Whitby Shores P.S.
Call of the Wild
MISSION
STATEMENT
At Whitby Shores
Public School, our
mission is to inspire
all children to
achieve their full
potential academically, emotionally,
physically and socially. We will work
cooperatively to
promote responsibility for self, caring
for other people
and the natural environment, and service to the local
community and beyond.
CONTACT US
Mr. J. Barclay
Principal
Mrs. S. Christopher
Vice-Principal
Mrs. C. Sullivan
Administrative
Assistant
Telephone:
905-666-6667
Fax:
905-666-6673
Number 6
February 9, 2017
MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICE
It is hard to believe that February is upon us! We have
had a busy and productive
start to the new year at
Whitby Shores with Snow
Club, Intermediate Basketball, Curling, Eco Team, Pink
Shirt Leaders and Forest of
Readers, just to mention a
few groups on the go this
month!
This is the time of year when
we begin to look ahead in
planning for next year. Full
Day Kindergarten continues
in 2017-18 at Whitby Shores
Public School. Phone-in PreRegistration began on Tuesday, January 17th for JK and
new SK registrations. Parents of children who will be
4 or 5 years old before De-
cember 31st, 2017 are invited to phone in their registration for the coming school
year. Registration packages
are expected to be available
soon for families who have
registered to date.
Term One Report Cards will
go home on Wednesday,
February 15th, 2017 for all of
our students. Many of our
students are making great
progress this year. Parents
are encouraged to discuss
these reports with their
child/ren and help them reflect on successes from the
first part of the school year
while setting achievable goals
for the new term ahead.
our families updated on programming and initiatives.
School newsletters are published monthly and classroom webpages/use of remind are utilized regularly by
teachers. Agenda planners,
phone calls, emails or interviews are effective ways to
have regular contact with
your child’s teacher. Research continues to prove
that student success is enhanced when the school and
home work collaboratively.
Together, we are better!
J. Barclay, Principal
S. Christopher, Vice-Principal
Ongoing and regular communication continue to keep
STAFFING NEWS AND UPDATES
We would like to congratulate Mrs. Geuzebroek who
has accepted an offer to become the new DDSB Facilitator for Social Studies, History, Geography, World and
Canadian Studies, Business
knowledge in these areas will
serve our system, schools,
staff and students well and
we wish her all the best in
this new role.
Recently, we hired Mr. Hara-
remainder of the year. Welcome, Mr. Harasym, to the
Whitby Shores team.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND—PINK SHIRT DAY
“Knowing
what’s right
does not
mean much
unless you
do what’s
right.”
From humble beginnings
supporting one bullied teenager in Nova Scotia came a
day that has helped thousands of youth in Canada.
Pink Shirt Day has its roots
in Nova Scotia, started by
two incredible high school
students. Here is a snippet
of the Globe & Mail article
that inspired Pink Shirt
Day: “David Shepherd,
Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a highschool protest to wear pink
in sympathy with a Grade 9
boy who was being bullied
[for wearing a pink shirt]…
[They] took a stand against
bullying when they protested against the harassment of
a new Grade 9 student by
distributing pink T-shirts to
all the boys in their school.
‘I learned that two people
can come up with an idea,
run with it, and it can do
wonders,’ says Mr. Price,
17, who organized the pink
protest. ‘Finally, someone
stood up for a weaker kid.’
So Mr. Shepherd and some
other headed off to a discount store and bought 50
pink tank tops. They sent
out message to schoolmates
that night, and the next
morning they hauled the
shirts to school in a plastic
bag. As they stood in the
foyer handing out the shirts,
the bullied boy walked in.
His face spoke volumes. ‘It
looked like a huge weight
was lifted off his shoulders,’
Mr. Price recalled. The bullies were never heard from
again.” Whitby Shores Public School encourages all
students to wear a pink
shirt on February
22nd. Our school will be
marking this day with student led K to 8 assembly.
will be donated to Their
Opportunity, a charitable
organization whose mission
is to provide low-income
families with the means to
enroll their children in local
sports and recreational programs. Toonies will be col-
17th. More information
about Their Opportunity or
the Dimes 4 Time initiative
can be found at
www.theiropportunity.com.
Thank you for your consideration and support.
Franklin
Roosevelt
DIMES 4 TIME
Whitby Shores Public
School is once again participating in a fundraising initiative entitled Dimes 4 Time.
Students are encouraged to
contribute this year by
bringing in a toonie with the
donation sheets just sent
INCLEMENT WEATHER
During inclement weather,
the Durham District School
Board attempts to keep
schools open. It is the parents’ responsibility to decide
if conditions are safe for
their children to walk to
and from school. Be sure to
call ‘Safe Arrival’ if your
child will not attending. In
the case of extreme weath-
er, please listen to one of the
local radio/tv news stations
listed below for notices of
transportation cancellations
and school closures: CP
NEWS 24, KX96-FM 95.9,
CFRB-AM 1010, 680-AM
News, CBC/CBL 99.1, Q107FM 107.1, CHFI-FM 98.1,
CHUM –FM 104.5, Y92-FM
91.9, EZ ROCK 97.3, CICX
105.9. A reminder that we
are in Travel Zone 4 when
listening for updates.
KEEP SNOW ON THE GROUND
Snow is fun when it arrives,
but for reasons of safety
please remind your children
that the snow must stay on
the ground while at
school. This reminder is
both timely and important
to the safety of our students: throwing snow is not
permitted on school
grounds due to obvious safety
concerns. For throwing snow,
the first offence will result in
a discussion with administration. The student’s name will
be recorded and the student
will serve a recess detention.
If a second incident occurs,
the student’s name is recorded, parents are notified and
the student serves another
detention. The third incident may result in a suspension and parents are
notified. Please discuss this
with your child(ren). We
appreciate your support in
keeping students safe.
STUDENT ILLNESS
We often receive requests
from parents to keep their
children indoors during recess times because they are
not feeling well. Unfortunately, we do not have the
staff nor the facilities to
supervise students who are
sick or still recovering from
an illness. Students with
heavy colds, etc., which are
serious enough to prevent
them from participating in
physical education, recesses
or other outdoor activities
should remain at home until
their condition improves.
This will benefit the students concerned and prevent the spread of illness to
others.
Janet Hughes will bring a
guide dog to our school to
share how it is used to support many people in our
community. We look forward to this informative
return visit.
KINDNESS CLUB
During the week of February 27th to March 3rd the
Kindness Club will visit each
of the classes at our school.
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
GRADE 8 GRAD PHOTOS
Grade 8 students will have
their graduation photographs taken during the
morning of Friday, March
31st, 2017. Get ready to
SMILE!
ARE YOU MOVING OR CHANGING PROGRAMS?
We are already planning
staffing for September,
2017. If you are moving, or
enrolling your child in the
French Immersion program,
please inform Mrs. Sullivan as
soon as possible.
PARKING LOT SAFETY UPDATE
We often use space in our
newsletters, on our website
main page, or our school
sign to remind families
about parking lot and street
safety items. To that end,
we ask parents and caregivers to refrain from:
spaces
-parking beside pylons on
the west side of Whitby
Shores Greenway in front
of the school
-parking in reserved spots
for office and custodial
staff
-parking in our fire
route or adjacent to the
pylons that mark this
area
-blocking access to
handicapped parking
Know that we work closely
with the Town of Whitby
Parking Enforcement and our
Community Safety Officers
on framing these requests.
Both of these community
supports regularly observe
our entry, exit and parking
routines. Know that they
will enforce parking, stopping and speed violations
around the school vicinity.
Further information on
Parking and Stopping restrictions and consequences
can be found attached to
our website.
We thank our families for
your support and practising
safety over convenience.
FRONT DOOR ENTRY/EXIT
Whitby Shores P.S. bell
times are 8:50 am and
12:35 pm. Please have your
child enter the school with
his/her classmates at their
designated entry door so
he/she arrives in class by
8:55 am in the morning and
12:40 pm in the afternoon.
Please note that students
should not be entering and
exiting through the front
doors at bell/dismissal times.
We ask that parents drop
their child at their designated
entry door. Students who
arrive late and enter
through the front door
must report to the office for a late slip. Students are also asked to exit
via their designated door at
dismissal time. Thank you
for your support.
SELF-REGULATION AT WHITBY SHORES
In order to create the most
optimal conditions for learning our staff and students
have worked hard to teach
and implement many selfregulation techniques this
year. Some of these include:
a new student resource
room created in partnership
with our School Community
Council; the purchase of
many self-regulation tools
for classrooms; and the implementation of short
breaks for students as required during their day.
In addition, you will notice a
flyer at the end of the newsletter that helps set direction in the new calendar
year as to how we regulate
and minimize the amount of
sugar that comes into the
school daily.
Thank you for your consideration and support.
We are asking our families
and students to avoid sending treats and snacks that
contain sugar during lunches
and class celebrations. Rather, we suggest that you
send a book, art supplies, or
sensory items that could be
used by your child’s class.
Consider the sugar content
sent in your child’s lunch.
Reducing the sugar that
comes into the school will
help our students selfregulate. Together, we can
work to create the optimal
conditions for learning.
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
CLEAR COMMUNICATION
We always encourage parents to get in touch with
school staff regarding
school related concerns.
Please do not hesitate to
telephone or make an appointment to visit the
school. The following is a
list of school personnel
who will assist you:
Classroom Teacher:
Anything related to a subject or classroom question
can be resolved by contacting the particular teacher.
Administrative Assistant: Mrs. Sullivan will answer general school questions or direct you to the
appropriate person. Tele-
phone 905-666-6667.
Principal and VicePrincipal: Mr. Barclay and
Mrs. Christopher can assist
you with any questions
which relate to the school.
Please speak to the classroom teacher first if your
question is subject or classroom related.
Administrative Officer:
Mr. Island can be contacted
to clarify/answer any regional questions or questions that were not answered at the school 905666-5500.
Superintendent of
Schools: Mr. Bowyer can
be contacted to clarify/
answer any regional questions at 905-666-5500.
Trustees: Your elected
trustees are:
Christine Winters
905-430-6050
[email protected]
a
Kim Zeppieri
905-668-7782
[email protected]
They both welcome your
input on educational matters.
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
PARENT CORNER—GROWTH MINDSET IN MATH
In general, a growth mindset
is the belief that intelligence
and ‘smartness’ can also be
learned and that the brain
grows from experience and
effort. The opposite, a
fixed mindset, is the idea
that you are smart, or you
are not. In math, that translates into “some people are
good at math, and some are
not.” Did you know that
praising efforts rather than
intelligence or results can
impact your child’s ability to
persevere in challenges?!
The goal is to have children
thrive on challenges and see
failures, not as a sign of low
intelligence, but as a learning
opportunity. Brain research
tells us that making mistakes
actually wires more connections into the brain! When a
person has a growth mindset, they accept challenges,
see their efforts as worthwhile, and are open to
learning from mistakes. Students with a growth mindset achieve at higher levels
than those with fixed mindsets. How can you help?
Some simple ways:
this” (Respond: “You are
not good at this yet.”)
* Ask questions that focus
on their effort and choices
and get them to reflect on
satisfaction of that effort
(e.g. What did you learn
today? What mistake did
you make that taught you
something? What did you
try hard at today?)
Model this yourself, as you
work on Mathematics with
your child(ren).
* Adding “yet” when they
claim they are “not good at
SCC NEWS
Another exciting community event took place on January 26, 2017!
Our kind hosts at Eggsmart
Whitby Shores welcomed
families from the area for
our first ever "Breakfast for
Dinner". When the doors
cracked opened at 5pm
tables were immediately full
and stayed that way until
closing. The scene may have
looked a bit scrambled
however, the Grade 7s
showed off their amazing
hospitality skills by being
welcoming to the waiting
guests; helping serve meals,
clearing tables, and buttering up people to take part in
the prize draw.
the Whitby Shores community and Eggsmart the SCC
raised almost $600 to put
towards school programs.
The SCC thanks the community and Eggsmart for
their ongoing support and
looks forward to seeing you
at the next event!
A look ahead for March!
Friday, March 3rd, will be
your Dance-A-Thon
Day! It’s time to get excited and practice your best
moves while we work hard
to make sure this is a super
fun day for all the students
and staff! Keep a look out
for more information to
come home during February.
Any parents who wish to
join the Dance-A-Thon
Committee can email [email protected].
Our next SCC meeting is
Thursday, February 9th
@6:30pm in the Library
EAT LESS SUGAR
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
DATES OF SIGNIFICANCE—FEBRUARY
Black History Initiatives – Whitby Shores Public School
Whitby Shores Public School is modeling that Black History is more than a
monthly recognition, rather an opportunity to explore history through the curriculum throughout the year. Some monthly themes include:
November: (Health) Unit on Bullying. Discussion of the novel called Bluish by V. Hamilton about an African American child of Jewish faith who has a physical disability. Highlights
race, faith, and Special Needs.
December: (Music) The Grade 4 and 5 students in my class are learning songs popularized
during Civil Rights Movement. They will understand the background and analyze the lyrics
of songs opposing racism written by African Americans (S. Cooke. B. Withers) and White
Americans (B. Dylan)
January: (Dance) We are leading the grade 1 and grade 5 classes in a Drama/Dance exercise that tells a story through dance/movement.
February: Grade 5s make a trip to the Station Gallery Art Centre for Cross-Curricular
study for Black History and Fine Art called Together We Rise. Students will view artists
whose works reflect rich artistic content, tell the story as well as pay tribute and celebrate
the contributions of Black Canadians and the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.
Media: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month/videos/origins-ofblack-history-month
In addition, Grades 7 and 8 students will be creating research cubes for our Black History
Month initiative in February. Students will be selecting an influential figure completing a research component and then creating a 3 dimensional cube displaying their findings. We did
a similar task last year and they turned out to be really well done. These will be displayed in
our library resource centre.
One of our junior classes is reading ‘Crossing to Freedom’, a story about a young boy and
his travels on the Underground Railroad, and his struggles once he arrives in Canada. We
are also creating art pieces that depict an emotion the character might be feeling on his
DATES OF SIGNIFICANCE CONTINUED
journey. These will be displayed in our classroom and our Library Resource Centre.
March: (Language) Grade 4 and 5 Language Unit on the role African American Women
played in the NASA. Text called Hidden Figures. Students will conduct a text comparison
to the highly publicized movie. Highlights Civil Rights, Space Race and Gender Equality.
April: (Media) Grade 4 and 5. Media interpretation of short film Inclusion. Highlights the
inclusiveness regardless of differences and physical appearance.
February 20th World Social Justice Day
Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and
among nations. As DDSB we uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice
when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion,
culture or disability. February 20 was proclaimed as World Social Justice Day in 2007. The
observance of World Day of Social Justice should support efforts of the community in poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and
access to social well-being and justice for all.
“Let is strive to build a world of social justice where all people can live and work in freedom, dignity and equality.” - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
OUR WHITBY TRUSTEES
Christine Winters 905-430-6050
Whitby Shores P.S.
485 Whitby Shores
Greenway
Whitby, Ontario
L1N 0G8
[email protected]
Kim Zeppieri 905-668-7782
[email protected]
Phone: 905-666-6667
Fax: 905-666-6673
E-mail:
www.ddsb.ca/school/whitbyshores
[email protected]
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Feb 10
Feb 15
Feb 17
Feb 20
Feb 22
ON THE
TRAIL
TO
LEARNING ,
CARING
AND
ACTION
Feb 23
Feb 24
Feb 27-Mar 2
Feb 28
Mar 1
Mar 2
Mar 3
Mar 6/7
Mar 10-Mar 19
Pizza Lunch
Term One Reports go Home
Popcorn Day
Family Day – Schools Closed
Pink Shirt Day
Schoolhouse Playcare Open House @6:30pm
Big Kids Entertainment – K to 3
Celebration Assemblies Gr 4 to 8, then K to 3
Pizza Lunch
Kindness Club Visits
Primary Skating @1:15pm
Sub Lunch
Kindergarten Skating @1:15pm
Junior/Int Skating @1:15pm
Dance-a-thon
Medieval Times/First Nations – Junior Division
March Break