Hello Owen Families,
Although Halloween looked different this year at Owen, students and staff still had fun being creative in their costumes. Students were excited to see their teachers dressed up and enjoyed guessing what some of the costumes were.
Just a reminder that supervision at school only begins at 8:55 am and school starts at 9:10 am. Students will be outside until the bell rings at 9:10 am. If students arrive after 9:10 am, students will be required to go to the front door to check their QR code and then to the office for a late slip.We would also like to welcome our two OISE/UT Teacher Candidates to Owen. Ms Jahangir and Ms Tassis will be with us for the month of November learning the tricks of the trade from our Owen staff. Welcome!
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Virtual Curriculum Night: Monday November 2nd 2020 @ 6:15 pm
Join us for our first Virtual Curriculum Night. Admin will start with a whole group session to share how the start up has been and how school looks different from past years. We will also stay online to provide any technical support needed with the Daily Health App, Parent Contact Email form, Google Classroom etc. Classroom teachers will share how students are learning in this new environment, get insight into their grade-level curriculum and know what the class expectations are. It's also an opportunity to become familiar with the online tools that will be used in class and continued in case of a class or school closure. We want to partner with parents to best support their child for a successful school year.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://tdsb-ca.zoom.us/j/99428451257?pwd=MGRSVFJwY0VqWGhHQXR2SGp2QUVNQT09
Meeting ID: 994 2845 1257
Passcode: 957816
One tap mobile
+16475580588,,99428451257#,,,,,,0#,,957816# Canada
+17789072071,,99428451257#,,,,,,0#,,957816# Canada
As always, Curriculum Night is voluntary for all staff. If your child's teacher has an alternate method of sharing this information, they will inform you prior to November 2nd. Questions about their classroom information should go directly to the teacher.
Looking forward to connecting with you November 2nd!
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Early French Immersion Application Process - SK Entry:
For families interested in the Toronto District School Board's Early French Immersion Program (begins in Senior Kindergarten), we offer an online process to apply. Attached please find an important information package.
To apply for the Early French Immersion Program (SK entry) for September 2021, applications must be completed online between November 2 and November 27, 2020.
An offer of placement in the program (not a specific school) is guaranteed to all on-time applicants and will be made in the weeks following the close of the application window.
Please note: Families with an older sibling currently enrolled in the same French program and who will be in attendance next year are still required to complete an online application for the new student. Please select the “sibling option” within the online application.
For more information about the Early French Immersion (SK) application process, please join us for a Virtual Information Session on one of the following dates:
November 2, 2020, 7 p.m.
November 12, 2020, 7 p.m.
November 19, 2020, 10 a.m.
For more information about French as a Second Language programs, the application process and important dates, please visit www.tdsb.on.ca/french.
For additional inquiries, please contact:
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Tips for Parents of Students with Disabilities on How to Advocate For Your Child’s Needs at School
Are you the parent or guardian of a student with disabilities? Would you like very practical tips on how to advocate for your child’s disability-related needs at school? This captioned talk offers just that. It is aimed at parents or guardians whether they have no experience at all with this, or if they have some experience, but are looking for more ideas.
This talk is given by AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky. In addition to his efforts advocating for students with disabilities as the AODA Alliance chair, he is also a member and past chair of the Special Education Advisory Committee of the Toronto District School Board, Canada’s largest school board. He also serves as a member of the Government-appointed K-12 Education Standards Development Committee.
This new talk will be helpful to parents, grandparents, guardians and siblings of students with disabilities in the school system, or about to enter the school system. It will also be helpful to those working in the school system like teachers, principals, special education specialists, and school board administrative staff, as well as for those working at Ontario’s Ministry of Education. As well, any professionals outside the school system that work with students with disabilities and their families can benefit from this talk, such as physicians, psychologists, occupational therapists, autism ABA therapists, speech and language pathologists, and others. Faculties of Education could use this talk when training future teachers.
You can watch “Tips for Parents of Students with Disabilities on How to Advocate For Your Child’s Needs at School” by visiting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtadvCvcGC0
This talk does not go into the details of Ontario’s laws on special education. There is an excellent series of short videos on that topic from the ARCH Disability Law Centre and its partner in that project that you can find at https://inclusiveeducation.ca/advocacy-for-inclusion/
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Dressing for Fall/Winter Weather:
We will continue to have recesses and physical education outside as much as we can, even in the cold and light rain weather. Please remember to have your child dressed appropriately as they will be outside for 15 - 30 mins for recess and lunch recess and 50 mins during physical education. Extra pair of clothes particularly socks, underwear and pants would be great for those days where they really want to play in the puddles or snow!
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Daily Heath Screening:
Thank you everyone for performing the Daily Health Screening every morning. We have more than 95% of our students being screened successfully each day. Don't forget to verify that your child is healthy enough to come to school! You can do this on:
Anyone who needs help can stay on after the Admin presentation and we can go through it. Service Now is aware that switching between siblings is glitchy and are working on it.
We will be available for support during curriculum night to help those who are having difficulties with the app.
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Switching between In School and Virtual School:
The next opportunity for elementary students will be offered at the end of January 2021 to align with reporting. There will no longer be an opportunity for elementary students to switch in November. We are confident that this approach will help maintain current classes and teacher assignments in both in-person and virtual classrooms until the new year and will benefit all students and staff by ensuring no further disruptions.
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From the Toronto Public Library
Library Card registration
Sign up for a library card to access a wide array of materials, both in-branch and online, including fiction, non-fiction, CD’s, DVD’s, and more.
TPL Kids Site
Explore our site for fun activities like jokes and riddles as well as homework help including research tips, databases to find articles, and other reliable sources for school projects and free tutoring help daily from Brainfuse.
Online Programs
Accessible Reading with CELA
Centre for Equitable Library Access provides free reading material in accessible formats for library customers of all ages with print disabilities (any visual, physical, or learning disability that makes it difficult to read conventional print). Learn more about CELA on our Accessible Collections page.
Nasim Sarpash
Librarian- North York Central Library - Children's Dept.
Toronto Public Library | 416-395-5633
tpl.ca
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After School Pick Up:
Thank you for helping us not to interrupt the instructional day at the end of the day. This time is very important as teachers are consolidating students' learning and preparing homework and agendas so students are prepared for the next day.
If you are picking up your child early from school, please make sure you pick your child up before 3:10 pm. There will not be any dismissals between 3:10 pm - 3:40 pm as it is disruptive to the instructional day and difficult to track students during this time. Please be mindful when making appointments as safety is our number one priority.
After school bus changes:
If your plans for after school has changed and you require your child to be picked up when normally on the bus or the reverse, please call the school and speak to someone in the office. Teachers and admin may not have an opportunity to open emails and may not be aware of the changes. Office staff will inform classroom teachers and teachers on bus duty directly when a call has been received.
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Parent Contact Form:
Every year, we ask that parents complete the parent contact form to receive all communication from the office. All staff including homeroom teachers, prep teachers, staff in charge of sports teams or clubs and the office staff use this information to contact parents of the students they work with.
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Student News!
See what our students have been up to lately at Owen!
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Please click here for the latest updates and newsletters.
Our front loop traffic has been much better this year. Thank you for making the effort to decrease our traffic at the front of the school. The back of the school is still an issue. Parents continue to still park on the crosswalk in the back which make it very dangerous for students and parents crossing in this area. Last year we had two near misses of students and one parent being hit when parents are backing up. Please keep our streets safe and park in the designated areas. If you see cars parked on the crosswalks, please take a picture and send it to the office.
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We had record high weather this week which also was the cause of many muddy shoes. Some classrooms are filled with muddy floors bringing in lots of mud and dirt. If your child does not have indoor shoes, please have them bring them on Monday. Also please send extra socks and pants for those wet clothes after play.
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