OCTOBER 2014
William Berczy P.S.
120 Carlton Road, Unionville
905-477-2047
Principal
Ms. Kathy Lott
Vice-Principal
Mr. David Williams
Administrative Assistants
Ms. Nina Douvinos
Ms. Debbie Wong
Lead Caretaker
Mr. Sebastian Dignoti
Trustee
Ms. Ada Yeung (416) 885-3294
Superintendent
Dr. Lisa Walsh
(905) 940-7800
School Council Chair
Mr. James Lin
School Website
williamberczy.ps.yrdsb.ca
A Message from Administration –
Our first month at William Berczy Public School has been a very
busy and exciting one! Our staff have been working together to
complete our Health and Safety training and re-examine our
school improvement plan goals and strategies. Teachers have
dedicated time to learn about each student’s strengths, interests
and areas of need as we work towards creating lessons and units
to engage all of our learners. We have reviewed individual
student profiles and class profiles and discussed how best to
support and plan for student achievement. All teachers are
working diligently to create the classroom routines and practices
to allow for differentiated instruction to meet the needs of each
learner in our classes. We take great pride in knowing our
learners and programming for their needs. On Tuesday, October
7th, we will hold our first School Council meeting of the year
where we elect a new Council to represent our school
community. Thanks to those parents who are currently in the
role and actively supported and represented our School Council
during the 2013-2014 school year –
School Council Executive member–
Chair - James Lin
Secretary Ellen Viero
Treasurer – Rise Enokido
We look forward to our upcoming 2014-2015 school elections!
All are welcome to attend as General Council members or run in
the election for an Executive position. School Council meetings
are open to all parents and we will send out the Council Agenda
with all students in advance of a meeting.
Partners in Education,
Ms. Lott & Mr. Williams
REMINDER –
School Photos – October 1st or October 2
nd
(All students have their date by homeroom class)
SAFETY while picking up and dropping off children –
To ensure the safety of all children, we ask that parents drop off or meet children outside their
designated entry/exit doors. Our school ground is supervised by our staff beginning at 8:40 a.m. All
parents who enter the school are asked to sign in at the office and receive a visitor’s tag.
In the morning if you are entering the safety loop at the front of the school to
drop off your children, please do not exit your car. This slows down traffic and
can stop our buses from entering. Please stay in the loop that is farthest away
from the school and do not let your child exit your car until you have been
alerted by a school staff member that it is safe to do so.
Please consider not driving to school if possible and if driving is your only
option, then please be patient while our students are exiting their cars and buses.
It can take quite a while to get everyone safely into the school when the weather
is uncooperative.
A huge thank you and congratulations to the many students who have been
using their bikes and scooters as a means for transportation to and from
school. What a great way to promote healthy, active living - while children take
initiative and practice responsibility.
School Parking: We don’t have enough parking places for parents before and
after school and for all our staff and daycare staff. Please park on a side street
when dropping off or picking up your child. If you are coming for a meeting at
other times during the day, please feel free to use the available parking. Thank
you for your assistance with this issue.
Safe Arrival - Ensuring a safe environment at William Berczy includes our Safe Arrival Policy.
You will receive a phone call home in the morning if your child is absent and you have not reported
their absence. Attendance is taken immediately following the National Anthem
which is played each day at 9:00 a.m. – the beginning of our instructional day.
Please call the school office when you know your child will be away from
school. Ms. Wong makes it a priority every morning to check on the safe arrival
of each of our William Berczy PS students.
EQAO – EDUCATION AND QUALITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
Individual Student Reports have been sent home with all current Grade 4 and Grade 7 students this
year. Your report will highlight your child’s achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. We
have made a copy of your child’s report that is kept in their Ontario Student Record (OSR). Additional
information has been developed specifically for parents and can be found in 21 different languages,
along with other useful information, at www.eqao.com Also, more information will be shared at our
1st School Council Meeting, October 7
th, 7:00 PM – please join us.
Our EQAO assessment results are incorporated into
our School Improvement Plan along with other
student assessment data collected by the school.
Our EQAO data is an additional source of
information to support the improvement of student
learning. Improving student learning is a slow,
gradual process.
We look for sustained growth in achievement over
time.
We do not support the use of EQAO results to rank or
compare schools.
Berczy Staff look at the ‘triangulation of data’ to help us further understand where a child is at in
their learning. We work together to gather many different forms of student achievement data.
3 sources we look at are: conversations, observations and products.
Thinking about the ‘triangulation of data’ may help when learning more about
your child’s current challenges and successes.
Life at William Berczy PS –
Do encourage your child(ren) to listen carefully to the announcements in the morning.
Once a day, just prior to our morning exercise/nutrition break, student leaders read the
announcements for the school. The announcements are then posted in our front hallway to serve as a
reminder throughout the day. Recently we have had many opportunities for our students to get involved
in William Berczy PS life – ask your children about what our teachers are offering beyond the regular
school day!
We hope that all students seek out an opportunity to be involved in William Berczy PS life! Our
teachers are offering many learning experiences for our Berczy students in athletics, arts, academics,
music, student leadership, intramurals and more! Berczy is a healthy, active place to be!
Communication
We believe communication is critical for student success. Your children, our students, MUST see us as
partners in their education. We will contact you when (and if) your child develops patterns of poor
decision making, and when they are not engaged in their learning. We will ask that we work together to
strategize our next steps towards improvement.
We will also contact you when there is reason for specific praise and celebration of success as we are
often proud of student achievement and are excited to let you know - as well as to ask you to extend the
praise at home. Please do keep the lines of communication open. Let us know about medications your
child may be on, planned trips, or conflicts that may affect your child’s day to day learning. Our
understanding of these matters will benefit your child’s self esteem as well as their achievement levels.
Let’s work together as partners in education
and have a great year of learning and growing together.
Terry Fox Run –
Each year, reflecting on the life of Terry Fox allows us to
teach our character traits in a meaningful way. Terry Fox is a
local hero who we continue to celebrate annually. This year,
our Terry Fox run was held on Wednesday, September
24th. A huge thanks to Ms. Rhodes for coordinating our
student run again this year – and thanks to all students and all
families for your donations to the Terry Fox foundation and
cancer research. Together, we can make a difference!
Our annual Terry Fox run is always a special time not only to
raise funds but to think about those people in our lives who have been affected by cancer. While our
junior and intermediate students were out assembled as a group prior to the run, we learned about some
people very near and dear to our hearts who have been affected by cancer and who are cancer survivors.
Thanks to Ms. Chapman for
sharing her personal survival story.
Thanks also to the runners and
participants in our Terry Fox event
this year who wore individual
dedication stickers for those
special people in their lives. Truly
an educational, moving, and
inspirational event for all!
Thanks Berczy!
Thanks to Markham Fair team for coming to Berczy to meet with all of our primary students – and
teaching us about the history of agricultural fairs!
Intermediate Boys Volleyball Team
We are ten very dedicated guys who practice 4 days a week. Monday
during lunch, Tuesdays and Thursdays after school until 5:00 PM and
Wednesdays mornings at 8:00 AM. To prepare ourselves for the area
tournament in late November, we frequently play exhibition games against
Parkview Public School and will be having two upcoming tournaments in
late October. We also trust in our very talented coach, Mr. Pickthall, to help
us improve our skills, get better together as a team, and build chemistry. We
strongly believe in representing William Berczy with pride, integrity, and
sportsmanship. Those representing William Berczy’s volleyball team this
year are:
Felix F, Andrew D, Nathan L, Nicholas L, Jordan C, Kevin R, Colin
H, Bill L, Owen T, Jack Z, and Mr. Pickthall, Coach
Cross Country
Close to 90 students from grades 4-8 have been waking up early to run in
the mornings as part of this year's Cross Country Team. The team
competed at the Area Meet Monday September 29 at Milliken Mills Park
and those that qualify will go to the Regional Meet on October 10 at
Bruce's Mill Conservation Area. Congratulations to all athletes for your
perseverance in your training! ((Ms. Chapman and Ms. Harris, Coaches)
All the best to all of our WBPS athletes!
Flag Football at WBPS – by Elysia and Colin
Flag football is a fun variation of football, with no tackling or physical contact. As an alternative, you
would pull someone’s flag, which would act like tackling. Although there is no physical contact, it is
just as exciting. Tryouts began on Tuesday, September 9th. Some of us didn’t know what it was, how to
play, or why they were trying out. However, as the time went by, we
felt more comfortable playing and our interest for the game grew.
The day before the final team was posted, we were all dying of
suspense and anxiety. The team consisted of 5 girls and 10 boys.
There should be 5 boys and 2 girls on the field at all times.
The team members are Rachel R, Ambika, Elysia, Kelly H, and
Evelyn for the girls. The boys are Colin J, Luke, Jaden, Bill,
Tayne, TJ, Jack D, Dylan, Caleb, and Elijah.
We had practices every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to our first
game against Aldergrove PS on Thursday, September 25th. We played against a tall and fast team. We
fought hard, but came to a close game. We lost 18-12. We scored 2 touchdowns and one conversion,
while they scored 3 touchdowns. Although we lost, we had a great time playing. There were definitely
some memorable moments in the game. Rachel stopped them from getting their first touchdown but
couldn’t defend against the second attempt. Evelyn pulled many flags and scored one touchdown. Tayne
and TJ were very consistent Quarterbacks and stuck to the plan. Kelly used her speed and agility to
score a touchdown, and Bill came close to getting us tied with the other team, and Jaden used his
aggressiveness and caught the ball many times. We have had a great season so far and we hope for the
best at our Area Tournament at the end of the season. Thanks to Mr. Kitching our coach!
Supporting Minds - Every day, educators see students who are struggling – students who engage
in challenging behaviour and act out, or who are withdrawn and anxious. Such behaviour may signal
problems that can interfere with students’ achievement at school and their social
functioning. While educators cannot and should not attempt to diagnose mental
health problems, they have an important role in:
promoting positive mental health at school;
identifying students who may have mental health problems; and
connecting those students with appropriate services.
Our WBPS staff are committed to
working together to support all of
our students!
NEW! Guidance Counsellor Office at
WBPS – with teacher/counselors
available for student support!
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNERS AT THE AREA MEET!
Thank you for attending our Curriculum Night.
Please come visit us in our main office anytime!
We look forward to the many opportunities throughout the year to work together.
REMINDER: School Council Elections
Tuesday, October 7th, 2014 at 7:00 PM
WBPS Library, 2nd floor
All are welcome to attend!
Respect Responsibility Courage Compassion/Empathy Optimism Initiative/Independence Honesty Fairness/Integrity Perseverance Inclusiveness
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2—Day 2
Lockdown Drill
3—Day 3 4
5 6—Day 4
Bus Safety
Staff Meeting
7—Day 5
Bus Safety
7 PM School Council
meeting and 2014-
2015 Elections!
8—Day 1
Pasta Day
Grade 3’s to Pioneer
Village
9—Day 2
Flag Football tourna-
ment
K to Apple Orchard
10—Day 3
Regionals—Cross
Country at Bruce’s Mill
11
12 13 14—Day 4
Grade 7’s, Ste. Marie
Among the Hurons
15—Day 5
Admin Meeting Division Meetings
16—Day 1 17—Day 2 18
19 20—Day 3 21—Day 4 22—Day 5 23 –Day 1 24—Day 2 25
26 27 28—Day 3 29—Day 4
Lead Team Meeting—8 AM
30—Day 5 31—Day 1
CHARACTER
ASSEMBLY ,
11:15 AM
October 2014
BUS ROUTES HOTLINE
1-877-330-3001
www.schoolbuscity.com
THANKSGIVING DAY
United Nations Day
Halloween
YOM KIPPUR **
SUKKOT
EID-UL-ADHA **
DIWALI **
ASHURA
PA/PT DAY
(No School)
William Berczy Public School
Tel: (905) 477-2047 Fax: (905) 477-2373
Web: http://www.williamberczy.ps.yrdsb.ca
eMail: [email protected]
YRDSB ANNUAL SAFETY WEEK
CAMP MUSKOKA, GRADE 7’S
SCHOOL PHOTOS
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