Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Save this date: Friday, February 20 . Students will get the chance to dance, have some fun and raise money for their school! Pledge forms will be sent home with students in the next few weeks. Volunteers will be needed on the day for set-up, clean-up and during the day. Come and dance with your kids and have some fun! Some volunteers required before the day as well. Contact Joanne Somers to help out. Email joannesomers@rogers.com .

Fern Registration: February 17/09---February 20/09 (8:30-4:30pm) February is the system-wide Kindergarten Registration month at the TDSB, and it's just around the corner. To attend Junior Kindergarten in September, children must turn four by December 31 of that year. To attend Senior Kindergarten in September, children must turn five by December 31 of that year. To register, visit your local school and bring the following information about your child: 1. age (a birth certificate or baptismal record or passport) 2. citizenship (a birth certificate, passport, or Record of Landing) 3. address (two pieces of identification that show your address, such as your telephone bill, driver's licence, bank statement, income tax form, rental or lease agreement) 4. immunization (the card that shows a list of needles your child has received) 5. health card The Welcome to Kindergarten booklet, Starting Kindergarten fact sheets and Frequently-Asked Questions about Kindergarten fact sheets will b

Please click the link below to upload a corrected 5-Day School Calendar. There was an error made toward the end of the school year on the original calendar. This has now been corrected. uploads/FiveDaySchoolCycle.pdf

We kindly ask that students do not bring SLEDS or other winter sporting equipment to school during school hours. Several students have brought sleds to school and several incidents have stemmed from their use. In order to keep our students safe, please assist us with this request. On behalf of our Fern Staff, we thank you!

TDSB cancels transportation for afternoon kindergarten students. Due to the inclement weather the TDSB has cancelled afternoon school bus transportation for kindergarten students attending the afternoon kindergarten program . Children who attend the morning kindergarten program will be bused on a regular schedule. All other bus transportation for students will operate on a regular schedule. All schools remain open.

This Thursday January 29, 2009 at 7pm Fern Avenue Public School is hosting their Senior Kindergarten FRENCH Immersion Information Night. Please join us in the auditorium to learn more about this program. For interested families, please note these important dates: Important Dates Deadline for receipt of application - February 6, 2009 Date for notification of parents of placement – February 20, 2009 Parent will be contacted by Immersion school for registration procedure

Here it is....Our first newsletter of 2009! We hope that you will enjoy it! If you wish to receive a hardcopy, please let our office staff know and they will provide you with one. uploads/JanuaryNewsletter.pdf

The Fern Parking Lot is becoming problematic for many staff and visitors. Some members of our community are not moving their cars early enough or at all during school days. Also, people are dumping garbage, van bench seats and other items in our parking lot. Due to these many concerns, the parking lot will be locked nightly for the next few weeks. We will review our parking lot community guidelines and decide if this will change in the near future. At present these are the guidelines we have: -We kindly ask that all staff and visitors be careful and not ‘double-park’. -We ask that you park reasonably close to other cars (obviously not too close), and visualize spacing as if the parking spaces were clearly outlined (due to the covering snow). -We kindly ask our community to ensure that they move their vehicles out of the parking lot by 7am to allow our Fern Staff to park without delay. We appreciate all of your efforts in this matter. Drop-off and pick-ups should be made on Wright A

On the evening of February 26, the phenomenal Ache Brasil group performs in a multi-school community event hosted by Fern. Event details to follow. Immediately seeking a parent volunteer to design the promotional poster and tickets for the event, working with Fern parent Gail Glatt. Time commitment: approximately four hours over the next week. Email Gail: glattford@sympatico.ca to volunteer your design expertise. No previous experience required!

Public Health will be visiting Wednesday January 21, 2009 at 1pm to give our grade 8 girls their second HPV shot. Please also mark your calendars for these vaccination dates: -3rd HPV shot for our grade 8 girls will be Monday May 11, 2009 -2nd shot for HEP B for our grade 7 students will be Monday May 11, 2009.

Toronto, ON, January 16, 2009 – At approximately 10 p.m., January 15, Toronto Hydro-Electric System was forced to cut power to one of its stations. As a result, the Toronto District School Board decided to close schools and cancel transportation in the affected region. While power has been restored in some areas, those schools will remain closed for the rest of the day. All TDSB schools will be reopened and classes will resume for students on Monday, January 19, 2009. All Continuing Education classes and all permits scheduled for Friday evening, Saturday, January 17 and Sunday, January 18 at schools affected by the power outage are also cancelled. Those schools include: Alexander Muir/Gladstone Ave J&S PS Annette Street J&S PS (same complex as High Park Alt School JR) Bickford Centre (same complex as West End Alt SS) Bloor CI Brock JPS Brockton HS Central Technical School Dewson Street JPS Dovercourt JPS Fern Avenue PS Garden Avenue JPS Harbord CI Howard JPS Kent SPS (same com

Ms. Chakungal's grade 4/5 class is looking for a pair of skates, size 4. If you have an old pair that you could either donate or lend, please let her know. They would like to find a pair of skates by Wednesday January 21st, 2009. You can contact Fern Avenue Public School at 416-393-9130.

Last night Toronto Hydro was forced to cut power to one of its stations, resulting in a significant power outage that has affected our school. For the safety of students and staff, our school will be closed today, January 16, 2009. We regret any inconvenience.

The student council will be holding a Senior Pizza Lunch in the Auditorium next Wednesday, January 21, 2009. They will be selling pizza slices for $2.00 and pop for $1.00. All senior students are welcome in participating in this fundraising opportunity.

The January 15 school council meeting has been cancelled. The next meeting is Thursday, February 19. Submitted by Carol Pauker , school council secretary

Max Valiquette will be presenting Thursday February 12/2009. If you would like to attend, please read the attached details. This event is presented by Wards 7, 8 & 9. uploads/Max_Event_Poster.pdf

Please read the attached flyer if you are interested in attending an information night at Heydon Park for grade 8 students. uploads/HeydonPark.pdf

In addition to regular posts on the message board, we send out periodic e-mail updates using iContact . If you are not already receiving these updates, you can click here and add yourself to our mailing list.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Skate for Easter Seals Kids is approaching on Monday February 16th, 2009 (Family Day) and they need your help to make this event a success. If you raise a minimum of $100 in pledges you will be given the opportunity to skate with The Toronto Maple Leafs players on the ice at the Air Canada Centre. Each 45-minute session includes a complimentary meal, celebrity hosts, great prizes and a children's activity area. Cool Leafs incentive prizes are also available for your fundraising efforts! Spectator tickets are available for purchase on the day of the event or online for $25.00 per ticket. Register TODAY at www.easterseals.org or by calling Easter Seals Ontario at 416-421-8377 (ext 313) or 1-800-668-6252 (ext 313). Proceeds from this event will support children, youth and young adults with physical disabilities. The Easter Seals Foundation thanks you for your participation. If you wish to receive futher information, visit the FERN office. All other question

We use Google's free Calendar application to display our lunch menu and to keep track of school events and holidays. To view the details of any event on the calendar, just click the entry. To open a full-size version of the calendar, right-click on the calendar and open the frame in a new window. There's also a text link below the calendar frame that does this for you automatically. If you're really adventurous, you can create your own, free Google Calendar account and add any or all of our calendars to your online calendar or even to certain desktop calendars, like iCal on the Macintosh. To learn more about Google Calendar or to sign up for a free account, click here .

Delta Alternative School is having an information night for interested grade 6 students and their families. Please click the link below for more information. uploads/DeltaAlternative.pdf

Please read the attached link for updated information on grade 8 students transitioning to grade 9 to Riverdate Collegiate. uploads/RiverdaleCollegiate.pdf

For families interested in alternative schools, here is some information for you. Please click the link below and read about the information night at City View Alternative School uploads/City%20View%20Info%20Night%202009.pdf