate students

When:	November 27th, 2019 – 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.
Where:	James Robinson P.S.
What to bring:	Your family…including your child!

James Robinson Public School 誠意邀請您參與11月27日的: 功課輔導工作坊

家長可以選擇以下的項目：

·     當孩子說 ”我沒有功課” 時，家長可以怎樣應付？ ·     TVO (TVOntario) 網上功課輔導簡介 (Mathify, Mpower, Homework Help) – 由TVO工作人員講解 ·     如何運用Google Classroom/Chrome ·     如何強化小學生的閱讀和數學能力 ·     如何協助初中學生建立更好的學習技巧 ·     通過遊戲模式去強化孩子的溝通能力,數學,和學習能力

時間:	11月27日晚上6:15至7:30
地址:	James Robinson P.S.
需要帶什麼?	你的家人及子女

Field Closures

Every Fall and Spring when the weather is changing, we closely monitor the grassed areas of our yard for wear and tear in order to preserve the grass for the spring. When the temperatures hover around zero degrees and there is no hard packed snow base, we jeopardize the quality of the grass in the field which is expensive to repair. 

We will most likely be closing the playing fields soon and leave them closed until the snow base is deep enough to protect the grass. This is a decision made in conjunction with facilities management, caretaking, and admin based on the Standard Operating Practice of the Opening and Closing of Elementary School Grassed Areas & Playing Fields as outlined by the YRDSB Maintenance and Plant Services Department.

Remembrance Day

Our Remembrance Day assembly will take place at 10:45 on Monday, November 11th. All are welcome to attend. 

Each student will receive a poppy to wear on Remembrance Day. If students wish to donate a small amount for the poppy, money collected will support veterans' needs in Canada and would be gratefully accepted. Poppy donations can be deposited to the donation box in the front office of the school.

If you are in the building, please take the time to look at the trophy case and art installation in the front hall that have been designed to honour the sacrifice of our present and past soldiers for our freedom and way of life we enjoy as proud Canadians.

Fall Fest Fundraising Recap

Our annual Fall Fest Dance-a-thon was a huge success this year! The students had a fantastic time in the beautifully decorated gym and we managed to raise $3400 to support purchasing items for our school such as new computers, sports equipment, and musical instruments. Thank you to all parents who donated funds to our cause.

Thank you to Laura M.  and the parents on school council for putting on this amazing event for our school and students. Parents gave up their time to design the posters, organize the dance, decorate the gym, and manage the snack sales. Thanks to the staff who offered up prizes for the "I Made a Difference Today" raffle. Thanks to the grade 8 students for selling the snacks. Finally, huge thanks to Mrs. Lo in the office for managing the large amount of cash, cheques, and on-line donations that came in during the two weeks of this fundraiser.

Student Led Conferences

Student Led Conferences will be held on the evening of November 14 and morning of November 15th.

James Robinson will be using Edsby to book Student Led Conferences with teachers.

Families will need to create an Edsby account to access the online appointment scheduler for their child’s teachers for (Parent - Teacher Interviews/Student Led Conferences).

Only families who create an Edsby account prior to the schedule being opened Monday, November 4th, will have access. For help signing up for Student Led Conferences, please visit http://bit.ly/edsbyfamilies.

You will have received an email from York Region District School Board yesterday with instructions on how to create an Edsby account if you have not already signed up. If you do not see the email, please check your junk mail folder to ensure you do not miss this opportunity.

If you have difficulty signing up for Edsby, or scheduling your Student-Led Conference, please contact our main office at 905-294-3484

Important Timelines

Nov 4	Student Led Conference schedule opens at 8:00 am for booking, an invitation to book appointments will be sent to your Edsby inbox with a notification to your email.
Nov 13	Progress Report Cards sent home
Nov 13	Interview/Conference Schedule Closes at 4:00
Nov 14th/15th	Student Led Conferences
Nov 15	PA Day