March Break

March Break is from March 9-17(Inclusive).

EQAO Dates

The following are the GPPS grade three and six EQAO dates for the 2012-2013 school year: May 27th- June 6th.

Please refrain from booking any students’ medical appointments during that time.

Kindergarten Registration Commencing February 1, 2013

Kindergarten registration will commence on February 1, 2013 for the 2013-14 school year. Regis-tration forms are available on YRDSB website: www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca. Chil-

dren who were born in 2008 (SK) and 2009 (JK) (turn four or five years old dur-ing 2013), live within the school bound-ary, and whose parents are public school tax supporters, will be eligible to register for kindergarten. A kindergarten informa-tion session for parents is being planned for this spring. For more information please visit the YRDSB website. A “Welcome to Kindergarten” informa-tion session will take place in mid to late May at Glad Park P.S.

French Immersion Registration

As indicated in the recent January 2013 newsletter, parents considering registering their children for the French Immersion program were

encouraged to attend the informa-tion session held at Glad Park P.S. on Wednesday, January 23, 2013, at 7:00 pm in the school gymna-sium.

Online registration will take place from February 1st, 2013 until Febru-ary 15th, 2013. Registrations will be accepted online only, if you require assistance or do not have access to the internet, please contact your child’s current school. Staff mem-bers at any York Region District School Board site can assist you with the online registration process.

Please note that where demand ex-ceeds capacity, students for the des-ignated attendance area school will be selected using a computerized random ranking process. French Immersion may take place in a single track (French only), Primary dual track or Gr. 1-8 dual track school environment. Students may begin the French Immersion program in one location/track, but may be re-quired to continue in a different lo-cation/track as the program evolves.

Parents looking for more informa-tion can visit the Board’s website at www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

Getting Our Students Organized

Many parents have told teachers that one of the challenges they have is children who are very disorganized! Included in this newsletter is a suggestion list of strategies you can use to promote

better organizational skills. These can be taught with explicit modeling and lots of patience! Good luck!

FROM THE PRINCIPAL ’S DESK...

GLAD NEWS GLAD PARK PUBLIC SCHOOL

300 GLAD PARK AVE., STOUFFVILLE, ON., (905) 642-0224

FEBRUARY, 2013 T. MCELREA, PRINCIPAL

G. SADAKA, VICE-PRINCIPAL

S. BOYUK, J. ROSE, NANCY GEORGE OFFICE ADMINISTRATION

L. JOHNSTONE, SUPERINTENDENT (905)940-7800

L. CARRUTHERS, TRUSTEE (905)953-0562

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

SCHOOL COUNCIL 2, 3

FROM THE VP ’S DESK 4

LITERACY STRATEGIES 4,5

ORGANIZATIONAL TIPS 6

ROOTS OF EMPATHY 7, 8

ARTS @ BAYTHORN & FSL REVIEW

9

WINTER SUN SAFETY, OUR GOLD MEDALIST, PACKING LUNCHES

10

STUDENT SUCCESS ASSEMBLY

11

FEBRUARY CALENDAR 12

FEBRUARY 2013 PAGE 2

School Council News Only one month away from March Break? Is it just because I am getting older that time seems to be passing by so quickly?

I heard on the news the other day that the 3rd Monday in January (which was January 21st) is officially known as “Blue Mon-day”….considered to be “the most depressing day of the year”. Apparently many have by now fallen off the “New Year Resolution” train…..and feel like there is nothing to look forward to, with all the holidays etc behind them. It’s funny how, to me, I am looking for-ward to winter coming to an end…..the hope of spring and summer are in sight…..the fact that it’s been absolutely freezing outside just encourages me more to hope in the weather to come. We live in a first world country. We have more that we need. We live lives of abundance, and not because we are wealthy, but be-cause we live in such a great country. We have more than our basic needs met and when we know people in need, we reach out as a community and individually to help those who need support. It was such an honor to help co-ordinate the Families Helping Families Christmas collecting this year. To see so many people from all different backgrounds give to help families in our school community have a blessed Christmas. I honestly cried when I saw all the wonderful contributions. No time for depression and “blue Monday”…..there is just to much to be thankful for and my mama used to tell me “there is always somebody who has it worse off than you, be thankful, and look and see who you can help”. Remember, it only a month away from March Break !! Daléne

QSP 2012-2013 Update

Making the transition to ONLINE for our QSP fundraiser was fabulous! We made less than we did last year,

BUT we made way more than we were told to expect. I think by next year we will all be “professional-online-QSP-

orderers!!!” We made just under $ 6 000.00 this year from the QSP fund-

raiser! Congratulations Glad Park!!

CCUPCAKE DAYS

We still have 3 cupcake days for the GPPS 2012-2013 School year!!! Thursday, February 14th Thursday, March 28th Wednesday, May 30th Please remember to send your children to school with 50c If they wish to purchase a cupcake. If you would like to help with baking and/or distribution of the cupcakes, please contact Lorr at : josh-nlorr@gmail.com

February 2013

FEBRUARY 2013 PAGE 3

Kiss N Ride Reminder Please arrive on time.

Please be patient. Please DO NOT drop your children off on the street.

Please DO NOT block any entrances and exits. Please Remember the right turn only policy when exiting.

Kiss n Ride volunteers are on both sides to help your children.

GGPPS Council Reminders FEBRUARY

ECO CLUB is still collecting clean milk bags for Mats for Haiti. The collection box is outside the school office.

The WRITING CONTEST continues at GPPS. Remember to encourage your children to READ EVERY DAY!!

Our next School Council meeting is :

February 4th, 2013 @ 7pm in the school library.

PAGE 4 GLAD NEWS

From the VP’s Desk . . . As we begin a new year, it is an opportunity to take stock of the many blessings that enrich our lives. The Glad Park community has kept spirits positive, shown support and compassion for one another and reached out to offer help within the school community.

Despite the current labour situation and challenges we are hearing about in the news, messages and let-ters we are getting from the board office, it continues to be a genuine pleasure to work in such a welcom-ing and positive community with staff and students who possess carefree smiles and genuine hearts. We are proud of the tremendous respect and good manners demonstrated by Glad Park students and the ef-fort that each child makes to contribute to the vibrant and positive climate of the school. It is the spirit of giving and camaraderie that helps to ensure that each child can explore personal talents and grow with confidence. The foundation of the Glad Park community rests on strong family values that embrace the qualities of good character.

Teachers are taking the time to individually develop and refine their professional learning by pursuing a range of activities such as professional reading, reading readily-available articles and books written by ‘experts’ and participating in online events or blogs with invited professionals, collaborating and planning with colleagues, and reflecting on their daily practice.

Together with our students, parents and School Council we create our school community. Your confi-dence and your involvement are integral to the role of helping to improve student achievement at Glad Park. We appreciate and value your on-going support and invite you to keep this vibrant partnership thriving.

Mme. Sadaka Reading Strategies

Useful Strategies to Assist your Child with Reading Establish a routine at home for reading: It could be before bed, on a Sunday night or whenever suits you and your child. You could even have a regular reading night where the whole family gets together and reads. This is one of the best ways for developing a lifelong positive attitude to reading.

Praise every effort: Especially when confidence is low, and even when confidence is high. Help your child feel good about reading.

Treat the child as an individual: Don't compare their performance with other children - it doesn't help because it makes them feel as though they are not good enough.

Be a role model: Let them see you reading. Take the family to the local library and take an interest in what types of books they borrow. You can even make suggestions, but resist the temptation to impose your own choices.

Show them that books are worthwhile: Give books as presents and show your child how to take care of them. Encourage consistent use of the school library: Ask your child about the books they have borrowed and share themwith your child.

If your child is a non reader, don't feel guilty: The causes of reading problems are very complex and if your child isexperiencing difficulties with this fundamental skill, the best thing you can do is to acknowledge the problem and do something about it.

Practical: Getting Started with Reading

PAGE 5 GLAD NEWS

PAGE 6 FEBRUARY 2013

PAGE 7 GLAD NEWS

Roots of Empathy

Roots of Empathy

Our Roots of Empathy program has been running in two kindergarten classes since October 2012. The Roots of Empathy program teaches children about their own feelings and the feelings of others by welcoming a baby into the classroom, our youngest teacher! This evidence based program was started by Mary Gordan in 1996 in Toronto. The program is now on three continents and has reached over 500,000 children. Through ongoing research we know that teaching empathy to chil-dren greatly reduces aggression and bullying and increases emotional literacy. Due to ‘feel good’ emotions, neurotransmit-ters make positive connections in the brain.

Both Melissa von Kaufmann and Mari Cannon, Designated Early Childhood Educators, are trained instructors of the Roots of Empathy program, and collaboratively host the program with their team partners, Mrs. Neprily and Mrs. McGrath.

The Roots of Empathy instructor teaches a specialised lesson plan before and after the baby visit. Overall, the pro-gram runs for nine months and covers nine themes. Thus far we have covered the following themes: Meeting the Baby, Cry-ing and Caring and Planning for the Baby. We are currently exploring the fourth theme, ‘Emotions’.

Emotions are critical to the Roots of Empathy program because it is here that we can focus most directly on the im-portance of emotional literacy: recognising, understanding and sharing ones feelings and being aware of the feelings of others.

Emotions are explored through the entire program. This theme focuses on expressing, defining and naming emo-tions. The emphasis is on being able to express feelings whether negative or positive, their need to be shared, dealt with and explored.

Continued on page 8 . . .

PAGE 8 FEBRUARY 2013

Roots of Empathy

Roots of Empathy - continued from page 7 . . .

The sessions are hosted around the green Roots of Empathy blanket. This is the anchor for a safe, inclusive and accepting environment where the children can express their feelings. They are not judged and every voice is heard.

During their play our children are demonstrating empathy through their actions and problem solving skills. The children are displaying an improvement in their pro-social behaviour by giving thought to the choices they are making. Also, we have observed an increased use of emotional literacy in social situations through la-beling their of their own feelings and the feelings of others.

This is the core of empathy!

PAGE 9 GLAD NEWS

arts@baythorn Would your child enjoy learning the curriculum through the Arts?

If so, the York Region District School Board offers an Elementary integrated Arts program at Baythorn Public School. Students cur-rently in grades four and five may apply for the art@baythorn program, where they will have the opportunity to explore the disci-plines 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, interested students and their families are invited to attend an information evening at Baythorn Public School on Tuesday, February 12 at 7:00pm in the gymnasium.

Applications will be available on Tuesday, February 12 in the Baythorn P.S. main office and on the school website. www.baythorn.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

French as a Second Language Programs Recommendations based on YRDSB’s French as a Second Language (FSL) review are being implemented to allow YRDSB to continue to offer its total early FI program while also accommodating the growing number of students who wish to participate. These recom-mendations will also enable our Board to strengthen its Core French program to provide more active and authentic learning. One of the recommendations was to establish consistency among elementary FI schools in terms of the hours of French instruction and the subjects taught in French. Regardless of where students attend a YRDSB French Immersion program, they will have access to the same number of hours of French instruction. All subjects will be offered in French in Grades 1 to 3. Starting in Grade 4, English will

be introduced as a subject, math will be taught in English and a portion of the Physical Education, Health and Arts subjects will also be taught in English. Starting in Grade 6, the program will be shared equally between French and English instruction. We’ve also developed an accommodation plan to ensure we can continue to welcome all students who wish to enrol in the French Immersion program and provide long-term consistency and equity of access to all students in York Region. Implementing the recommendations from our FSL review

will allow YRDSB to continue to offer high quality, sustainable FSL programs throughout the Board.

Lates at Glad Park P.S. Over the past few months we have noticed an increase in the number of students who are arriving after the bell has gone at 8:10 a.m. Many of the morning routines take place during the first fifteen minutes. Students arriving late not only miss the morning announce-ments, having their agendas and homework checked but also important instructional information. It is also disruptive to their fellow classmates. Anyone arriving after the bell must report to the office for a late slip. Thank you for your ensuring your child arrives to school on time.

Parents are also reminded that there is no supervision before 8.00 a.m. Having students wait in the building earlier than 8.00 creates a risk to students and their safety as there is no supervision at that time. We ask that you make the necessary arrangements for your children before 8.00 a.m. so that they are not left unsupervised.

Drop off and Pick Up at Glad Park PS In order to keep our students safe we would like to remind our parents of our procedure in place for drop off and pick up. In the morning there is an excellent Kiss and Ride at the side of the school. You may use that to drop off your child from 7:55 a.m. Please do not enter the parking lot from 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 and 2:30 pm – 3:15 pm. We have 18 buses entering our bus loop and it is not safe for children to be going between buses to get to their cars in the lot even with adult supervision. In the afternoon you may use the church parking lot to park your car while you walk across to get them. When leaving the parking lot or Kiss and Ride you may only turn right. Buses only may go left as they leave us and enter St. Marks for pick up of stu-dents. Your continued co-operation in keeping our students safe is greatly appreciated. On another note please be aware that the bus loop is a fire route and you may not at any time park your car in the loop, bylaw officers do parole the lots and tickets are being issued. Unfortunately, parking spaces are very limited at Glad Park.

PAGE 10 GLAD NEWS

Winter Sun Safety It’s true. The winter sun contains UV rays and sunburns do occur, even though it is cold outside. Winter sun facts:

Snow reflects up to 80 per cent of UV rays, which bounce off the ground, so sunburns can occur in unusual areas (e.g., under the chin)

Sports at higher altitudes increase the risk of serious sunburn, as there is less atmosphere to block the sun’s rays

“Snow blindness” can occur if your eyes are unprotected - eyes can temporarily feel gritty and watery

Protect yourself:

Cover up! When outside, wear protective clothing and a hat

Wear sunglasses with 100 per cent UVA and UVB protection. Close-fitting, wrap-around styles can offer greater protection

Use a sunscreen and lip balm SPF 30 or higher

Remember to apply sunscreen 15 to 30 minutes before going outdoors and reapply every two Hours

For health-related information call York Region

Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653, TTY 1-866-252-9933 or visit www.york.ca

Our Gold Medalist The 2013 Canadian National Taekwondo Championship took place in Vancouver from January 9 to 14 with 602 participants from all over Canada competing in both the sparring and pattern events. Brianna L. competed in 3 events, individual pat-tern, team pattern and sparring.

Competition for the individual pattern was extremely stiff and Brianna was tied in second place with 2 other competitors. After much deliberation and reviewing the presentation score within the overall score, Brianna obtained the bronze medal even though she has the same score as the silver medalist as her presentation score was behind the silver medalist by 0.1.

As for the team pattern, Brianna and her teammates easily won the gold medal for this event.

On the 4th day of the competition, Brianna woke up with high fever which we found out several days later that it was a result of an ear infection. We were not

certain if she was even able to spar as she was weak and dizzy. Besides the high fever, Brianna also had a fractured finger which she had injured 3 weeks before this championship. However, despite a fever and a broken finger, Brianna took some medication and was determined to com-pete in the sparring event as she had been train-ing 6 days a week for the past 4 years. Even though her kicks were much weaker and her speed was slower, Brianna won the gold medal and became the 2013 National Champion for her division. (by Lucretia Yeong - parent)

Celebrating Student Success, January Tree of Respect

Celebrating Student Success, January

Academic Achievement

The traits that support respect and represent our criteria for this recognition include: Courage, Empathy, and Re-sponsibility.

The follow-ing areas are consid-ered when recognizing students for the Aca-demic Achieve-ment Cer-tificates: subject perform-ance, learn-ing skills develop-ment, and effort.

Student Teacher

Julia Raguimov Mme. Umnikova

Madelyne Merkley Mme. Balinda/Mme. Smerek

Philip Terrigno Mme. Dupuis

Prince Sahota Mrs. Gillingham

Kobe To Mme. Cardy

Courtney McGuinty Ms. McGrath

Taeja Octeau Mme. Nunkoo

Noorhan Eliwa Mme. Walsh

Julia Durbin Mme. Kennedy

Jack Lynch Mlle. Alexan

Nile Eastmond Mrs. Neprily

Matthew Berger Ms. Ratti

Georgia Bender Ms. Skinner

Meehan Alhaq Mme. Berlatie

Grace Dupuis Mme. Rachlis

Shane Rizzo Ms. Duberry

Brenna Sulman Mrs. Gujol

Keshigan Sivakumar Mrs. Driedger

Kirsten Marshall Mme. L. Robert

Arjun Supeekaran Ms. Morrow

Landon Gillard Mrs. Taylor

Erin MacLaine Mr. Pietowski

Alex Gurdyal Mrs. Goad

Malcolm Condori-Harvey Mr. Singh

Alexis Xenophontos Mr. Attwell

Caitlyn McIlmoyle Ms. Bezuyen

Junnat Butt Mme. Nastase

Daniel Paulraj Mr. Banfield

Alexandra Romualdo Mlle. Wright

Mackenzie Alejandria Ms. Mann

Luis Condori-Harvey Mrs. Dare

Bryanna Oake Mlle. Thurgood

Maxwell Lupinacci Mrs. Chapkin

Mantes Kooner Mr. Sinclair

Amelia Sakamoto Mme. Elkhoury

Student Teacher

Julian Troiani Mme. Umnikova

Krishan Pahirathan Mme. Balinda/Mme. Smerek

Maggie McDonald Mme. Dupuis

Sahil Dhamija Mrs. Gillingham

Jordan (J.D.) Leyland Mme. Cardy

Jesse Gottschling Ms. McGrath

Isabella Morris Mme. Nunkoo

Magdalena Grammenopoulos Mme. Walsh

Nathan Lor Mme. Kennedy

Kaddie Trujano-Guerrero Mlle. Alexan

Noor Mustafa Mrs. Neprily

Jeff West Ms. Ratti

Aidan Hamilton Ms. Skinner

Nyah Madala Mme. Berlatie

Riley Oliver Mme. Rachlis

Brayden Schembri Ms. Duberry

Evie Kozak-Holland Mrs. Gujol

Megan Scherk Mrs. Driedger

Berk User Mme. L. Robert

Sam Roy Ms. Morrow

Markhai Lawrence Mrs. Taylor

Ethan Timbrell Mr. Pietowski

Jelani Peckoo Mrs. Goad

Tia Pratt Mr. Vakharia

Nate Anderson Mr. Singh

Jennifer Stirling Mr. Attwell

Owen McKnight Ms. Bezuyen

Jonah Barclay Mme. Nastase

Brenton Jackson Mr. Banfield

Jalen Won Mlle. Wright

Jacob Hoover Ms. Mann

Kaila McGuinty Mrs. Dare

Erika Sampson Mlle. Thurgood

Faye Thomaidis Mrs. Chapkin

Hunter Williams Mr. Sinclair

Jake MacAndrew Mme. Elkhoury

FEBRUARY 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

27 28 Day 4 29 Day 5 30 Day 1 Sub Day

31 Day 2 Student Success Assembly February Newslet-ter emailed home.

1 Day 3 PA Day (no classes for students; staff are working on report cards).

2

3 4 Day 4 3:00 pm: Staff Meeting 7:00 pm: School Council Meeting

5 Day 5 6 Day 1 Lice Checks Pizza Day

7 Day 2 Lice Checks

8 Day 3 9

10 11 Day 4 Transition IPRC’s

12 Day 5 Term 1 Reports go home Gr. 7 VIP Pro-gram @ 1:15 pm

13 Day 1 Sub Day

14 Day 2 Cupcake Day Students return signed page 3 of report card.

15 Day 0

PA Day (no classes for students - staff at school working on professional learning).

16

17 18 Day 0 Family Day (no classes for students or staff)

19 Day 3 20 Day 4 Pizza Day

21 Day 5 22 Day 1 23

24 25 Day 2 26 Day 3 27 Day 4 Sub Day

28 Day 5 1 Day 1 Student Success Assembly March-April Newsletter emailed home.

2

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday