A great Parent MATH Workshop this week!

This week, the Primary Teachers hosted a Parent Information session for Math in Grades 1-2.  Parents learned how to support their children at home, learned about our Comprehensive Math program, and received some ideas for fun activities they could do with their children at home. 

Parents also had a chance to meet one another, and share their ideas. 

We hope to run this session again, for those families who could not join us.  Please stay tuned - for a Reading and Writing session in the New Year!

Elana Geller

Primary Lead

New Director of Education Announced

Dear Families,    

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce the appointment of Louise Sirisko as the new Director of Education of YRDSB beginning in the new year.  Louise brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from 27 years in education, most recently as Director of Special Education/Success for All Branch at the Ontario Ministry of Education.   

Louise has a strong commitment to building positive relationships and working with students, families, staff and community members to advance student achievement and well-being. We look forward to welcoming her to the YRDSB and to working with her to continue creating safe, inclusive and welcoming learning and working environments for all of our students and staff.  

I would also like to express our most sincere appreciation to Kathryn Wallace who supported our system over the previous six months in the Interim Director of Education role. Her leadership was outstanding during a challenging time for our Board.  

Kathryn Wallace’s last day will be November 30, 2017. In the interim, an Acting Director of Education will be appointed.   

I want to acknowledge and thank families for their support as our Board has been experiencing this period of transition. I want to assure you that throughout this time, our focus has been and will continue to be on our students.  

We look forward to welcoming Louise Sirisko to the YRDSB and to working with her to continue advancing student achievement and well-being.   

Sincerely,       
Loralea Carruthers 
Chair of the Board 

Early Years Programs - Offered this January

The Vaughan Community Health Centre will be offering free Early Years Programs starting January 2018.  Please see the attached information flyer.

A Message From Our Trustee - Linda Aversa

In November, about 1,000 students, staff members and community partners came together from across the Board to form a Ring of Peace and stand together against hate, discrimination and intolerance. The student speakers at the event shared meaningful messages about the importance of feeling welcome, valued and respected.

At York Region District School Board, we are committed to listening to the voices of our students and communities. We will continue working with our school communities to ensure our schools provide safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for everyone.

Last month, our annual Quest conference brought together educators from across Ontario, Canada and around the world to share, learn and discuss how to foster well-being in schools. Some of the themes covered included equity and inclusivity, and safe and caring environments.

It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about some of the positive things happening in our own schools and other districts. In recent months, we have had several international visitors come to our system and schools to learn more about the work in our system to support student achievement and well-being, including Qatar, the Netherlands, Texas and the United Kingdom.

We are pleased to have these opportunities to continue highlighting and sharing the great things happening in our schools thanks to our outstanding students, staff members, families and community partners. Your engagement makes a difference in our schools and I encourage you to continue getting involved in the life of your child’s school.

As we enter the holiday season, I am once again impressed by the generosity of our school communities and our students’ commitment to helping others.

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful start to 2018. 

Linda Aversa

60 Wellington Street W., Box 40
Aurora, Ontario L4G 3H2

(647) 462-0921
linda.aversa@yrdsb.ca

French Immersion Information Sessions and Registrations

Information sessions for the French Immersion (FI) program will take place at French Immersion schools on January 18, 2018 at 7 p.m. Please visit YRDSB’s website in January 2018 (http://www.yrdsb.ca/Programs/fi/Pages/Program-Locations.aspx) to find the FI program location for your elementary school location. FI registration will begin January 19, 2018. 

Parents or guardians of Senior Kindergarten students entering Grade 1 in 2018, and wishing to enrol 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 the designated FI program location to register between January 19 and February 9, 2018. 

More information is available on the Board’s website: www.yrdsb.ca.

Family Fun Night!

Parent Workshop - Emotional Regulation

Glenn Gould P.S. will be hosting a free parent presentation on Emotional Regulation – December 6^th from 6:30 -8:30 p.m.

Progress Reports and Student-Led Conferences

Progress Reports were sent home yesterday with the letter below.  We look forward to seeing you this evening or tomorrow morning for Interviews / Student-Led Conferences.

Dear Families:

Last week we had the opportunity to attend YRDSB's Quest Conference. The theme of Well-Being: A Collective Responsibility was the focus of the Conference.  There were so many amazing educational speakers, students, and YRDSB teachers who shared their stories, expertise, life experiences and their initiatives in support of mental health and well-being.  Here are a few highlights and key take-aways from the conference:

On Wednesday, Dr. Jean shared some beautiful words about relationships being at the heart of well-being.  Dr. Jean spoke about the importance of relationships, relationships, relationships and about how we need to really get to know our students so that we can understand who they are, the barriers that they struggle with and how we can help. Getting to the core and really understanding our students is what will help some of our most vulnerable and difficult students.  

On Thursday evening, Margaret Trudeau shared her journey with mental illness. She was so real.  Her journey exemplifies resilience and strength - a woman truly to be admired for pushing through when her mental illness kept challenging her to live and love. Afterwards, she signed copies of her biography, and, when we told her we loved her red shoes she laughed and made sure they were included in the photo!!

On Friday, we received a Call to Action from keynote speaker and YRDSB student, Hannah Alper. “No can’t. No won’t. Only how.”  

We have purchased a copy of Hannah’s new book, Momentus: Small acts, big change for the School Library.

Such amazing learning!

Carolyn Lamy

Vice Principal

FHPS

Save the Date!!! Family Fun Night 2017!!

School Council Meeting - Tuesday, November 21

Dear Families:

A reminder that we have our next School Council Meeting this Tuesday.  We hope to see you there!

The School Council


Here is our Agenda:

Fossil Hill Public School

School Council Meeting

Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 6:30

Agenda Items

Welcome & Acceptance of Current Agenda              Sonia                     1 min

Adoption of Minutes from September 27 meeting   Sonia                     1 min

Fossil Hill Update                                                     Joanne/Carolyn      10 min

(past month's events)                         

Discussion Items:

·       EQAO                                                            Joanne/Carolyn      10 min

·       Communication                                               All                          15 min

·       PRO Grant update                                          Sonia                     10 min

·       School Council Forum                                     Sonia/Joanne         10 min

·       Family Fun Night Volunteers                          Sonia                     5 min

·       Future meeting dates                                     All                          10 min

Other Business (Proposed future agenda items):

Summarize meeting's actions                                   Sonia                     5 min

Inclement Weather and Bus Cancellation

Although it is hard to believe that winter is coming....We do need to prepare for this inevitable change in seasons and the inclement weather that sometimes comes with it! 

On occasion bus service cancellation due to inclement weather conditions may be required.

To ensure all education partners (staff, parents and students) understand how they can be informed of any service cancellation.

A decision to cancel school bus transportation will be region-wide meaning all buses, vans and taxis will not operate. 

Parents, students and school staff are asked to access local radio and television stations after 6:00 a.m. to receive bus cancellation information.  

A bus cancellation message will also be available at www.schoolbuscity.com and 1-877-330-3001 or by following the YRDSB on Twitter.

Please note that school bus charters will not operate when regular home to school service is cancelled.

Student Transportation Services thanks you for your understanding and co-operation.

Now...let's hope it doesn't snow! 

Remembrance Day Assembly - You are invited

Our Remembrance Day Assembly will be on Friday, November 10 at 10:50 a.m. in the Gym.  

We will be remembering this day through music, media, art and poetry performed by students of Fossil Hill.

Families are welcome to join us.

Picture Retakes - Thursday, November 9

Picture retake day is Thursday, November 9 for those who missed our picture day or need a retake. Smile!

Equity in Education Speaker Series

Flu season is on its way - Are you ready?

Bus Safety

Our students participated in a Bus Safety presentation and workshop this week. Members of our Transportation department and bus drivers came to speak to all ages regarding how to keep safe on and around our school buses. Students practised how to conduct a safe evacuation of the bus in the event of an emergency.

Our school bus drivers have an important job to transport our children to school and back home safely. Their main focus must be on the road and upcoming traffic. Children must remember to follow our safety rules and behave in a respectful manner at all times while on the bus. Otherwise, they contribute to distracting the bus driver and could cause a dangerous situation. Riding the bus is a privilege and children who do not adhere to these rules may lose the privilege of riding the bus. 

The Ring of Peace - A Call to Action

Today, we went on a trip to a peace rally in Richmond Hill called “The Ring Of Peace: A Unity Rally” with Mrs. Lamy and Mrs. Lomanno-Aprile. At this event we saw many student and adult speakers that spoke about racism, sexism, homophobia, and Islamophobia, and how we need to fight against it. They described their own personal experiences, and they taught us how to stand up against hate crimes, stereotypes, and micro-aggression.

The speakers specifically pushed the fact that injustice takes many forms and NEEDS to be eradicated. They explained that hate based jokes, and slurs are NOT okay! It may seem like one word or statement can’t hurt or impact anyone, but every single injustice started with just words. They talked about current events such as the shooting in a mosque located in Quebec and the Charlottesville riot, this opened our eyes and showed us that everything's not okay and these acts needs to be stopped.

Their words inspired us to take action and to embrace people of different races, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and social identities. We are going  to bring the lessons that were learnt back into Fossil Hill, so future generations can have a safe and equal place to learn and grow.

The Future Aces

Anisa Sule, Eric Nguyen, Vishal Das, Samantha Schwartz, Amina Abdillahi, Andrea Lue, Sachin Solanki, Omanand Dookhie.