1

McKee McNews March 2018

McKee Public School

35 Church Avenue

Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X6

Telephone: 416-395-2680 Safe Arrival Program: 416-395-2688 Fax 416-395-4497

School Website: http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/mckee Twitter: @McKeeSchool

Linda Curtis

Superintendent

416-396-9172

It has been a very busy month of February with Kindergarten registration, report cards

and interviews, Prologue, 100th day celebration, Valentines Day, Lunar New Year, Bee

Assemblies and Olympic Days.

Staff and students are gearing up for our big fundraiser of the year – our Dance-a-

thon. This year, our funds will go towards enhancements to our technology with a

focus on mental health and well-being. Our kick off assembly is planned for Friday,

March 2nd with our actual Dance-a-thon taking place on Wednesday, March 7th. In

addition, we are looking forward to our March Bee Assembly and Nowruz assembly

on Friday, March 23rd at 10:15 a.m. We are looking forward to celebrating the first

day of spring and the renewal of nature.

As we continue to ensure the safety of our students, we are asking that parents re-

frain from visiting their child’s classrooms during the instructional day to deliver items

like forgotten lunches, change of clothes or any other items. If you need to give your

child something, please drop it off at the school office and we will be sure to deliver it

to your child. Also, for those entering the front door before the late bell at 8:45 a.m.,

we will be asking that you allow one of our staff to escort your child or your child can

walk themselves to class.

Parking authority officials have been on site to assist us with ensuring that our fami-

lies are not double parking or leaving their cars unattended and blocking others. Stu-

dent safety is our top priority.

Effective schools are those that have a strong home-school relationship. My door is

always open and I look forward to discussing any issues that pertain to your child’s

education.

Jeanette Lang

Principal

Jeanette Lang Maleka Kaderbhai

Principal Vice-Principal

416-395-2680

Alexander Brown

Trustee

416-395-8411

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, March 1

Pizza Day

The Big Crunch @ 2:30 p.m.

Friday, March 2

Dance-a-thon Kick off

Kinder Assembly 10:10 a.m.

Grade 1-5 Assembly 12:45

p.m.

March 5-9 Spirit Week

(see theme days on p. 2)

Wednesday, March 7

Beach Day DANCE-A-THON

(see schedule on p. 2)

Thursday, March 8

Hot Lunch Lady

March 12—16

March Break (NO SCHOOL)

Thursday, March 22

Pizza Lunch

Friday, March 23

Bee Assembly Gr. 1, 3, 5 and

Nowruz Celebration 10:15

a.m.

Friday, March 23

Earth Hour 2-3 p.m.

Tuesday, March 27

Gr. 5 and SK

Graduation Photos

Thursday, March 29

Hot Lunch Lady

Friday, March 30

Good Friday— school is

closed

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

2

Holiday Assembly Page 2 McKee McNews March 2018

The McKee Dance –a-thon is almost here!

Yay! It is time for the much anticipated Dance-a-thon! Come join the fun as we celebrate BEACH Day at

McKee on Wednesday, March 7th, 2018!

The Dance-a-thon is our annual fundraiser. Last year, we raised a whopping $17 500 for the playground

fund. The entire school and community has been enjoying the amazing yard space as well as the awesome

playscape. Thank you again for your generous support!

We are setting our 2018 goal for $15 000!!! We would like to start replacing some of our 5 year old iPads

and add to our Chromebook collection. As well, the Phys. Ed equipment has not been replaced and updated

for many years. Whatever money is left over, will be set aside to fund an outdoor learning space for the pri-

mary yard.

Please continue your support of our fabulous school to make McKee the best school for our children.

Come show your school Spirit!

We will also have special days throughout the week to demonstrate our school spirit! It will be sooooo

much fun!

Time Classes

8:45 – 9:00 (15 min) Set up

9:00 – 9:50 (50 min) Grade 3+4 Rosenberg, Hwang, Dennis, Lott, Chung + Yu, Morris (164)

9:50 – 10:10 Recess

10:10 – 10:40 (30 min)

Kinder Cao, Caira, Nmezi, Shantz (131)

10:45 – 11:25 (40 min)

Grade 2 Jung, E.Lee, Lazarus, Thai, Trudel, Chu (129)

11:30 – 12:25 Lunch

12:35 -1:15 (40 min) Grade 1 Ten-Pow, Coelho, Li-Wong, Kenedy, Weir, Mak, Kan (133)

1:20 – 1:50 (30 min) Kinder Lowther, Secord-Swann, Paschalidis (90)

1:50 – 2:05 Recess

2:10 – 3:00 (50 min) Grade 5+4 Gagnon, Bitterhoff, Coles, Lee + Leung, Barker (175)

Monday, March 5 PJ / Stuffed Animal Day

Tuesday, March 6 Sports Day

Wednesday, March 7 Beach Day… Dance-a-thon! Thursday, March 8 Twin Day Friday, March 9 Crazy Hair / Hat Day

3

Valentines Day

Page 3 McKee McNews March 2018

McKee is on Twitter!

Follow us

@McKeeSchool

Lost and Found items will be put out on tables in the hallway

for the next two weeks. We have a variety of items we would

like returned back to their owners. Please come and take a

look. Unclaimed items will be donated during March Break.

Girls Volleyball

On February 20th, The McKee Girls' Volleyball Team attended a tournament

at Allenby Junior Public School. It was a day full of pride, joy and exceptional

sportsmanship. Their first opponent was John Wanless JPS. McKee's flawless

teamwork resulted in their first win of the tournament. Their next opponent

was Elkhorn PS. With unswerving determination, McKee won both rounds

again. Their final opponent was Allenby JPS, the home team. Even with un-

wavering perseverance, frustration and exhaustion had prevented McKee from

continuing their winning streak. In the end, they lost both rounds to Allen-

by. Despite the loss, the team played an amazing game. Congratulations to

Genevieve, Isabel, Lauren, Lela, May Lee, Nadine, Natalie, Parnian, Riko,

Sachi and Sadie for trying their best in the tournament. The team would like to

thank Mr. Lee and Ms. Trudel for their coaching and unfaltering support.

By Natalie Fung

100’s

Day

Celebration

Prologue—Tribal Vision Dance presents 'Visions of Turtle Island'.

Tribal Vision Dance is a family dance troupe from the Six Nations of

the Grand River Territory. The group is comprised of champion

singers and dancers with a wealth of knowledge and experience to

share with young audiences and educators to build a deeper under-

standing and appreciation of First Nations culture.

In this performance, Tribal Vision Dance explore First Nations history

and traditions and confront stereotypes in a high-energy, multidisci-

plinary performance. Singing, dancing, video and image presenta-

tion help explain the dances and illustrate the cultural experience of

First Nations peoples in Canada. The performance ended with the

traditional Hoop Dance which embodies a message of interconnect-

edness.

4

Page 4 McKee McNews March 2018

Character Education

On Tuesday, February 22nd, we

enjoyed our Bee Assembly to recognize our February

Character Trait of Fairness. We acknowledged our

McKee Bee recipients for the month of February from

kindergarten, grade 2, and grade 4 classes.

Throughout the month of March, we will be focusing our

attention on the character trait of Honesty.

Parents as Partners Conference

You’re invited to our annual Parents as Partners Conference! Registration is open.

The Parents as Partners Conference 2018 is on Saturday, April 28th at the Beanfield Centre. All parents are welcome!

This free conference – planned by parents, for parents – includes a variety of workshops and resources that will help any parent sup-

port their child in their achievement and well-being at school and at home.

Keynote speakers include Unspeakable Tracey—a motivational speaker and other special guests

Transportation, childcare, lunch and translators are all provided.

www.parentsaspartners.ca

Last March, McKee P.S. joined 282,000+ in taking

the Great Big Crunch. This Thursday, March 1st at

2:30pm, we will be taking part in The Great Big

Crunch once again. Our classroom Eco-Kids will be

spear heading this by teaching their classmates the

importance of celebrating healthy snacking, local

produce and food literacy. Happy Crunching!!!

On Friday, March 23rd 2018, schools all across Canada will be taking

on a challenge to reduce their use of energy in the classroom for

Earth Hour. At McKee, we are really trying to make a difference.

Instead of turning off the lights from 2-3pm, our staff and stu-

dents will try to save electricity by reducing whole classroom

energy consumption for the whole day!

Thinking about our earth, keeping it

green…everyday!

5

6

7

Page 7 McKee McNews March 2018

8