Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Thanks so much to everyone who came out for the Winter Solstice get-together tonight at the school. Our kids were absolutely amazing and I think we all had a wonderful time. My apologies for running out of pizza early on (we did a second order) - we were not expecting such a large turnout. We learned our lesson for next year! I want to extend a special thank-you to our Principal Mr. Tsuji, the office and support staff and all the teachers who helped with the event. Everyone was great! And thank you as well to the parents who helped out as well. We could not have done it without you. If you have any feedback, etc... please feel free to contact me directly at smarty_panz@yahoo.com or 416-532-9870. Happy Holidays! John Richmond Co-Chair, Fern Parent Council

A message from John Richmond , co-chair, school council ( smarty_panz@yahoo.com ): Please be advised the next Fern Council meeting will take place on Thursday, January 24, at 7:00 pm in the school gym. Everyone welcome! Childcare available. In general the meetings will be the 3rd Thursday of the month but we will try to change the day to a Monday or Tuesday for at least one of the meetings.

A message from John Richmond , co-chair, school council ( smarty_panz@yahoo.com ): Parents, I have been advised that a message will be coming home from school with the lunch menu for January and info about a new way to pre-pay the fee. Please keep your eyes open! If you have any questions, call Tracy at the daycare - 416-588-1463.

A message from Katarina Berin (parent): If you have not received your magazine(s) or if you have any questions about your orders, please call QSP directly at 1-800-667-2536. Please note that the mesh squishy ball prize was withdrawn and replaced. If your child received one, please contact the office. Thanks for supporting this fundraiser for the Fern Parent Council.

Parent volunteers are needed the night of the solstice concert, to help the parent council set up and clean up, and to sell pizza and cookies in the cafeteria before the outdoor festivities begin. Volunteers will be needed from 5:15 - 6:30. If you’re going to the concert, come early, stay warm, and help us raise some money! Please RSVP to Dusanka at dusanka_rmg at hotmail.com.

Help kick off the magic of the holiday season and the start of our astronomical winter. Family and friends are invited to join the Fern students in song, on: Wednesday, December 19 (Rain date: Thursday, December 20) Parents will be having a bake sale and pizza dinner, starting at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria . Bake sale items ( nut-free ) are to be brought to the school that day. The student council will be selling hot chocolate and glow necklaces. The actual concert starts at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria, then moves outside. Please dress warmly! If you need more details, please contact Vera or Craig in the office.

Greetings! My name is John Richmond - Kevin Robinson and I are the new co-chairs of the Fern School Council. We were elected (well, no one else ran!) at the November Council meeting. I have two daughters at Fern - Maya in SK (Mrs. Nitsis) and Michaela in grade 6 (Ms. Basu). My partner - Paula Larrondo (Ward 7 alternate rep) - and I live at 128 Pearson. We are both social workers at St. Joe's and have lived in the neighbourhood since September 2006. Prior to that we lived in Etobicoke. We have been active in the public education system for more than 5 years. We were founding members of Etobicoke Parents for Public Education and we are members of the Toronto Parent Network. Kevin and I took over the council from Lisa Dooher - who did a wonderful job and has been very helpful in the transition (thanks Lisa!). One of the main issues in the transition has been communication. Lisa, myself, Kevin and Amy have all been working on this. Amy Stein (our Treasurer) and parent Roy Schulze have...

A message from Amy Stein (parent & website co-administrator): This website is for the use of everyone in the Fern school community, to pass along news and event information. If you wish to post a message, please email it to , exactly as you wish it to appear, including whatever contact information you want to appear in your posting.

A message from Karen Mondok (parent): Hello, opera fans ... The remainder of the offerings for this season's BMO Financial Group Student Dress Rehearsal series are as follows: Tosca - Wednesday, January 23, 2008 From the House of the Dead - Wednesday, January 30, 2008 Eugene Onegin - Monday, March 31, 2008 The Barber of Seville - Monday, April 14, 2008 Pelléas et Mélisande - Saturday, May 3, 2008 All performances begin at 7:30pm. Synopsis' for each performance can be found at www.coc.ca Please let me know which performances you would like to attend (karenmondok at hotmail.com). Please remember that tickets are sold in a 1:2 adult to student ratio. Tickets are $14.00 each and I must receive payment in advance of the performance. See you at the opera!

A message from John Richmond (school chair) and Paula Larrondo : We would love for parents and staff to join our merry mingle to be held the evening of Thursday, December 13, at our place, 128 Pearson Ave. Please RSVP at 416-532-9870. We hope to see you there!