The Northlea News

Administrator Update

Northlea is Proud to be an OPAL School

Newsletter Updates

The Administrator Update and 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.  

Greek Heritage Month

March is Greek Heritage Month at the TDSB. It is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Greek Canadians to Canada, and an occasion to mark and enjoy the history of Greek culture. The theme for this year is: "Inquire, Innovate, Inspire - Σπουδή, Καινοτομία, Έμπνευση".   

Northlea's Concours d'art oratoire

Our annual French Speaking Arts Contest was a huge success.  Our students explored a wide range of topics and developed their research, writing and public speaking skills.  Congratulations to Kieva B., Maxim K. and Lisa L. - our winners of Northlea's Concours d'art oratoire.  We are so proud of all of our students.  Thank you to Mme Gardner for her leadership and to all of our staff for collaborating together on this valuable opportunity.  

Fred Aresenault Turns 100

A special thank you to Cynthia, one of our parents, for sharing information about celebrating Fred Aresenault's 100th birthday.  We were able to send a package of cards from Northlea to him at the Sunnybrook Veterans' Centre on his birthday.  Thank you to Ms. Azy and Ms. Ahmed for leading this work and delivering this birthday package on behalf of Northlea.

Capes for Kids

Bravo Northlea!  We raised over $1400.00!  We loved watching our students lead learning throughout the school.  A special thank you as well to Narges and Lilly for their amazing presentation with our Best Buddies and other friends. 

Parents as Partners Conference 2020

For many years, the TDSB has hosted the Parents as Partners Conference for families in collaboration with Community Advisory Committees, Parent Involvement Advisory Committee, Special Education Advisory Committee, staff and community agencies. After consulting with our partners, a decision has been made to postpone this conference until fall 2020. The current labour context has made it difficult to ensure that the conference will maintain the breadth of options and offer participants a similar experience to previous years and concerns about coronavirus (COVID-19) may negatively impact attendance. The planning team is committed to hosting another comprehensive and rewarding conference in fall 2020. 

Bell Times 

Our Northlea Bell Times for the 2020-2021 School Year Will Be:

 

Kindergarten - 8:25-2:50

Grades 1-8 - 8:20-3:00

 

Thank you to our Home and School leaders, along with numerous other families who shared input as well as our staff and daycare partners for helping us determine the most suitable timing for our Kindergarten program.

 

With regards to Kindergarten, our rationale was as follows:

1.  Kindergarten families expressed a desire to keep the staggered entry and dismissal times between Kindergarten and the rest of the school so pick up and drop off remain as manageable as possible when you have children being dropped off in different areas.

2.  Our Kindergarten students benefit from having staggered entry and dismissal times so they are not getting ready and walking through the halls when students in Grades 1-8 are also at their hooks and lockers and making their way through the halls.  The model we have now is optimal for student safety and the developmental needs of Kindergarten students and, as such, we are retaining it for the upcoming year.

 

Background Information from the TDSB

Currently, the TDSB spends approximately $67.2M on student transportation and we receive $63.7M in funding from the Ministry of Education. As part of last year’s budget process, to manage provincial government funding cuts and to address the Board’s structural deficit, Trustees approved changing school start and end times to provide more efficient transportation services for students to get to school. The changes are projected to save the Board $2.5M which still leaves a deficit in transportation funding of $1M.

 

To determine the changes to school start and end times, the TDSB used a software program to identify how we could achieve our goal to reduce school bus transportation costs by $2.5 million. The TDSB considered the length of the bus route and the street network settings including speed limits; turn restrictions, distance, one-way streets, etc. The software maximizes the use of each school bus to provide the most efficient routes for our students. Of the 131 elementary schools affected, 8 of 20 elementary schools in our Ward will have bell times change.

 

We know these changes will be challenging for some parents, caregivers and staff, but by making these changes because of reduced funding received last year, the TDSB can maintain service levels for all students eligible for bus transportation. And this will result in 55 fewer buses (reducing our carbon footprint by approximately 2,750 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year) required to transport students to school. With the shortage of bus drivers that school boards are experiencing, reducing the number of routes will mean improvement and better driver coverage and service to students. These changes ensure that the TDSB doesn’t reduce other student services that would have negative and direct impacts on classroom teaching. The changes to school start and end times will vary between 5 and 30 minutes (the Board’s Transportation of Students Procedure states that school start and end times cannot be changed by more than 30 minutes). This results in 38 schools seeing a maximum bell time change of 15 minutes, while 51 of our schools will see changes of 20 to 25 minutes, 46 schools will see a change of 30 minutes.

 

Three In-Person Information Sessions will be held:

 NEW Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m. at Earl Haig SS (100 Princess Ave, North York)

 Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m. at David and Mary Thomson CI (125 Brockley Dr., Scarborough)

 NEW Monday, March 23 at 7 p.m. at Danforth CTI (800 Greenwood Ave, Toronto)

 RESCHEDULED Wednesday, March 25 at 7 p.m. at Richview CI (1738 Islington Ave., Etobicoke)

 

Two Virtual Information Sessions (Online Webchats) to ensure those parents and guardians who can’t attend an information session are able to access the information they require:

 1st session – Thursday, March 26 from 10am to 11am

 2nd session – Thursday, March 26 from 7pm to 8 pm

 

Child minding and interpretation services will be available upon request for the in-person meetings. Please email belltimes@tdsb.on.ca to request these services.

 

Questions? Please read the Questions and Answers for more information. If you have any additional questions, you can email belltimes@tdsb.on.ca. Final bus routes will be determined this summer and we will share those changes with the families of all students who require bus transportation

Hygiene During Flu Season

In addition to the annual flu season, we are also mindful of Covid 19.  Please know that the TDSB is continuing to monitor the situation closely and are working with public health officials.  ​​​The Toronto District School Board takes it lead from public health officials.

 

TDSB COVID 19 web link:  https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Elementary-School/Supporting-You/Health-Active-Living/Coronavirus

 

City of Toronto COVID 19 web link:  https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/diseases-medications-vaccines/coronavirus/

 

Ontario COVID 19 web link:  https://www.ontario.ca/page/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov

 

It’s important to remember that this is also flu season in Toronto.  We are advising staff and students to take the usual measures such as washing your hands frequently, covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze and staying home if you are ill. 

 

We ask for your support with the following:

1.  Please speak with your children and remind them to wash their hands thoroughouly with soap and water after going to the washroom and throughout the day.  Please also let them know about the hand sanitizer in the classroom.

2.  Please remind your children that they should report any concerns about the washrooms to their teacher or to the office right away so we can address issues promptly.  While our caretaking team check and clean the washrooms numerous times a day, we are not always informed if supplies have run low before the next washroom check.

3.  Please remind students to use the washrooms responsibly.  At times, some students can get silly in the washroom and misuse resources.  We need everybody's help to maintain the washrooms.

4.  Please keep children home if they are ill.   If children are sick at school, we will be calling and asking families to take their children home until they are feeling better.

5.  Please remind students about the importance of not sharing food.  

Home and School Meetings

Below please find our list of Home and School meetings remaining for this school year:

  1. April 6th - 8:35 AM  @ Northlea in the School Library
  2. May - Date TBD - 6:30 PM  @ Northlea in the School Library
  3. Annual General Meeting - Time TBD - Post or pre volunteer breakfast perhaps.

Proposed School Year Calendar 2020-2021

The 2020-2021 school year at the TDSB is recommended to begin on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 following the Labour Day long weekend. This calendar needs to be confirmed by both Board and the Ministry.

 

The un-official school year calendar for the Toronto District School Board runs from September 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020, inclusive.

  • The last day of class for elementary students is June 29, 2021
  • The last day of class for secondary (full year) students is June 27, 2020
  • The last day of class for secondary (semestered) students is June 28, 2020

PA Days & Statutory Holidays

  • PA Day  September 2, 2020
  • PA Day  September 3, 2020
  • Thanksgiving  October 12, 2020
  • PA Day  November 20, 2020
  • Winter Break December  21, 2020 - January 1, 2021
  • PA Day (Elementary)  January 15, 2021
  • PA Day  February 12, 2021
  • Family Day  February 15, 2021
  • March Break  March 15 - 19, 2021
  • Good Friday  April 2  2021
  • Easter Monday  April 5, 2021
  • Victoria Day  May 24, 2021
  • Elementary School PA Day  June 4, 2021
  • Secondary School PA Day (Full Year Schools only)  June 28, 2021
  • Secondary School PA Day  June 29, 2021

Board-wide PA Day  June 30, 2021

Trustee Corner

Please visit Trustee Chernos Lin's website for updates about Ward 11:  https://www.tdsb.on.ca/ward11/

 

Community Coffee Meetings . . . A Message from Trustee Chernos-Lin

UPCOMING COFFEE MORNINGS

Mark your calendars! The following coffee mornings have been set:

  • March 10, 2020, 9:15-11:15, Leaside Longo's
  • April 14, 2020, 9:15-11:15, Leaside Longo's
  • June 16, 2020, 9:15-11:15, Leaside Longo's

"Community Coffee" meetings are informal gatherings where parents and constituents are invited for a round table-style discussion of information sharing, best practices and interesting conversation related to education in our ward. We often have superintendents and sometimes even principals who drop by, so these are fun and engaging events. These meetings are usually held at Longo's Leaside (93 Laird Drive), unless stated otherwise. I hope you can join us at one of upcoming dates below!