PRINCIPAL’s THOUGHTS..

I would like to begin by thanking our Home and School for another amazing event last Friday.

The Fall Fair/Freaky Friday was a huge success. It was terrific to see the school community

come together and create some fun memories.

Congratulations to our school as we have received our Platinum Plaque for

display!!

I would also like to thank our Playground Committee for coming together and

completing our “1st TDSB Milestone” as part of the Playground Project. There will be a meet-

ing on Monday November 21, 2016 at 5:30 pm in our library for the next part of this project.

Please feel free to join us! Check out the Home and School Website for updates.

Please drop by and check

out our new Multimedia

Welcome Screen in our

Foyer. New Pictures have

been added since

September!!

What is Equity? What does it look like in our school? Do we

see it in our classrooms? School walls? Our staff will be par-

ticipating in an Equity workshop on Wednesday November

2, 2016 led by our instructional leader Ms. Te, and Mrs

Grassi and Ms. Preketes. Our students will then be engaged

to allow them the opportunity for their voices to be heard-

When it comes to our student’s perspective on Equity.

Remembrance Day

On Wednesday, November 11, students and staff at our school and across the city will mark Remembrance Day with classroom activities and school assemblies. During Remembrance Day, our teachers make connec-tions between global events and students' lives by promoting peace within our school community. On this

solemn occasion, our staff, students, parents, and the wider community all join together in a call for peace.

This year's Remembrance Day marks the date and time when fighting stopped on November 11th at 11am in 1918 (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) which makes this the 98th anniversary

for the end of the First World War. It is also the 71st anniversary of the end of World War II.

John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky The larks still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields

PPLEASE JOIN US ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2016 FOR OUR SCHOOL REMEMBRANCE DAY SERVICE @ 10:30 am

From the Gym Bag of Mr. Cuthbertson…..

In the last two weeks of September, students in the school were re-minded and taught about Terry Fox. They learned and relearned why he is a true hero what his impact on the lives of countless oth-ers has been. Students were asked to bring in donations to the Ter-ry Fox Foundation in support of our annual Terry Fox Run. Working together, we raised about $1000, which has been sent on to the Foundation. Our Run happened on a beautiful Friday at the end of September, supported by lots of parent paparazzi. Kindergartens through Grade 1s ran/walked first around our block, followed by the Grade 4s and 5s. Everyone was wearing a sticker indicating who they were running for or why they were running, some of which were quite personal and poignant. Thanks to everyone for your support!

You knew it was the second week of school because Cross-Country started up again! As usual, about 70% of all students in Grades 1-5 signed up for lunchtime practices on Mondays and Wednesdays. Runners were faithful and enthusiastic in their attendance, working hard and becoming faster, stronger and fitter in the pro-cess. On October 6th, about 100 runners from our school participated in the first round of the Board's Cross-Country Meets, down at Ashbridges Bay. It was a beau-tiful day, warm and and sunny (which was highly unusual) and everyone tried their best. Runners in Grades 3-5 had to finish in the Top 30 to move on to the next meet. Those who did included the following: *Grade 3 Girls: Iliana (8th), Alexa (10th), Evangeline (12th) *Grade 5 Girls: Maia (6th), Mattea (9th), Athena (13th), Allison (28th) *Grade 5 Boys: George (11th)

Congratulations to all our runners who gave it their best shot and made our school proud!

THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE

In late September and early October, our school held its annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. As usual, the students and parents at Presteign stepped up and began bringing in bag after bag of non-perishable food items. We piled two tables high with dona-tions for North York Harvest, a total of 350 pounds of canned and packaged goods. Thanks very much, Presteign: people got to eat because of us. Thanks for caring!

Parent-Teacher Interviews Regular parent-teacher communication is an important part of student learning. Parent-teacher interviews are scheduled throughout the year after report cards are sent home. Your child’s Progress Report will be sent home on Tuesday November 15, 2016. These interviews are your opportunity to ask questions about your child's progress and to discuss any issues. In addition to regular scheduled parent-teacher inter-views, you can request a meeting at any time during the school year by contacting the school or your child's teacher directly.

Friday November 18th is a PA Day for Parent Teacher Interviews.

Karen Kain School of the Arts Information Night Is your child excited by the arts? Is he/she looking for a middle school experience in an enriched arts environ-ment? Grade 5 students interested in the arts now have another educational option to develop their skills within a gen-eralist arts-integrated school. Join Vonda-Kaye Oketch, Principal of Karen Kain School of the Arts, along with her dynamic teachers for an information night for students entering Grade 6 in September 2017. Learn more about the school, the unique curriculum delivery model and the application process. Students are welcome to attend too! The application process is open to Grade 5 students only. Information Night Thursday, November 10 at 6pm John English Middle School 95 Mimico Ave. Etobicoke, ON To find out more about admissions, visit: http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/karenkain/Admissions.aspx

As the weather changes, we will continue

to remind students about the importance

of using indoor and outdoor shoes. Taking

the time to make the change will truly help

Mr. Yanoff keep Presteign sparkly clean.

A friendly reminder that after school and espe-

cially on Wednesday evenings, parking and traffic

around Presteign is very heavy. The designated

space for our school bus is at the end of the side

pathway beside the portables where the chain

gate is located. If traffic is too heavy, the bus will

pick up students in front of the cross-walk on St.

Clair avenue. Please be mindful that this may

cause a temporary hold in traffic. We appreciate

your patience and support!

Reminder to call school if your child will be late or absent

One measure of keeping our students safe is to ensure we can account for any ab-

sences or reasons for being late to school. We would like to remind you that if your

child is going to be absent or late for any reason, we ask that you contact the school

immediately and report the reason for the absence. If we are not informed about the

absence, we will make attempts to contact you through our automated call-out sys-

tem to determine the reason for the absence. To find out how this automated system

works please visit http://www.tdsb.on.ca/HighSchool/CaringSafeSchools/

SafeArrivalProgram.aspx

Please let the office know by calling 416 396-2430 if your contact information, in-

cluding phone number, changes at any time throughout the school year.

Thank you for your continued cooperation to keep your children safe and accounted

for.

NOVEMBER 2016

15th Progress Reports Go home

18th PA DAY - Parent Interviews

21st Playground Meetings 5:30

25th Pj Pizza Lunch

DECEMBER 2016

1st Movie Night

2nd PA Day

14th Annual Turkey Lunch

15th Holiday Concert

16th Holiday PJ Pizza

23rd last day of School

Dec 26h to Jan 6 Break

Jan 9th 2017 First day back

International Languages Program

I would like to welcome our new ILE Site Administrator Mrs. B Skoundridakis on Wednesday’s for our Greek Heritage Program.

A reminder that during Greek Classes all parents and visitors are to use the front doors of our school and check in with the office. If you are arriving late or need to pick up your child early please make sure you stop by the office first.

Parents play a vital role in ensuring student safety

We are kindly reminding all parents of a couple of

items:

The school parking lot is for TDSB employees only.

This is not a safe place to drop off your child. We

are asking that you kindly respect this.

All caring adults should not be entering our school

hallways during entry and dismissal times. This is

causing some unsafe circumstances for our kinder-

garten and primary students. Please feel free to

speak with Mr. Patsopoulos if you need any fur-

ther information. Always please check in with the

office when visiting our school.