Owen Online - Family Update - Week of October 9th

Dear Owen Families,

We are thankful for the countless things you do  every day to support your children's school success.  We are also thankful for all the many ways in which you show your support to us as we work with your children at Owen Public School!  . We feel very lucky to work with families as a team! We wish you all a restful and restorative Thanksgiving weekend and look forward to welcoming your children back to school on Tuesday!

Here is how this week is shaping up:

Mon. Oct. 9th 

- Thanksgiving (No School)

Tues. Oct. 10th Day 4  

- The days of the cycle have shifted after having Friday and Monday off

- School Support Team meets in the AM

Wed. Oct. 11th Day 5

Thurs. Oct. 12th Day 1

- 1st Pizza Day 

Fri. Oct. 13th Day 2

- Fana Soro - Prologue Performing Arts Presentation for grades 1-5 1:15-3:40

Upcoming Dates:

Wed. Oct 18th

- Photo Day 

- IEPs sent home (please remember it is a living document and changes will continue to be made after this date)

Thurs. Oct 19th 

- School Council 6:30-8:00 PM

Have a great holiday everyone and a wonderful week!

~ 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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Curriculum Night

Thank you to those who attended curriculum night.  There were two teacher presentations and visits in every homeroom, visits by our prep teachers and then we had a hybrid presentation by the admin team in the library.

If you missed the Admin Presentation there were some important information was shared.  

The new School Council Executive has been elected:

1) The new Co-chairs representing French and English are Soodabeh Seyedfathi                                                                                          and Emma Begoumian

2) The new Co-treasurers are Olivia Blackman and Kiana Karimpoor

3) The new Secretary is  Reet Elin Hess

While we want parents and families to feel very welcome at our school, at the same time we need to ensure safety in the school and that important tasks such as Safe Arrival are done accurately and efficiently.  To this end, parents were advised of the following on Curriculum Night and we are including it hear in the Owen Online again:

• If parents or guardians would like to ask Nahid / Vesna about things like Cash Online, Permission Click, Fundraisers they will be happy to help you after 10:00 AM once Safe Arrival processes are complete

• To ensure student and staff safety, all visitors including regular volunteers must sign in at the office before going anywhere in the school. (The only exception is daycare parents, who before and after school hours may walk directly to drop off / pick up their school-age child at that room that is permitted by the daycare)

• To ensure that we are aware of students’ whereabouts at all times, parents are reminded to sign their child in or out at the office whenever they are entering or exiting at times other than drop off time (9:04-9:10) or pick up time at 3:40.

• We have a .5 VP, so if parents want to discuss anything with her, they are asked to please do so after 1 pm.  The reason she is not available before 1:00 is that she has Special Education teaching duties all morning.

Highlights of the New Language Curriculum were shared.  Here is a good article that nicely summarizes the changes grade by grade.  There are some changes such as the introduction of cursive writing in grade 3 which will need to be phased in for our grade 4 and 5 students who were not taught this before.

Article: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-is-overhauling-its-language-curriculum-here-s-what-s-changed-1.6453644

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School Reorganization

We are now mostly done with the reorganization process.  We thank everyone for their patience and understanding.  Schedules have been updated and will likely remain fairly consistent for the next few months, the exception being Special Education and ESL timetables which change as often as every two weeks in response to students' changing needs.

.5 Prep Teacher

Our.5 prep position has been filled through the placement process. Ms. Dara Schwartz who already teaches ESL and Art at Owen PS in the mornings will now be switching from part-time to full-time hours and will be teaching prep subjects for a number of Kindergarten - Grade 3 classes.

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Cross Country Families,

Wednesday, October 4, 2023 was our big race day at Earl Bales Park. Please enjoy the pictures below of this event!

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Lunch and After-School Activities are back!

Act Quickly, First Come First Served!

Registration Started: Wednesday, October 4th

Last Day to Register: Wednesday, October 11th

No Late Registrations

For a schedule of Programs see the Google Doc Below

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14lqV_QVfS6vwVm9EVLLLqElRyCHwQbNHF5G8teqsHEg/edit?usp=sharing

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Raise a Reader Program

Learn strategies to make reading fun, while building fluency, confidence and joy as a reader Inviting all K-Grade 8 TDSB families (including French Immersion K-2)

Raise A Reader Part 1 is a virtual presentation on Wednesday October 11th 2023, at 6:30 pm. Please save the dates for Part 2 and Part 3:

Raise A Reader Part 2 - Wednesday November 8th, 2023

Raise A Reader Part 3 - Wednesday December 6th 2023  

Flyer

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TDSB Days of Significance

In order to be equitable and respectful to all of our students and their families, 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.  

October is:

• Hispanic Heritage Month (City of Toronto)

• International Walk to School Month

• Islamic Heritage Month

• Somalian Heritage Month

• Women’s History Month

Days of Significance in the Coming Week are:

Monday	09	Thanksgiving Day - Canada	Government of Canada	https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/arts-culture-society/the-history-of-thanksgiving-in-canada
Monday to Friday	09 -13	Body Confidence Awareness Week	Toronto District School Board (TDSB)	https://www.bodyconfidencecanada.com/body-confidence-awareness-week-1
Tuesday	10	World Mental Health Day	World Health Organization	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Mental_Health_Day
Thursday	12	Bandi Chhor Divas	Sikhism	https://www.sikhdharma.org/the-story-of-bandi-chhor-divas/

The list of Days of Significance that the TDSB recognizes can be found by clicking the link.  If you have a particular day to which you would like to bring our attention, please contact hella.richter-glinos@tdsb.on.ca. 

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Student News

See what our students have been up to lately!

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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