MOUNTSFIELD MUSTANGS

January 2020

From the Principal’s Desk

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Happy New Year!

We hope that this message finds you all well, rested and eager to get your children back to the routines that school can offer. Many adults have humorously shared that they are thankful for the ‘holiday’ after the ‘holiday’!

I had the opportunity to dedicate precious time, without my watch, with my family over the last couple of weeks. The simple things like impromptu visits, sharing a special meal, playing cards and laughing until our bellies hurt provided me with perspective about the importance of the ‘little’ things.

Please know, we are very keen to have your children back and are excited for the learning that is to come. With many routines already established, this can be a wonderful time for dedicated learning for ALL students!

Personally, I love the new year as it provides opportunities for us to reflect on the many successes and challenges from the previous year…all of which contribute to people we aspire to become. It is no secret that this new year comes with some elements of uncertainty throughout the world. Although I am not a fortune-teller and I don’t have a crystal ball, I am certain of a few things. With our growth mindset and solution based lens, we have an unwavering commitment to…

· Providing your children with safe and stimulating learning environments

· Modelling respectful and positive communication and interactions

· Fostering opportunities for your children to be responsible citizens

Once again, I consider myself very fortunate to be learning and working with such an incredible community.

Wishing you ALL a very Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year

Mr. MacGregor

Principal

SCHOOL TRUSTEES: L. Pizzolato & S. Polhill SUPERINTENDENT: P. Skinner

MOUNTSFIELD MUSTANGS JANUARY 2020 PAGE 2

1st Annual Door Decorating Contest….

Congratulations to our 1st

place winners, Mr. Matthews Grade 7/8’s!

Forest of Reading

The Forest of Reading program is coming soon! FDK and Primary students will be reading the Blue Spruce picture books during their library time over the next few months and have an opportunity to vote for their favourite at the end of April. Junior students are able to choose from Silver Birch Fiction, Express and Yellow Cedar Non-fiction categories. Students that read at least 5 books in one of the categories will earn the right to vote in April. Intermediate students can read Red Maple Fiction and Yellow Cedar Non-fiction this year. Reading at least 5 books from either category will give them the chance to vote.

All Junior and Intermediate students will be reading the French selections with Mme Brenner, and M

McIndoo, and voting in April for their favourite selection from Le Prix Peuplier.

We have a limited number of copies of the Silver Birch and Red Maple books. Students participating in the

program as encouraged to check the London Public Library for their availability as well.

Being A Good Neighbour at Mountsfield We take being a good neighbour very seriously here at Mountsfield, and are fortunate to be part of such a lovely community. We ask families that are dropping students off or picking them up at the end of the day to please not park at the end of our neighbours driveways. Even if for a few minutes, it becomes very inconvenient for folks who are trying to get in or out of their own home.

Grade 7/8 Concert Band Auditions

Grade 7/8 Concert Band Auditions will begin the week of January 13th, 2020. Stu-

dents will be required to prepare one song of their choice from the Standard of Ex-cellence method book. Practices will be held over the lunch hour one day a week, and not conflicting with other commitments the students may have (eg. basketball,

student council, etc.). Practices will be determined week by week. Students who fully commit to this group will have the opportunity to play at the Music Festival be-ing held at Canada's Wonderland on June 2nd, 2020.

Ms. DeVree Music Teacher

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Games Club

Games Club is back in the LLC!

Students in grades 3-8 are invited to come play board games at lunch in the LLC and escape from the cold. Listen to the announcements to find out which day is your turn, each week. We have a lot of great games to learn to play or students are welcome to bring one of their own from home.

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Grade 8 Families

Our grade 8 students will be working on high school course selections throughout the month of January. Please check out our Mountsfield Guidance Website for information on high school tour dates. https://sites.google.com/gotvdsb.ca/mountsfield-guidance/home

Students should have decided on which high school they will be registering at and have an idea of their electives of choice when they return from the holidays. Contact Ms. Robertson or Mrs. Chevalier if you have any questions regarding this transition to high school.

Mountsfield Home & School Association

Greetings Mountsfield,

We're looking forward to seeing you all at our monthly meeting! Meet us in the Library Learning Commons next Monday from 7-830pm for hot drinks, sweet treats and cool chit chat.

TVDSB Marketing gurus have been reworking the Mountsfield school logo and are looking for community feedback. TVDSB Marketing guru and fellow Mountsfield parent Julia will be at the meeting with her colleague to update us on their progress and seek out opinions. Got an opinion? C'mon out and share.

Have questions about academics, clubs, fundraising, where to find all of those lost & found items? This is a chance for us to work together and figure it all out.

We'd like to hear more from you! We're tailoring the monthly meetings to include:

1. 20 minutes for Mr. MacGregor's Principal update 2. 10 minutes for our School Council chair Denise Goens update 3. 30 minutes for H&SA update 4. 30 minutes of chitty chit chat about things that matter most to our Mountsfield families

Bring a timer and see if we can stick to an agenda!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? We can always be reached through our email: mountsfieldhsa@gmail.com or through the Facebook page: @mountsfieldrocks.

Your friendly, neighbourhood H&SA!

MOUNTSFIELD MUSTANGS JANUARY 2020 PAGE 5

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MOUNTSFIELD MUSTANGS March 2018 PAGE 7 MOUNTSFIELD MUSTANGS JANUARY 2020 PAGE 6

January 2020 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4

5 6

7

8

9 Colour Day

10

11

12 13 14

15

16

17

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19 20

Kindergarten

Registration

Opens

21

22

23

Beach Day

24

PA

Day

25

26 27

28 Tornado

Drill

29 Emergency

Drill

Bell Let’s

Talk Day

30 31

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