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March 2016

Message from the Administrative Team It is hard to believe that it is already March! This means spring is just around the corner. Spring is often associated with rejuvenation and regrowth. Our Term 1 report cards, which went home in February, provide us with an opportunity to reflect, rejuvenate, set goals and work hard to achieve them. Our staff have worked diligently to provide meaningful comments for each child outlining their strengths, as well as next steps for improvement on the report card. It is important that we celebrate the achievements of our students. As educators, we know that there is a strong correlation between strong learning skills (Responsibility, Organiza-tion, Independent Work, Collaboration, Initiative and Self-Regulation) and academic success. As parents, you know that these skills translate into success well beyond the classroom as well. When reviewing your child’s report card, we strongly encourage you to take time to discuss these important skills with your child and set meaningful goals for improvement in some of these areas. February was a very busy month at Armadale. Our Gathering Under One Tree took place on February 3rd. Our parents participated in a very informative dialogue about parenting and the challenges that we face when raising our children. In early February, our Junior Co-Ed Volley-ball Team won the Regional Championships, placing first overall in all of York Region. Way to go Eagles! Our Intermediate Boys Basketball team competed at the area tournament last week, and our Intermediate Girls Basketball team will compete at the areas in early March. The weather finally cooperated with us and our grade 4-8 students participated in our 3rd annual Winter Activity Day on March 4th. March promises to be just as busy. We have our EQAO Parent-Child workshop on Wednesday, March 9th. Grade 3 & 6 students will write EQAO this year between May 25th and June 8th. This is a reminder that March Break is from March 14th to March 18th. The school will be closed during those dates. Eating a healthy breakfast is important for students to do well in school. Please remember to take advantage of our free healthy Breakfast Club each morning, from 7:30 am – 8:10 am. This is a reminder that teacher supervision begins at 8:15 a.m. Students should arrive to school between 8:15 a.m. and 8:25 a.m. to avoid being late. Frequent lates negatively impact student learning and are quite disruptive for the class. Safety is a priority at Armadale. Please drive carefully when using the Kiss’n Ride. It is every-one’s responsibility to ensure student safety. Please be sure to enter our parking lot at the des-ignated entry point, and pull slowly through the loop. Lastly, consider leaving your home five minutes earlier to ensure that your child is at school on time. We hope you have a restful holiday with your families and find the time to re-energize for the remainder of the school year. Be well and stay safe!! Mr. Wolkoff Ms. Ou-Hingwan

Principal Jay Wolkoff

Vice-Principal Helen Ou-Hingwan

Superintendent Erik Khilji

(905) 940-7800

Trustee

Juanita Nathan

(416) 969-8131

Important Dates: March 9—EQAO Parent-Child Workshop March 14-18—March Break—no school March 25— Good Friday—no school March 28—Easter Monday— no school

11 Coppard Avenue, Marham, ON, L3S 2J4 Phone (905) 472-4050 Fax (905) 472-4299

E-mail: amadale.ps@yrdsb.edu.on.ca Website: www.armadale.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

Eye on

ARMADALE

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Respect is the character trait for March!

Collaboration is the learning skill for March!

“We should all consider each other as human beings, and we should respect each other.”

Malala Yousafzai

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS WHO WERE RECOGNIZED AT OUR WELLBEING ASSEMBLY FOR THE LEARN-ING SKILL OF INDEPENDENT WORK:

On Friday, March 4th, the students in grades 4 – 8 participated in our third annual Armadale Winter Activity Day. This program allowed stu-dents the opportunity to complement and enhance the Physical Educa-tion curriculum and participate in a variety of different life skills that they may not get to experience otherwise.

There were several activities for the students to participate in. Over a hundred and twenty students went to Mark-ham Civic Centre where they participated in a fun-filled day of skating and to Club 300 for bowling. Approximately one hundred and fifty students registered to conquer the hills of Lakeridge Ski Resort and Skyloft Resort to experi-ence the rush of skiing, tubing or snowboarding. Another group of forty-one students went to North Beach Volleyball where they enjoyed an active day of rock climbing, beach volleyball and an obstacle course. All students who participated in the day enjoyed themselves tremendously. We were very excited to once again be able to offer our students this exciting learning opportunity.

FDKJSA Ms.Barsoum—- Justin B. and Onna L. 3C Ms. Burrowes—Akash R. and Jimmy D.

FDKJSB Ms. Robertson—Juno C. and Aaruja P. 3/4A Ms. Korody—Laura C. and Jagaswin K.

FDKJSC Mr. Landsberg— Aliyah H. and Deborah L. 4A Ms. MacDonald—Tanveer S. and Wilson C.

FDKJSD Ms. Jocelyn— Awais K. and Rhea K. 4/5A Ms. Marya—Avinaas A. and Brian S. (4) Jessica G. and Vraj P. (5)

FDKJSE Ms. Zakikhan—Cameron C. and Jason Y. 5A Mr. Johnson—Harin T. and Kevin C.

FDKJSF Ms. Mpindu— Sujevan S. and Emily X. 5B Mr. Fisher — Khadija R. and Neththela N.

1A Ms. Pasquale/Ms. Warren—Chloe S. and Umar M. 6A Ms. Phillips—Pranjal P. and Eric Z.

1B Ms. Basundhra—Kishoen T., Vihaan P and Hasni M. 6B Mr. Taylor—Xiao C. and Kalkiha S.

1C Ms. Kokalovski—Harun H. and Adam C. 6/7A Ms. Johnson—Visahan P. and Vinusiya V.

1/2A Mr. Himelfarb—Vanessa S. and Bhavani R. 7A Mr. Lakhman—Johnny C. and Jason J.

2A Ms. Grunberg — Jessica C. and Sukaina J. 7/8A Ms. Boudah—Anorch J. nad Luxsa N.

2B Ms. Penny—Hasini C. and Aarna P. 8A Ms. Baskin—Navneet B. and Anna Y.

2/3A Ms. Crngarove—Charisma L. and Kayalvili M. 8B Mr. Karmali—Yi Ping C. and Mickayla L.

3A Ms. Zimmerman — Dhruv P. and Heba A. CC Ms. Sunshine—Mark L.

3B Ms. Crohn— Daniel C. and Samin W.

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Register Now for Kindergarten for the 2016/17 School Year!

Registration forms are available on YRDSB’s website: www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca.

Children who turn four or five years old during 2016, live within the school boundary and whose parents are public school tax supporters will be eligible to register for kinder-garten. A kindergarten information session for parents is being planned for this spring. For more information please

visit the YRDSB website or contact your local school. Please share this information with family and neighbours

with young children.

Families are encouraged to register as soon as possible to help with school plan-

ning.

Additional Elementary

and Secondary P.A. Days

As a result of provincial labour negotiations, a P.A. Day has been added for all York Region District School Board elementary schools on Friday, May 6, 2016 and secondary schools on Friday, June 3, 2016. You can see the full updated school year calendars on YRDSB’s website.

These additional P.A. Days are mandated by the Ministry of Education. On these dates, teachers will be taking part in professional development on pro-vincial education priorities identified by the Ministry of Education.

SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM It is the policy of the York Region District School Board for all elementary schools to monitor and report on the safe arrival of our students. If you know that your child will be absent, please send a note to the teacher and call (905) 472-4050 to leave a message on the school’s answering machine by 8:30am. If we do not know

why your child is absent, we will, under Policy #665.0, do the following: 1. Call the home/cell and business numbers provided

2. Call the emergency contact number provided

3. If the above are unsuccessful, we will call the York Regional Police to report your child as missing

!!! Punctuality Matters !!!

Supervision begins at 8:15 a.m. Students are allowed to enter our school building and get ready for their day of

learning. A second bell rings at 8:25 a.m. to remind students they have 5 minutes to be in class, ready for morning

announcements and O’Canada. After 8:30 a.m. students can only enter through our main doors and will be

considered late. Students who arrive late to school must report to the office and wait until morning announcements

are finished and then they must sign in and receive a late slip. Prompt attendance at school is essential to maximize instructional time

and to teach children the importance of punctuality and responsibility. Punctuality is a life long skill and we hope you can share this

goal with your family.

Food for Celebrations/ Birthdays

In keeping with the nut safe policy, please do not send food (i.e.: cake, loot bags etc). As a staff we take

serious precautions to avoid any unnecessary risks. We look at the sharing of food as one of these risks.

We ask you to not send in food treats to celebrate a birthday. If you feel the need to share something for

your child’s birthday, find an alternative (pencils, stickers, silly bands, hockey cards, etc.) that students can hand out.

Another very creative way that families can celebrate a birthday is to purchase a book for the class, wrap it up, and let

your child open it in front of everyone and have the teacher read it (with a personalized birthday message from you).

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Another great year of volleyball at Armadale has come to an end. Both the Senior Girls and Boys teams won the Area East championship and were York Region Finalists back in December. Two weeks ago the Junior Co-ed volleyball team won the Area East Championship and won the York Region Champion-ship for a third straight year!!!!!! Special mention to all of this year's Captains (Anson, Suhkbir and Kishore) who did an excellent job leading their teams all season long. Congratulations to all of the student athletes and coaches. 2-3 BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!

SPORTS CORNER

BAKE SALE On Wednesday, February 17th, Armadale's Me to We Team held a very successful bake sale. This year, we are raising money to help improve Health care in Ecuador. We raised $250 from our bake sale! Thank you to all who contributed either by baking or buying the delicious treats!

Student absences have increased recently within several schools in York Region, related to illnesses with respiratory and enteric symp-toms. To protect staff, students and families from getting ill, remember to:

Stay at home when you are sick, and keep your child home if they are sick

Keep healthy by eating healthy foods, being physically active and ensuring your immunizations are up-to-date, including the seasonal flu shot

Avoid close contact with people who are sick

Wash your hands often with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available

Cough and sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue, not your hand, and throw away used tissues immediately

Avoid touching your face

Clean and disinfect common surfaces Symptoms of respiratory and/or enteric illness can include:

Headache

Chills

Fever (over 38 degrees Celsius or 100 degrees Fahrenheit)

Muscle aches and fatigue

Runny nose

Sneezing

Sore throat

Watery eyes

Loss of appetite

Nausea and vomiting

Diarrhea If you or your child are sick and do not improve, contact your health care provider. Many viruses are commonly active at this time of year, for example norovirus and influenza (flu). Both viruses are very contagious and can be spread by contact with contaminated surfaces, such as door knobs or eating utensils. For more information, read the norovirus and flu fact sheets online at the following links: Norovirus fact sheet Flu fact sheet

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News from the Armadale

Parenting and Family Literacy Centre

March Family Fun

The Armadale PFLC in Room 128 will be closed:

Monday March 14th through Friday March 18th

Friday March 25th and Monday March 28th

Here are some other activities for you and your family to enjoy in the community:

Ontario Early Years Centre – #3990 – 14th Avenue, Markham, L3R 0B2 – 905-479-0002

https://familydaycare.com/wp-content/uploads/MOEYC-MARCH-2016.pdf

Milliken Mills Community Centre – 7600 Kennedy Road, Markham L3R 9S5 – 905-477-6410

http://www.markham.ca/wps/portal/Markham/RecreationCulture/ProgramsActivities/HolidayProgra

ms/..\2015-16 Newsletters\Armadale Newsletter March 2016.pub

Markham Museum – 9350 Hwy 48, Markham Ontario L3P 3J3 – 905-294-4576

http://www.markham.ca/wps/portal/Markham/RecreationCulture/ProgramsActivities/HolidayPrograms/

Parent Worker: Inna Veprinska Open: Every school day between 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

No cost or registration required Snacks are provided for the children

Positive Parenting TIP

March is a great time to start thinking about getting active

and getting outdoors as the weather starts to warm up.

The PARTICIPACTION website offers suggestions about

how to make physical health and wellness a family activity

all year long!

For more information, please go to http://www.participaction.com/get-moving/tips/tips-for-parent

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

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Regional Boys

Basketball

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Winter Activity

Day

5

6 7 8

Regional Girls

Basketball

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EQAO Parent-

Child Workshop

10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17

St. Patrick’s Day

18 19

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1st day of Spring

21 22 23 24

Mahtab Narsim-

han—Author Visit

(Grade 5-7)

25

Good Friday

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27 28

Easter Monday

29 30 31

MARCH BREAK—NO SCHOOL

@armadaleps

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Support Group

Does your child’s anxiety, ADHD, mood disorders, learning disability, or behaviour challenges make parenting difficult? Support is available through a new Support Group offered by the York Central Chap-

ter of Parents for Children's Mental Health (PCMH). When: Second Monday of the Month Time: 6:30-8:00pm (childcare and light refreshments provided) Where: Aurora Kinark Office at 24 Orchard Heights Blvd. Unit 101A Aurora (Entrance is at east side of grocery store) free parking & very close to Yonge St. NO pre-registration necessary but please let us know if you need childcare at parentengage-ment@kinark.on.ca Benefits of This Support Group: • meet other parents with children who have similar challenges • find encouragement and emotional support • learn strategies to help your child or youth at home/school • learn how to access resources in the community For more PCMH information and resources, please visit www.pcmh.ca PCMH is the only provincial, family-led, non-profit organization that provides a voice for families who face the challenges of child and youth mental health issues. PCMH provides support, education, and linkage between families, communities, agencies and government. PCMH believes in the promotion of family-centred principles of care. PCMH envisions a future in which children and youth with mental illness enjoy a high quality of life in welcoming and supportive communities.

Next Meeting is MONDAY, MARCH 14th, 2016 Samantha Barnes CYW, MST Therapist presents Parent Self Care-Basics and Barriers