Thank you to all the students, parents, and staff for a fantastic semester! It’s incredible how quickly time passes and how much we’ve accomplished in a short period. Our students have been wonderful ambassadors to our Grade 7 community students during Life@Ching; they’ve continued to offer their support to elementary school students during lunch in the YO!TC program; they wholeheartedly compete in sports and dance; they excitedly showcase their talents at Arts Night, and they are active participants in the Munk/U of T Partnership developing solutions to a Global issue faced today. These are just a sampling of the activities beyond what takes place in class. I am constantly encouraged by our students’ positive energy throughout the day but especially at lunch when groups form in the hall, cafeteria or library to study, play games, and complete assignments. Thank you to staff for their unwavering support of our students, whether it be in class or in supervising/coaching co-curricular activities. Included with this newsletter is your child’s semester 1 final report card. I encourage you to celebrate the successes and set goals in areas that would benefit from additional attention. To all the students, I congratulate you on accomplishing your personal best, and know you will continue to improve upon your skills and abilities in semester 2. For some of our senior students, this marks the end of high school and the beginning of post-secondary opportunities. As you immerse more deeply into the next phase of your life, I hope you look back upon these last few years with fond memories. Your presence and contributions have enriched us all – thank you. We look forward to seeing you again, with tales, at the Fall Commencement. This is also a time for best wishes to staff who will be leaving us. We wish Mr. Hageman, Mr. Seravalle, Mr. Malhotra, Mr. Mohamed, Mr. Rustja, Ms. McKinlay and Ms. Fong continued success at their future locations.

Chinguacousy Secondary School 1370 Williams Parkway, Brampton, Ontario L6S1V3

Tel: (905)791-2400 Fax: (905)791-1290 www.chinguacousyss.com Twitter @chinguacousyss

February 2015

We wish Ms. Higgins well, and Ms. Lebar and Ms. Yau wonderful family time with new babies - we look forward to your return. Welcome back to Ms. Cooper, Ms. Volkes, and Ms. Naus. New to our staff for semester 2: Ms. Palla (TA), Ms. Dhillon (Math), and Mr. Edgar (Tech). WELCOME to Chinguacousy! In addition, great appreciation goes out to our School Council members and our Trustees, Ms. Beryl Ford (retired) and Ms. Carrie Andrews. Respectfully,

Mrs. Mork-Gerra

IMPORTANT DATES

FEBRUARY 1 College On-Line Application deadline for equal consideration

4 Early Release @ 10:49 am 5 Semester 1 Final Report Cards Distributed

16 Family Day - No Classes

19 Co-Op Placement Day 24 School Council Meeting - 7 pm 25 Honour Roll Celebration

MARCH 12 Progress Report Distributed

16-20 March Break 26 Parents’ Night 5:30-8:00 pm 26 OSSLT—Literacy Testing

APRIL 3 Good Friday—Holiday 6 Easter Monday-Holiday 10 Semester 2, Term 1 Ends 13 Semester 2, Term 2 Begins 15 Early Release 13-24 Education Week 17 Mid Term Reports Distributed 14 Co-op Job Fair 24 Last Day to Drop Courses without Penalty 28 School Council Meeting - 7 pm

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

EQAO GRADE 10 LITERACY TEST

On Thursday March 26, 2015 from 8 am to 11:30 am, all of our grade 10 and other eligible students will write the EQAO Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). Only students writing the literacy test will be at school on March 26, 2015 and students who are not eligible to write will be provided with work from classroom teachers to complete at home that

day. Busses will pick up at the usual time and depart Chinguacousy at the usual time. Students may depart after the literacy test is completed and those that remain at Chinguacousy for the after-noon will be supervised in the Cafeteria and the Learning Commons. Cafeteria service will not be available. Resources for the test can be found on the Chinguacousy Secondary School website and at www.eqao.com. An assembly will be held on March 24th, Period 4. A letter will be sent home providing detailed information about the test.

COUNTING ON YOU Literacy Test Preparation

Counting on You (COY) is an after-school program for students who would like extra time and help with their skills and homework. Each class is taught by a qualified Chinguacousy teacher. Classes focus on developing students' literacy and numeracy skills, and are tailored around the specific needs of each student. Classes run every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:45 - 4:15 p.m. and Brampton Transit tickets are available for students who live outside of the Chinguacousy boundary. Several COY programs will run in semester 2, be-ginning February 17th:

The Grade 10 Literacy Test (OSSLT) preparation course, open to grade 9s and 10s and provides an in-depth preparation for the Literacy Test on March 26th.

A grade 9 applied math and cooking class will run for students in the grade 9 applied math cohort.

In addition, regular COY numeracy classes and Basket-ball Reading Club will begin March 31st and run until June 11th. Finally, COY's literacy class will resume after the OSSLT. Registration forms for all these programs will be available to students in the first week of semester 2. COY programs are a fantastic way for stu-dents to build their skills and confidence!

Course Selections 2015-2016

All course selections for the 2015-2016 school year were made through myblueprint.ca/peel from De-cember 15th, 2014 - February 1st, 2015. Students who need to submit options after February 1st, 2015 must see a Guidance Counsellor. If you are in Grade 12 and not returning in semester 2 this year, please see Ms. Fletcher in the Guidance Office to make arrangements for Commencement 2015.

FITNESS CENTRE

Now open Mondays through Thursdays at lunch and afterschool. $20 for a membership valid until May 31st, 2015. Speak to our new co-op student (Benjamin Wong) from the University of Waterloo in the Girls HPE Office if interested.

ATHLETIC COUNCIL

BADMINTON TEAM

Anyone interested in trying out for the Badminton team should listen to announcements early in February. Practices will be held 4 days per week after school from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm with one morning practice starting at 6:45 am. Please see Phys. Ed. staff for more information. The season runs from mid February to mid April.

SKI TRIP

This year’s Athletic Council is busy organizing a ski/snowboarding trip to Blue Mountain for interested

Students. The trip is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10th. Please see Mrs. Fournier in the Girls

HPE office if you are interested in attending. Space is limited so sign up now.

INTRAMURALS

Basketball intramurals will begin the week of February 2nd, 2015 with 10 teams securing spots in this year’s league. NEXT UP SOCCER! Looking for both boys and girls, so get your doubles team together - sign ups begin at the beginning of March! WE hope to see you there!

First Aid and CPR Courses Thanks to Urban Schools Funding, we are offering students an opportunity to participate in the Canadian Red Cross CPR certification course during semester two. The first course begins February 27th, 2015 and runs all day during the school day for a total of 8 hours. Successful candidates will receive their CPR Level C at the completion of the course. See Mrs. Fournier in the Girls HPE office if you are interested in participating.

BREAKFAST PROGRAM AT CHING (BK@Ching):

We provide a free nutritious breakfast to students in the cafeteria every day. The Program is run by a group of committed students and staff volunteers, made possible through grants from Breakfast for Kids and Show Kids You Care foundations. Also, the program receives bread donations from the Spirit Tree Cidery, Caledon. For donations and contributions to the BK@Ching Program, please contact Mr. Legarda at 905-791-2400 extension 421. Chinguacousy cares!

2014-15 Yearbook Purchases

Chinguacousy Yearbook purchases can still be made by simply visiting https://ybStore.friesens.com/stores/306555 or scanning this QR CODE to take you directly to the online store. The Yearbook Club is hard at work capturing all the great events and people that make Chinguacousy the best place to be! Cost of this year’s book is $40! The online store is only open until the end of March 2015 so don’t delay, PURCHASE TODAY! No extra books will be available for purchase at delivery time in June!

Student Sewing Club!

The sewing club, run by Ms. Barnes is starting up for

semester 2. Whether a beginner or intermediate sewer, all

students are welcome to gain hands-on exposure. The

club will begin with basic sewing techniques and build to cover more

advanced sewing. Students will learn how to operate a sewing ma-

chine with confidence and apply the techniques of cutting out a pattern

on fabric to make something stylish. Learn how to make a cover sock

for your iphone. Hang out with your friends and unleash your inner

creativity. Come out for a fun filled, happy sewing time. The sewing

club will run Tuesdays at lunch starting February 24th in the fashion

room.

Welcome to the 2014-2015 Season. This years’ VEX

Chingbots are busy designing, building and getting

ready for our upcoming competitions. We are invit-

ing all Chiefs to attend competition events to cheer

on our hard working Chingbots. VEX advanced teams

will be completing at the following events:

Feb. 7th: St. Michaels College (Toronto)

Feb. 21st: Rick Hansen Secondary (Mississauga)

Mock Trial Team

The Chinguacousy Mock Trial team consisting

of lawyers Sachreet Chahal, Ahmed Imran,

Ricardo Lopez, Udaibeer Sangha, Kurun

Vahra, and Jonathan Wooder, and witnesses

Tharaka Abeykoon, Gurpreet Chaggar,

Nicholas Jacobs, Kevin Lall, Raatik Sharma

and Bayley Walsh will be competing in the

Peel Mock Trial Tournament on Feb. 27th at

the Brampton Court House and in Ontario Bar

Association Regional Championship later in the

semester. Good Luck to the team as they

prepare to both prosecute and defend the

accused in court.

There is a Learning Commons web page that

provides links and passwords to all of our resources

in one location.

From the BYOD Page, Select MyClass. On the left

is a link to the Chinguacousy S. S. Learning

Commons.

Pick up a bookmark at the circulation desk in the

Learning Commons for a description of all the

features.

The Photocopier

The photocopier is going to be the main printer in

the LC. The photocopier prints quickly and can

produce double sided prints.

It is also configured to accept print credits for pay-

ment. You no longer need to pay for photocopying

separately. There is no price change, a page is only

10 cents.

Insπre. Gr23ness. 2gether. Everyone is a math teacher, parents included

Parents and other adults in our students' lives are important partners in children's mathematics education. By engaging your children in thinking and talking about mathe-matics, you help support their numeracy success. To help you with this, one great resource is the Ministry of Education's Doing Mathemathics With Your Child. You can find this guide for parents of children in kindergarten to grade online at www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/parentGuideNumEn.pdf. For more math tips and tools for parents of kindergarten to grade 12 students, visit ABC 123 at www.edu.gov.on.ca/abc123/eng/tips/ and the Peel District School Board’s Math Help site at www.peelschools.org/parents/helpyourchild/math.

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REGISTER TODAY

Saturday, April 18, 2015 – 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary School, Brampton Plan to attend our annual, free conference for Peel District School Board parents on Saturday, April 18, 2015. Take one day to enjoy:

a powerful keynote presentation focused on math success

your choice of 60 practical workshops facilitated by Peel board staff

a display area with educational exhibits from local organizations

free lunch, sponsored by Kidssentials, and an opportunity to meet Peel parents This year, a large number of morning workshops will provide parents with strategies to help you support math success at home. Flyers are being sent home with Peel students now—look for yours. Register today at www.peelschools.org/parents/conference.

It's time to register children born in 2011 for kindergarten Registration Dates: Feb. 2, 3, 4 & 5 We inspire success, confidence and hope in each student…and it all starts in kindergarten! If your child was born in 2011, he or she can start kindergarten in September 2015. Registration will be held at your local elementary school from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Do call the elementary school for details.

Visit the Maple Sugar Bush at Jack Smythe Field Centre Enjoy the beauty and wonder of nature as Spring blossoms. The Jack Smythe Field Centre offers an exceptional family expe-rience with a visit to its Maple Sugar Bush. The March Break programs run from Wed., March 18, to Sat., March 21, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The cost is $5/adult and $4/child 12 and under (cash only). Lunch will be available for purchase, which includes hot choco-late, cookies and hot dogs for you to roast over an open fire. Directions to Jack Smythe Field Centre, 14592 Winston Churchill Blvd., Terra Cotta: North on Mississauga Road, left on King Street (you will see Credit View Public School on your left), right on Winston Churchill Boulevard (you must pass Terra Cotta Conservation Area on your left) and proceed to the top of the hill and left into the Jack Smythe site. For more information, please contact the Jack Smythe Field Centre at 1-905-877-7771.

Register today for Adult ESL non-credit courses Do you know an adult in Peel that is interested in improving their English language skills for work, study or daily life? The Peel District School Board offers Adult ESL courses at three locations in Brampton and Mississauga. Winter courses begin February 2nd, 2015. To learn more or to register, call 905-270-6000. Registration is ongoing and continues after courses have started. You can also visit www.peelschools.org/adulteducation or Twitter: @PDSBLearnESL

Christmas door decorating winners.