Iroquois Gazette - July 3, 2020
Issue 1 • Volume 11
Principal’s Message page 2
Important Reminders page 3
Last Week Happenings page 4
Perseverance Award Winners page 8
Staff Farewell page 9
Parent Resources page 15
Anti-Racism Resources page 17
Health and Well-Being Resources page 19
Food Banks and Food Donations page 20
Upcoming Dates and Parent Council Corner page 21
TDSB Social Media page 22
Iroquois P.S. Administrative Staff:
Principal A. Morgan
Office Administrator P. DeSilva
Superintendent D. Panagiotopoulos
Trustee Y. Rajakulasingam
Table of Contents
Principal’s Message
Hello everyone,
To echo the theme of our last school assembly of the year, “We did it!”. What a challenging year! Thank you to all of the staff, students, and parents for your continuing support of each other as we navigated the unknown and surprising 2019/2020 school year together. I am sure we will always remember the past four months.
The end of the year is always a busy one as we take time to recognize our grade 6 students, wrap up the year in each classroom, and say goodbye to staff and students who will not be with us in the upcoming school year. For these reasons, this edition of the Iroquois Gazette is extra long (and a tad later than normal). However, as you go through I am sure you will be able to join with us in celebrating the achievements of our graduating grade 6 students as well as the various staff members who are leaving Iroquois for various reasons (i.e., retirements, etc.).
Please remember, if you are able to donate, to consider donating to our COVID-19 fundraiser (please see page 20 of this newsletter for more information) to support local families in need. Also, as well ready ourselves for school in the fall, I have repeated information about parent resources for summer programs, as well as mental health and well-being and anti-racism.
In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful summer holiday with your family and I wish you and your family continued good health and happiness. We are still in this together Team Iroquois. Hopefully school will return to normal in September, and we will see you, a little taller, on the first day of school, Tuesday, September 8, 2020.
All the best for the future everyone!
Sincerely,
Ms Morgan, Principal
Important Reminders
Are you moving over the summer? Please send the name of your child, grade, and school he/she will be attending to audra.morgan@tdsb.on.ca so that we can prepare for the transition process.
Report cards (and IEP Summaries) were emailed to parents last week. If you did not receive an email, your child’s report is being mailed out to you. Please let Ms Morgan know if you did not receive your child’s report card by next week Friday (Friday, July 10th) at audra.morgan@tdsb.on.ca
Last Week Happenings - Remote Farewell Ceremony
Thank you to the staff for their combined efforts in creating our first ever remote Grade 6 Farewell Ceremony. Whether parents joined us at 1:15 or 6:15 on June 24th, we were fortunate enough to have Trustee Rajakulasingam join us to share her thoughts with the students as well as hear from MP Shaun Chen, MPP Raymond Cho and Superintendent Panagiotopoulos via video message.
Students were also recognized with special awards at the ceremony (please see list to the right of this page). A slideshow of all of the graduates was also shown and then sent on a separate email for students to have as a memento of their time here at Iroquois. Wishing you all the best in grade 7!
Award Winners Continued:
Growth Mindset Award
Jasmine C.
Harishan J.
Academic Award
Shayesta N.
Allen H.
Class Valedictorians
Hariharan V. (Trentos)
Isabel C. (Cumberbatch)
Sarah W. (Jesudiaharasa)
Kevin C. (Tranter)
Emma C. (Henry)
OPC Leadership Award
Jasmine J.
Gautham G.
Award Winners for 2020 are:
Well-Being Award
Abdi A.
Tamkeen N.
Inclusion Award
Yasin M.
Dorian G.
Nevetha A.
Last Week Happenings - Grade 6 Drive-Thru Farewell
Thank you again to staff for also being on hand on the afternoon of June 25th so that parents and students in grade 6 could come to the school parking lot, slowly drive around to wave goodbye to staff, and receive their grade 6 graduation certificates (as well as any Character Education certificates they may have been awarded during quarantine, grade 6 awards from the day before, and pre-ordered grad shirts).
Even though we were sorry to see the students leave, thanks to the DJaying of Mr. Souray, and the cheerfulness of staff, it was a festive atmosphere.
If you were not able to attend, don’t worry! Ms Morgan has your package and you can get it from her in September.
Clockwise from Top Left: Participating staff members for the drive-thru (COVID-19 rules!), Grade 6 Grad banner for student pictures (set-up all week for family photos), school parking lot set-up for the Drive-Thru Farewell.
Last Week Happenings - Grade 6 Drive-Thru Farewell
Last Week Happenings - Grade 6 Drive-Thru Farewell
Kindergarten: Anchana Rita Mariam
Clara Yasmira Steven
Anisha
Primary: Alvin Lucas Samuel
Antony Stacy Linda
Kevin Jason
Junior: Jennifer Aneksha Kaili
Shrivarshaa Makiah Romit
Sofie Ryan Gloria
Hariharan Harishan J. Sophia
Gianna Lukas Anson Z.
Grace Eric Sammi
Shivaani
Our Award Winners for Perseverance are:
Perseverance is an important trait to have if you want to be successful. We don’t always succeed the first time, but we should always keep trying!
Staff Farewell - thank you for being a part of our school!
Ms Galowitsch
Congratulations to Ms Galowitsch on her retirement!
Ms Galowitsch has worked with students at Iroquois for a number of years, and has enjoyed her time at the school helping students learn new skills and strategies so they can learn to the best of their ability.
She has also been a very key member of our staff at Iroquois as she managed and organized all of our Spec Ed meetings, of which we have many!
We will miss her humour, huge organizational skills and her passion for helping others. We will miss you but wish you all the best in this next phase of your fabulous life!
Ms Linton
Congratulations to Ms Linton as well who is also retiring!
Ms Linton has brought a wealth of knowledge to our school, especially in the areas of supporting students who have Autism and helping students learn to control their emotions. Very key things for all of us to learn!
We know her students will miss her very much!
We will also miss your gentleness with everyone, staff and students, and your sense of humor. However, like everyone who retires, we wish you well and know that your family is probably happy you will be home more. All the best for the future Ms Linton!
Ms Ardelean
Ms Ardelean is not retiring, but she is leaving Iroquois to start teaching at another school. While we are happy for her, we will miss her very much.
On behalf of staff and students we can certainly say we will miss her humour, her gentle way of speaking to others, her very creative assignments for students, her great use of technology in the classroom, and her focus on mental health and well-being. Ms Ardelean always found a way to put a smile on the faces of her students on a daily basis, and that is an amazing skill to have.
We wish you all the best at your new school Ms Ardelean!
Ms Trentos
The bad news, for us, is that Ms Trentos will not be with us next year.
The good news, for us, is that she will be back with us after next school year.
Ms Trentos is off on a fabulous adventure for a bit, and we wish her all the best and look forward to amazing stories on her return about all the fun and exciting things she did!
Mr Jesudiaharasa
While a mango a day might keep the doctor away, we hope that Mr. J. will be back with us really soon.
Mr. Jesudiaharasa has been an amazing teacher at our school over the past couple of years, filling in for teachers for extended periods of time. Your creativity and passion for teaching is inspiring Mr. J., as is your use of technology.
We wish you all the best Mr. J. and hope to see you soon again!
Parent Resources
With summer being here, we would like to share a couple of timely resources.
Below is a link to the TDSB “Learning at Home” newsletter. The focus of this issue is on transition and how to manage the anxiety that goes with it for students as they change teachers and/or schools.
Also, we are please to let you know that there will be a remote ASD Afterschool Leisure Program from July 6 - 30th. This invitation letter is linked on the right. This program is for students in grades 4-10 who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Parent Resources - TD Summer Reading Club
The TD Summer Reading Club is the biggest, bilingual summer reading program for kids of all ages. It is delivered by over 2000 public libraries across the country and was founded to foster the love of reading in children.
Staring June 15th kids can register online at tdsbsummerreadingclub.ca to access free ebooks, read web comics and share book recommendations with others across Canada.
Participants can also vote for their favourite summer book each week with the new “Battle of the Books” competition.
New this year are also 28 online author readings and workshops. For more information please see:
https://www.instagram.com/tdsrc_cletd/
https://www.facebook.com/TDSRC/CLETD
Anti-Racism Resources
As a school, board and larger society we recognize this time of being one of great concern with respect to anti-Black and Anti-Asian racism. Racism, bias, hate and discrimination have no place in the TDSB or in any of our communities and will not be tolerated at our school. As families and teachers have these important conversations with our students we would also like to share some supporting links for parents and students, starting with a link from the Toronto Public Library (please click the picture to the right). Please also note that the next slide contains a number of additional active links to support families with these important discussions.
During the summer, if you come across a good resource on anti-racism, please consider sharing that resource with us at the school. It would be good to continue to build a resource bank over the summer so as to further this work and support each other as a community.
Black Lives Matter: A Booklist ~ from the Toronto Public Library "In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist." - Angela Davis
Books for adults, teens and kids on #BlackLivesMatter and fighting racism, in Canada and beyond.
Anti-Racism Resources
Canada’s History ~ videos and activities for the classroom and at home.
Teaching Tolerance ~ classroom educator resource with tips about how to interrupt racist remarks for adults and students, both verbally and in the digital age.
Link to the “Toronto for All” document with Anti-Black Racism and Mental Health Resources.
Direct link to the CAMH website with tips on how to support adults and kids during this time. Links to additional resources can be found here as well.
Health and Well-Being Resources
With the continued quarantine situation, we know that families may struggle, for various reasons, in terms of their overall well-being.
Please see below and to the right for various links to organizations that can help you and your families stay engaged, active, and mentally well, during this time.
Food Banks and Food Donations
At this time we know that a number of families may be struggling to buy food. If you know of someone facing food scarcity, please see the hyperlink below for a schedule of which local food banks are open, when they are open, and what the criteria is for accessing them over the course of this week.
Food Bank Schedule - week of June 15th
We have also started a donation page at the school through the Toronto Foundation for Student Success (TFSS) and the “Canada Helps” organization. We invite you, if you are able to, to donate money to our website at:
Iroquois Donations during COVID 19
All money raised will go directly to families in our school community.
Gift cards to families in need will happen over the summer! Please continue to donate if you can. THANK YOU IROQUOIS!!!
July 30-31 Eid al Adha
August 3 Civic Holiday
September 7 Labour Day
September 8 First Day of School
Our Next School Advisory Council is in:
September
Our council meeting minutes are posted on the school website at: https://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/iroquois/Parents/School-Council
TDSB Social Media
Join the conversations happening on TDSB’s social media communities. You will find the most up-to-date information about us on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Twitter@Iroquois
Please follow us on Twitter at:
@ TDSBiroquois
School Website
http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/iroquois
Twitter@TDSB
http://facebook.com/toronto.dsb
Instagram@Torontodsb
https://www.instagram.com/torontodsb
Iroquois Jr. Public School
265 Chartland Blvd. S.,
Scarborough, Ontario
416.396.6355
http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/iroquois