Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Please click here to access the minutes from the November 2nd School Council Meeting.

Shop local and support Fern Ave P.S.!  Head to Scooter Girl on December 9 or 10th , tell them you are from Fern Ave PS, and we’ll get a credit of 15% of your purchases on Scooter Girl merch for things like prizes and silent auction items.  Win, win, win: you help your school, support a local business, and avoid an exhausting trip to the mall or big box.  Watch your class list email or blog for more details.

We are excited to announce that all students in all our FDK classes will be performing in our Winter Holiday Celebration on Thursday, December 15th from 2:30-3:30 pm in our school auditorium .  Please mark your calendars with the date and time. We hope to see you all there!

We are happy our Winter Concert will be in person at Parkdale Collegiate!  Special thanks to Ms. Warson who in collaboration with school staff, is organizing our Winter Concert on December 8th . We are excited to celebrate with our Fern community and families this year! Please join us for a joyful celebration!  Primary Classes Performing:    Ms. Nitsis room 213   Ms. Jamieson room 108   Ms. Eyre room 208   Mme Edelstein room 105   Mme Centeno room 206   Mme Tse room 211   Mme Balaisis room 214   Mme Mably room 203   Mr. Sidler room 209   Junior Classes Performing:   Ms. Otorova room 205  Mme Roch room 104 lower   Mme Hulsman room 201   Mme Nave room 215   Mr. Ruttan room 207  Also performing will be the Primary Choir, Junior Choir, Senior Choir and Senior Instrument Players, Primary/Junior /Senior Choir together, and Senior Guitar Club! We are still finalizing the program and order of performances. Please save the date in your calendars.  Please note that all grades 6/7, 7's

Here at Fern, we strive to create a safe and inclusive school community for all our students.  This coming week, we recognize International Day of People with Disabilities by celebrating the differences and unique gifts and abilities of each person in our school community, our students, staff and families beyond the walls of our school!

Please be advised that our next meeting is on Thursday, Dec. 1st from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm via ZOOM . The link will be sent out that morning. Please join us!

Hello friends, This holiday season we are hoping to use our collective might to help our neighbours. We are working with two community organizations and our teacher partners to run three different drives on three different weeks , starting Monday, December 5. *  *Each of these drives does have a direct monetary donation option if you prefer (listed below), but these organizations also encourage school drives to engage with students and community members.   WEEK 1 - DECEMBER 5-9, 2022 - FOOD DRIVE   Food insecurity is at an all time high. The Parkdale Community Food Bank serves over 3500 families a month.  Let’s help our community friends. Clean out your cupboards or buy your favourite non-perishable food items to donate to The Parkdale Community Food Bank .   Drop off non-perishable food items in boxes located outside the Office.  For more information, such as the top food needs for food drives, or to make a direct monetary donation, visit their website at https://www.pcfb.ca /  WEEK 2

Join us on December 1st from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm via ZOOM Details to follow.

Hello Fern Families:  A tentative agreement has been reached between CUPE and the province!  This means Fern PS will be open to in person learning on Monday, Nov. 21st 2022 .  We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

Grade 4-8 students are invited to join Fern's Knitting Club! We will meet every Friday, beginning at 12:15pm , in Room 307. Please bring your knitting needles, and yarn/wool, if you have any. All skill levels are welcome, from beginner to expert! Our first project will be a basic scarf that will be donated to people in need.  *We will happily continue to accept donations of yarn and/or knitting needles.   Mme Chiang, Mme Hulsman, Mme Miya, and Mme Edelshtein

The Fern Junior Book Club has chosen their next book to read. We chose the Silver Birch nomination, Forever Birchwood by Danielle Daniel.  We are asking all Junior Book Club members to get a copy from the public library, a local bookstore, on ebook, or through an online vendor. For Monday, November 21st we hope everyone can get a copy and read chapter 1 (can be read online for free if your book has not arrived yet).  At this time we would like to invite new members. If you are in grade 4, 5, or 6 and you like to read, please join us on Mondays at 12:15 in the library.  If you have any questions please email kerry.heller@tdsb.on.ca and/or christopher.enticknap@tdsb.on.ca .

Progress Report Cards will be coming home on Tuesday, November 15th.   We will be holding Parent/Guardian /Teacher interviews in person at Fern on Thursday, November 17th and Friday, November 18th . You should be receiving an email with details and schedules from your child(ren)'s teacher. We appreciate the continued support from our families.

The Equity and Inclusion Committee is hoping to add new members who would like to contribute to this important work at Fern. Last year saw many initiatives undertaken by the administration and staff that were supported by the committee. We worked with a group of neighbourhood schools to apply for a PRO Grant*. Through these relationships we facilitated a combined anti-Black Racism workshop for the Howard Park and Fern Avenue communities. Speaker Leroi Newbold** presented the first of two planned workshops, and this year Ayan Kailie*** will facilitate the second. We also supported the students with their Pride celebration last year.  Our goals for this year are to: 1) support student equity initiatives  2) provide workshops, speakers, and resources to support anti-oppression, reconciliation and anti-Black racism training for parents and the Fern community at large, and,  3) support teachers with their anti-oppression, reconciliation, and anti-Black racism curriculum in whatever way they

 

Coach/ gym practice schedule November/ Mid-December 2022 (sports teams for winter reverse with girls volleyball and boys basketball) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 8:00-9:00am SENIOR GIRLS BASKETBALL Starting Oct 28 Nicole Kertesz 8:00-9:00am JUNIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL Laurel Lewies 8:00-9:00am SENIOR  GIRLS BASKETBALL Nicole Kertesz 8:00-9:00am JUNIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL Laurel Lewies 8:00-9:00am 12:15-1:00 CO-ED HOUSE LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL Staring No 14 Sarantos Katsihtis 12:15-1:00 CO-ED HOUSE LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL 12:15-1:00 CO-ED HOUSE LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL 12:15-1:00 CO-ED HOUSE LEAGUE VOLLEYBALL 3:40-5:00pm SENIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL Starting Nov 7 Sarantos Katsihtis 3:45- 4:45pm JUNIOR GIRLS BASKETBALL Justin Ruttan 3:40-5:00pm SENIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL Sarantos Katsihtis 3:45- 4:45pm JUNIOR GIRLS BASKETBALL Justin Ruttan

The Fern Senior Book Club has chosen their next book to read. We chose the Red Maple nomination, The Bear House by Meaghan McIsaac.  We are asking all Senior Book Club members to get a copy from the public library, a local bookstore, on ebook, or through an online vendor. For Tuesday, November 15th we hope everyone can get a copy and read the prologue and chapter 1.  At this time we would like to invite new members. If you are in grade 7 or 8 and you like to read, please join us on Tuesdays at 12:15 in the library.  If you have any questions please email kerry.heller@tdsb.on.ca and/or christopher.enticknap@tdsb.on.ca .

Hello Fern Families:  As you are aware, CUPE and the provincial government resume negotiations, Fern PS will be open to students tomorrow, Tuesday November 8th .  If you picked up a device for your child today, please return it to school tomorrow.  We look forward to welcoming everyone to school and work!

Hello Fern Families:  Monday, Nov 7th and Tuesday, Nov 8th Fern PS will be closed to students due to CUPE job action. We wanted you to have this information first thing this morning as the CUPE protest continues.  Monday, Nov. 7th and Tuesday Nov. 8th will be asynchronous learning for all our Fern students.   Students will be able to access asynchronous learning materials/tasks in their classroom learning platforms. No live instruction will take place on Nov. 7th and Nov. 8th.   Synchronous (live instruction) learning begins  Wednesday, Nov. 9th. As this situation evolves, we will continue to send follow-up communication to all our families.  Thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding as we navigate through this unprecedented period of job action.

As previously shared, the TDSB will communicate with all families this week to confirm the final plan for the week.  If notification is received that CUPE members will return to work on Monday, November 7th, all TDSB schools will re-open to students and will resume in-person learning. If we receive information to indicate that the CUPE job action will continue, (or in the absence of any definitive indication otherwise), school buildings will remain CLOSED to all students, and we will proceed as follows:  On Monday, November 7th we will continue with asynchronous instruction and Fern PS will be closed to students.   Lessons and expectations will be shared via the learning platform. Learning materials for students will be adjusted and made available as required  Monday, November 7th will be a day to distribute technology to families and prepare for the provision of synchronous instruction  All teaching staff will be in-person at Fern PS on Monday, November 7th  If job action continues

Progress Reports will be coming home on November 15th. We will be holding Parent/Guardian Teacher interviews for Kindergarten to Grade 8 students during the evening of November 17th and during the day on the 18th.  More details to come from your teachers.

Congratulations to our Fern cross country team for their successful year.  We had over 150 of our students participate in the west cross country meet this year. Each student ran with their personal goals in mind. Some of our students ran for the experience, some set fitness as priority, while others ran for personal best or making it to city finals. Our student/athletes practiced regularly either at the school track or Sorauren park, and developed an improved stamina as well as running strategies.  Our school did really well at the west conference, finishing top 1-3 as a team in all of the senior races, and a total of 70 of our athletes qualified for west finals. From the west final runs we had 24 of our athletes that moved on to the city finals. At the Toronto city finals on October 26th we had most of our students finish in the top third of their cross country runs. Special mention to our top placing athletes, with Tatiana S. at 11th and Alex M. at 21st.  Amazing success for the Fern