Administrator Update
Northlea is Proud to be an OPAL School
Newsletter Updates
The Administrator Update, Identity Months and The Dates to Remember sections have been updated with new information.
Stay Connected with Northlea
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @NorthleaTDSB. You can also check out our website at www.northleaschool.ca.
Ramadan Mubarak
Wishing everyone in our Muslim community a blessed & peaceful Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak.
The Little Mermaid Musical
This year's musical was a giant success. We were so proud to invite the community to 3 nights of performances. Bravo to our amazing student performers and crew and our staff. We share appreciation with our full staff team led by Ms. Capes, M. Lariviere, Mme MacInnis and Mr. Card. Thank you to everyone to all involved for their deep commitment to this musical production. We hope you enjoyed the show.
BINGO is Tonight! - Sunday, May 5th
Please join us for a family friendly game of BINGO this coming Sunday, May 5th, from 4-6 in the South Gym. Come in your PJ's, play a few games and eat some pizza.
Buy your tickets in advance to help organisers get ... organised! Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.northleaschool.ca/2019-social-series/
Looking forward to seeing you there and cheering on the Raptors together!
P.S. There will be last minute tickets may be available at the door.
Music Monday - Monday, May 6th
This year we have something special in store for Music Monday. Grade 1’s and 2’s and the Grade 7 and 8 Bands will be performing in concerts at Northlea in the North gym on the morning of Monday May 6th, 2019 as part of Music Monday, an event celebrated in schools across Canada that supports music education. This is a wonderful opportunity for these students to share with you all of the progress they have made this year in music.
Please ensure that students in Grades 1 and 2 arrive to school on the morning of the concert wearing the following concert attire:
-a plain white shirt (short or long-sleeved with no design on it)
-navy bottoms (pants, shorts or skirt)
-dark coloured shoes (if possible)
If you arrive early to attend one of the concerts, you are welcome to wait in the South Gym to enjoy some refreshments.
The grade 1 choir concert will begin at approximately 9:10am.
The grade 2 choir concert will begin at 10:00am.
Grade 7 Band (co-curricular) and 8 Honour Band (co-curricular) Concerts along with our guests - The Leaside HS Band - will begin at 10:50 am.
Jump Rope for Heart - Tuesday, May 7th
We have a wonderful day of activities planned for Tuesday, May 7th, 2019. The date is proceeding rain or shine. Activities include: Free Skip, Partner Skipping or Double Dutch, Track Course, Sac Races, Hula Hoop Obstacle Course, Snake and Around the World, Dance Station and an Exercise Station.
Thank you also to Ms. Zaharia for her leadership.
EQAO Parent Information Evening - Tuesday, May 7th
Parents of students in Grades 3 and 6 are invited to attend a parent information evening about EQAO on Tuesday, May 7th at 6:30 PM.
Hackergals - Round 2 - Wednesday, May 8th
We are so excited to spend the day coding with girls in Grades 7 & 8. The Canada-wide Hackathon is going to be amazing. The previous participants coded stories about ecological issues to raise awareness about environmental stewardship. Stay tuned to hear more about this season's session.
Track and Field - Thursday, May 9th
The Northlea Track & Field website is up and running! On the website, we have currently posted:
1. The track and field try out results
2. The May 9th Area Qualifier event schedule @ Esther Shiner
3. Permission forms
4. A parent information letter
Further details will be posted in the upcoming week (i.e. busing information, results, etc.
Mr. Ellis held a Track and Field meeting last week (as outlined on the homepage of the website) and he gave out hard copies of the permission forms to all students.
Please pay attention to the '2019 Track and Field Updates' section on the homepage. Mr. Ellis will be posting important updates to this section for all Track and Field participants. Please let Mr. Ellis or the Northlea administration know if you have any questions or concerns.
Information about 'Run, Jump, Throw' for 25 selected via lottery will be updated on the Track and Field website early this week. By Monday, all Grade 3 classes will know who is running from their class. Those selected will travel by school bus to the meet.
Here is the link to the website:
https://sites.google.com/tdsb.on.ca/northleatrackandfield2019/home
Proposed Boundary Change Public Meeting
Below please find an excerpt from a Public Meeting Notice. You can read the full letter which includes more information in the following PDF:
As you may be aware, development in the Yonge-Eglinton area continues to grow at an accelerated pace, resulting in accommodation pressures at local schools, particularly at Eglinton Jr PS. Staff have completed a number of reviews to look at accommodation solutions in this area and will continue to do so when Phase 2 of the Yonge-Eglinton Program Area Review resumes in the fall of 2019. In the meantime, to provide a short-term accommodation solution for Eglinton Jr PS, the Toronto District School Board would like to invite you to a public meeting to discuss proposed boundary changes involving three area schools:
Eglinton Junior Public School
Hodgson Middle School
Northlea Elementary & Middle School
The meeting will be held at Northlea Elementary & Middle School (south gymnasium), located at 305 Rumsey Road, on Thursday, May 23, 2019 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The proposed boundary changes involve the redirection of the portions of the Eglinton Jr PS and Hodgson MS junior and intermediate attendance areas located east of Cardiff Road, north of Eglinton Avenue East, and west of Bayview Avenue to Northlea E & MS (see next page). A Boundary Review has been established to analyze this option and consult with the affected school communities before a final decision is made.
Parenting Series: Raising Resilient Children - PRO Grant
Ujaama Career Conference
Roy Thompson Hall
Special congratulations to Micah H. for performing at the All CIty Band at the TDSB Spring Festival Concert.
OPAL in Leaside Life
Check out Northlea in this month's Leaside Life.
https://leasidelife.com/northlea-puts-the-play-in-opal-play-day/
Children's Mental Health Week - May 5 - 11
At Northlea, we are proud to host numerous programs and activities that support the development of healthy relationships with self and others.
As you know, every 7th Generation Innovation project began with understanding others and empathising with their circumstances. From there, students created solutions to make our world the best it can be. In addition to our daily community building work, Health education, clubs such as Best Buddies, Be the Change and Yoga Club, we also invite organizations into the school to work with groups of students.
This year we have been very fortunate to have the following groups and artists in residence in our school.
Peace By Peace:
Peace By PEACE teaches grade five students skills for conflict resolution, dealing with bullying behaviour, and building self-confidence and self-empowerment. We offer an 11-week program where Peace By PEACE aims to educate, motivate and challenge grade five students to recognize choice and consequence in conflict, on a personal and community level. PBP has been working with our students in our Grade 5/6 French Immersion class.
Roots of Empathy:
Roots of Empathy is a program whereby a community member brings their baby to a class once a month and the students watch and learn about the baby's development and how relationships and communication grow. The program is led by a facilitator who visits the class numerous times a year both with and without the baby. The goals of the program are:
- To foster the development of empathy
- To develop emotional literacy
- To reduce levels of bullying, aggression and violence, and promote children’s pro-social behaviours
- To increase knowledge of human development, learning, and infant safety
- To prepare students for responsible citizenship and responsive parenting
This year, our Grade 5 English class with Ms. Robson has been engaged in the Roots of Empathy program. We are also very fortunate to have a Northlea parent facilitate the program. Thank you Allison!
Rotman Integrative Thinking - Peacebuilders Challenge:
Thank you to our Grade 7 English class with Ms. Fazl. They are engaged in the Peacebuilders Challenge.
Peacebuilders has one guiding question and two tensions they need help thinking through. They have a lot of experience working with high schools. They are increasingly being invited to work with elementary schools. They know that they need to think differently so they can be good partners. Students will be asked to act as consultants to Peacebuilders by answering: How might Peacebuilders support elementary schools in building a culture of well-being? Peacebuilders has focused on building capacity in educators and students to resolve conflicts in a restorative way. Should they continue to focus on building capacity in the school community or should they act as consultants that schools can call when they are struggling with conflict management?
Ms. Fazl's class has even been asked to guide primary classes as they work through conflicts together.
Unity Day:
This week we will welcome an artists' collective called Unity Charity to work with our students in Grades 7 and 8. Unity Artists will perform and share their personal stories demonstrating how art can be a positive outlet for change in their lives. Northlea students will now be included in more than 100,000 youth who will now have been introduced to more ways to express their stress, appreciation of the power of community and awareness of mental health and well-being resources available to them.
Kiss & Ride
All dates need your help. Please consider volunteering 15 minutes of your time weekly/biweekly to keep the Spring program running smoothly at Northlea! You can sign up to volunteer by clicking here.
Spring Fling - Save the Date
Makerspace @ Northlea
Our Makerspace now houses Makey Makey circuit boards, Ozbots a new Lego wall and more. Thank you to our staff for their collaboration in bringing this learning forward for students at Northlea.
Forest of Reading
Forest of Reading has been such a special part of our school and we are tremendously proud of the love of reading demonstrated by the many participants in the program. Voting has taken place and we are excited for our school Festival of Trees celebration on May 15th, 2019. Thank you to Ms. Horton and Ms. Ivancic for leading the program and thank you to our numerous staff readers. We also extend gratitude to our Home and School Council for their generosity in funding the purchase of this year's collection.
Indigenous Education and Mathematics Symposium
Northlea was delighted to participate in the Indigenous Education and Mathematics Symposium at Lakehead University. We were immersed in learning about the inherent mathematics within the creation of traditional crafts such as Metis finger weaving, birch bark basket weaving, medallion making and loom beading. We also had the good fortune of making connections with both the TDSB Urban Indigenous Education Centre and the TDSB Mathematics Department while at the conference and we plan to continue our conversations together. Below are a few images from our time at the conference.
Walk & Roll to School Wednesdays
We have been so proud of everyone joining in on our Walk and Roll to School Wednesdays.
Please also mark your calendar for our last date of the 2018-2019 school year.
Wednesday, June 5th, 2019
Social Series
The Northlea Social Series is a series of events organized and hosted by Northlea parents and school staff. This year's Social Series has an awesome lineup of parties and events for both the kids and adults. For the adults some events include: Lawn Bowling, a Painting Evening and Knight Riders (spinning). For the students some events include: the Ice Cream Truck, Floor Hockey, Hip Hop Dance, Pawsitively Pets Kids Night Out and a Planting Party. It's a great way to connect with the Northlea community, make some new friends and have fun, all while raising money for the school!
Don't miss out! Online ticket sales are available at: https://www.northleaschool.ca/2019-social-series/
Trustee Corner
Below please find a link to Trustee Chernos Lin's latest newsletter:
Please join Rachel at an upcoming April coffee morning. These "coffee" events are informal gatherings where parents and constituents are invited for a roundtable-style discussion of information sharing, best practices and interesting conversation related to education in our ward. Often superintendents and sometimes even principals drop by, so these are fun and engaging events. We hope you will attend! For more information, please visit here.
Next Coffee Morning: Date TBD
Location: Upstairs at Longo's, Leaside Location, 93 Laird Drive
Please visit Trustee Chernos Lin's website for updates about Ward 11: https://www.tdsb.on.ca/ward11/
School Cash Online
We use an online payment system for school related items such as field trips. You can register at: https://tdsb.schoolcashonline.com/ .