Owen Family Update - Week of October 11th, 2021

Dear Owen Parents/Guardians,

We had a great walk/run for our Terry Fox run this week.  It was great to get fresh air and chat with the students about the purpose of the walk.  You can still donate for Terry Fox.  More information can be found below.

Thank you to those parents who were able to attend our Virtual Curriculum Night.  If you were not able to attend, please contact your child's teacher for information or questions you may have around programming.  Please make sure you are able to access their online platform so that at anytime if we need to pivot online, everyone is ready to go!

We would like to wish Ms Rajan all the best as she experiences her placements at Teacher's College.  We will miss her but know her students will benefit greatly from her expertise.  We would like to welcome Ms Sen back to Owen.  She will be working with Ms Kruklis and their wonderful little students.

With the Thanksgiving weekend, we would like to ask families to please take precautions when celebrating with family and friends.

On behalf of our Owen Staff we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!  These have been difficult times with COVID but we do have lots to be thankful for. 

No school - Monday October 11th 2021

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If you are caring for a child who is self-isolating or has COVID-19, everyone in the home should practice  everyday prevention measures  such as washing hands often and covering your cough or sneeze. Anyone in your household who has COVID-19 should follow public health  guidance for people who have COVID-19, which includes staying in a separate room away from others as  much as possible and not eating meals in the same room as others in the home.

Please see the these helpful guides from Toronto Public Health.

https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:40afeebb-50c5-474a-a82e-9366d02fbb9f

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Hispanic Heritage Month

By proclaiming the month of October as Hispanic Heritage Month in Ontario, the province recognizes the rich contributions of Hispanic-Canadians to our social economic, political and multicultural fabric.

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Islamic Heritage Month

At the Toronto District School Board, Islamic Heritage Month is proudly recognized during the month of October. On June 22, 2016, the TDSB passed a motion to recognize Islamic Heritage Month in October. Subsequently, in 2016, the province of Ontario established October as Islamic History Month (IHM) through the Islamic Heritage Month Act, “proclaiming a month to be Islamic Heritage Month in Ontario will provide all Ontarians, both today and in future generations, with an opportunity to reflect, celebrate and learn about the rich and longstanding Islamic history in the Province and the diverse roles and contributions of Muslim people in communities across Ontario. This new understanding will in turn help combat anti-Islamic sentiment.”

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Somali Heritage Month

Since June 2016, the TDSB has had the privilege to recognize Somali Heritage Month. 

There are many Somali who immigrated to Canada who continue to participate and to educate others in their traditions within their new environment. Music has always been an integral part of Somali tradition, and one well-known Somali-Canadian artist who has been sharing his love of songs on the world stage is Keinan Abdi Warsame (K'naan). K’naan was born in May 30, 1978 in Mogadishu which is located in the southeastern Banaadir province of Somali and later moved to Toronto’s Rexdale community as a young teenager with members of his family. K’naan is identified as a poet, rapper, singer, songwriter and instrumentalist; however, he is renowned for his song “Waving Flag” as it was chosen as Coca-Cola’s promotional anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup that was hosted by South Africa. 

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2021 Parents as Partners Conference - Oct 16 & 17 

Join us for a virtual conference and learn strategies to support your child, connect with other parents and hear from our inspirational keynote speakers.

TDSB is committed to parent, caregiver, and community engagement as an essential element in our shared efforts to improve outcomes for children throughout their lives. Our role is to help build capacity by successfully engaging parents and caregivers, strengthening home-school partnerships and aligning our collective efforts.

The 2021 Parents and Caregivers as Partners Conference provides an opportunity to highlight innovation and high-impact strategies for partnering, collaborating, and nurturing parents’ and caregivers’ partnerships and alliances.

Please watch this promotional video created by our amazing Community Support Workers communications team and then you can go to the 2021 Parents and Caregivers as Partners Conference website to register.

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Permission Click Forms

The Start of Year Forms package will be made available to parents/guardians digitally again this year. The forms will be emailed to all parents/guardians this week directly from the board. The Start of Year Forms will be completed for all students (both in-person and virtual). These forms are associated with the student and therefore will move with the student, regardless of the learning model chosen.

 

The Start of Year Forms package does not replace the Student Verification form .  Please return the Student Verification form this week. This will help us update our parent contact information and medical information.

 

The forms/procedures that will be provided in digital format are: 

• PR088 - Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources 
• PR511H - Walking Excursion - Immediate Community 
• PR511E - Medical Information for Excursions 
• PR511K - Physical Education Information and Intramural Information/Permission
• PR519A - Severe Weather Conditions: Permission to Leave School 
• PR529B - Student Media Consent Release Form 
• PR563 - Anaphylaxis
• PR571 - Code of On-line Conduct 
• PR585 - Board Code of Conduct 
• PR607 - Diabetes Management 
• PR714 - Asthma Management 
• TDSB Digital Learning Tool Consent Form (now mandatory for all grades)

 

An email will be automatically sent to the parent/guardian who is the primary or secondary contact (Priority 1 or 2).  The email will include a link to complete these forms for each of your  children. The sender will be “TDSB Online Form (noreply@tdsb.on.ca)” and the subject line will contain the School Name, Student Name, Date and name of the form (eg. TDSB School - John Doe - Sept 25: Start of Year Form 2021/2022).

Here is a tutorial for the Start of the Year forms that will help guide parents through this process.

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Terry Fox Run - October 5th and 6th

Donations:

You can donate in denominations of $2, $5 or $10 through Cash Online.  This will be available this week.  Or you can donate directly to https://secure.terryfox.ca/registrant/TeamFundraisingPage.aspx?TeamID=950823

Please join me in supporting the Terry Fox School Run! I am proudly committed to raising much-needed funds for cancer research. #tryliketerry secure.terryfox.ca

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Caring and Safe Schools Committee

Each school has a Caring and Safe Schools Committee who provides input for fostering a safe, inclusive, and accepting school climate.  

We are looking for 1 more parent who would like to meet (virtually) 4 times a year, along with our vice-principal and teacher representative,  to discuss ways we can bring improvements to Owen.

If you are interested in serving on this committee, please contact jamie.parkes@tdsb.on.ca.  

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Owen Students

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If you have photos, student work or family activities you would like to share on the Owen Online for next week, please email them to jamie.parkes@tdsb.on.ca.

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