Bill Crothers Information Session

Parent Workshop

Meet the Teacher Night & Information

Safety Week

Safety Week – September 23, 2016 – Friday, September 30, 2016

Throughout the week of September 23 – 30, 2016, students at Pine Grove P.S. and in schools across York Region will engage in various activities such as fire drills, lockdown drills or hold and secure drills to ensure a safe and successful school year.  The importance of safety is also continuously highlighted throughout the school year such as through bus evacuation training, anti-bullying initiatives, the deployment of school assistants, health and safety annual inspections etc.  Please feel free to peruse the following sites for more information or activities connected to safety:

Elementarysafety.com

http://www.safekid.org/en/

School Reorganization

Important Information

School Paperwork - This is just a friendly reminder to quickly process the School Start-Up package of forms that went home the first week of school and return them to your child's teacher ASAP. We appreciate your attention to help us stay organized.

Bussing - At times, parents and guardians may have questions about bus routes and pick up times. Please reference - www.schoolbuscity.com for information related to buses. If there are questions or concerns about safety or student behaviour on school buses, please contact the main office at 905-850-0672 and ask to speak with Mrs. Totino or Mr. Brown. 

Primary Class Size (PCS) Compliance date is Monday, September 26, 2016 as determined by the Ministry of Education. Primary classes need to be organized up to 20 students maximum and junior/intermediate classes to an acceptable class size. If your child will be moving to a new classroom, we will inform you by Friday, September 23, 2016 by a letter home.

School Council - Our first School Council meeting will take place in the evening of September 27 at 7 pm. We hope to see many new and familiar faces join us. Future council meeting dates are determined on the 27 for the 2016-2017 school year. 

Meet the Teacher - Our Meet the Teacher Night is back and will take place on October 6 from 6 to 8 pm. Please reserve the date. More details to follow.

Trustee Greeting

Message from our Trustee

As we start another school year, we are very pleased to welcome all of our new and returning families. I hope you all enjoyed the hot summer months and are looking forward to the start of school.

There is a lot to look forward to in the months ahead and many ways for families to engage with their child’s learning.  There is a strong connection between parent and family engagement and student achievement and well-being, and I hope that you will find opportunities to get involved. 

In the coming year, trustees will continue to focus on the priorities that we set out in our Multi-Year Plan: student achievement and well-being; the delivery of effective and sustainable educational programs; and the responsible stewardship of Board resources.  

We know that partnerships with parents and families are essential to achieving these goals. However you choose to get involved, know that you are making a difference to your child’s learning.

I wish you all the best for the upcoming school year.

From the Pine Grove Learning Commons...

Library Orientation for Pine Grove Students

All Pine Grove Students are given the opportunity to visit our school library.  Please ensure that you ask your child about the books they are choosing for their classroom reading program or for their enjoyment.  Orientation to the library system and the way libraries work is an important skill for students at all levels. 

All kindergarten and grade one to three students are encouraged to exchange or renew their borrowed books weekly and grades four to eight are encouraged to exchange or renew their books bi-weekly.  If you would like to view some of the selections in our school library please visit the following website www.pinegrove.ps.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/library/ .  During library orientation, students are encouraged to visit this virtual site from home to search for books, read online books and access a variety of databases.  

Online Databases Are Waiting for You to and Explore!

Wonderful news! Pine Grove students have access to online databases!  Students can access these amazing resources from home or school.  Links to the various databases are accessible through our school’s website.  Placing these links on our school website ensures that students can access information anytime, anywhere.  Students can find these resources by accessing our school’s library page through the following link:  http://pinegrove.ps.yrdsb.ca/ .  Please check your child’s agenda for the passwords to our school’s databases or contact Mrs. Meleca if you have any questions.   

Engaging Readers With eBooks

EBooks are electronic books that can be used on hand-held learning devices, personal computers, laptops, and even mobile phones. Similarly to traditional paper books, writing and illustration are key to a book’s success with a child but the difference between the two formats is that while the traditional option is linear – i.e., a story that follows from one page to the next – eBooks have depth; readers can jump between chapters and, if connected to wireless internet, can explore topics further on the internet. The ability to whizz around an eBook instantly makes it a more interactive experience, showing different dimensions to reading.  When children begin to use and interact with eBooks independently, the possibilities of learning in the digital age become apparent.

New technology has an ever increasing presence in the lives of 21^st century students.  Our students are engaged in technology and enjoy learning using the “digital” format.  In order for students to be engaged in their learning, we attempt to ensure that our learning materials reflect students’ interests for learning.  We encourage the Pine Grove community to explore our set of eBooks for our students by following these instructions:

1.     Access our account by typing the following link into your browser:
             

  http://my.abdodigital.com/

2.     When asked for the username and password please use the following:                                        username: pgebooks

          password: pglibrary

We Are Looking for Library Volunteers

Are you interested in volunteering in our school library?  We are looking for some volunteers who can help us at Pine Grove by signing books in and out, shelving and preparing new books for circulation as the need arises.  Training will be provided and volunteers are a great help and addition to our school community!  Please contact Mrs. Meleca at (905) 850–0672 if you are interested in volunteering. 

School Organization at Pine Grove 2016-2017

Wow! The summer heat wave continued into our first week back which translated into a very hot humid school and a September start that was reminiscent of our summer heat wave. However, out students and staff have settled nicely into the routines of being back in the classroom and the learning that comes along with it. Parents and guardians, please continue to monitor temperatures for the upcoming week and help your children choose clothing that is suitable so that they can stay cool and comfortable. Please make sure to send your children with re-usable water bottles which can be filled at our water bottle filling station on the first floor and so they can stay well hydrated during these warmer days.

The list below outlines our current school organization and the names of teachers that teach those classes:

School Organization  2016-2017

Classroom and/or Position	Teacher Name
JK/SK	Mrs. Chang Ms. DiCarmine, Designated Early Childhood Educator(DECE)
JK/SK	Mrs. Israelsohn Mrs. Agnihotri (DECE)
JK/SK	Mrs. Panza (LTO) Casual DECE
GR. 1	Mrs. Wurtz
GR.1	Mrs. Fotheringham
GR.2	Mrs. Kurtzman
GR. 2/3	Mrs. Russo
GR. 3	Mrs. Omokhua
GR. 3/4	Ms. Mancuso
GR. 4	Mrs. Matheson
GR. 5/6	Mrs. DiCarlo
GR.5/6	Mrs. Sanghera
GR. 6	Mrs. Cook
GR. 7	Mrs. Sood
GR. 7	Mrs. Addesa
GR. 8	Mrs. Lakoseljac
GR. 8	Mrs. Fischer
Reading Recovery	Mrs. Giordano
Special Education Resource Teacher (SERT) & Junior. Student Support Centre (SSC)	Mrs. Grozelle
SERT & Intermediate SSC	Mrs. Paulino
Library, Literacy Teacher & Prep. Coverage.	Mrs. Meleca
Music & Prep. Coverage	Ms. Ho (LTO)
French & Prep. Coverage	Mme. Stacey
French & Prep. Coverage	Mme. Gillespie
English Language Learner (ELL) & Prep. Coverage	Mrs. Santilli
SERT, Prep. Coverage, ELL	Mr. Marasco
SERT Complex Needs	Mrs. Brooker
Intervention Service Worker (ISW)	Ms. O’Brien
Intervention Service Worker (ISW)	Ms. Caley
Educational Assistant (EA)	Mrs. Carpanzano
Child and Youth Worker	Ms. Stapleton

We would like to extend a special welcome to our new staff: Ms. Mancuso and Mr. Marasco are now permanent teachers at Pine Grove. We would also like to recognize Mrs. Agnihotri our new DECE in Kindergarten, and Ms. Ho and Mrs. Panza and their consistent contributions as Long Term Occasional Teachers at Pine Grove.

Sincerely,

Greg Brown                                                                   Rosanna Totino
Principal                                                                        Vice Principal
 

Welcome Back to School!

Welcome back to another school year. We are very excited to get back into the routines and structures that are part of being engaged in learning at Pine Grove P.S. 

We hope that your summer has been full of exciting fun activities and that you were able to spend time together as a family, whether it was on vacation somewhere distant or local day trips in our community. 

We would also like to send out a special welcome our new students joining us in Junior Kindergarten for the first time, and all of our newly registered students who have chosen to join our family at Pine Grove.  Our school is a warm and welcoming community with staff who deeply about our students and their learning.

Together, we are committed to creating and fostering a warm, caring and supportive educational environment for your child.  Throughout the year, your child will be provided with many opportunities to grow intellectually, emotionally and physically.  As a collaborative team, we strongly believe in the value of a community school, where the school is an integral part of the community and serves the students and their families.  The school administration, staff and parents at Pine Grove P.S. have worked hard over the last number of years to develop a clear focus and shared values between the school and community.  As always, we welcome your input as we develop goals, set priorities, and establish expectations aimed at enhancing student achievement. 

Our caretaking staff has worked very hard to clean the school and to prepare it for another school year. As always, we thank Mrs. Skoko  and Mrs. Kahr who have been busy with the preparations for the upcoming school year.

A Few Friendly Reminders 

Bus Loop

Please remember to stay on the inside loop of our parking lot area when dropping off students in the Kiss and Ride curb lane. If you wish to walk your students onto school property in the morning, please use our parking lot and walk to the nearest sidewalk entering the yard safely. Please avoid parking in the Kiss and Ride because it causes traffic congestion and affects the flow of traffic significantly. 

Traffic Safety  

It has been brought to the school's attention that many of our community members have bee speeding excessively along Gamble Street as the enter and leave Pine Grove. Please exercise caution when driving on Gamble as the posted speed limit is 40 km/h. Many concerned residents have communicated this with us. They have also contacted the City of Vaughan for solutions to speeding and the safety concerns that go along with it. Police will be monitoring our surrounding streets so that they can be reassured that our community members and walking students are safe arriving at Pine Grove daily. Thanks for your help and cooperation in advance. 

Bus Information 

Please remember to check your bus information and confirm that stops and times haven't changed. Check out www.schoolbuscity.com for everything bus related. 

Medical Information - Please remember to send epi-pens with your children on the first day of school. It's important that we have them in the case of emergency. Forms for student medication are available in the office. 

Lunch Supervisors - Pine Grove P.S. is in need of lunch supervisors. This is a paid position from 12:05 to 1:05 daily. You can work 1 day a week or up to 5 days per week. Supervision includes the first 20 minutes in the classroom and then the remaining 40 minutes on the yard. Please let Doris or Kathleen know in the office if you are interested or call the school at 905-850-0672. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.  We welcome open and proactive communication between home and school recognizing that it is a vital step in making sure that your child gets off to a positive start to their educational year.

Sincerely,

Greg Brown                                     Rosanna Totino 

Principal                                          Vice Principal