Message from Jerry Chadwick, Ward 22 Trustee Happy 2012 and welcome to the winter version of my newsletter. This issue, I have asked our Ward 22 schools to submit good news stories and upcoming events. From the content you will see that the response was very impressive. Thanks to the Principals and Vice-Principals who sent articles by the deadline. We are also honouring two of our Community All-Stars, people who have made a real difference to our schools and/or community. I hope for this to be a regular part of future newsletters.

In Ward 22 we have a lot happening. Two of our schools will close their doors on June 30th for the final time. Peter Secor and Heron Park will cease to function as operating schools and the Board will try to sell the properties and buildings through the Toronto Lands Corporation.

In the meantime, Joseph Brant, Eastview and William G. Miller schools have all begun their renovations to accommodate the students from the closed schools and all three will become K-8 schools. The additions will certainly provide an improved learning environment for 21st century learning. The target date for completion is September 2012. Plans have also started for the addition to Highcastle P.S. which will welcome English and French Immersion students from Brooks Road P.S. in September 2013.

As many of you know, our pool at Sir Wilfred Laurier CI was being considered by the city for closing. However, it was spared and will continue to operate for the both the school and the public. Special thanks have to be given to Councillor Paul Ainslie for his efforts to save the pool. We must find ways to increase usage of this pool outside of school hours so it is not at risk in the future.

One of the Board’s new elementary academies will be opening at Heather Heights Jr. P.S. in our ward. It has been selected to be one of two schools to have a Vocal Music Academy. For more details go to www.tdsb.on.ca and look under Elementary Academies.

The Board is about to begin Community Consultations to deal with the budget for 2012-2013. At this time there is a projected deficit of $85 million which must be addressed. Under the regulations, school boards are required to submit a balanced budget and not allowed to carry a deficit. To hear more details and to give input as to where you feel cuts could happen with minimal impact on the schools, please join me for a Ward Forum. It will be held on February 16th from 6:30 to 8:30pm at Sir Wilfred Laurier C.I.

Jerry ChadwickJerry ChadwickJerry ChadwickJerry Chadwick

Jerry Chadwick, School Trustee Ward 22 - Scarborough East

Tel: 416-397-3096 Fax: 416-397-3114

E-mail: jerry.chadwick@tdsb.on.ca

PARENT INVOLVEMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (PIAC) is a group of volunteer parents from across the TDSB who represent the voice of parents at the board level. PIAC provides information and resources on a wide range of topics at this website: www.torontopiac.com. Your PIAC representatives would like to learn more about what’s on your mind with regards to our children’s education. In the coming weeks, School Council Chairs will receive a survey via e-mail from the Trustee’s office. Please respond to the survey. If you have any questions, or would like to get in touch with PIAC, contact your local PIAC reps by e-mail at piacward22@gmail.com

WEST HILL BASEBALL LEAGUE SUMMER 2012

The West Hill Baseball League is a non-profit organ ization run completely by volunteers.

FREE INDOOR WINTER PRACTICE SESSION

Sessions run every week right up until the season starts and are delivered by great coaches.

Outdoor season starts in May.

Registration for the 2012 season is now open. All the information you’ll need to sign up your child can be found at http://www.westhillbaseball.com

Or contact Mike Hull, League President, at (416) 28 9-3089

♦ The league offers House League, Select and Rep levels from Ages Five to Twenty-One

♦ Our League is Community Oriented , provides fun and learning, and helps kids develop through sports and team work

♦ We also stress fair play and sportsmanship

♦ The league also allows players from all levels and ages to participate in tournament play

Angela Brackett , Safety Walk Program Organizer, After School Homework

Assistant, at Military Trail Public School.

Military Trail P. S.

Angela Brackett organizes a Safety Walk Program to assist parents in our community in getting their children to and from school safely and she encourages other community members to volunteer as well. Over 40 students benefit from this free service!

Angela also provides Home-work Club Assistance 2-3 days after school, helping students complete and understand their work, and provides them with a nutritious snack.

On Behalf of Military Trail staff and families, we would like to say to Angela, THANK YOU!

William G. Davis

For 16 years, the students of William G. Davis have been able to enjoy the healthy benefits of cold milk at lunchtime due to the efforts of one volunteer named Kathy Torrens. Mrs. Torrens started the program back in 1996 when her daughters Emily and Beth attended Davis. But while the Torrens sisters grew out of Davis, the milk program did not. Since that time, Mrs. Torrens has continued her monthly ritual of sending home milk forms, collecting money, ordering milk, setting up delivery, rotating product, scheduling milk helpers to distribute milk and even managing the milk program’s own bank account. Every year the milk program profit has been dedicated to paying for Grade 6 Student Awards.

We are very grateful to Mrs. Torrens for our daily Milk!

Community All-Stars

February 2012 — Volume 2, Issue 1 Ward 22 Notes page 2

Jerry Chadwick, School Trustee Ward 22 ● Scarborough East ● Phone 416-397-3096 ● Fax 416-397-3114 ● jerry.chadwick@tdsb.on.ca

Heron Park Jr. P.S. On Thursday, November 24, 2011, some staff represented Heron Park Jr. P.S. at a dinner reception hosted by the Fraser Institute. The Fraser Institute is founded and sponsored by the W. Garfield Weston Foundation and Imperial Oil Foundation. At the reception, Heron Park was ranked #2 out of 2733 schools in Ontario as exhibiting the fastest, most consistent academic improvement in the province over the last 5 years (based on achievement in the EQAO). Of course, this honour could not happen without the Heron Park families! Congratulations and thank you to the staff, students and community for their focus on student achievement!

Henry Hudson Sr. P.S. At Hudson we will be running s student oriented, student run “Establishing Healthy Relationships” day of workshops and activities on February 16th, a Multicultural Week from March 26 – 30th including a Bazaar which will highlight songs, dances and multi-talents of our multicultural students on March 29th, and a “Celebration of the A rts” evening will be staged on June 7th i n our Auditorium space. This evening will be followed by a Council Meeting.

Highcastle P.S. Mr. Keyes' grade 8 class was the first class to experience our new pilot program, Composer in the Classroom . They spent the better part of a morning working with a Toronto musician and composer learning about the elements of a piece of music. They have been writing melodies and giving direction and input to create their own band piece. Our composer will now be writing a piece of music for this class to perform. The other classes will soon get this experience in class for the next few months!

Highland Creek P.S. On Tuesday, December 13th, Highland Creek students went to the Legislative Building to perform on the Grand Staircase! After months of practicing, they presented 14 numbers to a very appreciative audience. They had the honour of being personally greeted by Lieutenant-Governor David Onley before the performance. Afterwards, they went on a quick tour of the government building. Each student received a com-memorative pin of their visit. The school has been pleased to receive "thank you" phone calls and a card from government workers who heard them perform that day. Well Done Highland Creek Singers!

John G. Diefenbaker P.S. Here are some upcoming important dates: May 26th - Spring Fun Fair / June 25th Graduation at 12:45pm

Joseph Brant P.S. Full Day Kindergarten Registration at Brant - As a result of the recent Area Review Committee, decisions were made to convert Joseph Brant Senior P.S. from a grade 7 and 8 facility into a Kindergarten to grade 8 public school effective school year 2012 – 2013. In order to facilitate this move to full day Kindergarten, please be aware that our first ever Kindergarten registration days are Tuesday February 21 – Friday February 24, 2012. Please contact the office at 416-396-6400 to arrange a registration appointment or if you have an inquiry about full day Kindergarten here at Brant.

Military Trail P.S. The Grade 7/8 students were pleased to have the opportunity to participate in Ballroom Dancing classes with Mr. Glean, a professional ballroom instructor. Our students were able to showcase their talents at the school’s Ballroom Gala event. It was exciting to see the students dress up for the occasion and parents who joined us were beaming as they watched the skill with which their sons and daughters used in their Dance Showcase.

Poplar Road Jr. P.S. We are pleased to announce that we are putting on the Theatrical Production ‘Beauty and the Beast’ in Apr il . Our junior students are having a great time rehearsing and preparing for this special event!

Sir Oliver Mowat C.I. During our 2011 Holiday Drive, from December 12th to 23rd, the staff and students raised $14,500.00 for the Su nshine Foundation. This foundation is the only national Canadian charity to provide individual dreams to children with severe physical disabilities (such as spina bifida or cerebral palsy) as well as life-threatening illnesses. In fact, 80% of Sunshine Kids are challenged by a severe physical disability. The school also donated 1,350 pounds of food to the Daily Food Bank supporting the emergency food relief campaign.

Sir Robert L. Borden BTI We have partnered with the company that produces the digital signage for CP24 and Yonge-Dundas Square and we will be installing our own version of BordenTV shortly . Feel free to come by for a visit any time but if you’re looking for a party, drop by on May 17th from 5:30p.m. to 8:00p.m. for our third annual Borden Ro cks the Block community celebration . We’ll have magicians, inflatable obstacle courses, and inexpensive food. It’s not to be missed!

William G. Davis Jr. P.S. As a result of the active participation and commitment of Wm. G. Davis students in the Just Read It program, the school has been awarded an author's visit from one of the TDSB's Writers-in -Residence, Jeremy Tankard. He is the author of Boo Hoo Bird, Grumpy Bird, and Me Hungry! The school is very excited by the news because author visits are awarded to schools based on their participation rates and all the students from Kindergarten right up to Grade 6 have nicely demonstrated January’s character development trait of teamwork by achieving this great honour. The Davis students are looking forward to welcoming Jeremy to their school and learning all about the writing process and how a picture book comes together.

Willow Park Jr. P.S. The Grade 5’s at Willow Park had the fantastic opportunity of working with the extremely talented artists of Jumb lies Theatre based in the Cedar Ridge Creative Centre. Students not only helped to create many of the props and materials that were used in the production but they and their families were also participants in this piece of community theatre on the night of Dec. 15th.

GOOD NEWS STORIES FROM SCHOOLS IN WARD 22 ! Centennial Road Jr. P.S. January 25, 2012 staff, students, parents and members of the community enjoyed a Dufflebag Theatre production of “Beauty and the Beast.” A couple of students were selected from the audience and asked to perform the roles of the handsome prince and Beauty. This is the third year that Centennial Road School Council has hired the Dufflebag Theatre group to perform a unique interpretation of a fairy tale in Sir Oliver Mowat C.I. auditorium to raise funds for various school projects.

Elizabeth Simcoe J. P. S. Extracurricular sports are flourishing at Elizabeth Simcoe J.P.S. Many students have been taking part in a multitude of athletic activities. Being part of a team exposes students to a variety of life lessons which will greatly benefit students as they continue through their education. The coachs thoroughly enjoy working with all of the students who show such positive teamwork and school spirit here at Elizabeth Simcoe Junior Public School!

Galloway Road On Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 – Galloway Road had the privilege of hosting a contingent of Principals from Chile, Honduras, El Salvador, and Dominican Republic. In partnership with OISE, the purpose of the visit was to dialogue around how to build community within the school, in order to help every child succeed! It was a fantastic day that was spent by our guests touring the school, talking to the staff, and our students. It was a global learning experience for all!!!