Dear Morton Way Community,

Thank you for supporting our school wide events which have taken place this past week. It was fantastic to see you all at our Open House on Wednesday evening. Having the opportunity to visit classrooms with your children helps to set the year off to a great start for establishing the home-school connection.

We had our first Council Meeting last night and were also able to hold our elections. We welcome Syedah Naqvi as Council Chair, Shilpa Arora as Secretary, Tejinder Kaur and Deepanand Lachman as members at large. Welcome also to Neelam Khan, our Settlement worker who will again take on the role of Community member, and Penny Anderson who will take on the role of Teacher Representative. We look forward to working together to support the Morton Way Community. Parents are all welcome to attend our monthly meetings, and we look forward to seeing you on November 22, 2016 at 7:00 pm.

We had our first awards assembly today, and with great enthusiasm, were able to recognize students for

their leadership. Personalized certificates prepared by teachers will showcase the leadership skills your

child has already demonstrated. This chart is a reflection of the leadership skills we will be teaching and

developing in our students. It includes

our commitment to Peel’s Values

Taught Daily, Ministry Learning Skills

on Report Cards as well as the Seven

Habits. Parents can support these

leadership skills at home as well by

referencing a student agenda.

Our first Tea and Talk session was well attended! Thank you to all parents to attending the presentation from Chris Gibson Community Centre. Our hope is to increase our parent and student involvement in healthy, active and fun experiences offered through our local community centres. We will continue to invite you to attend our

presentations which follow our assemblies so stay tuned for more information.

Our Climate for learning teams are developing many leadership opportunities for students in addition to

our extra-curricular activities. Students at Morton Way are busy!! Thank you for supporting our Walking

Wednesdays and encouraging students to walk to school everyday!

With Kind Regards, Vinita Mongia

Inside this issue:

Sports and Health

2-3

Music and the Arts

United Way Giving Day

4-5

School Council

Open House at Morton

6-7

Peel Key Messages 8-9

Peel Key Messages

Character Education

10-11

Director’s Message

Municipality Message

12-13

Our First Assembly

Upcoming Events

14-15

Morton Way Public School Peel District School Board

200 Morton Way

Brampton, ON, L6Y 2P8

Tel : (905) 452-6116 Fax : (905) 452-9481

http://schools.peelschools.org/1510/Pages/default.aspx

t: @MortonWayPS

Principal: Vinita Mongia Superintendent: Adrian Graham

Vice Principal: Dan Elias School Trustee: Kathy McDonald

Office Manager: Cathey Spence Office Assistant: Annette Martino

October 2016 8:30 Supervision Begins

8:40 Entry Bell

8:45 Classes begin

11:05 E Break Snack

11:25 E Break Outside

1:05 E Break Lunch

1:25 E Break Outside

3:05 Dismissal

Page 2 Sports and Health

Terry Fox Run a Big Success

Despite the Rain

On Thursday Sept. 29th, our students participated in the (rainy!) Terry Fox Walk to support the fight against Cancer. The rain did not dampen our spirits and our students wore red and white to support the theme of the day. Thanks to students and our community members who gave a ‘Toonie’ for Terry and walked either in the school or managed to dance around raindrops as they boldly walked in the neighbourhood.

As a result of all the hard work, students and staff managed to raise close to $800 dollars to support in the fight against Cancer. Terry would be proud of the efforts of our students. Pictured above are just some of the students who participated in the day. Great work Morton Way, and remember to keep walking to support a healthy lifestyle. Walking to and from school is always the best way to go!

Walk to School Program

The Walk to school program continues week after week at Morton Way. This great program encourages our students to think critically about how they impact the green environment and the importance of daily exercise whenever possible to promote a healthy lifestyle. All of our families are encouraged to join us for upcoming events, and of course, most importantly, to walk children to school as

often as possible.

Caught Choosing Healthy At Morton Way P.S. our Caught Choosing Healthy program is still continuing with great success. This program encourages families and students to think critically about the lifestyle choices in connection to healthy eating and physical activity. Morton Way thanks the Brampton Beast Hockey Team for their strong continued support and partnership with this program. An additional online resource that will aid in family meal planning and provide useful snack tips can be found at this site: www.eatrightontario.ca. You will be able to email registered dieticians with questions related to healthy diet and children with food allergies free of charge. Choose Healthy Morton

Way!

Page 3 Library and Literacy

Book Fair Comes to Morton Way

Our book fair was a great success during our open house and throughout the week. Thanks

so much to parents and guardians for supporting and to students for wanting to read so

much! Mrs. Anderson will be happy to purchase new books for the school library which will

help improve student achievement. It’s important for our students to read every day; our

book fair showcased a range of topics and ideas to capture student interest. We can’t wait

until the next event, and lets keep reading every day Morton Way!

Library News

Students have visited the library and begun to sign out books. We have reviewed the importance of keeping our library books: CLEAN, DRY and SAFE.

Students are expected to return library books within 14 days but many return them sooner so that they can choose new books to bring home.

Thank you for supporting the Scholastic Book Fair! Your support provides the library with new books for students to sign out and enjoy. Remember that contin-ued reading is exceedingly important in order to im-prove student achievement. Please ensure to read with your child often to keep their reading skills sharp!

Page 4 Music and The Arts

Choir Hard At Work! Our Morton Way Choir is hard at working preparing for great upcoming events. Remembrance day is fast approaching, and the choir is practicing a song by Simon and Garfunkel to honour those who have sacrificed so much to provide Canadians the freedom they enjoy. The students sound great already and we look forward to hearing their lovely voices at upcoming assemblies. The choir is also looking forward to performing the Canadian and American national anthems soon, at a Brampton Beast game: save the date—Friday November 18th. It’s going to be a great night of song and hockey too! The choir will be great and the Beast will win!

Page 5 United Way Giving Day

Give what you can on United Way Giving Day – Oct. 26, 2016

At the Peel District School Board, our mission is to inspire success, confidence and hope in each student – each and every day. Yet we know that there are many needs in our community that we can’t address on our own, like providing food for families that may go without or supporting our communities after a crisis. That’s why we are holding a board-wide giving day in support of United Way of Peel Region, a key partner and supporter of Peel families.

This year, the Peel board has declared Oct. 26 as United Way Giving Day to raise much needed funds for United Way of Peel Region and the network of social service agencies it supports so well. Whether it’s providing shelter for a mother and her children in Brampton, matching a child who is at risk with a mentor in Caledon, or funding a breakfast program in Mississauga for youth that would otherwise go hungry, United Way of Peel Region offers hope and possibility to thousands in our community.

A donation of:

$2 may go towards a warm winter coat for a child.

$10 supports a child with interactive, recreational outings for one year, including healthy snacks and transportation, to help them build their social skills and self-esteem.

$25 matches a teen with a caring adult mentor who will meet with him or her several times each month for fun activities.

This is a completely voluntary campaign and any contributions are welcome. Whether you send a loonie, toonie or cheque made out to your child’s school, your contribution will make a difference. Pledges of $25 or more will automatically receive a tax receipt from United Way of Peel Region. To receive a receipt, you must fill out the pledge form on the back and send it to school with your kind donation by Dec. 16, 2016.

Thank you for lending a helping hand to those who need it. Together, we can Inspire Possibility!

Page 6 School Council

School Council Corner:

We encourage you to be involved in the Morton Way school council! School councils play an important role in student success. They encourage a strong, rich partnership between the school and the family and help parents become actively involved in the education of their children.

Our first parent council meeting was held on October 5th. Thanks to all the parents who attended and who took part in this year’s school council elections. Congratulations to Syedah Naqvi who will continue in the role as chair, to Shilpa Arora who will assume the role of secretary, and to both Tejinder Bhandechha and Deepanand Lachman who will serve as voting Members at Large. Penny Anderson will serve as teacher representative and Mrs. Khan, our Settlement Worker will serve as community member.

In future, we would love to have more parents and guardians attend at meetings to become more involved in the education of their children, to provide suggestions and ideas to the council, and to offer support in the organization of large school events; many hands make light work!

Please note two upcoming dates:

1. Monday November 7th, 6:00 p.m. —A presentation to the community by Young Engineering Minds.

2. Tuesday, November 22nd, 7:00 p.m.—Our 2nd School Council Meeting

We look forward to seeing you at both events!

Settlement Worker in Schools Brampton Multicultural Centre

Settlement Councellor for Morton Way

Contact: Neelam Khan Neelam.khan@bmccentre.org

Settlement services for newcomers:

· A resource for school staff

· I can provide interpretation and

Page 7 Open House at Morton Way—Our Doors are Open!

What a great night at Morton Way! Our Open House was a great success, with a great turn out from the community. Parents and students were happy to see all the great things which were happening during the first month of school. Parents were remarking that they had a great time mingling, browsing and buying at the Book Fair, visiting with community groups in our gym and looking at the Mission Statements of teachers and students in the classrooms. Parents also loved to see the work of students on display throughout the school.

Shortly after the Open House we had our first school council meeting and parents nominated themselves for various positions which were available. Thank you to the parents who took on this responsibility, and who have volunteered their services and time to provide input and advice from the community to the school council and to the school principal.

Page 8 Peel Key Messages

Peel board launches new Plan for Student Success 2016-21

In August 2016, the Peel District School Board launched its new Plan for Student Success, a set of four goals that will guide decision-making during the years 2016-21 to help us achieve our mission to inspire success, confidence and hope in each student.

Each goal, listed in no particular order, is key to student success.

High Expectations for Achievement: Set high expectations for all staff and students to ensure students achieve personal excellence.

Parent, Community and Staff Engage-ment: Engage staff, parents and our communities to support our student’s success.

Equity and Inclusion: Achieve inclusion for all through our continuous progress on equity.

Safe, Positive Healthy Climate/Well-Being: Build safe, positive and healthy climates for learning and working to nurture student and staff well-being.

More information about the Plan for Student Success will soon be available at the following link. Stay tuned for the great news to come http://www.peelschools.org/aboutus/ourgoals/

Celebrate World Teachers’ Day! Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Since 1994, parents and students from around the world have celebrated World Teachers’ Day to commemorate the work of teachers and their contributions to society. On Oct. 5, take the time to let your child's teacher know he or she is well and truly appreciated. Thank your child's teacher and let them know they are making a difference in the life of those who are most precious.

Page 9 Peel Key Messages

Let’s Say Thanks to Bus Drivers Peel Schools will pay tribute to bus drivers on Bus Driver Appreciation Day on Oct. 19th, 2016. The fun day will be celebrated with special activities and events that provide teachers, students and parents an opportunity to thank the people who safely transport over 36, 000 students to and from school each day. If your child rides the bus to school, take this opportunity to thank the bus driver for his or her contribution and ask your child to do so too. The Peel board appreciates the very important job bus drivers do each school day and Oct. 19 provides an opportunity to give these individuals the recognition they deserve. Thanks Bus Drivers for all you do, and for reminding our friends to sit nicely on the bus and to use those indoor voices. :O)

In 2014, the board of trustees declared the last Wednesday in October as the Peel Teaching Assistant and Early Childhood Educators’ (ECE) Appreciation Day. This year, the recognition day falls on October 26, 2016. The Peel board appreciates the important work of teaching assistants and ECEs, and the contributions that they make in the lives of children, families and community members. Enjoy your day, and again, thanks for all you do to make children smile through your work with Kindergarten students and the students you work with in grades 1-5.

Oct. 26 – Celebrate Peel Teaching Assistant

and Early Childhood Educators’Day

October is International Walk to School

Month—Let’s Get Walking!

According to the 2015 Active Kids Canada Report Card, about 91 per cent of 5-to-17-year-olds are not meeting Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines to get at least 60 minutes of daily moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity. These declining activity levels are linked to obesity, illness and diseases (i.e., cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer).

Using active transportation for the school journey is one of the easiest ways for students to get regular daily physical activity. Managing time to allow for the walk or bike ride to school will become a great habit that leads to children arriving on time, refreshed and energized for the school day. In fact, University of Illi-nois research has found that just 20 minutes of easy walking boosts performance in the areas of the brain that support math and reading achievement.

Walking to school also helps out the environment. Eliminating just four short trips per week can reduce emissions by up to 100 kg of carbon dioxide per year. Families that regularly participate in active travel to school can prevent close to 1,000 kg of carbon dioxide per year and save money in fuel costs as well. Also, when more children walk to school and fewer parents drive their children, the areas near school zones become safer for pedestrians. This is why Morton Way will be participating in International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 5th—let’s not drive that day and get into healthy habits in the for the fall and even winter months! We can do it!

Page 10 Peel Key Messages

Parenting and Family Literacy Centres

Parenting and Family Literacy Centres are free, school-based drop-in programs for our parents, grandparents and caregivers with children from birth to age six. Each centre is staffed by an ECE-a certified Parent Worker and offers a variety of fun learning activities. Through music, stories and play, children can start to build essential skills like sharing, early literacy and numeracy, and of course strong communication.

We encourage all families to come to the Morton Way Peel Family Literacy Centre!

The centre is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday during the school year and follows the school calendar from September to June

Page 11 Character Education at Morton Way

―Gotcha‖ Doing Something Good! Students doing great things supporting the Character Attributes at Morton Way can earn a Gotcha! Every week staff at Morton Way look to catch students doing great things like being Co-operative, Caring, Honest, Responsible, Re-spectful and Inclusive. Students get their name added to the bulletin board, their picture taken to show on our front foyer TV and a chance to win prizes from our Treasure Box! Keep up the great work students at Morton Way!

Character Education and The Leader inMe The Theme of the Month for October is Beginning with the End in Mind

At Morton Way, we teach Character and Values education on a daily basis in our classrooms. We also teach about the 7 Habits of Happy

Kids. These themes are shared with you so they can be supported at the home as well!

Respect, Caring, Cooperation, Honesty,

Responsibility, Inclusion

Page 12 Peel Key Messages

Dear Peel District School Board Families,

As a school board that supports the development of learning experiences that are relevant to the modern day, we believe that it is important to encourage and support the use of technology for instructional, assessment and evaluation practices to improve the educational outcomes for our students. We enable inquiry-based learning opportunities to occur in supervised classroom environments that permit the use a variety of technologies to assist students to reach their edu-cational goals.

The Peel District School Board's BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) culture enables every student to have an opportunity to use technology to facilitate the investigation and expression of ideas in a multitude of innovative ways. Teachers and students in all grades and subject areas are able to use Internet-based programs and applications that facilitate collaborative discovery and demon-stration of learning. In Peel, instructional teams decide how, when and which tools they would like to use in their classrooms and with their students to support learning.

Pursuant to the Peel board's obligations in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Infor-mation and Protection of Privacy Act, section 29(2), we are providing notice to parents/guardians that some personal information belonging to students may be collected, retained and disclosed by third parties managing Internet-based programs and applications used by our staff and students. These Internet-based programs and applications typically use Cloud-based hosting and retention services, which means that some of the work that students produce using these tools may be collected by third parties, as a result of the hosting services involved in providing these services. In some cases, the United States of America Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (otherwise known as the USA Patriot Act), may permit disclosure pursuant to law to student work/product without prior notice to the Peel board.

Please note that the Peel board does not store Ontario Student Records or information relat-ed to special education on external servers. These records are not accessible by third parties without prior consent from the school board.

If you have any questions or concerns about the Internet-based tools that your child/teen's teacher is using or the student work that might be collected, retained and subject to disclosure, please contact your child/teen's principal for further information.

Sincerely,

Tony Pontes

Page 13 Messages from the Municipality of Brampton

Dear Morton Way Parents and Guardians,

Public Safety is an important priority for the City of Brampton. We are reaching out to all Brampton Schools to make you aware of the many complaints the City receives each year about parking and unsafe vehicular activity in school zones.

With the new school year underway, the City’s Enforcement Division has resumed ac-tive enforcement efforts. Please be advised that, starting October 15, Enforcement Officers will be escalating the enforcement of parking offences in school zones. As part of this effort, drivers who are parked or stopped illegally will be issued a Penalty No-tice (parking ticket) on their first offence, with no prior warning or notice.

Listed below is a common list of parking violations and general parking information, to help our students and parents/caregivers walk, bike and drive safely in the school area.

Parking in a Fire Route—FINE $150

Parking in a Prohibited Parking Space—Fine $35

Prohibited Stopping—FINE $100

Parking in a spot for those reserved for those with Accessible Parking only stickers —FINE $350

Frequently Asked Questions:

How far should I park …

1. From the Curb?

No more than 15 centimeters (6 inches)

2. From an Intersection?

At least 9 metres

3. From a fire dydrant

At least 3 metres from where the curb meets the fire hydrant.

Lets all do our part to park legally and well and help to keep the community safe!

Our first assembly of the year was a great success! We celebrated student success and

achievement by clapping in students who received a certificate. Parents clapped along

with teachers as we celebrated their success. Thanks to the teachers and students who

helped make a great presentation about Unicef and how money raised goes to support

fantastic projects worldwide. Thanks also to Mr. Martin who talked to students about the

many ways students can keep healthy, and all about how the Caught Choosing Healthy

program helps to support this. Thanks to Mrs. Jalal and Ms. Boese’s class, Ms. Joseph’s

class and Ms. Nicole’s class who were the best behaved and earned the bears of the

month. Thanks also to Mrs. Mongia, who lead us through the Powerpoint show, and a

special mention to our DPA Dancers who got the whole assembly off to a rocking start!

Page 14 Our First Assembly-A Great Time had by All

Page 15 Upcoming School Events

Friday, October 7 PA Day—No School for Students

Monday, October 10 Thanksgiving Day—No School for Students

Tuesday, October 11 Karate Kids and Last Day for Book Fair

Thursday, October 13 Grade 4 Trip

Tuesday, October 18 Karate Kids

Pizza Day #1 for Gr. 1-5

Thursday, October 20 Soccer Tournament for Co-Ed Team

Tuesday, October 25 Pizza Day #2 for Gr. 1-5

Soccer Tournament for Co-Ed Team

Wednesday, October 26 United Way Giving Day

Thursday, October 27 Karate Kids Make up Day

Friday, October 28 Smile! It’s picture day. :O) :O) :O)

Monday, October 31 Halloween Parade

9:15 Kindergarten Parade

10:00 Gr. 1-5 Parade