Week of September 18th, 2023

Yom Kippur

For those in our community who are observing Yom Kippur this weekend, we wish you a meaningful holy day and a blessed new year.

Identity Affirming Space

At Davisville JPS and Spectrum Alternative, it is important for us to ensure that students have an opportunity to share their identities and learn about others’ identities in positive and affirming ways. In their classroom instruction, our staff are looking for ways to consider and incorporate multiple identities within their approaches to teaching, curriculum material, and assessment styles. We aim to create an environment in our school where students are able to recognize their identities within the material posted around the school and classrooms, the themes and big ideas pulled from the curriculum, and the differentiated approaches used by educators.

 

Spectrum Trip to Island Natural Science School

On Monday September 18th, our Spectrum Alternative students and staff traveled to the Island Natural Science School for a 3-day overnight trip, where they engaged in an outdoor program focused on sustainability and environmental stewardship. Students interacted with their environment through photography, gardening, and storytelling, all while building community with their peers. What a great way to kickstart the new school year! 

Newcomer Settlement Services at Davisville JPS  

Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS), also known as SEPT, offers settlement services to newly arrived families. Settlement Workers deliver individual/family services or group programs that help participants to understand and to successfully transition into the education system and to accelerate the settlement process. Settlement Workers are placed in different schools and library sites across the city to connect newcomers to resources and services in their community. 

Please read the newsletter embedded below to learn more about settlement workers and the services and supports they provide. The contact information for the settlement worker at Davisville JPS can also be found in the newsletter: 

Newcomer Services-Newsletter

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day September 30, 2023

September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Together we recognize the legacy of Canada’s residential school system and continue to learn the many truths of these institutions.

Orange Shirt Day, established in 2013 by Phyllis Webstad, recognizes the legacy of the Residential Schools System for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit families and communities. By wearing orange, we acknowledge the truths of Residential Schools in Canada, we honour Survivors, and we remember the thousands of children who died, many of them buried in unmarked graves.

This year, TDSB will honour Orange Shirt Day on Friday, September 29th.

Curriculum Night

Our Curriculum Night for Davisville will take place on Thursday, October 12th, 2023. For our Spectrum Alternative families, our curriculum night has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023. More information about these nights will be forthcoming soon. We look forward to seeing our families that evening. 

Week of September 11th, 2023

Wishing our Jewish students, staff and school community a very happy new year! May your year be full of love, health and happiness. Shana Tova to all those celebrating! 

Drop Off and Pick-Up Routines

Morning drop off and dismissal is a busy time at our school. Here are some key points to be aware of when planning pick up and drop off of students: 

• Supervision starts at 8:40 am every morning for students in Grades 1-6. At this time, staff will be on duty. Therefore, we encourage families not to drop students off before 8:40am, as there is no guaranteed supervision available.
• Our playground area will not be supervised by staff before the start of school (i.e., 8:40-8:55am). Therefore, please ensure that you supervise your child(ren) should they wish to use the playscape area during this time. 
• At dismissal time, we ask for your cooperation and support by ensuring that you pick up your child(ren) as promptly as possible. Our school yard needs to be cleared by 4:00 pm to allow for our after care program to use our yard and access our playscape. Therefore, we kindly ask that families vacate the premises by 4:00pm. 
• Please note (as per the image above) that families can regain access to our playground at 6:00pm.

Upcoming Dates and Events

Here are some upcoming dates and information about school wide events and sports activities/try-outs:

• Our Davisville School-Wide Terry Fox Run/Walk/Wheel is on Thursday September 21st!! You are welcome to watch and cheer on your child from outside of the school yard. We are hoping to raise over $3500.00, so if you would like to donate, you can send cash with your child or donate online: https://schools.terryfox.ca/DavisvillePSToronto. We will continue to collect donations until the end of September.

• The Cross Country Season is upon us! Davisville has already started tryouts and practices for students in Grades 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.  We realize there were some technical difficulties last week, but we encourage you to keep trying to complete the online permission through the EMA system.  Below are some important practice dates and times: 

Primary Gr 2 & 3 Cross Country Practices this week:

• Tuesday Sept. 19th @ 8am - Km Club running
• Wednesday Sept 20th @ 8am - Running Games
• Friday Sept 22nd @ 8am - Km Club running

Junior (Grades 4-6) Cross Country Practices this week:

• Monday Sept. 18th at lunch
• Wednesday Sept 20th at 3:25 - 4:30pm

Girls and Boys Soccer Sign Ups and Tryouts This Week!

We are starting a new Soccer Season this year. Students in Grades 4-6 are eligible to sign-up and tryout. The first tryout for Girls Soccer will be on Thursday Sept. 21st. A sign up sheet will go up in the gym on Monday and more information will be shared next week. The Boys' sign up sheet will also go up next week and the 1st tryout will be during the following week.

Curriculum Night

Our Curriculum Night for Davisville will take place on Thursday, October 12th, 2023. For our Spectrum Alternative families, our curriculum night has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023. More information about these nights will be forthcoming soon. We look forward to seeing our families that evening. 

First Week of School News

Welcome 

Dear Davisville JPS/Spectrum Alternative Families,

Welcome to the new school year! If you are returning, welcome back. If you are new to our school, we are glad to have you join our school community. We know that you are going to enjoy being part of this vibrant school community! Parent/caregiver voice is always welcomed at Davisville JPS and Spectrum Alternative. Building strong partnerships between schools, educators and families is key to ensuring the success and well-being of all students. 

To help keep you all abreast of school and board wide events, we will be releasing a weekly school blog every Sunday. The blog will allow our families to stay informed on school happenings and helps keep our community connected.  In addition to the school blog, Twitter is another platform that will be used to engage and communicate with our families.  

Please follow us on Twitter at @davisville_jps & @SpectrumAltern2

Morning Drop Off

Adult supervision starts at 8:40am every morning for students in Grades 1-6. You will see a staff member walking around in a safety vest if there are issues or concerns that need to be addressed. We encourage families not to drop students off before 8:40am, as there is no guaranteed supervision available.

Punctuality/Late Arrivals

Students are expected to arrive at school on time and line up with their classes. Students arriving late in the morning must enter through the front doors and sign in at the office for a late slip that they will take to their classes. This allows us to maintain adequate attendance of who is in our building.

Visitors/Volunteers

If you are a visitor or volunteer to our school, please make sure you sign in at the office and take a visitor badge. It is also important to sign out upon your departure and return the visitor badge to the office. 

Early Student Pick-Up Form

Please note that if you are picking up your child(ren) early from school for an appointment or any other reason, you will need to complete the Student Pick Up Form embedded below. To help minimize class interruptions, it is important that the teachers and staff working with your child(ren) are aware of the arrangement ahead of time. Completing this form also helps us ensure that students are picked up by someone with proper authorization. Once this form is completed, we will do our best to ensure that your child is down in the office ready for pick up at the requested time.

Davisville/Spectrum Student Pick Up Form

Allergies

Some of our staff and students have severe allergic reactions to certain foods and food products. A very common allergy in our school is a severe reaction to peanuts and nut products. Please remember that Davisville JPS/Spectrum Alternative are allergen aware and allergen-safe schools. For the well-being and safety of students and staff with allergies, please do not send any food items to school which may contain nut products and remind your child(ren) not to exchange/share food with others at school. Please read food labels carefully. 
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Non-Food Items & Special Occasions

Should you wish to celebrate special occasions in the classroom, please only send non-edible treats/non-food items to school to share with other students. There are many alternatives to bringing in food for birthdays and special occasions. Some suggestions for families include stickers, pencils or erasers, donating a book or board game in honour of your child’s birthday to the class.

Davisville and Spectrum School Wide Terry Fox Run (Thursday Sept. 21, 2023

“I’ve said to people before that I’m going to do my very best to make it, I’m not going to give up. But I might not make it… if I don’t, the Marathon of Hope better continue.”

-Terry Fox

The students at Davisville and Spectrum will be participating in the Terry Fox Run,Walk or Wheel on Thursday September 21st. Our Kindergarten students will run/walk/wheel around the school track from 9:35 am - 10:00 am. Junior classes (Grade 4-6) and Spectrum students(Grade 7/8) will be participating from 10:35 am- 11:25am. Primary classes (Grade 1-3) will be participating after lunch from 12:50 - 1:30pm. All participants will be supervised by their teachers and other staff members.

Parents/guardians who would like to cheer on the students are please asked to watch from behind the fence so that we can maintain the safety of our students.

To commemorate the Terry Fox Run, our students and staff are invited to wear RED and WHITE for Canada! Terry is a Canadian Icon and this is a way to honour him. 

This run is an annual event to raise funds in the fight to find a cure for cancer. Last year, we raised $2874.00 and our goal this year is to raise over $3500.00! We are asking that each student make an online voluntary contribution of at least $2, “A Toonie for Terry”. If you and your family would like to make a larger contribution we appreciate your generosity to this worthy cause. Donations can be made online at https://schools.terryfox.ca/DavisvillePSToronto.

Toonies will also be collected at school during the week of our run for anyone who cannot make a contribution online. We will continue to collect donations until the last day in September.

As a little incentive, for every $1000 we raise, the Davisville students will be awarded an extra 15 minute recess!!! Let’s go Davisville, together we can make a difference!

If you have any questions, please contact our Terry Fox Committee Members:

Ms. Harnick at gillian.harnick@tdsb.on.ca or Ms. Francesca at francesca.piccione@tdsb.on.ca.

Let’s keep Terry’s dream to find a cure for cancer alive.

Snack Program

We are hoping to launch our snack program on the week of September 18th. Please stay tuned for further information on this in our next weekly blog.