Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Please find links for minutes from the last two meetings here:  January 17: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H2dbgGbRAsqAkve8MPxqdgG6oiQVzYO7/view?usp=share_link February 21: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sZz7vHzPjJ-dh_AiZOs5TDonayuhDHhq/view?usp=share_link

Here's your chance to see how the sausage is made!  We just got staff allocation projections on Friday, and the volunteers on the parent committee are working on them over the weekend. We'd like to discuss them with you at the March 28 meeting, 6:30-8:30.   People always have a lot of questions about the staff allocation process -- where do these numbers come from? Is there a cap? Why are there splits? Why is this class bigger than this class? When do we find out our teacher? Will this change?  We usually have an incredibly tight turnaround for these numbers and don't always have a chance to bring them to the whole School Council before the deadline. However, this year we happen to have a meeting already planned, so we can use that fortuitous timing to discuss the staff allocation with everyone.  Please come and hear about it directly from Admin, and ask any questions you have. Rosanna will be sending out Zoom details on Tuesday, otherwise, please email fernaveschoolco

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. The day recognizes and spreads awareness for the rights of people with autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disorder and there is no better way to celebrate this day than by becoming aware of the characteristics of people with this condition and how all of us can do better to increase our own understanding and promote kindness.  We encourage our staff and students to wear blue on Monday, April 3rd !

Our  Tuesday, March 28th school council meeting will be held from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm via ZOOM . The link will be sent out that morning.  We look forward to seeing you all then!

Purple Day is an International effort dedicated to increasing awareness about epilepsy worldwide. Every year on March 26th people in countries around the world are invited to wear purple and host events in support of epilepsy awareness. Purple is the international color that symbolizes solitude. The goal of purple day is to increase public awareness and to reduce the social stigma endured by many individuals with the condition.  As a Fern community, we support this effort and those that have epilepsy by wearing purple on Monday, March 27th.

Click here for the Fern Spring Clubs Flyer.

Congratulations to Fern's grade 7 girls volleyball team who won their tournament and playoff games to become this year's South Toronto Champions!  Our group consisted of a mix of experienced players and girls that picked up the sport after enjoying playing volleyball in gym class. Together, our girls practiced regularly for over two months, participated in house league, and had many exhibition games with our grade 8 teams. When they played the first tournament, our team had become really skilled with an amazing set-up and return game.  The team won all their games leading up to and including the final, and in doing so showed great school spirit and had a lot of fun! Congratulations to our grade 7 Volleyball champions!  Sarantos Katsihtis  Physical Education

Our winter sports season for our ice hockey, basketball, and volleyball teams was a great success. Our teams had fun, showed great school spirit, and demonstrated significant skill progression while competing well against other school teams. Furthermore, many of our teams had winning seasons, and brought back to Fern pennants to hang up.  Our senior ice hockey team became a finalist in their conference, our grade 8 girls volleyball team reached the semi finals, and our grade 7 girls volleyball team became the south Toronto Champions!  Congratulations to all!  Currently our juniors are excited with their house league dodgeball taking place at lunch in our gym. The games are closely matched and the students are having fun with their peers while being active and playing games.  Next, we have badminton school teams for grades 5-8, starting the week of March 20th. The juniors will be coached by teacher Peter Tassiopoulos, and the seniors by teacher Sophie Austin.  The track and field teams

Earth Hour across the planet is on Saturday, March 25th at 8:30 pm local time.   Switch off in solidarity with global efforts to protect nature and reduce energy use!  As a school community, we will be marking Earth Hour on Friday, March 24th . During Earth Hour, all lights and electronic devices will be turned off in the classrooms.

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) will be celebrated on Tuesday, March 21st.   Staff and students are encouraged to "Rock your Socks" to celebrate WDSD by wearing mismatched, colourful socks.  Watch out for some fun tweets to support this worthwhile initiative on Tuesday.

This year's Ontario-wide School Crossing Guard Appreciation Day is Thursday, March 23rd . Thank you to all our crossing guards for keeping everyone in our Fern community safe!

March 21st is dedicated to celebrating exceptional students with the "Rock your Socks" campaign. Students and staff are encouraged to wear a pair of fun/or mismatched socks to recognize and celebrate our differences. We can't wait to see all the colorful and mismatched socks!

As we are in the process of preparing for next year, we would appreciate knowing if you are moving out of the Fern school boundaries for the upcoming school year or planning a school change.  If any families are moving and their child(ren) will not be attending Fern, please inform the office as soon as possible. This information is important as we plan for next year.

All Gr 6/7 , Gr 7 and Gr 8 students will be performing in our Spring Concert under the direction of Ms. Colucci on May 31st at PCI from 6pm-7:30 pm.   Strings, Band , Choir and Guitar Club will also be performing.

All new JK both English and French Immersion track are invited to our Kindergarten Information Night on May 25th from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm in our auditorium.

The Primary students in Gr 1-3 under the direction of Ms. Warson will be inviting you to a Spring Concert May 18th from 1 to 3pm in our school auditorium. Save the date!

Fern PS feeder school students and families will be invited to our Open House.  Students from Howard, Garden, Parkdale PS and Dr. Rita Cox will be invited for an afternoon visit from 1pm - 3:30pm on April 26.   Families of students coming to Fern for Gr 4 Middle Immersion, Gr 7 English and Gr 7 French Immersion will be invited on this same date from 6:30pm -7:30pm in our auditorium .

Click here for the flyer on upcoming Spring Clubs at Fern from Lego to Robotics

You are invited to the workshop, Raising Anti-Racist Kids, presented by Rania El Mugammar. Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 6:00-8:30 via ZOOM This is the first in a two-workshop series presented by Rania El Mugammar, hosted by the Fern Avenue Public School Equity and Inclusion Committee. Sign up here by March 15, 2023: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxdcapv6jfq5bgxZjrhR1_2IJoE8fe6hVS5DZHrdEZPcW4-w/viewform Only the first 25 registrants will be accepted. If needed we will create a waiting list. ABOUT THE WORKSHOP: This workshop is designed for parents, guardians, caretakers, educators, and anyone with a vested interest in raising race conscious children. The session grounds itself in an evidence base of sociological research, and uses practices and case studies to develop strategies for understanding and addressing racial bias, being accountable for harmful behaviour, and building a capacity for solidarity. Appropriate language and topics of discussion for toddlers to teenagers ar

The  A R T G A R D E N Spring Term registration opens this week on Wednesday, March 8th at 8 am Register here: https://tinyurl.com/SpringArt2023 Tuesdays Cubs Gr. 2-3  3:45-5 pm 10 weeks April 4th to June 6th Wednesday Foxes Gr, 4-8  3:30-5 pm 10 weeks April 5th to June 7th  See the poster for details.

Fern Class Dance-a-thon Schedule - subject to change Thursday March 9, 2023  Time Slot Classes Period 1 - 9:15-9:55am 102, 104U, 109, 110 Period 2 - 9:55-10:35am 105, 108, 206, 213 Period 3 - 10:50-11:30am 208, 211, 203, 214 Period 4 - 11:30am-12:00pm 207, 209, 215, 205, 104L Period 5 - 1:00-1:40pm 201, 301, 307 Period 6 - 1:40-2:20pm 305, 311,306 Period 7- 2:20-2:50pm 310, 308, 309 Period 8 - 2:50-3:20pm 302, 312

A school-wide theme week will take place next week. Student participation is voluntary! Monday, March 6th - Backwards Day Tuesday, March 7th - Silly Socks Day  Wednesday, March 8th - Favourite Shirt Day Thursday, March 9th - Bring your Favourite Book Day ( Dance-A-Thon)   Friday, March 10th - PJ and Stuffy Day