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. R. Evans
Vice-Principal
Mrs. C. Sullivan
Administrative
Assistant
Telephone:
905-666-6667
Fax:
905-666-6673
Number 2
October 7, 2016
MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICE
October is quickly upon us
and with it some cooler
weather! We have had a
wonderful start to the
school year at Whitby
Shores Public School and it is
great to see our students
adapting to regular routines.
Our Grade 6 students have
already experienced a wonderful trip to Durham Forest
and we thank our teachers
and parents who gave up
some of their personal time
to make this trip such a success. On Tuesday, the
weather cooperated and we
completed our Terry Fox
run. Thank you to students
and families who participated
and to our staff organizers
for all of you hard work and
organization to make this
event special.
September has been very
busy with Cross Country,
Intermediate Volleyball, Junior Soccer and Flag Football
teams up and running. Our
first School Community
Council Meeting and Celebration Assemblies of the
new school year have been
great experiences. As well,
we highlighted the 12th Annual DDSB Safety Week with
Fire Drill and Lockdown
practices as well as different
safety awareness messages
throughout the week. The
positive interactions with
committed parents, the hard
work and professionalism of
the staff and the courteous,
friendly and caring demeanour of our students all make
WSPS a wonderful learning
environment and place to
grow.
Parental Involvement is an
integral part of student success at all grade levels. One
way parents can be involved
in their child’s education is
to be involved in school life
by attending our School
Community Council Meetings; volunteering; and/or,
communicating regularly
with your child’s teacher.
The school website, twitter
feeds, school newsletters
and student agendas are excellent ways to get an overview of your child(ren)’s
school and they often contain key information for the
school year.
As we move into the season
of Thanksgiving, it is important to remember how
fortunate we are as a school
community. Thank you to
staff, students and parents
for making Whitby Shores
Public School a truly special
place to be.
J. Barclay, Principal
R. Evans, Vice-Principal
PA DAY REMINDER AND THANKSGIVING
Friday, October 7th is a Professional Activity Day for
DDSB staff. Staff will take
part in a combination of system and school based pro-
the day. There are no classes
for students. The Whitby
Shores staff are thankful for
a great start to the school
year and hope you will enjoy
day, October 10th.
GREAT PUMPKIN RACE/PARADE OF COSTUMES
“We must
find time to
stop and
Our classes will be in true
fall spirit by decorating a
pumpkin to place in our
front foyer as we approach
Halloween. After each of
this month’s Celebration
Assemblies on Monday, October 31st (Grades 4 to 8
@9:05 am and K to 3
@10:25 am) we will host
the Great Pumpkin Race for
each group. All classes will
participate by manoeuvring
a creatively designed pumpkin attached to a scooter
board through a road
course. Hopefully, crashes
will be kept to a mini-
mum. Parents are welcome
to join us. Remember your
orange and black colours!
During the afternoon of
Monday, October 31st,
Whitby Shores primary students (Grades JK-3), will be
participating in the Parade
of Costumes! At approximately 1:00 p.m., classes
from JK-3 will parade outside exiting the front doors
and circling the school for
parents and guests to
see! We invite you to come
at 1:00 p.m. to share in the
fun!
thank the
people who
make a
difference in
our lives.”
John F.
Kennedy
SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCIL
On Thursday, September 22nd the first School Community Council Meeting of the new
school year was held. Here are the members of your SCC for the 2016-17 school year to
date:
Chairperson: Dawn Ricica
Vice-Chairperson: Aneez Kanji
Secretary: Tanya Currie
Treasurer: Mary Fioreza
Communications: Mary Fiorenza
Principal: Jack Barclay
Vice-Principal: Rita Evans
Teacher Rep: Stephen Tufford
Non-Teaching Rep: Ron Lagerquist
Student Reps: Justin A. and Liam M.
Voting Members: Aneez Kanji, Tanya Currie, Mary Fiorenza, Jason Himsl, Jenn Clayton,
Jenn Eppel, Landon Gray, Lisa Timmons, Margaret Anne MacKinnon, Matthew Feather,
Rebecca Estoesta, Storm Stevenson, Tricia Hanson-Griffith and Lindsay Blake
The new SCC would like to invite parents to join us at any of our meetings. How else can
parents get involved? There are many sub committees of the SCC that do not require parents to be a voting member or an attendee: Fundraising, Parent Engagement, Special Needs,
Dance-a-thon, BBQ and Social and Safe Schools. If you are interested or would like more
information on any of the following sub committees please email
[email protected].
The date of the next meeting is Thursday, October 6th at 6:30pm in the Library Commons.
SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCIL NEWS
Fundraising Committee
News
If you chose not to use the
online payment system limited
amounts of pizza will be for
sale on the day of the pizza
Your SCC Fundraising
lunch for $2 per slice. We
Committee is excited to
are sorry but this option is
bring you pizza lunch for
2016! This lunch raises lots not available to Kindergarten
students as they are unable to
of funds that are put back
into WSPS for the student’s handle money on their own
benefit. We will be following and teachers are unable to
purchase on their behalf.
the Ministry of Education’s
food and beverage policy
and offering cheese or pep- We appreciate all the volunperoni Pizza Nova pizza.
teers that make pizza lunch a
Pizza Lunch dates from Oc- fun time for the students! If
tober through December
you are able to volunteer on
will be: Friday, Oct. 14 & 21, any of the pizza dates please
Friday, Nov. 11 & 25 and
email
[email protected].
Friday, Dec. 9
This year we encouraged
parents to pre-order their
children’s slices via the new
online payment system –
SCHOOL CASH
ONLINE http://ddsb.ca/
Parents/SchoolCash/Pages/
default.aspx. Pre-ordering
helps in reducing waste of
funds raised and of leftovers
on the lunch day.
Kindergarten Students must
pre-order their slices via the
online system or by obtaining a paper form from the
teacher. Grades 1-8 are
strongly encouraged to preorder to avoid disappointment. Ordering deadline for
all pizza dates from October
through December was
MONDAY, OCTOBER
3RD .
ences in children. It's our
hope that you'll find it to be
a valuable evening that will
serve as a stepping stone to
the many resources that are
available in Durham Region.
Please see the brochure included in this newsletter for
further information.
You may wish to attend if
you have questions or concerns about Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
Autism, Behaviour, Giftedness, Individual Education
Plans (I.E.P.), Learning Disorders, Mental Health, Occupational Therapy, Sensory
Issues, Social Skills and
Speech and Language.
Your continued support of
this fun lunch is much appreciWe expect the following
ated.
agencies/groups to be in
Pizza Lunch Co-ordinators,
attendance: Dr. Angela
Mary and Dawn
Fountain and Associates,
Durham Behaviour ManageCommunity Resource
ment, Grandview, Kinark,
Night for Parents – ThursNova’s Ark, Resources for
day, October 20th from
Exceptional Children and
6:30pm-8:00pm
Youth, Talking, Language and
The Special Needs Committee Communication Inc. (TLC)
of Whitby Shores is pleased to and Wind Reach Farm.
host, in partnership with
Whitby Shores Public School,
a community resource night
for parents. A variety of
school representatives and
agencies will be available to
answer questions about special needs, mental health, disabilities, and learning differ-
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
VOLUNTEER OF DISTINCTION
All of our volunteers are a
valuable part of the school
community and this year we
have an opportunity to recognize one for exceptional
commitment to assisting
our school. This year’s re-
cipient of the Volunteer of
Distinction Award is Jennifer
Eppel. Mrs. Eppel’s efforts
will be recognized at a special
evening on Thursday, October 27th, at Sinclair Secondary School in the Cafetorium.
The ceremony begins at
7:00pm.
OUR LUNCH SUPERVISORS
We would like to introduce
our Lunch Supervisors at
Whitby Shores Public
School: Madeha Aamir, Salma Ajazi, Bev Dillon, Margaret D’Souza Glenn Hackbush, Claudia Marcos, Caro-
line McIntosh, Kim Patterson,
Tracey Saunders, Syeda Rizvi,
Fatima Shahid and Terry Lagler. From supervising in the
hallways to encouraging fun
and safe play outside, we are
fortunate to have
them. They work collaboratively with school staff and
help students solve problems both big and small. We
appreciate the job you do!
LUNCH DROP-OFF ROUTINE REMINDERS
As our school grows the
demand on our office phone
system continues to increase. We value uninterrupted instructional time for
all students and staff as
much as possible. To limit
an increasing amount of
classroom interruptions we
are continuing the way students receive a lunch
brought to them during the
day:

A labelled lunch cart
will be set out between
the locked vestibule
doors in the morning
so that parents do not
have to ring into the
school in order to leave
a lunch

Paper and pens will be
made available for parents to label the lunch
should it not be labelled
beforehand

One of our lunchroom
supervisors on arrival
will wheel the cart into
the main front foyer as
he/she arrive for lunch
duty

Students will no longer
be called to the office,
but they know, that if
they do have a lunch
they should come and
check the lunch cart

It is preferable that
parents advise in the
morning that a lunch
will be waiting
We thank you, in advance,
for your support.
WASTE MANAGEMENT AND ECO SCHOOL NEWS
Thank you to our Grade 4
Recycling Team for collecting our recycling bins. We
always look forward to the
team’s Thursday morning
announcements! Thanks, Mr.
Ron and our guest teachers
for continuing the messaging with our team. Thank
you to our Grade 4 teachers who are supporting
the students in the recycling role. All of our students are doing a great job
with paper recycling. All
students are asked to
boomerang their snacks
and lunches so that parents can dispose of garbage, recyclables and compostables.
SAFETY TIPS FOR KIDS
Nothing is more important
than the safety of our students. With that in mind it is
always a good time to review the following safety
routines:
✔ Always walk with a buddy to and from school.
✔ Do not talk to
strangers.
✔ Inform your parents
and the school if a stranger
approaches you.
✔ Remember, adults do
not ask for directions from
children.
✔ Always let your par-
ents know if there has
been a change in your
plans.
✔ Avoid taking short
cuts through fields and
parks.
✔ Never walk alone,
especially at night.
PARKING LOT/KISS AND RIDE SAFETY
Thank you to parents/
caregivers who access our
parking lot and kiss and ride
area safely. Of late we have
a number of drivers who
stop in the Kiss in Ride area
in the morning. For safety
and congestion concerns we
ask that you do not do this.
If you must park in the
morning, please do so to the
east of the school and walk
to our school yard. As well,
we ask that you adhere to
the following reminders to
ensure safety for all children
and pedestrians:
1. Please have your child
(ren) exit on the right hand
side of the vehicle to the
you need to circle the lot
during busy times, please
do so rather than letting
children out of the vehicle
into traffic.
2. Please signal your intentions when merging back
into traffic after pulling
away from the curb, or
when merging into the
Kindergarten Kiss and Ride
marked by the orange pylons.
3. Please do not park and
leave your vehicle unattended in the Kiss and
Ride area in the morning. If
you must park please park
in designated spaces or on
the street and walk to the
school.
4. When exiting the parking lot, please obey the
yield and stop signs at the
east side of our lot. This
will ensure the safety of all
who use our sidewalk.
5. Within our parking lot,
please take your time.
Drive slowly. It will keep
our parents and children
safe.
At Whitby Shores, we
encourage and practice
safety over convenience.
Thank you for your sup-
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
PICTURE DAY REMINDER
Picture Day will be held on
Wednesday, October 12th
for all grades.
MATHEMATICS CORNER
Over the coming months a
part of our school newsletter will devote space to
Mathematics and Literacy
information and tips for
families. This month, the
focus is on starters that you
might use when helping
your child with any of their
homework:







What is the problem
you are working on?
Let’s look at it …
What words or direc-

tions don’t you understand?
Where do you think
you should begin?
What do you already
know that can help you
work through the problem?
Show me what you
have done so far.
Let’s try drawing a picture or making a diagram.
Are there similar problems to look at?





What problems like this
one have you had before?
Why don’t we look for
some examples on the
internet?
Can you go in before or
after school for help
from the teacher?
Tell me where you are
stuck.
Let’s try using a calculator.
REPORT BULLYING NOW DATABASE– REMINDER
The Durham District
School Board works with
its schools and communities to prevent bullying in
our schools. Bullying is unacceptable. We want to
remind our community that
Report Bullying Now was
created to provide students, parents and community members the opportunity to report bullying at
their school through the
internet. All DDSB school
websites and the board
website now have a button
on them which reads Report Bullying Now. Anyone
can click on this link and
report bullying.
At Whitby Shores Public
School, we are committed
to providing a positive
school environment for
everyone. Our staff implement a number of proactive
strategies to prevent incidences of bullying. If bullying
does occur, it is important
that it is reported to school
staff. The sooner trusted
adults intervene in a situation, the more quickly it can
be resolved. Students are
encouraged to speak to
their teacher, vice-principal
or principal whenever they
feel threatened or unsafe.
Students and parents may
also report bullying using
the Report Bullying Now
button.
EQUITABLE PRACTICE AND INCLUSIVE
EDUCATION
The Durham District School
Board values and respects
all members in its school
community.
We believe that it is important that our school
libraries and classroom resources reflect inclusivity
and serve to foster sensitivity towards individuals and
groups that have traditionally been/and are currently
marginalized within the
broader society. These resources serve to identify
and remove barriers that
may exist for various
groups and families. They
may touch on topics of
ethnicity, disability, religion, sexual orientation,
gender identity, gender
expression, age, family
status and marital status.
They are intended to help
students to acquire the
knowledge and skills that
enable them to challenge
unjust practices, and to
build positive human relationships as members of a
global community. Our
goal is to provide students with opportunities
to promote equity and
social justice.
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:
Principal and VicePrincipal: Mr. Barclay and
Mrs. Evans 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.
Classroom Teacher: Anything related to a subject or
classroom question can be
resolved by contacting the
particular teacher.
Administrative Officer:
Mr. Island can be contacted
to clarify/answer any regional questions or questions
that were not answered at
the school 905-666-5500.
Administrative Assistant: Mrs. Sullivan will answer general school questions or direct you to the
appropriate person. Telephone 905-666-6667.
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]
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.
DATES OF SIGNIFICANCE—OCTOBER
October 2nd to 4th
October 5th
October 11th 12th
October 12th to 16th
October 17th
October 24th
October 30th
October 31st
Rosh Hashanah
World Teachers’ Day
Yom Kippur
Ally Week - LGBTQA
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
United Nations Day
Diwali
Halloween
October 5th World Teachers’ Day (Unesco)
Teachers can be the most powerful force for ensuring equity of access to education, offering hope and reinforcing resilience. “The United Nations' (UN) World Teachers' Day celebrates the role teachers’ play in providing quality education at all levels. This enables children and adults of all ages to learn to take part in and contribute to their local community
and global society.” An excerpt from - http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/worldteachers-day
October 11th and 12th Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement” and refers to the annual Jewish observance of fasting, prayer and repentance. On Yom Kippur, Jewish people reflect on their lives, ask for
forgiveness from family and friends and take steps toward improvement. Jewish people will
attend five religious services over the course of Yom Kippur. As part of the High Holidays,
which also includes Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur is considered the
holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Yom Kippur falls 10 days after Rosh Hashanah on the
10th of Tishrei, which is a Hebrew month that correlates with September or October on
the secular calendar. After Yom Kippur, preparation begins for the next holiday, Sukkot.
October 17th International Day of the Eradication of Poverty
The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty can be traced back
to October 17,1987. The theme for this year is “Moving from humiliation and exclusion to
participation: Ending poverty in all its forms,” to highlight the social, emotional, psychological aspects of poverty that affect people’s lives and their human dignity. By looking at the
multidimensional aspects of poverty, it is hoped that a greater awareness and understanding
will be brought to the issue.
Poverty Youth Strategy (Research Partnership with Brock University) – During the month
of October, the Durham District School Board will begin a research partnership with Brock
University at three Secondary School sites (Brock H.S., G.L. Roberts CVI, and Pine Ridge
S.S). The research will take on a narrative inquiry approach where participants (students,
administrators, parents, and teachers) will share their experiences on the impacts of poverty. Through this research methodology, theoretical conceptualizations will arise to inform
the Durham District School Board’s Youth Strategy.
COMMUNITY RESOURCE NIGHT FOR PARENTS
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
FREE TOWN OF WHITBY YOUTH ROOM EVENTS
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY TRAINING
DURHAM
DISTRICT
SCHOOL
BOARD
Success in
learning to
meet the
challenges
of the
future.
Better access to online math resources and supports such as Homework Help
Devoirs
Opportunities for educators to deepen their knowledge, including a dedicated
Professional Development day
Support for learning at home through parent resources
Homework Help: Free online math supports
Mathies: Resources for parents and students
Inspiring Your Child to Learn and Love Math
Mathematics Curriculum: Key Learning for Grades 1, 2 & 3 (Coming Soon)
Math Learning Today: What Parents Need to Know (Coming Soon)





Select Resources to help your child succeed in math:

Doing Mathematics with Your Child: Kindergarten to Grade 6



math
or SOS
Starting in September 2016, Ontario is dedicating more than $60 million to help support students
achieve better results in math. Key elements of the strategy include:

Sixty minutes per day of protected math learning time in Grades 1 to 8
A Renewed Math Strategy for Ontario
A RENEWED MATH STRATEGY FOR ONTARIO
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
ON THE
TRAIL
TO
LEARNING ,
CARING
AND
ACTION
Oct 6
Oct 7
Oct 10
Oct 12
Oct 13
Oct 17
Oct 20
Oct 27
Oct 31
SCC Meeting 6:30pm
PA Day—No classes for students
Thanksgiving—Schools Closed
Picture Day—All Grades
Cross Country Regionals
IEPs sent home today
Community Resource Night @ 6:30pm Library
Commons
Volunteer of Distinction Celebration 7:00 pm Sinclair S.S.
Celebration Assemblies Gr 4 to 8 @ 9:05am/Grades 3-8 @ 10:25am
Great Pumpkin Races to Follow Assemblies
Halloween – K to 3 Parade of Costumes in PM