It is hard to believe that we are about to say goodbye to yet another year! Everyone has been working diligently and the results are obvious—the progress reports are full of positive learning skills comments. Thank you Willowbrook

staff and congratulations to the students and parents! We all appreciated the many positive comments we heard during parent/teacher interviews and your ongoing support of our school. If you did not have an opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher, feel free to call him/her and they would be happy to discuss your child’s progress to-date.

We continue on our journey to determine student needs and improve student success. There is evidence of effective literacy and math instruction in every classroom; learning goals, success criteria and anchor charts are posted for student reference, as well as high interest instructional activities that promote critical thinking and inquiry based learning.

It has been a very busy few weeks! The intermediate volleyball teams made us proud, and we thank the coaches for their time and dedication. During the Remembrance Day Ceremony we had a special visitor Matthew Chapleau, from Thornlea Secondary School to play the Last Post. Tyler G. and Ethan G. demonstrated their commitment to social action by showing the movie Born Free and raising money for two animal sanctuaries. Over $400 was raised! In addition, some of our grade 7 and 8 students attended the Youth Voice Conference where they focused on student well being and mental health literacy.

The students and staff are busy practising for the Holiday Concert and Character Matters assemblies; both will be held on Wednesday, December 17th at 1:30 p.m. We hope that you will be able to join us as we celebrate the upcoming holiday season and recognize those students who will be receiving the character award of COMPASSION & EMPATHY. Once again we will be collecting hats and mittens, as well as non-perishable food items, and sharing in the spirit of giving. The last day to donate is December 12th. We thank you for your generosity. The last day of school for this calendar year is December 19th.

There is no doubt that all of us at Willowbrook P.S. have been working hard, and we are looking forward to a well deserved break. The staff at Willowbrook would like to extend warm holiday wishes to all our families. For those families who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, we wish you a Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and happy Kwanzaa. May you share happy times with family and good friends as you celebrate the promise and hope offered by the New Year! We look forward to seeing all students back to school on January 5th, 2015 well rested and ready for learning!

Lucy Giannotta & Tonya Vokey-Young

From the Principal’s Desk...

The Dragon’s Tales Compassion/Empathy - DECEMBER We strive to sense and appreciate the emotions of others, to "stand in their shoes." We demonstrate appreciation of and concern for their feelings. We try to understand issues from their perspectives even

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December 9: Outdoor Ed—Gr. 7 10: Outdoor Ed—Gr. 4 11: Outdoor Ed—Gr. 2 15: Immunizations 19: PJ Day 19: Last day of school for 2014

January

5: Back to School 14: School Council 15: Info Night for FI

(Gr. 1) @ Yorkhill 15: Info Night for arts@baythorn 16: PA Day JK Registration

P A G E 2

School Council Update

T H E D R A G O N ’ S T A L E S

When school finishes at 3:10 p.m., the ‘Kiss and Ride’ becomes extremely busy. Please keep ‘looping’ around as parking causes traffic issues and unsafe conditions for everyone. In addition, please do not park in front of the exit, and do not park in the parking lot. Parking is at a premium at Willowbrook. We have many visitors (i.e., therapists, support personnel, student teachers etc.) to our school and often they find it difficult finding a parking spot and/or leaving the property at the end of the day. Please be a polite and respectful driver to pedestrians and other drivers. Safety is everyone’s concern!

Our students are gearing up for a full Council at Willowbrook. While the Council will be organizing a number of events at Willowbrook they have already been engaged in cookie sales. Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday we will be selling nutritious snacks at morning recess.

Student Council

Just a brief reminder that frequent hand washing is the best prevention of spreading germs.

When packing your children's lunches, please remember to pack forks and spoons. If your child requires medication, you must come to the office and fill out the appropriate

medical forms. Staff are not able to administer medication until these forms have been completed by a parent or guardian.

Thank you to all the parents and teachers that came out at our last meeting on November 26th. There are a lot of exciting things happening this school year, and we can use your help making these events a great success. We are looking for volunteers to help organize the Spring Fling Dance on April 9th, 2015.

Please join us at our next council meeting on Wednesday, January 14th, 2015, at 7:00 pm

We wish you all Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year!

School Council

School Council Upcoming events: March 5 International Potluck April 9 Spring Fling Dance May 22 Staff apprecia-tion lunch June 25 Grade 8 Graduation School Parking Lot

Worth Mentioning...

Wanted: Volunteers to help with Pizza Many of our students enjoy pizza at school and this successful fundraising program depends on volunteers! Unfortunately, we are in jeopardy of losing the pizza program because we don’t have enough parent volunteers. Please call the office if you can give 1/2 hour of your time once a week!

P A G E 3 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4

Kindergarten Registration Kindergarten registration will commence on January 16, 2015 for the 2015-16 school year. Registration forms are available on YRDSB’s website: www.yrdsb.ca. Children who turn four or five years old during 2015, live within the school boundary and whose parents are public school tax supporters will be eligible to register for kindergarten. A kindergarten information session for parents is being planned for this spring. For more information please visit the YRDSB website or contact your local school.

Please notify us as soon as possible if your child will be away or late for school. A message can be left on our voicemail at any time by calling the school at (905) 886-0743. You can help your child be successful by ensuring that he/she arrives at school on time and prepared to learn. Being punctual is an important life-long skill to possess. Please note that our Safe School Arrival protocol mandates that if a child is unaccounted for and we are unable to contact either parent or the emergency contacts, we must call the police.

Lates and Absences

Bus Cancellations - please access local radio & T.V. stations School bus service may be cancelled from time to time due to inclement weather or poor road conditions. In these cases, parents and students should develop alternate care/transportation arrangements. Since some bussing schedules begin by 7:00 a.m. or earlier, all cancellation decisions must be made by 6:00 a.m. to ensure the safety of our students. Cancellation decisions will only be made after thorough consultation with school bus companies servicing York Region. Decisions are based on several factors including precipitation, air temperature and road conditions. If buses are cancelled in the morning, they will not operate in the afternoon. Therefore students transported to school by parents will require the same transportation home.

French Immersion Information Sessions and Registrations Information sessions for the French Immersion (FI) program will take place at Yorkhill Elementary School (Grade 1-3 FI program ) on January 15, 2015 at 7 p.m. FI registration will begin January 16, 2015. In order to streamline the registration process, parents or guardians of Senior Kindergarten students entering Grade 1 in 2015, and wishing to enroll in the FI Program, can visit or call the school office and request an Office Index Card - short version. The 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 Willowbrook PS to register between January 16 and February 13, 2015. This eliminates the need to provide duplicate enrolment information or to pre-register. 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. 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.

arts@baythorn

Would your child enjoy learning the Ontario curriculum through the Arts? If so, the York Region District School Board offers an Elementary integrated Arts program at Baythorn Public School. Students currently in grades four and five may apply for the arts@baythorn program, where they will have the opportunity to explore the disciplines of dance, drama, visual arts, and music while meeting the expectations of the Ontario Curriculum for grades five, six, seven, and eight.

To learn more about the arts@baythorn program, students and their families are invited to attend an information evening at Baythorn Public School on Thursday, January 15, 2015 @ 6:30 p.m. Applications will be on-line via the school website and available after the information night. Please contact Baythorn P.S. for further information www.baythorn.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

Holiday Heroes Food Drive Willowbrook P.S. will once again be assisting in the “Holiday Heros” Annual Food Drive. Please donate non-perishable food items to help families in need. The food drive will run from November 24 until December 11, 2014. Our donations will be picked up by York Regional Police on December 12, 2014. In past years, through your donations, our students made a tremendous contribution towards giving to families in need of, food for the season. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Volley Ball Team Update Thank you to the Girls Volleyball Team: Nikhita B., Stephanie M., Ashley H., Avivah M., Sahaar R., Tyra K., Elisha C., Mara B., Robyn X., and Kimia T., for your hard work, dedication and enthusiasm! Congratulations to the boys volleyball team; Dylan F., Sam C., Josh L., Jimin C., Nick N., Anthony L., Rambod Z., Eliya K, Richard F., Liam C., Lyam K., Andrew C., Yonni G., and Stergios M., for placing 3rd at the area tournament! Go Dragons! From: Mr. DeMarchi, Mr. Titus and Mrs. Gaudio

EQAO Strategic Plan Survey EQAO (Educational Quality Assessment Office) is developing a new Strategic Plan that will guide the agency’s efforts for the next five years. To help understand how the agency’s work can be most valuable to school communities in the years ahead, the EQAO asks that you enter the URL in your browser to complete the survey: https://eqao.fluidsurveys.com/s/EQAOStrategicPlan/. This survey is open to anyone in the school community in-cluding staff, parents, and students. Thank you for your support.

Character Matters Mural

Next time you have the opportunity to visit Willowbrook take a moment to enjoy the mural created by our students. This mural demonstrates the positive learning environment at Willowbrook and outlines the Character Traits for our Character Matters Assemblies throughout the school year.

Snow Rules Snow is wonderful! The children enjoy playing in it and building with it. Please remind your child to not throw snowballs. Snowballs are dangerous. We do not allow snow balls to be thrown in any area of school property. It is also important that students wear appropriate footwear at all times. Boots are a must in wintery weather!

Born Free & Charitable Giving On November 13, two grade 5 students and some of their friends held a fundraiser to raise awareness for two charities close to their hearts. With the support of Ms. Giannotta and Ms. Halmos, Ethan G and Tyler G organized the viewing of the movie Born Free, along

with a raffle of wildlife-related prizes. With your help and support they managed to raise $416 which will be split be-tween the charities Outreach for Animals in the US (www.outreachforanimals.org) and the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary just outside of Johannesburg, South Africa (www.lionwhisperer.co.za) Thank you to everyone who helped make this fundraiser a success, and helped to show our students that no matter how young you are, you can make a difference.

The First Snowfall The first snowfall of the year had all the students outside making the most of the day with fort building and snowman making. Sadly the mild weather following the snowfall meant the forts and snowmen disappeared. We look forward to the next opportunity when the students can put their constructive talents to good use! Remember to send children to school with appropriate clothing; winter boots, hats, mittens, scarves and of course winter coats and snow pants.

Health and Physical Education Curriculum As you are aware, the Ministry of Education is currently undertaking a consultation process that may lead to changes in Ontario’s Health and Physical Education curriculum. The York Region District School Board places great value on parent voice and we encourage you to contact the Ministry of Education directly to share your feedback at: Tel: 1-416-325-2929 or 1-800-387-5514

Address: 14th Floor, Mowat Block, 900 Bay Street, Toronto ON M7A 1L2 E-mail: Ministry: information.met@ontario.ca or Minister: minister.edu@ontario.ca

As a public institution, we trust that the Ministry will consider the input they receive. In the meantime, our schools will continue to deliver the Ontario curriculum. Parents/guardians are informed about the content of the growth and development portion of the curriculum and when the unit is being delivered. If you do not want your child to participate in the Growth and Development Unit, you may put your request in writing to your child’s teacher. An alternate program will be provided for your child.

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