Boxwood Public School 30 Boxwood Crescent, Markham, Ontario L3S 3P7

(905) 294-5563 fax (905) 291-1452 www.boxwood.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca

Principal: Catherine Arnold Vice Principal: Dane Prince

Trustee: Juanita Nathan (416) 885-3479 Superintendent: Dr. Lisa Walsh (905) 940-7800

Principal’s Message

Our Boxwood Touchstone

At Boxwood, we are active participants in our own learning and we persevere to reach our goals. We recognize our own success and the successes of those around us. We are responsible for what we say

and how we act. We treat others the way we want to be treated. We celebrate the diversity of our community. At Boxwood, every voice is heard.

We are now into the second month of the school year and as we work on our School Plan for Improvement and decide on ways that we can commit to making Boxwood Public School a positive and productive learning experience for everyone, there are actions that parents can take in our efforts to provide a well rounded educational experience for all our students. One of the key factors for student success is the development of routines which support their learning and educational experiences. By establishing routines at the start of the year, it provides children with consistent expectations. Children thrive with schedules that are easy to understand and accomplish, yet flexible enough to change if needed. Good routines keep children organized and establish an environment of tranquility for all family members. Homework for many children is a part of life that can become easy to neglect and avoid. Children need to understand that homework is an essential part of their schooling that needs to be completed regularly. Creating a homework routine from the start, by establishing a set time for homework, and by creating a designated homework space free from distractions, such as the phone or the television, is integral to success. One of the busiest times of day is the morning rush. Having a morning routine makes the transition from sleep to “get-up-and-go” easier for everyone. When students are well prepared for the day ahead they will be more inclined to sit, relax and eat breakfast. Waking up at least an hour before it is time to leave for school helps. Having school supplies and necessities ready, in backpacks, and placed by the door the night before is ideal. This allows children to begin their school day on a positive note as they arrive at school on time and ready to learn with all of their required materials such as text books, homework and signed notes. (Adapted from “Routines and Schedules for Children” by Rexanne Mancini, 2007) Please join the Boxwood Public School family in making our students and school a great success. We have a reputation for high academic and behavioural expectations, a talented, dedicated staff, and a supportive commu-nity. We intend to maintain these high expectations and with your support and partnership. We look forward to the continued support and active involvement of our parents, volunteers and community representatives in our efforts to provide a well-rounded educational experience for all our students.

October 2014

Boxwood’s School Council 2014-2015

A great way for parents to be engaged in the school is through participation in School Council. School Councils support schools in a number of ways and are an important vehicle for parents to provide input into the decision-making that occurs at a school. We are always interested in having new and diverse voices at the table and we invite all of our parents to attend meetings whenever you are able. At our September Council Meeting we conducted elections to determine our new Executive Council members for the 2014-2015 school year. Congratulations to:

Co-Chairs: Adam Asimi and Bobby Panchu Secretary: Elsa Chan Teasurer: Bina Kadakia

Our next School Council meeting will be on November 18th, 7:00 –8:30 p.m.

Stay and Play Every Wednesday morning from Septem-

ber 24th to December 10th from 11:10-12:40

at Boxwood Public School, Pam May from

CAPC York Region offers a free program for

parents and grandparents and their

children who are 2 and 3 years old. The pro-

gram includes songs, crafts, toys and

stories. For more information call 905-

642-9965 or email Pam at

pam.may.capc@gmail.com

Lunch Drop Off!

This is a reminder to parents who need to bring a lunch to their child to please drop it off on the table outside the office. Please label the lunch with your child’s name and teacher’s name. As part of YRDSB’s Safe Schools Policy, we ask that parents do not walk the hallways or go to classrooms during the lunch hour. If you need to speak with or pick up your child for lunch, please report to the office first and we will call him/her down to the office.

Boxwood Student Council Elections are Coming Up! During the beginning of October grade 7 and 8 students interested in running in the

school elections will be seeking a position for one of the following responsibilities;

1. President

2. Environmental Representative

3. Character Representative

4. Academic Representative

5. Emotional Well-Being and Student Success Representative

6. Cultural and Diversity and Student Success Representative

7. Sports and Spirit Representative

8. Technology Representative

Good Luck to all our students who are interested in running in the election!

You may have seen a few new faces around Boxwood this year, please welcome our new staff to Boxwood!

Dane Prince- Vice Principal Heather York-EOAA Filomena Misitano- Secretary A Hwai Lih Ballantine- ASD teacher Heather Baker-JK/SK teacher David Burns -Grade 4/5 teacher Sukhdeep Khroud– Grade 6 teacher Adrienne DeStephanis– Grade 8 teacher Cecilia Clarke- CYW

Welcome to Boxwood

Student Bus Assignments

The majority of our students depend on bussing for transportation to and from school. Creating routes and assigning students to buses is a complicated and very involved process, co-ordinated at the Board level. Please ensure that you confirm your child’s pick-up and drop-off location and times by checking the “bus stop information” at www.schoolbuscity.com. For student safety, security, and insurance regulations,

students are only allowed to ride on their assigned bus. Students are not permitted to change buses in order to travel to a friend’s home or other destination after school. At the end of each day, students are transported from the school to their assigned drop-off location, unless a parent has been contacted and it is confirmed that the child will be remaining at school after regular dismissal. In such cases the school and parent will confirm how the child is being picked up from school.

Help Us Keep Boxwood Safe, Supportive, and

Child-Focused for All Students

All students must arrive on time (8:50 a.m. or 12:45 p.m.). All students are required to enter and exit the school only through their assigned door. Parents are requested to meet their children at dismissal times outside their assigned entry/exit doors. Teachers’ names are posted at each door to help students and parents know which door is assigned

for their use. Parents visiting the school must register in the main office before moving through the halls. Lunches should be sent to school with children in the morning. Lunches that are brought to the school

later in the day must be left in the main office. Please do not personally delivery lunches to classrooms.

SPIRIT HOUSES ARE BACK!

This year, House assignments remain unchanged and all new students and staff have also been assigned to a Spirit House. Teachers will be confirming each student’s Spirit House within the next day or two. Each Spirit House is made up of students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Houses are given the opportunity throughout the year to collectively earn points for participation in various school clubs and teams activities and participation in Spirit Days! We are all very excited to get our Spirit House system running again and we look forward to watching every PINTO, PALOMINO, MUSTANG, and RANGER show their Bronco spirit!

ORGANIZATION

CHARACTER

MATTERS

Limited Class Interruptions

We value instructional time at Boxwood P.S. Our office staff has been instructed not to interrupt classes unless there is an emergency situation. Please make arrangements, in advance, if your child is to be picked up for an appointment and provide a note to the teacher. As well, please make sure that any arrangements made for lunch of after school are done with a note so that calls do not need to be made into the classroom. Your support in protecting instructional time for our students is most appreciated.

Please call the office for every student absence and/or late. This may include illness, appointments, personal reasons etc. Please call (905) 294-5563 and leave a message. It is important to note that research indicates that significant absence from school has a detrimental affect on student performances. It is for this reason that we discourage extended holidays. If your child is away from school for an extended period of time this will undoubtedly create gaps in their learning. It is not expected that teachers provide work for students for extended periods of absence from school. As a result we would ask you to consider carefully when withdrawing your children from school.

“Character education involves the preparation of learners to be responsible, caring and contributing citizens. Good character is a cornerstone of a civil, just and democratic society. Character education can be both taught and learned. It contributes to the development of safe, supportive schools, develops the emotional and social learning and enhances academic achievement. It contributes to the individual’s personal well being.” YRDSB.

Every month at Boxwood, students from each class are recognized for demonstrating positive character traits, academics and learning skills at our Recognition Assemblies.

September’s character trait was Respect. The learning skills focus for September was Organization.

Congratulations to all our students who received the Respect Awards and Organization Awards for the month of September.

October Character Traits This month we will be focussing on Responsibility. We are responsible when we fulfil our responsibilities and complete class work and homework on time. Our academic focus is on Mathematics. Displaying a positive attitude, persevering with tasks and solving problems using a variety of strategies are all essential parts of the Mathematics award.

Our next assembly will be Friday, October 28th.

Student Absences

At Boxwood Public School we continue to use Restorative Practices when

addressing concerns that may arise at school. The positive outcomes of Restora-

tive Practices are increasingly evident as students become more cooperative and

are more likely to make positive changes in their behaviour. By using Restorative

Practices students are learning to use the common language or vocabulary in a

safe environment to express and exchange concerns. When a situation arises they

learn to play an active role in addressing the problem and making things right. In

the long term, it helps students take ownership for solving problems as they learn

the skills and language of problem solving. The language assists the students to

come to a mutually acceptable understanding. Long term goals of Restorative

Practices also include reduced rate of bullying by students, reduced rates of

absenteeism by students, reduced aggressive and violent incident rates at recess

and lunch time, and reduced rates of suspensions as students develop the skills to

problem solve on their own or with their peers.

Our Provincial Progress Report Card, Grades 1- 8

The Ministry of Education introduced a new progress report, for students in Grades 1-8, which has several new features compared to previous report cards. These features are intended to facilitate better communication among parents, teachers, and students, encourage students to set goals, and assist parents in supporting learning at home.

One of the most noticeable differences is that there are no achievement grades on the progress report card. Instead, the fall progress report card places a strong emphasis on the development of students' learning skills and work habits. Students' achievement of six learning skills and habits will be shown on the front page of the progress report card. These are (1) Responsibility, (2) Organization, (3) Independent Work, (4) Collaboration, (5) Initiative, and (6) Self-Regulation. The development of these skills and habits will be reported as "excellent", "good", "satisfactory" or "needs improvement" and a large space is provided for teacher comments about students' strengths and areas for improvement.

The fall progress report card indicates for parents how well their children are progressing in all subjects and provides an early indication where the student may need additional help. For each subject, teachers will check whether the students are (1) Progressing With Difficulty, (2) Progressing Well, or (3) Progressing Very Well.

The progress reports are being sent home on Wednesday, November 12th, 2014.

EQAO Results

Our EQAO results have been published on the EQAO web site. Our work continues as we learn from our results and take direction from the Ministry from one year to the next. To view Boxwood’s results please refer to www.eqao.com.

Dates to Remember October 7 Milk Program Starts (Milk every Tuesday and Thursday) October 9 Intermediate Boys Volleyball Tournament 3:45-7:30 p.m. gym October 9 Milk Program October 9 Cookie Dough Kick-Off (school fundraiser) October 10 Picture Day (Retakes November 13) October 10 Regional Cross Country @ Bruce’s Mill October 10 Pizza Day October 13 Thanksgiving Holiday October 14 Band 3:30-4:30 p.m. October 16 Curriculum/Meet the Teacher 6:30-7:30 p.m. October 17 Pizza Day October 21 Peace Tree Conference October 21 Band Practice 3:30-4:30 p.m. October 24 Pizza Day October 27 P.A. Day October 28 School Council 7:00-8:30 p.m. October 29 Grade 7 and 8 Immunization October 30 October 30 Character Matters Assemblies October 30 Intermediate Girls Volleyball Tournament 3:45-7:30 p.m. gym October 31 Halloween

Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8 Parent/Teacher

Conferences

Thursday, November 13th from 3:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Friday, November 14th from 8:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon

(BY APPOINTMENT ONLY—watch for further information)

Junior Kindergarten Parent Observations

November 25 - November 29

(BY APPOINTMENT ONLY– watch for further information)

1. READ EVERY DAY

Have a daily reading time.

Sit together and hold the book together.

Let them share in your busy daily schedule:

* Read traffic, store, and restaurant signs.

* Read food labels, schedules, maps, instructions, advertisements,

flyers, and brochures.

* Read and write greeting cards, thank you notes or letters.

2. Talk to your child

* Talk about the pictures! “Every picture tells a story.”

* Make connections to what he or she already knows, e.g.

family, school, friends, places etc.

* After reading, talk about interesting and puzzling parts of

the story.

3. Ask questions:

Show your child that you are enjoying the book by being

curious and asking questions.

* What is this book about?

* Why did you want to read this book?

* What are you thinking or wondering?

* Tell me what you remember!

4. Make it fun

* Reread your child’s favourite stories as many times as your child wants to

hear them.

* Use different voices for different characters in a story.

* Use your child’s name instead of a character’s name whenever it

appears in the story.

Encourage your child to draw or paint characters and scenarios. Ms. O’Rourke

Teacher Librarian

READ EVERY DAY

Have a daily reading time!

* Sit together and hold the book together

* Let them share in your busy daily schedule

* Read traffic, store, and restaurant signs.

* Read food labels, schedules, maps, instructions,

advertisements, flyers, and brochures

* Read and write greeting cards, thank you notes or letters

Talk to your child:

* Talk about the pictures! “Every picture tells a story.”

* Make connections to what he or she already knows, eg.

family, school, friends, places etc.

* After reading, talk about interesting and puzzling parts of the story

Ask questions:

* Show your child that you are enjoying the book by being curious and asking

questions.

* What is this book about?

* Why did you want to read this book?

* What are you thinking or wondering?

* Tell me what you remember!

Make it fun:

* Reread your child’s favourite stories as many times as your child wants to

hear them.

* Use different voices for different characters in a story.

* Use your child’s name instead of a character’s name whenever it

appears in the story.

* Encourage your child to draw or paint characters and scenarios. Mrs. O’Rourke Teacher Librarian

Each year, our students celebrate the long-standing tradition of Halloween. Students celebrating this occasion in costume at our school must comply with the Safe School’s policy. Costume accessories including, but not limited to, toy guns, knives, axes, swords, etc. are not in compliance with York Region District School Board’s Safe Schools Policy #668.0. Please DO NOT send these accessories to school with your child.

Please note that this policy applies to all students at all levels, including Kindergarten. Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to having a safe and enjoyable Halloween.

Safety Tips for Children Before

Trick-or-Treating this Halloween

Wear a properly fitted costume that is bright and non-flammable. Use reflective tape on your costume so you can be seen in the dark. Use face make-up or enlarge the eyes on your mask so you can see well. When

wearing a mask, push it up on your head while walking. Visit the front door of well-lit homes and never go inside. Plan a route close to home and a time to be home. Have a trusted adult check your treats before eating them. Go with an adult or a group of friends. Only nut-free/peanut free treats can come to school for snacks!

Postcards for Peace This year for Remembrance Day our students will be involved in Postcards for

Peace. The program provides an opportunity for youth to send postcards to express

messages of thanks to those who served Canada in times of war, military conflict and

peace or to still-serving Canadian Armed Forces members. This learning activity

allows youth to actively remember the sacrifices and achievements of Canadian

Veterans.

Remembrance Day

Our Remembrance Day assembly will take place on Monday, November 11th at 10:00

a.m. in the gym. At that time we will recognize the people who have fought in wars for

peace.

Our students will take part in a variety of performances and ways of recognizing the

quest for peace in the world.

Parents are welcome to attend the assembly. Please sign in at the office when you

arrive .

A Trip to the Markham Fair

On Thursday October 2nd, students from grades 1 to 6 went on a trip to the Markham

Fair.

A big thank you to Miss Smith who organized this wonderful trip for our school and the

many parent volunteers who came to help us.

Congratulations to Boxwood Public School’s Active Team for winning first prize at the

Markham Fair for their scarecrow. The “Self-Supporting Scarecrow” has been awarded

the Girl Guides of Canada Award.

Congratulations to all students who participated and sent items to the fair to be judged.

As a school Boxwood came in 5th place out of 30 schools who took part in the fair this

year. Way to go Boxwood!

IB INFORMATION NIGHT – FROM THE COMFORT OF YOUR HOME ·

Broadcast via live-streaming twice: October 30th , at 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Visit the Board website at www.yrdsb.ca

Under “News and Events” click on “IB Information Night”

IB INFORMATION NIGHT AT BAYVIEW SECONDARY SCHOOL

Families living EAST of Yonge St.: October 30th, from 6:30p.m. – 7:30p.m.

Families living WEST of Yonge St.: October 30th , from 8:00 p.m. –

9:00 p.m.

We will stream the presentations live to our School Library if we are

unable to safely accommodate students and parents in the large gym.

All tree nuts, including almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, filberts (hazelnuts), hickory nuts, macadamia nuts, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts (pinon or pignoli), pistachios, nangai nuts, beech nut, butternut (a species of walnut), chestnut, coconut, ginko nut, lichee nut, pili nut, sheanut

Artificial nuts could be peanuts that have been deflavored and reflavored with a nut, such as pecan or walnut

cold pressed, expressed, or expelled peanut oil ground nuts mixed nuts Nu-Nuts® artificial nuts

peanut butter, Nut meal, Nut butters, Nut extracts, Nut oils

Marzipan (almond paste) Pesto (made with pine nuts) Gianduja (a mixture of chocolate and nuts found in

some chocolate) Mandelonas (peanuts soaked in almond flavoring) Nougat Pralines

PARENTS – Please Help Us Ensure a

Nut Sensitive School

POST ME ON YOUR FRIDGE FOR EASY REFERENCE

Packing healthy, nutritious, tasty lunches that children will actually eat is a tough task! Make sure that your child’s lunch can be enjoyed at school by paying attention to what’s in the lunches you make. Always read ingredients carefully and check with the manufacturer if you are not sure if something contains tree nuts. The following is not intended to be an all inclusive list, but it provides some guidelines and assistance for preparing “nut free” lunches.

Foods or ingredients that definitely are or contain tree nuts:

Ingredients that may contain tree nuts:

Natural and artificial flavoring Lecithin (soy lecithin is nut-free) hydrolyzed plant protein hydrolyzed vegetable protein Peanuts

Things to watch out for:

Baked goods such as cakes, muffins, cookies, pastries Cereals, muesli, trail mix, granola and granola bars cereal bars Crackers Mortadella (a sausage that sometimes contains pistachio) Candy and chocolate

Allergy Alert!

Several Boxwood students have severe, potentially life threatening allergies. The most common of these include peanuts and nut products. We continue to ask all members of the Boxwood community to be conscious of this when sending lunches and snacks to school. Please do not send any food that contains or is labelled “may con-tain” peanuts, nuts, peanut and nut by-products, peas, or peanut butter. A reminder that food items are not al-lowed at school for birthday celebrations. Thanks for your support in making Boxwood an allergy sensitive school.

No Food Please!

To best ensure the safety of students and staff members who may suffer from life-threatening food allergies, and to support the religious and cultural values of many of our families, we continue to ask that parents please DO NOT send food to school to celebrate your child’s birthday. For the reasons mentioned above, many students are unable to eat various foods and therefore, too often, food that arrives at school is unable to be shared. If you do wish to send something to school on your child’s birthday, then please consider some alternatives to food. Colourful and decorative pencils, erasers, book marks and stickers are always well received by children, as are small loot bags containing a few dollar store items. Alternatively, why not consider donating an age-appropriate book to your child’s classroom library?

If a teacher determines that a specific situation or event in the classroom may/can include food, families will be informed ahead of time, and all food will be confirmed as “nut free”, according to product ingredient labels.

Your ongoing support of this very important practice is appreciated. Please feel free to contact the main office if you have questions about this practice.