May 2015
JOHN M. JAMES
Public School
http://johnmjames.kprdsb.ca
@JMJSchool
COURAGE
I face challenges directly. I
speak up for myself and
others even when it may be
unpopular. I ask for help
when necessary. I recognize
risks and dangers and do not
take unwise chances to
please others.
Principal
Mike Menheere
[email protected]
Vice Principal
Valerie Ledrew-Williams
[email protected]
Superintendent of
Student Achievement
Shelly Roy
[email protected]
Trustees
Cathy Abraham
(905) 987-1833
[email protected]
Sarah Bobka
(289)-356-2133
[email protected]
School Council Co-Chairs
Victoria Greene
[email protected]
Lee-Ann Hurst
[email protected]
Message from School Administration
As this school year draws to a close, we begin our planning for next year. The allocation
of the number of teachers who will be at John M. James next year is, of course, based on
our projected enrolment.
School organization and class placement of students are part of this staffing process.
The class placements will be determined by a team. The team will include the current
grade teachers, the receiving teachers, special education staff and the school
administration.
Parents are welcome to share information with School Administration regarding their
child’s placement in a particular classroom environment.
However, please note that it cannot be an expectation that parent requests for
specific teachers or placements are guaranteed to be honoured.
If you wish to share information that would assist us in determining your child’s
placement for this September, please submit this in writing to Mr. Menheere no later than
Friday, May 29th.
Our shared goal is to provide the best possible learning environment for each child and
teaching environment for each teacher. This is a balanced classroom.
A balanced classroom includes students with a range of academic abilities and incorporates a match between student needs and the available resources to address those
needs. We work to achieve the best gender balance possible. Overall, we strive to conform as closely as possible to guidelines for junior and intermediate class size.
After due consideration of staff recommendations and parental input, the final responsibility for school organization rests with the Principal. I take this responsibility very
seriously.
As a staff, John M. James is committed to a thorough process to support student
achievement and the most positive school experience. Kawartha Pine Ridge policy,
administrative regulations, contractual obligations and legislated responsibilities under
the Education Act guide decisions regarding hours of instruction, class size and staffing.
EQAO 2015
Every year, our Grade 3 and 6 students participate in Provincial assessment in Reading,
Writing & Math overseen by the Education, Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO).
Here is the specific schedule for the assessment administration this spring.
Date
First Block (8:45-10:25am)
Second Block (11:05am-12pm)
Mon. May 25, Day 1
Grade 3’s – Math Section 1
Grade 6's – Language, Section A
Tues. May 26, Day 2
Grade 6's - Math, Section 1
Grade 3's – Language, Section A
175 Mearns Avenue
Wed. May 27, Day 3
Grade 3's - Language, Section B
Tel: (905) 697-7817
Thurs. May 28, Day 4
Grade 6's - Language, Section B
Fax: (905) 697-7818
Mon., June 1, Day 1
Grade 3's – Math Section 2
Grade 6's – Language, Section C
Tues. June 2, Day 2
Grade 6's – Math Section 2
Grade 3's – Language, Section C
Wed. June 3, Day 3
Grade 3's - Language, Section D
Grade 6's - Language, Section D
Bowmanville, ON L1C 5C6
Please ensure that your child is at school on time and try to avoid booking any appointments for your student during
these days. Your efforts and cooperation are appreciated!
Should you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact either Mrs. Williams or Mr. Menheere at the school.
Before and After School Child Care
Thank you to everyone who completed the child care before-and-after school surveys. I am pleased to let you know that
our school has received sufficient interest to move forward with this process. For your information, here are the next
steps:
The school board is now putting out a call to interested not-for-profit child care partners to submit applications for providing care at our school. A Selection Committee will then choose an operator (by mid-May). At that time, parents will be
contacted to register with the child care provider. This is great news for our school!
Clarington Citizenship Award
Our special congratulations are extended to Brooklyn Dignard, who is the John M. James recipient of the Clarington
Schools’ Citizenship Award. Brooklyn recently received her award at a ceremony last Wednesday evening at
Bowmanville High School. This award honours students from each school that embody the heart and soul of the school
through their commitment to citizenship. The Clarington principals strongly support student leadership and recognize
students who exemplify citizenship and service, and who enrich our schools as well as our communities.
Best regards,
M. Menheere
V. Ledrew-Williams
Principal
Vice-principal
John M James
UPDATE
Mama Mia, what a night !
On Thursday, April 30th, the comforting smell of simmering sauce drifted
down the halls of John M James; for our second Family Spaghetti Dinner.
This free event organized by your School Council had over 300 attendees,
and as you can see from the bottom photo was a full house.
24 volunteers were busy shopping, baking, decorating and cooking leading
up to the event; as well as serving that night. THANK YOU to everyone
who attended – the smiles on your faces made it all worthwhile.
In typical JMJ fashion, there were also a number of guests who stayed after the event to stack chairs and move tables, we appreciated it. ☺
There were centerpieces, apples and door prizes courtesy of the 12 local
businesses who supported our event:
• Floratechnics
• Great Wok
• Frosty John’s
• Mac’s Convenience Store
• Algoma Orchards
• Cathy’s Country Catering
• Metro
• Costco
• Staples
• The UPS Store
• The Bowmanville Foundry
• FreshCo
Two attendees enjoy the Photo Booth, courtesy
of our school Student Leadership Team.
Your School Council always welcomes suggestions and comments via our Co-Chair / Communications
contact Victoria Greene – [email protected]
REGISTER NOW FOR KINDERGARTEN STARTING SEPTEMBER 2015
Parents: now’s the time to register if your child will be starting Junior or Senior Kindergarten
in September 2015 at a Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (KPR) school.
Parents and guardians can print student registration forms ahead of time from www.kprschools.ca, and bring the
completed forms with them when they register their child at school. The school offices, in turn, offer practical information and tips to help parents prepare their children for the transition to school.
To start school in September 2015, the following requirements apply:
Junior Kindergarten – child must be four years of age by December 31, 2015
Kindergarten – child must be five years of age by December 31, 2015.
When registering their children, parents and guardians should bring a birth certificate or other proof of the child’s
age, proof of address, and current immunization information. As office times may vary among schools, KPR encourages parents to call their local school ahead of time to confirm the best time of day for registering their children.
Parents who are unsure of which school their child will attend can visit
http://www.kprschools.ca/Schools/FindaSchool.html and enter their home address to find their designated school.
If parents or guardians are worried about their child’s readiness for Junior or Senior Kindergarten, they should
contact their child’s school principal as early as possible. Schools are a good source of information and community
contacts, and they may be able to help parents get support for children with special needs.
If you have a Twitter account, you can follow us @JMJSchool.
If you don’t have a Twitter account, you can still receive updates on your cell phone via text message. Send a text message to
21212 with the following message: follow JMJSchool
You will receive confirmation that you are following @JMJSchool and will receive tweets from the school.
We look forward to enhancing communication with our community and to celebrating all the great things happening at
our school.
May Diversity Dates
For information on the following dates, please see the Equity and
Diversity Calendar sent to all schools and departments, and posted
in the Staff section of www.kprschools.ca
Asian Heritage Month, South Asian Heritage Month, Jewish
Heritage
Month, Dutch Heritage Month (Ontario)
The Sucker Moon – Nmebine Giizis (Anishinaabe – First Nations)
April 21-May 2 – Ridván (Bahá’i)
May 1 – Beltane (Wiccan)
May 3 – International Family Equality Day, World Press Freedom Day
May 3-9 – Children’s Mental Health Week
May 4-8 – Education Week
May 4-10 – Mental Health Week
May 5 – South Asian Arrival Day (Ontario)
May 12 – Canada Health Day
May 16-17 – Hiawatha Pow Wow
May 17 – International Day Against Homophobia
May 18 – Victoria Day
May 19-22 – Aboriginal Awareness Week
May 21 - World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development (UN)
May 22 – International Day for Biological Diversity
(UN)
May 23 – Declaration of the Báb (Bahá’i),
Anniversary of the Komagata Maru Incident
(Canada)
May 24 – Pentecost (Christian)
May 25 – Africa Day
May 29 – Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh (Bahá’i), International Day of UN Peacekeepers (UN)
May 31-June 6 – National Accessibility Awareness
Week, Canadian Environment Week
Much has changed in the teaching and learning of mathematics in recent years. While comfort with math
procedures and quick recall of facts are still valued, increased emphasis is being placed on helping students acquire “conceptual understanding” of mathematics. This means that students will understand why a
particular procedure works and can determine what mathematics is needed to solve a problem in a ‘real life’
situation.
Research has found that students learn best through math activities that encourage them to explore and
share their varied strategies and possible solutions to meaningful and relevant problem situations. Students learn from each other when they share their ideas and justify their thinking. The teacher spends time
developing the “rich” mathematics tasks that allow for the student learning to unfold. By asking questions
that prompt thinking and require students to explain their ideas, the teacher supports students with developing their understanding of important math concepts.
As parents, you may be aware that the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum outlines expectations at each
grade level in terms of both math content (topics) and math process (how we ‘do’ the math) expectations.
Students at all grade levels are expected to learn and apply these processes as they work to achieve the
math content expectations. It is these process expectations that students are engaged in when they work
at “rich” mathematics tasks. The process expectations include:
Problem Solving
Reasoning and Proving
Selecting Tools and Computational Strategies
Connecting
Communicating
Reflecting
Representing
The math tasks and learning opportunities that students are engaged in allow them to develop and demonstrate these processes. In our classrooms, problem solving activities are a regular part of the mathematics
we “do”. Students work in small groups, partners and/or independently, tackling multi-step problems that
often have more than one correct solution. Teaching and learning through problem solving is engaging and
helps students become more confident in their mathematical abilities. Working collaboratively to solve
problems, students share their ideas and articulate their understandings, developing their communication
skills along the way. Authentic, “real life” problem solving tasks allow students to make connections between mathematics and situations outside the classroom.
As parents, you can help your child to develop these process skills by looking for the mathematics in everyday tasks and thinking about the questions you might ask to get your child to think ‘mathematically’. Real life problem solving situations occur all of the time, so engage your child in helping to find solutions. For
example:

Invite your child to help in the kitchen. Ask him/her to determine, for example, the number of batches
of muffins that can be made from 3 cups of milk, if each batch requires of a cup of milk.

Ask them to create different seating arrangements to accommodate a large number of guests for a
family function. What table arrangements are possible? Which works best in the space available and
with the number of guests invited?

When doing crafts or building projects with your child, have them measure materials. Determine for
example, how many metre sections of board can be cut from a 7 and a half
metre board to be used to build picture frames. How many pieces can be cut
and how many picture frames can be built?

Sports statistics provide many opportunities for math thinking and are often of
interest to children. For example, encourage your child to find and compare
the goals-against-average for their favourite goalies, or the best combined
score in figure skating competitions

Clothes shopping or packing also might provide opportunities for thinking mathematically. For example, given 3 shirts, 2 pants, 1 pair of shorts, and 3 pairs of shoes, how many different outfit combinations can be made?

When shopping with your child, have them use estimation to determine the approximate bill total; calculate sales tax, change, discounts (20% off sale); determine the best deal by comparing prices; finding the cost of items when the posted price is for multiple quantities of an item (e.g.- lemons 3 for $1;
How much for 1? for 5?)
It is important to ask your child how they solved each problem and have them explain how they know the
solution makes sense. Your child’s strategies may be different than yours, but equally reasonable, therefore, be sure to listen carefully and honour the math thinking that your child has engaged in. Keep in mind
that there is usually more than one way to solve a problem and that the way we, as parents, were taught in
school, while correct is not the only way and/or necessarily the way that makes sense to our children.
Your child’s explanation of a strategy used to solve a problem and why it works (or didn’t) can reveal a
great deal about their understanding of math concepts. Finally, by modelling an interest in mathematics
and demonstrating how it is an important part of everyday life, you can support your “budding mathematicians”. Most importantly, it will help your child to develop a positive attitude towards math and recognize it
as an important life skill.
Further Information
If you would like to learn more about the Math Process expectations, go to:http://
www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/math18curr.pdf ; pages 11-17
If you would like more suggestions as to how you can support your child in applying mathematics to ‘real-life’ situations, go to:
http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/parents/learn/math.pdf for Helping Your Child Learn
Math: A Parent’s Guide published by the Ontario Ministry of Education containing simple activities that you can do with your child to explore math at home. Suitable for students in
Grades K-3.
http://www.dpcdsb.org/NR/rdonlyres/A7A4FB06-0712-4476-AEEF28597E1E01A2/93811/ParentGuideNum.pdf for Helping Your Child to do Math: A Guide for
Parents also published by the Ontario Ministry of Education include tips as well as practical
activities that can be used at home and in your local community. Suitable for students in
Grades K-6.
The following websites provide math activities and games for children to try at home. It is always suggested that parents preview sites for appropriate materials for their child.
http://www.tvokids.com/
www.kidsites.com/sites-edu/math.htm
http://cemc2.math.uwaterloo.ca/mathfrog/
www.kids.gov/k_science.htm
www.brainpop.com/math/seeall/
http://mathforum.org/library/
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html
SCHOOL ZONE REMINDERS:
Medical Concerns
All medication required by students must be kept at the office. A
medication form must be completed annually, by the physician and
parents, and kept in the office. If necessary, (e.g., life threatening
allergy, etc.) an Emergency Response Plan should be completed by
the parents and the school.
In the interest of student safety, Durham Regional Police and Clarington Emergency & Fire
Services remind everyone of the following:
Obey posted speed limits in school areas as
children may be crossing the roads without
paying attention to traffic.
Be aware of fire routes and do not block access
to the school or park in the fire route – a fire
truck or ambulance may need to respond to
that school at ANY time for ANY emergency.
Watch for children moving in and around parked
cars or crossing the street from between vehicles parked along the side of the road.
We ask everyone to keep safety in mind when
driving in school neighbourhoods.
Safe Arrival Program
In order to fully benefit from education, regular attendance and punctuality is required.
Absences and lates must be reported to the
office (905) 697 - 7817 (Our answering machine is on 24 hours a day) by the student’s parent or guardian. During school
hours, please call the school or send a note
(on a separate piece of paper) for our records. Before or after school, please leave a
message on the machine. If your child is absent and we have not been notified, we will
call you at home or your place of business;
however, this is very time consuming for us
and disruptive at your workplace. As such,
we encourage you to write a note or leave a
message. We need to ensure that your child
is safe, and we ask that you help us out by
letting us know in advance of appointments
and absences.
If you are dropping your child
off at school in the morning
please be reminded that yard
supervision does not begin
until 8:35 a.m
Visitor’s Policy
All visitors, including parents/guardians, are required to report to the Main Office upon arrival at the school and
sign in. If you are staying for any length of time you will require a Visitor or Volunteer Pass. For your child’s safety, it is important that we know the identity, at all times, of all the adults that are in our school.
If you are dropping off your child’s lunch, forgotten homework, etc. please leave them at the office.
The secretaries will ensure that necessary items are given to students in a timely manner, with minimal disruption
to program.
Police Record Checks
(including Vulnerable Sector Screening & Search
of Sexual Offences Database)
It is wonderful to have so many parents/guardians
wanting to volunteer in our school each day! We
greatly appreciate all of your help!! Board Policy
does require that all school volunteers (e.g. trip
chaperones, parent drivers, hot lunch helpers, classroom helpers, pediculosis volunteers, etc. ) receive
a Criminal Records Check and Vulnerable Sector
Screening. These must be completed every year.
These can be completed locally at the Bowmanville
or Oshawa office of the Durham Regional Police
Services. A letter from the school is required to
begin the process. This letter can be picked up at
the school office. There is a fee for this service. If
you have already completed a record check from the
police department, please submit it to the school as
soon as possible as we need to have this information on file. For those that are still waiting to receive their information from the police department,
please bring it in to the school as soon as possible.
Again, please note that all volunteer applicants must
provide the school or volunteer program contact with
a police record check that:
-is dated within one year
-identifies any criminal convictions or
criminal charges
-includes a search of the Pardoned Sexual Offences Database, and
Crossing Guards
A Crossing guard is available at the corner of Mearns and Apple
Blossom to assist your child to cross the
road to school safely. The times they will
be present are:
8:30 - 8:45
12:45 -12:55
1:15 -1:25
3:05 - 3:15
The Crossing Guards have been asked to adhere to these times.
They will be taking names of stragglers to provide to the school.
Allergy Alert! *Nut Safe School*
This year, we have several students who have a very serious
allergy to nuts. We are asking for your support and co-operation
in refraining from sending nuts or nut products to school. Due to
the rotary schedule that is in place, students spend time in many
rooms throughout the school. The school will be continuing
these accommodations as we need to maintain the safety of
these students by ensuring that they do not come in contact with
surfaces with nut products on them (e.g., a door handle touched
by someone with peanut butter on his/her fingers, water fountain
handles, etc.)
Your help and support in promoting a safe environment at
our school is gratefully acknowledged!
-includes a Vulnerable Sector Search
Breakfast Club
8:15 - 8:40 am
(enter through rotunda doors)
If you are able to volunteer,
please contact the school at (905)697-7817.
Class Trips and Excursions
Throughout the school year, as part of our regular
program, students leave the school site to go on
trips. Some excursions may be community walks,
while others are more distant and require transportation by car or bus.
When students are transported by car or bus, a
form will be sent home outlining the event requiring a “consent for travel form” to be completed by
a parent and returned to the teacher. For a student to participate, a completed consent form must
be returned. We regret we are unable to accept
verbal permission, and will not phone parents to
acquire permission on the day of the event.
SASS
(Student Academic Support and Success)
This year we are pleased to continue with the after school
program called Student Academic Support and Success
(SASS). SASS is a program run by our amazing team of
Child and Youth Workers and Educational Assistants.
This program is intended to assist students from grade 1-8
who wish to practise learned skills or prepare for learning
for the next day’s class. SASS will run Monday-Thursday
until 3:45. Each day a sign up sheet will be posted on the
library door for students to sign up for SASS. There is a
maximum of 25 students per day so students are encouraged to sign up early in the day. We will be stressing the
importance for students to discuss staying for SASS prior
to signing up (i.e. the night before). We do not want any
parents to worry about where their child is after school.