Natalie

The following is an excerpt from a letter sent to Roden School Council and we were asked to share with the school community.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education released new guidelines for Pupil Accommodation Reviews and for Community Planning and Partnerships (formerly Facility Partnerships). To adhere to the new guidelines, the Toronto District School Board must update its policies.

I am writing you because these two policies may be of interest to parents. The Pupil Accommodation Review policy deals with the review of groups of schools with low enrolment that can potentially lead to school closures. The Community Planning and Partnerships policy concerns potential partnerships with external organizations in operating schools that have unused space. Both policies affect the use of schools and therefore affect students.

As part of our consultation process, we are seeking feedback from staff, parents, and community members.

Feedback can be provided in different ways:

• Sending written feedback to accommodationreviews@tdsb.on.ca by January 29, 2016

• Attending one of three public meetings listed below.

DATE:Monday, January 18, 2016

LOCATION: Winston Churchill CI – Library

2239 Lawrence Avenue East, M1P 2P7

TIME: 6:00 – 8:00 pm

DATE: Tuesday, January 19, 2016

LOCATION: TDSB Central Office – Committee Room A

5050 Yonge Street, M2N 5N8

TIME: 6:00 – 8:00 pm

DATE:Thursday, January 21, 2016

LOCATION: Martingrove CI – Library

50 Winterton Drive, M9B 3G7

TIME: 6:00 – 8:00 pm

The following documents are attached to this email and would need to be sent to parents (click on links):

• PowerPoint presentation providing background context and questions

• P068 Accommodation and Program Review draft policy for review and comments

• P076 Community Planning and Partnerships draft policy for review and comments

Thank you for your help in reaching out to parents in your school community. If you have any questions, please send an email to accommodationreviews@tdsb.on.ca.

Regards,

Manon Gardner
Executive Superintendent
School Improvement/Operational Support
Toronto District School Board

TDSB
November 30, 2015

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The purpose of this letter is to update parents/guardians on the timeline for elementary student progress reporting for the remainder of the 2015-2016 school year.

Grades 1 to 8:
As previously announced, teachers will complete progress reports for students in Grades 1 to 8, which will be sent home on December 10, 2015. Progress reports are designed to provide a broad sense of your child’s progress to date, as well as insight into the development of important learning skills and work habits. The progress reports will be completed in line with the Ministry of Education’s Growing Success document. Teachers will use their professional judgment in completion of these reports.

Reporting Dates for Students in Grades 1 to 8 – December 2015 to June 2016

Grades 1 to 8 progress reports will be sent home on December 10, 2015.
Term 1 report cards will be issued the week of February 8, 2016 with parent/guardian-teacher conferences scheduled for February 12, 2016.
Term 2 report cards will be issued the week of June 27, 2016.
Junior and Senior Kindergarten:
As part of the recent provincial agreement, Kindergarten teachers will not be completing progress reports for students in Senior Kindergarten (SK) in December 2015. Parents/guardians of Junior and Senior Kindergarten students will have an opportunity to schedule a class visit or an interview in February 2016.

We value the ongoing, meaningful communication between the home and school to support student learning. Students learn best when parents and educators work together. If you would like to discuss your child’s progress, we invite you to contact your child’s teacher directly.

Sincerely,

Robin Pilkey
Chair

Donna Quan
Director of Education

By Tawnya Hallman

I happened to walk into the Breakfast Club room one morning, a few minutes after students had cleared out and I was amazed by what I saw. The leftover food looked gourmet and delicious. Susana Couto, the Breakfast Club cook, was busy carefully wrapping up leftover fruit. “I never waste anything,” she said. Leftover fruit goes into a smoothie later in the week.

I asked her about the food she serves. She listed a whole slew of things including celery with cream cheese and raisins, a variety of fruit, yogurt, egg and cheese on toasted English muffins, whole-wheat pancakes, seaweed, tuna, cereal, milk, roast potatoes and soups. She also makes hummus, which she spreads on rice cakes, whole-wheat tortillas and bagels. She makes applesauce with cinnamon and oats, which she puts on toasted whole-wheat bread topped with a few thinly sliced apples “to hide the oats!” she said. The Ontario Egg Farmer’s Association donated coupons for about 60 dozen eggs this year so lots of protein rich egg-based food will be on the menu this year.

Wait a minute! She makes the hummus and applesauce? Yep. She makes it from scratch, in the breakfast club kitchen. Not only that, but she makes it after her shift is over. She’s paid for two hours, but she volunteers another 1 to 1 ½ hours more to prep food for the next day. She said she simply couldn’t offer the foods she wants to if she didn’t volunteer her time.

The point is that she wants to serve food that’s not just quick and easy, but that’s adventurous, homemade and nutritious. It’s that she gets so much joy out of getting students to try new food. It’s that she loves to cook and loves serving the students. Presentation is just as important to her as the food she serves. She also believes in engaging the students in a conversation about food by encouraging them to try things, even if they don’t think they’ll like them. She talks about nutrition and the importance of eating breakfast so their brains are fuelled for the morning. People, we’ve hit the jackpot with Susana!

Susana is originally from Portugal, and in her very early twenties, she married a chef from the army. “Before that, I was a picky eater” she said. Her husband introduced her to cooking and lots of different foods. Once she became a mother of 3, she became really good at preparing kid-friendly food. She’s held all sorts of jobs: a nurse’s assistant helping deliver babies, a food truck cook, an education assistant (she used to work at Roden as an EA for about 5 years) and childcare provider to name a few. She also crochets (check out her Etsy shop at Crochet By Susana), bakes big trays of cookies to sell in December (visit her in the Breakfast Club if you want to place an order!), she’s a lunch monitor at our school and a dedicated mother of 3 and grandmother of 2!

Our school is so incredibly lucky to have such a dedicated and creative person running our Breakfast Club. If you haven’t ever dropped in, please make a point to and see Susana in action. It’s located on the east side of the school (Ashdale Ave side), down the hall from the main office. It’s open Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 8:55 AM and all students are welcome to attend.

Currently Susana is getting between 50 – 60 students each morning. She knows because she counts plates. She’s asked me to spread the word about a few things she needs to outfit the Breakfast Club, as the funding from the Toronto Foundation for Student Success only goes so far.

Breakfast Club Wish List
Side plates
2 really good blenders (to make smoothies)
Teaspoons
Packaged food like cereal (low sugar) and rice cakes (plain)
Fruit (fresh or frozen) or vegetables (potatoes, carrots)

Donations can be dropped off to the Breakfast Club room any day!

One thing Susana has always wanted to do is run cooking classes for parents. I loved the idea and so, we’re working together to create with a lesson that will teach parents some great tips for preparing kid-friendly food that can be prepared ahead of time to make weeknights easier to get through! Watch for more details in early 2016.

An Air Quality and Carpet Removal Committee has been formed with a few Equinox and Roden parents. Their goal is to improve air quality through a variety of means including having old carpet removed from our building. If you are interested in getting involved too or if you have ideas or resources to share, please e-mail chair@roden.ca.

Roden Council is looking for parent volunteers! Volunteering is a great way to enrich the school life of your child and provide you with an opportunity to meet the other parents.
Volunteering can be as little as an hour commitment and as time-consuming as you’d like – it’s totally up to you!
We are currently looking for people to help with the following jobs:
• Baking
• Selling food/tickets at movie night
• Postering flyers around school
• Photocopying/Data entry
• Finding sponsors for events
• Fun Fair games
• Photographer for various events
• Graphic Design help
• Set up/Clean up at events

If you have any special skills and/or talents that you would like to put to good use – let us know, so we can call on you!
If you are interested in helping to better the Roden community, please email getinvolved@roden.ca with your name, contact email address and provide any specific volunteer interest. Volunteers will be emailed when specific jobs are needed.

In addition, parent representatives are needed by the School for the following:
Safe school
Budget
Staffing
School Improvement
Please contact Mr. Lasso, our principal, directly for information on the above four volunteer positions.

Your help is very much needed and appreciated!