February 2020 Character Trait:

Fairness Perth Avenue Public School

14 Ruskin Avenue,

Toronto, ON

M6P 3P8

Tel: 416 393-1410

Fax: 416 393-1403

Principal’s Report

PERTH PULSE

We are officially into the second term of learning here at Perth.

Please continue to monitor your email address for ongoing TDSB communica-tion and updates regarding the current work to rule and job sanctions. As usual, teaching and learning continues in all classrooms here at Perth. Staff are committed to supporting students and informing parents of progress.

In January we continued our work in developing kindness and caring. Many students were recognized for their random acts of kindness. Students also reflected on Mental Health and Well Being on January 29th. This helps build and grow our positive school climate. A positive school climate means every-one feel safe, welcome and respected. Everyone has a role to play in promot-ing healthy relationships and a school climate which encourages appropriate student behavior. Thank you parents for your valuable partnership.

Perth Ave JPS welcomes Mr. Rochon who is teaching Ms. Levitt’s music clas-ses. We wish a fond farewell to Ms. Russell in room 110. Ms. Russell has se-cured a position at Wandering Spirit School. We will miss you!

Yours in Partnership,

Andrea McPherson

UPCOMING EVENTS

February 13—SAC Valentine Bake Sale

February 14—PA Day—No school,

Parent Teacher

Interviews

February 17—Family Day, no school

February 19—SAC Meeting, 6:30

Library

February 28—My Roots Foundation Presentation for Black History Month

To be confirmed

March 16-20—March Break

Registration for all TDSB Kindergarten programs begins in February. We look forward to welcoming you and your child! You may choose to register in person at your local school or by using our new online registration system. https://www.tdsb.on.ca/EarlyYears/KindergartenMonth

Children who will be four by December 31, 2020, can start Junior Kindergarten in September 2020.

February is Kindergarten Registration Month!

Perth Celebrates Tamil Heritage

During the month of January, the TDSB is excited to start the New Year by celebrating Tamil Heritage Month. This year the chosen theme, selected by the volunteer planning committee, is Vision 2020: Yengal Kathaigal - Our Stories. Toronto has the largest Tamil population outside of the South Asian subcontinent with thousands of TDSB students' and staff members' heritage identified as Tamil. All have stories of their journey, of how they or their families arrived in Canada, and how they continue to embrace this country as their home. Students at Perth had the opportunity to learn some Tamil Dance moves with Mrs. Carpenter.

February is African Heritage Month “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Nelson Mandela

February is African Heritage Month at the TDSB. African Heritage is an opportunity for the experiences, contributions and achievements of African Canadians to be affirmed. This year’s theme is “UBUNTU: I am because we are,” which is derived from the Nguni Bantu term in Southern Africa. Throughout February, a number of activities will take place system-wide. These are:

1. New for 2020 is the inaugural Black Student Alliance (BSA) Awards that will recognize up to three outstanding groups that support Black students, build their leadership capaci-ty and create more inclusive schools.

2. An Opening celebration on Saturday, February 1 from 12-3 P< at Downsview S.S. in the li-brary. The event is open to students, parents, staff and community members and will in-clude student presentations, speakers and workshops on a range of important topics.

3. The Know Your Worth Conference for secondary students will happen on Thursday, February 27, 2020 at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University and it is organized by the Black Law Students Association.

4. The Ibada Marketplace, now in its fourth year, will take place on Wednesday, April 1 and at the Lawrence Heights Middle School and will feature arts-based programming for elementary students celebrating the African diaspora.

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January has been a busy time in the Perth library.

Classes have been enjoying the Forest of Reading program and all of the beauti-ful books it has to offer. The Forest of Reading is a celebration of Canadian au-thors and illustrators. Students have been put to the challenge of reading as many Forest of Reading books as they can between now and April so that they are eligible to vote for their favourite book. For more information on this pro-gram: https://www.accessola.org/web/OLA/Forest_of_Reading/About_the_Forest/OLA/Forest_of_Reading/About_the_Forest.aspx?hkey=1eb8d37c-613b-4111-a940-d1eee01979ed

Our Movie and Book Club has kicked off. Students voted to have me read A Wrinkle in Time which will be fol-lowed by a screening of the movie. It is not too late to join us in the library every Tuesday, after you eat your lunch! (There is a chance we will have to put the book club on hold if Work to Rule action intensifies... I will keep you posted).

As of right now, due to Work to Rule action, Scholastic Book Fair will be postponed. I am hopeful that the fair will happen sometime in March or April. Stay tuned!

A big THANK YOU to the parent volunteers who have shown up in the past few weeks to help me mend books and organize the shelves... much appreciated!!! ~Quinn Richardson

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”— Dr. Seuss

Library News from the desk of Ms. Quinn

Perth Panthers School Spirit Day— Jersey Day

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The Perth Kindness and Caring Award is all about celebrating the students in our school who are doing the little things everyday to make our school community a brighter place. Each week, teachers and students take note of individuals they "catch" doing acts of kindness. Out of this list, one student's name is randomly selected to receive a certificate and a prize. This student and their act of kindness is also featured on the Monday announce-ments as well as a shout out to the rest of the students caught being kind and caring.

Kindness and Caring Award recipients for the month of January:

Tristan in room 202 for helping to put away pillows in the library that he didn't even use.

Hiyam in room 206 for giving her book to another student during guided reading because hers was in colour and the other students' copy was in black and white.

Ronan in room 301 for helping some Grade 1 students bring their lunch bins to their class because it was too heavy.

Brielle in room 305 for standing up for a friend who was being picked on. She chose to not just be a bystander and tried to get help.

Shout outs to all of the other students who were caught being kind and caring...

Room 102: Levi

Room 201: Grayson

Room 202: Charles, Salma, Ayenda

Room 203: Jovan, Salem, Asha, Stella

Room 205: Nolan, Sam

Room 206: D, Ryan, Daphne, Alex, Sam, Leo, Alyssa, Charlie,

Mackenzie

Room 210: Ivy

Room 211: Luna

Room 301: Khadijah

Room 305: Ceilidh, Noah, Elyse

Room 306: Anderson

Room 307: Finn

Perth Kindness and Caring Awards

Room 111 is Making a Movie—Perth O Saurus! Students in Room 111 have been hard at work building a set, making characters, brainstorming ideas and writing a storyboard. It has been an integrated learning experience of building art, science, math, literacy and social skills. Students have been researching dinosaurs and habitats--leading to an exciting classroom inquiry. We will begin to film the movie and our students would like to share the final product with the other kindergar-ten classes when it is finished. Please stay tuned for the release date!

Perth 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament—January 28

Perth Basketball Review by Cush James, room 307 To Mr. Gow: The basketball tournament was over the top amazing. I love how we were to-gether and happy seeing all the kids doing the sports including me. It inspired me to do what I love and many others. Thank you. Cush

Notes from your school office Kindergarten registration month is a busy one at Perth! If you are bringing in registration materials, please come during our registration hours which are 10-11:30am and 1-3pm. For the best service and help. Late For School

It is very important that you bring your child to school on TIME every morning at 8:40am and deliver them to the playground so they can walk in with their class.

In order to provide the best possible program for students, it is necessary for them to attend school regu-larly and come on time. The Education Act states that it is the responsibility of the parent (or guardian) to ensure that children attend school regularly and arrive to school on time.

Research indicates that attendance patterns and attitudes are developed at an early age and the older an individual gets, the more likely it is that these patterns will persist.

If you must be late—please bring your child into the office to get a late slip. If they go straight to class without a slip, the system will start calling you if the teacher has already done attendance.

And please do not accompany them to class if they are grade 1-6. Parents are no allowed in the hallway on the upper floors during instructional time which is between 8:45am-3:15pm.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Join us for our Valentine’s Bake Sale hosted by our amazing SAC parents! Thursday February 13th Front foyer Lunch hour

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Reminder: Don’t forget to sign up for School Cash Online! Our payment system, School Cash Online is the method by which we process all money associat-ed with all school events, trips and purchases. Please go to https://tdsb.schoolcashonline.com/ to register your child. You can register now and when you are notified of an event, you can choose what you want to purchase from the list and pay with a debit or credit card. It’s that easy! You will be able to see when the school has a new item posted for purchase and you will also have the option to be notified whenever your child has a new school event requiring payment.

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Let’s stay connected! For all of the current and exciting info about hats happening now at Perth, visit our updated Perth Avenue Website! https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/perthavenue School Twitter account: @tdsb_PerthAve Follow the school for event info, updates and photos of school ac-tivities! Perth School Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/Perth-Avenue-Public-School-Toronto-264096063626896/ SAC Email: perthschoolcouncil@gmail.com Send us a message if you’d like to be on the mailing list and re-ceive event notices and our newsletter.