Owen Online Newsletter: Owen Online - Family Update -- Week of September 18th, 2023

Dear Parents/Guardians,

It has been another busy week at Owen. Students and staff are really getting into a routine.

We were very excited to have had our School Council organize another successful Welcome Back Dance this past Thursday. It was a great opportunity for staff and parents to connect and it was lovely to see so many happy students dancing, playing and enjoying some treats. A few former Owen students even came back to celebrate with us and tell us about their first week at Middle School.

At the dance, Acting Principal Rosenbloom, who had kindly come out of her retirement for two weeks to help us open the school, passed the torch to Ms. Naymark our new acting principal. Many of you will remember Ms. Naymark, who was an acting principal at Owen once before in the spring of 2022. Ms. Naymark will be at Owen until December, when our new Principal Ms. Kelsall will begin at Owen. Please extend a warm welcome to Ms. Naymark and join us in wishing Ms. Rosenbloom a wonderful retirement. We will miss her very much but are also very happy for her.

We hope you will read this week's issue of Owen Online with care. There are a lot of important announcements in each week's post and this week is no exception. There is happy news about a new addition and you will find details about School Council, Sports, bussing, pick up and drop off safety, the Terry Fox Walk/Run, Pizza Days, data verification, Police Background Check information and Days of Significance.

We love to celebrate special news and student achievements in Owen Online so if you have any such news to share with us, please email a photo and a brief description to Ms. Richter-Glinos so we can include it in our next post. To stay fully informed, please also keep tabs on our Google Calendar, follow @owenpublicTwitter account and read the Trustee Update linked below.

We thank you for all the hard work that went into making this past week a success and wish you a wonderful week to come.

~ Your Friendly Neighbourhood Admin Team

Acting-Principal - sima.naymark@tdsb.on.ca

Vice-Principal - hella.richter-glinos@tdsb.on.ca

Office Administrator - nahid.vashghani@tdsb.on.ca

AM Secretary - vesna.bozic@tdsb.on.ca

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Welcome Baby Lucas!

Congratulations Mme Hammond on the birth of your baby boy on August 14th (2 days before his due date). He was born at 5:48 am and he was 7 pounds, 8 ounces. His big sister Emma is just loving him!

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School Council Meeting and Elections

We look forward to meeting with our parent community again on Thursday September 28th from 6:30-8:00PM.

We will continue to run our School Council meetings using a hybrid model, so you can either come in person to the Owen PS Staffroom or join via Zoom. The dates and Zoom links will be posted in the Owen Google calendar.
https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/owen/School-Calendar

We will arrange for babysitting if needed. Please complete the School Council Survey to help us with the planning of our first meeting.
Council will conduct elections for the Parent Council Executive as well as share the many volunteer opportunities available. Whether it's helping out regularly or just when you have free time, we'd love to have you involved. Come to the meeting to hear more!

This year, School Council Meetings are planned for:

Thursday, September 28th, 6:30-8:00PM

Thursday, October 19th 6:30-8:00PM

Thursday, November 16th 6:30-8:00PM

Thursday, February 8th 6:30-8:00PM

Thursday, April 11th 6:30-8:00PM

Thursday, May 9th 6:30-8:00PM

Below is the link created for Owen PS, for School Council Fundraising to support school programming for this coming school year. Please click on the link to make a donation to the school.
https://tdsb.schoolcashonline.com/Fee/Details/457/153/false/true?school=630&initiative=29

Student Data Verification
On Friday, Student Verification Forms were sent home for parents/guardians to review. If emergency contact information has changed (name of emergency contact, cell numbers, emails) please indicate it on the verification form in a coloured pen (or highlighter) and return it to your teacher.

If there are no changes, please still return the form to your teacher and indicate NO CHANGE so that we can be sure you reviewed it.

Start of the Year Online Permission Forms

There have been some technical issues, but by now you should have all received an email with the link to complete various permission 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 2021/2023).

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

Pizza Lunch is Back by Popular Demand!

Terry Fox Walk - Friday, September 22, 2023 @9:30 am

Every year, schools across Canada hold a Terry Fox event to raise money for cancer research. We are pleased to announce that Owen's Terry Fox Walk/Run is here! Parents need to be sure to fill in the on-line Walking Excursion form in order for their child to participate on the neighbourhood walk.

We appreciate parents' generosity over the years and this year we will continue with past tradition in asking for parents and students to collect pledges from family and friends. You can donate directly through Owen's dedicated on-line donation page:  https://schools.terryfox.ca/OwenPSNorthYork

OUR GOAL IS ADD ANORTHER $5 000 to the approximately $170 000 that the Owen Community has raised for the Terry Fox Foundation!

If you would like to volunteer on the walk with your child's class, please contact your child's teacher directly. If you would like to help out at a post along the route (9:00am-11:00) please email paula.kuzic@tdsb.on.ca directly, and she will provide you with more information.

Thank you again for your continued support and generosity!

Terry Fox Committee

Owen Athletics
Cross Country
Practices will be Monday, Sept 18, Wed Sept 20 and Friday 22 at 8:20am. Please meet Mr. Price, Ms. Passarelli and Mme. Ching on the basketball court on the Junior side. Please note, Monday is the last day to join.
Boys Soccer tryouts, Gr 4 and 5
Tryouts will continue this week at lunch recesses on the City Park field. Students are asked to check the bulletin board by the gym for more details.
Girls Bordenball tryouts, Gr 4 and 5
Tryouts will begin this week at lunch recesses on the City Park field. Students are asked to check the bulletin board by the gym for more details.

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Student Transportation News

Bussing for students previously enrolled with TDSB Transportation started this past Monday. Another group of students whodr parents applied in the first week of school, will be starting to ride the bus this coming Monday. We expect that a third group who applied durig the second week of school will be able to join the following week.

Some applicants have been declined. A child may be eligible to ride the school bus provided they live within the catchment area, but are 1.6km or more from their school. To check eligibility enter your home address on this website:

https://busplannerweb.torontoschoolbus.org/TransportationEligibility

We had some delays this past week. Thank you for your understanding as many bus drivers were still adjusting to the new routes for our school. Some even have multiple routes in a day. We hope that things will run more smoothly this week.

Please note that if there is no adult to meet their child at the bus stop in the afternoon and they are not yet permitted to walk home alone(Gr 3 and below), they will be returned to the school and we will call parents to pick up their child. School busses cannot wait for late parents and delay the route so please try your best to be punctual.

For details on your bus schedule, times and route, please see the bus planner site here: https://www.torontoschoolbus.org/ We will be the Brightspace Bus page. Instead we will send emails or make phone calls if the bus is very delayed after school

Questions / Applying for bussing for the first time?

Please email all questions to the Vice Principal Hella.Richter-Glinos@tdsb.on.ca.

Empty Seat Policy

Students living less than 1.6 km from school are expected to walk. Given that there is a shortage of drivers, we do not know yet whether there will be any seats available under the TDSB’s Empty Seat Policy (PR504).

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Drop off and Pick Up Issues

We are still having some issues with safe drop off and pick-up at Owen.

Please Do Not Block The Bus:

Several times this week people parked cars illegally so close to the Gordon Road bus loop that the bus driver had to leave and come towards the school from another direction in order to get into the bus loop. The Gordon Road loop is for BUSES ONLY. Please do not drop your child off in or near the bus loop. Please use the Owen Blvd loop instead.

Use Designated Parking Areas:

A few times this week people other than staff and tradespeople parked in our lot. We do not have very much space. Parents/Guardians please refer to the map below regarding where to park legally around our school. Do not park in the lot unless you require a wheelchair parking spot.

Use the Kiss and Ride with Care:

The OWEN BLVD loop is the kiss and ride for students in grades 1-5 only. Kindergarten students must be walked to the kindergarten yard. They may not be dropped off at the loop.

Please follow all posted safety rules and respect staff who are directing traffic. Please remember that there is no passing of other vehicles. Over the past year we have had some near misses and some minor incidents but thankfully no one has been seriously injured. We need everyone to please slow down, be patient and take extra care so that students and staff will be safe.

Please keep everyone in the Owen PS community safe!

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Snacks and Lunch

Sometimes students forget to pack a snack or lunch. We rely on your donations so we can help students in these situations. Thank you to those families listed below who have donated healthy snacks to our school this week. We really appreciate it!

The Grossman Family

The Teltscher Family

The Wang Family

The Herscovici Family

As an ECO Platinum school, we do not provide plastic cutlery or cups for students. We have a very small quantity of emergency cutlery which we wash daily. Please ensure your child brings their own spoons or forks and water bottles from home.

Our lunch hour begins at 11:55 am and ends at 12:55 pm.

Please go to your child's exit door and wait to pick up your child when the bell rings.

Students who were absent in the morning and entering school at lunch can go directly to their exit door and afternoon attendance will be taken then. Students do not need to sign in at the office unless it is after 12:55 pm.

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Owen PS Volunteers Must have

Police Background Checks

Many prospective volunteers stopped by the police check booth at the Welcome Back dance but if you did not, and you would like to volunteer this year, please read this section carefully.

Police Background Check Annual Declarations

Your original police background check is good for one year. After that you need to complete a declaration every year to keep it valid. Drop by the office and Ms. Richter-Glinos can help you with that.

New Background Checks

If you have not had a background check, please fill in this Google Form https://forms.gle/QCTBXweXTodcqkBRA

For each person who signs up, the school must provide a letter stating that the applicant is planning to volunteer at our school. The applicant must upload this letter when they apply online. Thank you for your patience as we prepare all these letters. We are sending these in the order that people apply. Please allow at least one week for us to process your request before checking with hella.richter-glinos@tdsb.on.ca .

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National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

and Orange Shirt Day 2023

Saturday, September 30 marks the 10th anniversary of Orange Shirt Day and the third annual National Day for Truth & Reconciliation. The TDSB will be honouring this day, on Friday, September 29. Truth and Reconciliation Week will take place September 25-30. Visit the Urban Indigenous Education website for more information about events happening across the TDSB.

" It is a day to demonstrate, by wearing orange, that all students matter."

https://www.tdsb.on.ca/Community/Indigenous-Education/Resources/Indigenous-Days-of-Significance#:~:text=Marked%20annually%20on%20September%2030th,orange%2C%20that%20all%20students%20matter.

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TDSB Days of Significance

In order to be equitable and respectful to all of our students, we would like to provide and share information and insight into any day of significance through the Owen Online, our message board, and morning announcements.

Days of Significance in the past week were:

Tuesday	12	Ethiopian New Year	Government of Ethiopia and Christianity (Eastern Orthodox) Rastafarian holy day
Monday	11	Paryushana Parvarambha	Jainism
Tuesday	12	Coptic New Year	Christianity (Eastern Orthodox)
Friday	15	International Day of Democracy	United Nations
Saturday and Sunday	16 – 17	Rosh Hashanah	Judaism

Days of Significance in the coming week are:

Sunday	17	Terry Fox Run (Owen run is on the 22nd)	Terry Fox Foundation
Tuesday	19	Powley Day	First Nations, Métis
Tuesday	19	Ganesh Chaturthi	Hinduism
Wednesday to Tuesday	20 – 26	Ohigan – Autumn Festival	Government of Japan and Buddhism (Shintoism)

Thursday	21	International Day of Peace	United Nations
Thursday to Friday	21 – 29	Mabon	Wicca/Pagan
Saturday	23	International Day of Sign Languages	World Federation of the Deaf
Tuesday to Monday	19 - 25	International Week of the Deaf	Canadian Association and World Federation of the Deaf

If you have a particular day that you would like to bring our attention to, please contact hella.richter-glinos@tdsb.on.ca.

The list of Days of Significance that the TDSB recognizes can be found by clicking the link.

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Student News

See what our students have been up to lately!

Thank you Ms Rosenbloom!

Welcome Back Dance:

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 hella.richter-glinos@tdsb.on.ca .

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