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McKee McNews OCTOBER 2014

McKee Public School

35 Church Street

Toronto, Ontario M2N 6X6

Telephone: 416-395-2680 Safe Arrival Program: 416-395-2688 Fax 416-395-4497

Linda Curtis

Superintendent

416-396-9172

Thank you to our School Advisory Council (SAC) and our teaching staff who at-

tended our Annual BBQ on the 11th of September. It was another wonderful turn

out with many parents and staff gathering to meet one another.

We look forward to seeing our parents on Curriculum Night on October 1st from

6:30 to 7:30 p.m. This evening is meant for parents only. Parents are asked to

find alternative arrangements for their children. We will be selling McKee T-

Shirts for $10 outside our main office. These are an excellent way for students to

feel school spirit and they can be used during Gym classes.

A sincere thank you to all the parents, friends and community members who con-

tributed so generously to our Terry Fox Fundraiser. It was a wonderful day and all

student participated enthusiastically. Thank you Ms. Coles and Mr. Robinson for

your leadership in planning this event.

Domenic Giorgi Gary McGilvray

Principal Vice-Principal

416-395-2680

Mari Rutka

Trustee

416-395-8411

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday, October 1

Curriculum Night (6:30-7:30)

Thursday, October 9

Pizza Lunch

Monday, October 13

Thanksgiving Holiday

(no school)

Thursday, October 16

Lunch Lady Program

(see page 4 for more info.)

Wednesday, October 22

Hallowe’en Cookies Sale $2

School Advisory Council

(6:30 p.m.)

Thursday, October 23

Pizza Lunch

Hallowe’en Cookie Sale $2

Diwali

Friday, October 24

School Assembly (1:00 p.m.)

Hallowe’en Cookie Sale $2

Thursday, October 30

Lunch Lady Program

(see page 4 for more info.)

Friday, October 31

Hallowe’en

(students can come in cos-

tume—no masks or weapons)

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Get your own McKee T-Shirt for only $10.

They will be available at Curriculum Night!

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EQAO

In September, the Education and Accountability Office (EQAO) released the Ontario Student Achievement: EQAO’s

Provincial Report on the Results of the 2013-2014 Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics,Primary Division

(Grades 1-3) and Junior Division (Grades 4-6), and the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics for English- language

schools. Results for each school and board are publicly available on the website at www.eqao.com, along with provin-

cial and regional news releases.

Students who wrote EQAO in May will have received their results this week from their Grade 4 teacher. I would like to

take this opportunity to congratulate and thank the hard work of our staff and students, who continue to demonstrate a

commitment to high academic achievement.

The following percentage reflects the number of Grade 3 McKee students who achieved a level of 3 or better in each

subject area: Reading 89%, Writing 90%, Mathematics 93%.

While this is an excellent result for the school, Please note, it is only one tool used to assess our students. Teachers use a

variety of assessment strategies to assess student achievement.

Holiday Assembly Page 2 McKee McNews October 2014

Fundraising Events

Upcoming Fundraising events

Throughout our school year, our SAC, with the help of parent volunteers and staff plan some exciting events for our stu-

dents to raise funds for our school. In the past, SAC has enriched the lives of students by paying for many events and

enhanced technology. A small example of past supporting items include: Prologue Theatre Performances, Scientist in the

School, School Bus costs for field trips, safety vests, SmartBoards, iPAD covers, etc. The following fundraising events

will be happening in the coming weeks:

Pizza Lunches – on every second Thursday beginning October 10, students from Grade 1-5 should bring $3, $4 or $5

for one slice, two slices or three slices respectfully. There is no pre-ordering and we will endeavor to provide reminders

through our morning announcements and electronic email distribution. If you are interested in volunteering on Pizza

Lunch days, please call our office and provide your contact information. We can always use extra hands to help on these

days.

Hallowe’en Cookies – Cookies are $2 each. Grades 1-5 students can bring $2 on October 22, 23 and 24. In Kindergar-

ten, a special pre-order form will be made available for students interested in purchasing a Hallow-

e’en cookie. These cookies are freshly made, soft & chewy individually wrapped 4” Halloween

Cookies. Cookies are nut free, Trans fat free, Halal and an excellent source of DHA Omega 3 and

Omega 6.

Acorn Custom Cards - students will create their own artwork which will then be recreated into personalized items such

as greeting cards, note cards, post cards, calendars…etc. Outlining the art will enhance the finished product; also markers

and dark colored pencil crayons are recommended. The students may be completing their design in class. If you would

like your child to design greeting cards, try to keep the theme general so that the greeting cards can be easily sent to fam-

ily and friends. You might want to help your child decide what kind of artwork/ design they would do on their greeting

cards. Some suggestions: Happy Birthday, Diwali, Norooz, Valentine’s Day, Thank you cards, Family Portrait, Holiday

cards. We will be sending home the completed artwork and order in the coming days for your

consideration. The deadline will be Oct 17, 2014. Cheques are payable to McKee School

Council.

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School Assemblies

Each month, our school gathers to recognize the month’s Character Trait and hand out our McKee

Bee’s. One representative per class receives a bee. A McKee bee is a student who contributes to

the positive culture of McKee Public School with a specific action or ongoing positive attitude or

behavior. Check out the picture on the next page to see September’s recipients. Parents are always

welcome to attend our monthly assemblies. Our next assembly will be held on October 24th.

Lost and Found

Our school cleans out the Lost and Found area every six weeks. Parents are encouraged to label as many personal be-

longings as possible, i.e., jackets, lunch containers, etc. Our Lost and Found area is in our front foyer by our showcase.

McKee McKids has a limited number of spaces available in their Nursery, Preschool and School Age pro-

grams.

McKee McKids' Nursery Program runs in the mornings from 8:45am-11:15am. McKee McKids' Preschool

Program runs from 7:15am-6:00pm. Both the Nursery and Preschool programs are for children who are 31

months, toilet trained and live in the McKee School Boundary.

McKee McKids' School Age Program has a couple of different options, before school and afterschool or just

before school or just afterschool. If you know anyone who would be interested in enrolling their child, please

ask them to call 416-222-1414 and speak with Heather or Aki for more information or they can email

at:mckeemckids@bellnet.ca Thank you.

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Punctuality Matters

Supervision in our playground begins at 8:30 a.m. Our first bell rings at 8:40 a.m., when

doors open to allow students to enter our school building. A second bell rings at 8:45 a.m.

when students are expected in their classrooms and be ready for morning announcements and

O Canada. After 8:45 a.m. students can only enter through our main doors and will be con-

sidered late. Students who arrive late to school must report to the office and wait until morn-

ing announcements are complete before signing in to receive a late slip. This process can take

up to 20 minutes depending on the number of students signing in late. Prompt attendance at school is essential

to maximize instructional time and to teach children the importance of punctuality and responsibility. Punctu-

ality is a life long skill and we hope you can share this goal with your family.

Electronic Newsletter

This newsletter is being sent via email.. We will be distributing our newsletter solely via the

email addresses the students provided to us in September. If you have not sent us an email

address, please have your child give it to the main office before the end of October. If you do

not have an email address, you will still be able to view each month’s copy of the newsletter

on our school website at http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/mckee. A limited number of hard copies of

the newsletter will be available in our main office.

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McKee McNews October 2014 Page 4

Our September

“Respect” Character

Trait award recipients

from grades 4, 2, and

JK/SK.