Happy April! With the arrival of Spring we will hopefully have some warmer weather. That said, it has been somewhat unpredictable for the past few weeks. Please continue to watch the weather forecasts and help your child to make good decisions regarding appropriate dress (see article in the newsletter). Deer Park P.S. continues to be a very busy place. As a staff, we continue to build upon our knowledge and skills through the professional learning in which we participate. Our focus for this school year continues to be three-fold: a) Increasing student skill levels in Mathematics b) Improving critical thinking skills that help students make their thinking visible when solving problems across the curriculum and c) Continuing to build a positive climate for learning in all domains of the school (in the classroom, in the hallways, and in the school yard). Please feel free to speak to your child’s teacher at any time about these areas of focus for our school, or to share any other questions you may have. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Dawn White for her many years of service to both York Region District School Board and Deer Park PS. Mrs. White will be retiring at the end of this month and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors. A farewell presentation will take place at this month’s assembly on April 29th. Don’t forget Deer Park Has A Facebook Page!

Our School Council has created a Deer Park Facebook page. To find this page go to search groups, find Deer Park Public School, Administrator Tricia Langill and request an invite. Tricia Langill will continue to update this page with information about our school!

Deer Park Digest

A P R I L 2 0 1 6

605 Varney Rd. Keswick, Ontario

905-476-4185

York Region Mission To advance student achievement and well-being

through public education, which motivates learn-ers, fosters inclusion, inspires innovation and

builds community.

From Ms. Robinson...

April Fool’s Day 1

Blue Spirit Day for Autism 4

School Council 6-8 p.m. 5

Hep B (Gr.7) HPV (Gr. 8

Girls)

8

TERRY FOX RUN 12

Pause to Play week

Pitch In (and clean up) week

Earth Day (22nd)

18-22

GEM Movie Night @6:30 pm 20

Grad Photos @ 8:15 a.m. 20

School Assembly – Mrs.

Mallinos

29

Principal: Cathi Robinson Superintendent: Dianne Hawkins 905-895-5155

School Office Administrative Assistant: Kathy Scaini Trustee: Nancy Elgie 905-476-

4184

Secretary: (Mon./Wed.): Kelly Highet

April

Events

D E E R P A R K D I G E S T

P A G E 2

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EQAO will be taking place between May 25 to June 8th, 2016.

Children in grades 3 and 6 will be participating in the Education

Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO) Assessment of

Reading, Writing and Mathematics. During the writing sessions,

students will complete a variety of assessment activities designed

to allow them to demonstrate their skills and knowledge relating

to reading, writing and mathematics as described in The Ontario

Curriculum Expectations.

This assessment provides us with valuable information about the

progress of our students. More information can be found on their

website: www.eqao.com

EQAO Assessments

During the week of April 17th to April 23th 2016 , Deer Park P.S. students will once again be participating in the Pitch-In Canada Clean Up initiative. (Earth Day—April 22nd) “Objectives of the Program are: involve millions of Canadians, young and old in local projects which clean-up, restore and/or preserve the environment, thereby promoting environmental sustainability and involving both young and 'older' people in local partnerships which benefit and enhance their communities clean up, restore and beautify the environment by cleaning up litter and other garbage from urban, rural and wilderness areas and by initiating local projects such as habitat preservation and restoration and urban renewal activities, thereby promoting respect for Canada's natural and urban environments encourage voluntary action as a means of resolving environmental problems stress the value of waste as a resource by encouraging Canadians to refuse, reuse, recycle and properly dispose of waste educate Canadians to pack-in/pack-out their waste when they enjoy the natural environment encourage civic pride and develop long-term working relationships for the future which will help local communities develop in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner, thereby leaving lasting benefits” (The above information was copied from the www.pitch-in.ca website)

www.pitch-in.ca

Pitch-In Canada Week

P A G E 3

The SPRING Terry Fox Run at Deer Park P.S.

When & Where; Tuesday, April 12, 2016 @ 8:30 a.m. in the Gym/Run at 9:00 a.m.

“April 12th 1980—Terry Fox dips his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean and sets out on his

Marathon of Hope!”

This year Deer Park will honour Terry’s memory by doing our run on this day...April 12, 2016!

Our commitment and dedication to this cause is making a difference. Last year we raised

$3,093l.60! This is an incredible effort for a small but mighty school.

Let’s continue the tradition!

Families are greatly encouraged to make donations on-line if possible or use the attached

pledge sheets with the students. Students are not to go door to door to raise money but

rather share the information with friends and family. Permission forms and pledge sheets

have gone home so please ensure that your child will be able to participate in this very impor-

tant Deer Park event!

It is important that students dress appropriately for the task of learning. Please note that clothing

which demonstrates respect for self and others is expected at all times. After consulting with many

North elementary schools, there is a consistency with the following rule:

If it begins with a ‘B’ we don’t want to see it

This includes: bras, behinds, breasts, bellies, boxers, briefs, and bare skin in places that should be covered by

clothing.

Some guidelines are as follows:

Students:

Are responsible for choosing appropriate clothing to be worn to school which follows the dress code and

expectations outlined above

Staff:

At the beginning of the day staff will speak to any

student not showing responsibility for making

appropriate clothing choices which follow the dress code and expectations outlined above. This may be

done by the Principal as well.

Natural Consequence:

Students who are not making responsible choices will be asked by the staff to change into alternate

clothing (either their own or provided by the school) which adheres to the school dress code and expec-

tations. Calls home for a change of clothing will be permitted to take place during recess or lunch only

(not class time). Students will be expected to wear alternate clothing until then. Thanks, in advance,

for supporting a positive climate for learning!

Dress Code: REMINDER

April Library News

Skipping Club

With the warmer weather coming Mrs. Firth will be running a skipping club during

some recesses. Anyone can join and learn how to skip, swing, move forward or

backwards, or even just increase their skipping speed. Can you do a double

under? We have long ropes for double dutch and group games too! Listen for

announcements and see you on the tarmac!

Makerspaces are part of our Learning

Commons. We have blocks, cups, pattern

blocks, puzzles, musical instruments, as well

as colouring books and other tools to push

creativity and learning.

This picture shows how a Jenga game can

break out of building a tower!

PAGE 4

“Screen-Free Week (formerly TV-Turnoff) is an

annual celebration where children, families,

schools, and communities turn off screens and

turn on life. Instead of relying on screens for

entertainment, participants read, daydream, ex-

plore, enjoy nature, and enjoy spending time with

family and friends.

Screen-Free Week isn’t just about snubbing

screens for seven days; it’s a springboard for im-

portant lifestyle changes that will improve well-

being and quality of life all year round.”

The above information and more is available at:

www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/whatissfw.htm

Screen Free Week—May 2nd-8th, 2016

The Royal Canadian Legion

Every year the Royal Canadian Legion across

Canada holds their annual poster and literary

contest for youth.

We are pleased to announce that several of our

Deer Park P.S. students were successful in this

contest, competing against students in their

age group across Georgina.

Primary Black & White poster contest

Katie S.—1st place

Kyle R.—2nd place

Primary Colour poster

Addison S.—1st place

Junior Black & White poster

Carley L.—3rd place

Intermediate Black & White poster

Justice J.—2nd place

Intermediate Colour poster

Briana M.—1st place

Crosby P.—2nd place

Intermediate Poem

Emily B.—1st place

William M.—3rd place

Also congratulations to Addison S. She won

2nd place at the zone level.

Pizza Lunch

Due to the inclement weather day on

Thursday, March 24th, we will be extending

this round of pizza lunches to include

Thursday, May 5th.

A new order for Round 3 will run from May

12th to June 23rd. Look for the flyer coming

home later this month.

PAGE 5

We hope that our families will join us at the GEM Theatre on April 20th for Family Movie Night! We

invite you to join us at 6:30 p.m. Please see the attached flyer.

Tickets are only $3/person/ first come first serve at the door.

We are looking forward to seeing some new faces at the next School Council meeting.

Date: Tuesday April 5th, 2016

Time: 6:00p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

School Council Supports Family Movie Night @ GEM

P A G E 6

It’s time to Pause to PLAY April 18 – 22, 2016

Get ready to get active, eat healthy and stay safe! Children and youth are encouraged to put televisions, videogames and

computers on pause for one full week. Instead try physical activity, safe PLAY, eating healthy foods and other fun

family or community activities. Take the challenge and see how much fun it can be! Be sure to get your tracking sheet to

record what you’re PAUSING and how you are PLAYING. See Mrs. Firth for your tracking sheet.

We need to get more active. Only seven per cent of elementary school aged children get at least 60 minutes of heart

pumping exercise at least 6 days a week, boys and girls are inactive at least eight hours a day. Inactive lifestyles put

children at risk for preventable health problems including Type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

For health-related information call York Region.

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

Board Policies and Procedures

Policies and procedures govern the operation of the Board and our school. To ensure they remain current, the Board reviews

policies and procedures on a regular cycle. Seeking feedback from staff and community members, including parents/guardians, is

an important part of the review process.

All policies available for comment are sent to school council chairs, and are posted on the Board website along with

information about how to provide feedback. The policies currently available for comment include:

Student Accommodation Review (comments due by April 25)

Anaphylactic Reactions (comments due by August 25)

Respectful Workplace and Learning Environment (comments due by August 25)

Environmental Responsibility (comments due by January 2, 2017)

Appointment of Community Members to Board Committees (comments due by January 2, 2017)

To learn more, visit www.yrdsb.ca/aboutus/policy/.

Are you moving before next September?

Is there someone in your neighbourhood with first-time Kindergarten age

children? If so, please let us know as soon as possible.

We are currently projecting our student enrolment for September 2016.

These numbers help us to organize our staffing. It is important that we know

as soon as possible whether you may be leaving the Deer Park community

before September. If there is someone with a 4 year old in your

neighbourhood who has not yet started school, let them know that

registration has now begun. If you know of someone moving into your

neighbourhood with school-aged children, we would like to know as well.

Thanks for your assistance in preparing for the next school year.

Call our office with any information at 476-4185.

Children who will be 4 years of age by December 31, 2016 are eligible for junior kindergarten in September of

2016.

Kindergarten Registration at Deer Park PS started February 1, 2016. Office hours for registration are

from 8:30-12:00 and 1:05-3:30.

Please bring the required documents to register your child:

Proof of child’s age (one of the following: Birth Certificate, Birth Registration, Statement of Live Birth,

Passport) , Proof of residency (one of the following: Property Tax Assessment , Proof of Purchase, Rental

Agreement, Lease).

Full Day Kindergarten Registration and Welcome to Kindergarten

Registration is on-going this spring. Please come into our office to pick up a registration package and

receive beneficial information. This year our Welcome to Kindergarten Night is on Thursday May 12th

from 6:30—7:30. We hope that any JKs and new SKs to our school for September will join us for lots

of fun and learning!

Projected Enrolment

PAGE 7

DPPS Track and Field

Our school T & F day is tentatively booked for May 12th. We hope that our families will come out

and enjoy the events with us!

P A G E 8

P A G E 1 1

April 2nd, 2016 marks the 9th anniversary of the very first World Autism

Day. In 2007 this date was declared by the United Nations General

Assembly, in order to bring the world’s attention to Autism, a spectrum

disorder that affects tens of millions globally.

On October 23, 2013, a World Autism Awareness Bill was passed by

members of the House of Commons in Canada which officially recognized

April 2nd as World Autism Day in Canada.

This year, World Autism Day falls on Saturday April 2nd, so we are raising

the flag in celebration on Monday April 4th at Deer Park. We will have a

flag in the front foyer of the school and will be having a Blue- Spirit Day,

to help promote awareness. We will also be having some students present a

Power Point presentation in classes from Grades 1-8 to help learn more

about Autism.

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