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.