Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Attached is a letter from Principal Harry Quon, and Vice Principal Leslie Tumangday about student placements for 2017-2018.

Although requests for placement with specific teachers or classes cannot be accommodated, should you child have some unique qualities that the school is not aware of and which may affect classroom placement, please submit a brief letter before Friday, May 26.

Please download the attached document for full details.

Hi Parents and Caregivers,

Lego Club is coming to Essex and Hawthorne:

• Grades 1 & 2: Mondays, March 27, April 3, 10, 24 & May 1*;
• Grades 3 to 6: Mondays, May 8, 15, 29, June 5 & 12*.

Children will be picked up at 11:50 to go to the Library on the dates above, and they will be supervised in their LEGO Club session.

On the last session in May or June as seen above for all grades of the Essex/Hawthorne LEGO® Club, parents and guardians will be invited to come to the Library to watch the final 30 minutes of the Club for photo opportunities and Certificate presentations…

Please see the attached flyer if your child(ren) may be interested in participating.

Essex Hawthorne, Parent Letter revised, Mar 9, 17 (1)

Hello Parents and Caregivers,

We believe in the importance of parents helping children find a healthy balance with screen time. This is challenging! Our Screenagers team is made up of parents who know this all too well.

Our school will be screening of the critically acclaimed documentary called Screenagers in the Essex gym on Tuesday, May 23, 2017, @ 6:00pm.

This is an adult only event for parents, friends and family members of Essex/Hawthorne students.

Please RSVP: screenagersatessex@gmail.com

About the film:

Award-winning SCREENAGERS probes into the vulnerable corners of family life, including the director’s own, and depicts messy struggles, over social media, video games, academics, and internet addiction. Through surprising insights from authors and brain scientists solutions emerge on how we can empower kids to best navigate the digital world. See more at www.screenagersmovie.com

Additional Information:

1. We’re calling for volunteers:

IMPORTANT: We are looking for volunteers to help with the setup and tear down, refreshments and hosting. We will also be facilitating a discussion after the film and are open to any volunteers who would like to facilitate this. If you are interested please emailscreenagersatessex@gmail.com and put “Volunteer” in the subject line. You will receive and email back to confirm. All help is welcome, big and small!

2. Attached is a 2-page document we feel may be helpful to print and provide discussion with your kids following the screening.

3. The screening will include a discussion period in which parents can share or ask questions.

We hope you will attend. Please remember to RSVP: screenagersatessex@gmail.com.

Welcome to all our new JK students and their families who will be joining us in the fall.  We would like to invite you to our Kindergarten Open House on Thursday, May 25 from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Hope you all can make it.

Hello fellow parent council members

In past years, I have attended “Ask a Teacher” events hosted by the Elementary Teachers of Toronto’s Building Better Schools Committee. It is a great forum to discuss issues in public education. There is a particular focus on class sizes, special education, and full day kindergarten. If you are interested in getting involved the information is below:

ASK A TEACHER – hosted by the Elementary Teachers of Toronto
A great event to have your say and hear about issues in Toronto’s elementary schools.
When: Monday, May 8th
Where: Palmerston Library
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
560 Palmerston Avenue

Refreshments will be provided. If child-minding is an issue please let us know.
You can RSVP to:
Helen Victoros
Committee for Community Outreach, Executive Liaison
hvictoros@ett.on.ca
416-393-9930 ext. 225

Here’s a link to the event: https://www.ett.ca/events-pd/event-details/?ee=725

Take care,
Jessica

The Spring Fling Planning committee has been busy planning the best event ever with new food options, exciting live entertainment plus all of our old favourite games and activities. But we can’t do it alone – WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We will be calling on parents to sign up for volunteer shifts closer to the date. Right now we are asking parents for these much-needed items:

1. Do you have a pop-up tent/gazebo that you are willing to lend us for the event? If so, please email us at parentcouncil@essexpublicschool.com

2. Do you have books (adult fiction/non-fiction, children’s, cookbooks, etc.) or DVD’s you’d like to donate to the book sale? Donations of books can be brought in to the school office at any time between now and June 2nd.

3. Sponsorships Available

Does your business want to connect with over 500 local families? This is a great opportunity to show your support for your local public school and help us maximize the funds we raise at Spring Fling. We have 6 Sponsorships available at a cost of $250 each. Funds raised in Sponsorship will go toward offsetting the rental cost of the inflatables – Spring Fling’s biggest expense. In exchange for your donation, your business’ logo/name will appear on a sign at the entrance to one of our inflatables, as well as on our flyer/map which is distributed to approx. 500 families at Essex & Hawthorne and all who attend the event.

Half of the funds we raise at this school-wide event will be used for a much-needed technology upgrade. The other half will go toward purchasing new books for our school library.

If you are interested in sponsoring the 2017 Essex/Hawthorne Spring Fling, or if you have questions, please contact parentcouncil@essexpublicschool.com

Notes from the Parent Council Meeting – Tuesday, Feb 21, 2017

Principal’ s report:

1. Digital Learning and Technology Working Committee
   • Wi-fi installation completed, February 10^th
   • HUB Room updated Friday, February 17th
   • The sound system in the Gym will be updated
2. Healthy Relationships workshops
   • Workshop took place Thursday, February 2 –April 4
3. Little Jammers (Guitar lessons) are taking place in the Library
   Students from Grades 1-6  had been invited to participate on Fridays over lunch from February 3 to April 7 (Fridays)
4. Internet Safety Workshop
   • Grades 7/8 participated in a safety workshop with Officer Paul Gribbons from TPD 14th Division on February 14^th. In it, they learned how the Internet has brought many benefits, but it has also raised some safety concerns such as the potential for crime and predators. To make sure children have a safe and rewarding experience on the Web, students were instructed where they go, what they do, and the safety issues they may face.
5. LEGO Club – in Library – ongoing
   • For Grades 1-6 over lunch on Mondays
     • Session #1 – March 27 – May 1(Mondays)
     • Session #2 – May 8 – June 12 (Mondays)
   • Note: all activities and clubs at lunch can be viewed under “Resources” on the Essex blog.
6. ACTE Drama Club
   • Dress Rehearsal & Performance in Library (for students grade 3 & 4 and parents) took place February 28th 11:00 – 1:30p
7. Double Treble
   Invitational at ESA for Toronto Sings Festival occurred on March 3, 2017 @ 12:30 – 7:00p
8. Ski Trip
   • Essex – Grade 7/8 & Hawthorne – Grade 5/6 occurred at Snow Valley on March 7, 2017
9. Social Media Presentation for Grade 5 – 8 was presented on March 8 by Chris Vollum
10. Black History Month– recap by Leslie:

• Each morning a different song of African heritage and background was selected, the bio of the artist was read during announcements
• Teachers used picture books during class time to discuss Black History month topics.
• Art will be installed soon, in the lobby of the school. Cheryl Bowie will be working with an artist and the older grades
• The Grade 4 and 5 students were privileged to see a dance performance
• Storyteller, Kalale Dalton, came in to Kindergarten to Grade 2, to read and tell stories.
• A school assembly took place on Mon, Feb 27

11. Indigo Grant – Leslie. Has been submitted. Will know if we are successful later in the school year, before the summer break. Hope to show the promotional film for Essex at assembly and on Essex blog.

Treasurer report

• Theatricks
  • We have secured two sessions of Theatricks for our students: Established in 1985 Treatricks’ Project Theatre serves as an educational resource for area schools’ theater curriculum:

1. April 4^th– May 9^th
2. May 16 – June 20.

• We have asked our teachers to spend their $200 classroom fund before April 30. We will provide examples soon of how our kids benefit soon.

SPRING FLING FUNDRAISING AIMS 2017

• Wi-fi upgrade was paid for by Essex & Hawthorne Spring Fling 2016 surplus.
• Aim for 2017 is to purchase chrome books, laptops without hard drive, on a cart.
• Chrome books are $400 a piece
• Cart is $ 2200
• To raise $16 K to purchase 35 chrome books plus cart
• 50% of the fundraising at Spring Fling to this technology need/upgrade and 50% to library to replenish books

We are requesting a gardening committee to place seeds outdoors. Gardening Club lunch time starting in March.

Worker Bee in the Garden- Sunday, April 23rd from 9:30-11:00 am

Hello families of Garden Club members and any interested families at Essex and Hawthorne, on Sunday, April 23rd the City of Toronto is dropping off free leaf compost at our school.

The Garden Club would like to take this opportunity to prepare the soil in our boxes and beds.

Please be sure to bring a bin, wagon or other receptacles to fill with compost.  Shovels are available at school but feel free to bring an extra one.

We will bring the soil to the school gardens, turn over the beds and prep them for planting. Many thanks in advance from all the student gardeners who are excited to get planting!