Administrator Update
Northlea is Proud to be an OPAL School
Newsletter Updates
The Administrator Update, Identity Month & 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.
7th Generation Innovation & Grade 5/6 Choir Performance
Please save the following date: Thursday, April 11th, 2019
Grade 5/6 Choir Performance 'A Million Dreams': 5:30 PM in the North Gym
7th Generation Innovation Academic Showcase: 6:00 - 7:30 PM - South Gym & Library
Our students and staff are excited to welcome you to this year's 7th Generation Innovation design thinking initiative on April 11th. Our theme this year is SUSTAINABILITY. We are drawing upon both the wisdom of the Seventh Generation Principle from many Indigenous communities and the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals to frame our problem based learning.
Students are immersed in learning. This past week alone with had visits from the PRISM Lab scientists, urban planners, sustainability professionals and visits to an architecture firm and a plastics factory. All of these incredible opportunities are intended to expose students to the authentic issues and how professionals in the 'real-world' are grappling with complex issues such as accessibility and sustainability. Thank you to all of our parents and community members who have opened their places of business and spent time sharing their expertise in the classroom as well.
Check out the questions students at Northlea are investigating:
Well-Being Carousels
A very special thank you to our Grade 8 Well-Being ambassadors for leading Grades 1-6 in wellness activities. Students explored physical, emotional, social and mental wellness experiences.
OYAP @ Northlea
We were fortunate to have a special visit from the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program. Our students learned about varied pathway opportunities and they got some hands-on experience with a range of career specific tools.
PRISM Lab
In support of our innovation work using the design thinking process, we were very fortunate to have two scientists, Sarah House and Erica Floreani from the PRISM Lab at Holland Bloorview present at assemblies.
From Holland Bloorview's website:
The PRISM (Paediatric Rehabilitation Intelligent Systems Multidisciplinary) lab is a multidisciplinary group of individuals focused on maximizing possibilities for children and youth with disabilities and special needs, along with their families, through excellence in applied science and engineering.
The innovations created in the PRISM Lab are designed based on clients’ strengths with a focus on increasing the ability to communicate. Their work is remarkable and it models design thinking and innovation beautifully. We learned so much from scientists Erica Floreani and Sarah House.
Learning with the Urban Indigenous Education Centre
We share appreciation with Mike Izzo, Instructional Leader with the TDSB Urban Indigenous Education Centre for leading staff in learning. Together, we enhanced our collective capacity to uphold our obligations as educators with the Calls to Action for Truth and Reconciliation. We will continue to enhance representation of contemporary and diverse Indigenous communities and Indigenous role models.
Athletics Update
For the spring sports season, we have cast a wide net in the hopes of getting student input about their favourites for upcoming seasons. We are pleased to offer options based on teacher availability for each team. Thank you to our teachers who put in so much time and to our fabulous parent partners.
Grade 7/8 Badminton: Northlea sent it's coed badminton team to Bessborough E & MS this past Thursday and played a great tournament. They demonstrated great sportsmanship and represented Northlea well. They have their second tournament this Thursday, April 4th at Bedford Park P.S..
Grade 5/6 Badminton: They Grade 5/6 team has been putting in a lot of practice time preparing for their tournament this Wednesday, April 3rd at Bedford Park P.S.. Good luck Northlea!
Grade 7/8 Co-ed Volleyball: Northlea's Grade 7/8 boys and girls have joined forces to compete for the Grade 7/8 Coed Volleyball title. They have been practicing for over 4 weeks and are anxiously awaiting their tournament on Monday, April 8th at Northlea.
Grade 5/6 Co-ed Volleyball: The Grade 5/6 boys and girls have been practicing almost daily in preparation for their tournament at Northlea this Tuesday, April 2nd. They hope to continue the success that Northlea has had in volleyball this season.
Grade 4-8 Swim Team: Our swimmers are ready to go! They have been refining their strokes in preparation for this week's swim meets. The Grade 7/8s have their swim meet this Wednesday, April 3rd and the Grade 4, 5 & 6s have their meet this Friday, April 5th. Let's go Northlea!
Upcoming Sports:
Grade 5/6 Girls Baseball
Grade 5/6 Boys Baseball
Grade 7/8 Girls Baseball
Grade 7/8 Boys Baseball
Grade 7/8 Ultimate Frisbee
Grade 7/8 Rugby
Grades 4-8 Track and Field.
Girls' Hockey Tournament
Our girls made Northlea proud with their great showing at the 2018/19 Girls Hockey tournament this past Friday, March 29th at the Mastercard Center. They played with amazing energy and enthusiasm and had an amazing time. They also shared the facility with the Toronto Maple Leafs who were practicing!
Global Music Program
Thank you to Ms. Malach for welcoming parents into all of her classes to showcase the Gamelan music program. Students had so much fun teaching their parents and we appreciated the parental involvement.
Spotlight on Visual Arts
Ms. Ivancic and the Intermediate students have been working on selecting images of icons and enhancing them. Check out this beautiful gallery:
Home and School Meeting
Please join us on April 4th at 6:30 PM for our Home and School meeting. We will be discussing the staffing process for the upcoming school year and classroom models.
Music Monday
This year we have something special in store for Music Monday. Grade 1’s and 2’s will be performing a vocal concert 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. The Grade 1 choir will perform at approximately 9:10am and the Grade 2 choir will perform at 10:00am.
Parenting Series: Raising Resilient Children - PRO Grant
Topic: HOW TO RAISE GRITTY KIDS - Tuesday, May 14 at 7pm - 8PM plus Q&A.
In this interactive talk with parenting expert Sarah Rosensweet, you will learn about resilience, why it’s
important, and how children develop ‘grit’. We will cover specific ways that you can support your child to foster resilience and the common mistakes that well-meaning parents make that hamper the development of grit.
Topic: HOLD ON AND LET GO: PARENTING YOUR TWEEN - Tuesday, June 4 at 7pm - 8PM plus Q&A.
In this interactive talk with parenting expert Sarah Rosensweet, you will learn strategies for connecting with your tween and establishing more freedom and responsibility for them while maintaining appropriate limits. The teen years can be wonderful! This presentation will help you get started on the right track.
Running Shoe Drive
A big shout out to Liam and Curtis for leading a running shoe drive at Northlea. For the month of April, we invite families to bring running shoes for donation to local communities. There will be a box by the main office.
Running shoe requests:
• Noting bigger that an adult size 8
• Velcro shoes in smaller sizes are needed
• Shoes must be in good condition
Earth Hour
On Friday, March 29th Northlea powered down in support of Earth Hour. It was a great time to get outside and play and to raise awareness with an ECO parade.
French Speech Arts
Special congratulations to Ashley and Arnav for making it all the way to the provincial level competition. We are so proud of you and all of the students who participated.
Yoga Club
Ms. Calderone is starting a yoga club for students in Grades 1-3. It will take place Wednesdays from 12:00-12:40. The location and start date are TBD. Thanks Ms. Calderone!
WE Promote Health
Congratulations to the WE Team for their work with the WE Promote Health campaign.
Reminders about Device Usage at Northlea
1) Students accessing the wireless network with any device are reminded that they must at all times abide by the TDSB Code of Internet Use. Students may only use electronic equipment in the classroom. Devices are not permitted to be used in the halls or in other areas of the school including the schoolyard. The use is for educational purposes only and subject to the discretion and direction of the teacher.
2) Students in Grades five to eight are permitted to bring in computers for use in school after discussion and agreement with their parents and teachers. They are reminded that they are solely responsible for their equipment; the school cannot be responsible for lost or stolen devices, nor do we have storage facilities.
3) Students are expected to put any electronic devices in their locker for safe keeping while they are being used at school.
4) Students in Grade four may bring in a device to support their learning only after consultation with parents and their classroom teacher.
5) Students in Grades 1 to 3 are not permitted to bring personal electronic devices to school.
6) For our purposes a computer is defined as any electronic device that can access the wireless network.
7) Do not leave personal computers unattended in classrooms, common areas, or lockers. Students who are using their personal computers in such a way that is not permitted under the TDSB Code of Internet Use will be asked to shut down their computers and may be subject to further disciplinary action.
8) Failure to adhere to the school’s policy for use of personal electronic devices may result in a range of consequences including communication with parents, confiscation of the device and suspension.
9. Grades 1-6 should not have cell phones out at school at any point.
10. All students are expected to use the office phone to call home for any matter. In an effort to support student succcess with this school expectation, parents are asked to communicate with students via the office during the school day.
Spring Chess Registration & Extracurricular Programs
A Reminder from Home and School:
Spring chess registration will be open until Monday, April 8. The Spring session begins on Wednesday, April 10. Stay tuned as registration becomes available online.
Extracurricular registration will begin on Friday, March 22. Classes will start the week of April 8th and run for 8 weeks. Stay tuned as more information becomes available online
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
The Northlea Home and School Council is moving Family Fun Night from February to Thursday, May 30th. It's going to be called "The Spring Fling" and it will be a fabulous community-building event. We can't wait to see you there and please stay tuned for more information.
Walk & Roll to School Wednesdays
Please mark your calendar for our upcoming dates:
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019
Wednesday, May 1st, 2019
Wednesday, June 5th, 2019
Yearbook Photo Submissions & Art and Poetry Contest
We invite you to share photo submissions with the yearbook. The online link is: https://www.northleaschool.ca/upload-pictures-201819-yearbook/
Yearbook Art and Poetry Contest (All Grades) - Contest closes Friday, April 5
Yearbook Club needs Yearbook Cover Artwork as well as Yearbook General Artwork and Poems. Students need to have their full name and grade on the back. The Yearbook Art and Poetry contest closes on Friday, April 5. Please submit all entries to the Northlea office where students will find boxes labeled for each piece. With March Break here, everyone has a bit of extra time on their hands, so let's be creative and poetic Northlea!
Cover Artwork
- Complete on standard paper size, 8 1/2 x 11 vertical (not horizontal).
- Write NORTHLEA and 2018/19 somewhere on your cover artwork.
General Artwork and Poems
- Looking for fun and creative artwork and poems to include throughout the Yearbook.
My Life Online - Parent Webinar
MY LIFE ONLINE WEBINAR: Teaching Kids to be Safe, Smart & Kind Online
Thank you to everyone who joined the webinar. It was great to test our the webinar co-learning format on such a snowy day. The online parent turnout was fabulous. If you'd like to view the webinar, the link will be live until the end of the school year.
Thank you to Home and School for this opporutnity and special apprecation is shared with Shelagh Cummins for her leadership wiht this initiavitee.
More information can be found in this package:
Trustee Corner
Below please find a link to Trustee Chernos Lin's latest newsletter:
Please visit Trustee Chernos Lin's website for updates about Ward 11: https://www.tdsb.on.ca/ward11/
TDSB Policy Consultations
From the TDSB Website - We Want to Hear From You - The objective of consultation is to gather public input regarding options, alternative courses of action, as well as to identify unintended effects for various participants and to find solutions. We would like to know your thoughts about our policy decisions by inviting you to our policy consultations. Please click on the policy of your interest to see the current draft. You are welcome to provide your comments, including suggestions on the wording and provisions of the draft policies, questions or recommendations using the contact information below.
Budget Input
Student success drives everything we do in the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Every student deserves a great education and student well-being and learning must be at the centre of every decision we make.
We are asking parents/caregivers, students, staff and community members to complete our Budget Survey so we can use your opinions to confirm the budget drivers that will be used to develop this year’s Operating Budget in alignment with our Multi-Year Strategic Plan.
More details about the Budget Survey here. The deadline to respond is Tuesday, April 2, 2019.
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/ .