Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Parkdale Jr. & Sr. P.S will be a summer school site this year for both in-person and virtual learning, English program only.  Please click here for the flyer and more information.

The focus of the Elementary Summer School Program is to support student learning and engagement through the month of July. Programs, embedded in Literacy and Numeracy, are developed by the local summer school principal to reflect the local school focus.  Thirty-eight programs are offered to students in Kindergarten to Grade 8, from July 5 – 30, 2021 , in-person or online through virtual instruction.  Registration is now open! Click here for a full list of participating schools and registration information.

We ask all families to help their children make sure they come to school prepared with everything they need for the day: lunch, water bottle, running shoes, etc., as visitors inside the building are not allowed as we try to maintain a COVID-safe environment.

The yearbook crew has been hard at work capturing moments that make this school year special. Stay tuned for more on this year's yearbook!  Thank you to Mr. Nikolajevic and Mme Morales and student leaders for your leadership and spirit!

Scooters, rollerblades, bicycles and skateboards are excellent modes of transportation, however, for everyone's safety, they are not allowed to be used on school property between 9:00 an and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday .  To promote a safe learning environment, students are expected to walk their bicycles to the racks and carry their skateboards, rollerblades and scooters while on school property during school hours.  Let's all be safe!

Vera has been extremely busy accepting registrations for the upcoming school year!  Children who will be 4 years old by December 2021 can start Junior Kindergarten in September 2021. To register please contact Vera in the school office to set up an appointment.

Toronto Police Services would like to remind our community that school crossing guards are an important part of safe school zones. They are essential in ensuring that students are able to safely cross roads in designated intersections. Their job can be more difficult if parents and students do not follow their direction.  When approaching an intersection with a crossing guard remember, please pay attention to the crossing guard when you are coming to and from school.  It is also important to educate your child about the role of the crossing guard. For their safety, encourage them to cross at crosswalks with a crossing guard whenever possible. Teach your child to always stop and make eye contact with motorists before crossing a road to ensure the driver can see them.

The film festival is part of our Fern drama program where each of the grade 7/8 classes and one grade 6/7 class are planning a day of the festival.  The festival centres around highlighting underrepresented voices and each class has decided on an area of focus within these voices. The festival days include focuses such as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, religious discrimination, xenophobia and more.  Please check the website at www.fernfilmfestival.ca for more information! The dates are still to be confirmed depending on the number of filmmakers participating along with their schedule and availability.  If you are interested in participating as a filmmaker or can connect us with any filmmakers, please email Mr. Ruttan at: justin.ruttan@tdsb.on.ca You can view the flyer here:  Fern Film Festival.pdf

We know how excited everyone was for Photo Day on March 26th. However, TDSB is guided by TPH and they are specific that we cannot photograph in our school until we are in the RED ZONE.  We have been hoping all along that we will be in the RED ZONE by the 26th but so far we are not.  We will keep you up to date as soon as the city is in the RED ZONE. We will reschedule Photo Day for both our in-school students and our Virtual School students.

Please click here for information on the upcoming Alpha II Open House.

Please click  here for the March Hearts and Minds Newsletter.

A gentle reminder that the Fern APRIL bagged lunch and Kinder Hot lunch are open for purchasing.  The cash on line purchase is open until March 29th .  The April bagged lunch and kinder hot lunch has been open since February 24th and will close on March 29th  . The May bagged lunch and kinder hot lunch will open on March 31st and close on April 26th. The June bagged lunch and kinder hot lunch will open on April 28th.

Let's get our spirit up with these exciting Spirit Days happening next week at Fern!  Mismatched Monday - March 15th   Wear your mismatched outfit and show off your new style! Wear your clothes backwards or inside out, the more mismatched the better!  Travel Tuesday- March 16th   It is the year 2050...dress up like your future self or what you want to be when you grow up.  Green Wednesday - March 17th   Wear GREEN today!  Tourist Thursday - March 18th   Dress like a travelling tourist or wear summer gear!  Film Festival Friday - March 19th   Let's go to the movies! Dress up like a movie character or as if you are heading to an award show!  Let's all show our Fern Spirit!

We are very excited to share our first edition of the "The Falcon" Newspaper! We are so proud of all our students.  Thank you to Mr. Dumont and the Fern Student Parliament for all their hard work in organizing and publishing our newspaper. All grade 7 and 8 students will receive a copy.  We hope you enjoy reading the wonderful articles by our students.  The Falcon

On Feb. 25th our Grade 6 to 8 students participated in a live Virtual program, Stronger than Hate - A Call to Action. It was a joint presentation by the TDSB African Heritage Committee, Jewish Heritage Committee, Liberation75, USC Shoah Foundation, and Peel District School Board.  Over 10,000 people /classes joined in the conversation to hear the stories of how the 761st Tank Battalion, the first all African-American Tank Battalion in World War II, helped to defeat the Nazis as well as liberate several concentration camps. We heard stories from Max Eisen, a survivor of the Holocaust , as well as Joe Wilson Jr., son of a member of the 761st Tank Battalion.  With the world seeing an increase in Anti-Black Racism and Antisemitism, this conversation helped us consider what we have learned from history and witnesses to genocide, and reflect on how that knowledge can help us take action to counteract hate.  We also want to acknowledge the Anti-Asian Racism and violence that has increased u

Greek Heritage Month is an occasion to recognize and celebrate the many achievements and contributions of Greek Canadians to Canada, an occasion to mark and enjoy the history of Greek Culture!

We are working hard at Fern to ensure that our students and community follow the recommendations of TPH:  -wear a mask  -stay 2 meters away from others  -avoid congregating in groups  To ensure a safe return to school TPH has also recommended that students go home immediately at the end of the school day.  We appreciate all our families cooperation to keep all our students safe!

At Fern we will be using little electricity as possible during this hour on March 26th - in the office, the halls and the classrooms. At Fern we will be turning off most classroom lights during this Earth Hour. Our school will be embracing the natural light that streams in through our windows with all the blinds open.

Monday, March 15th - Mismatched Monday  Wear mismatched patterns , your clothes backwards / inside out  - the more mismatched the better  Tuesday, March 16th - Time Travel Tuesday  It is the YEAR 2050...dress up like your future self or what you want to be when you grow up  Wednesday, March 17th - Green Day Wear all green today  Thursday, March 18th - Tourist / Beach Day  Dress like a travelling tourist or wear summer gear  Friday, March 19th - Film Festival Friday Let's go to the movies ! Dress up like a movie character or as if you are heading to an award show

TDSB School Psychologist, Bryony Hupka, joined Fern's school council meeting to share some excellent mental health resources.    Click here   to access the Student Mental Health Action Kit and associated resources.  

Please click here for the Week 1 and Week 2 Fern lunch menu.

The Communications Committee, which is made up of parent volunteers, is seeking two new members. We are responsible for maintaining the Fern blog, sending out weekly email newsletters and generally supporting the School Council initiatives. If you ever find yourself thinking of ways to improve communications within the school community, here is an opportunity to act on it!  We are looking to fill two roles:  email editor  web designer  The email editor roles is ideal for someone who is detail-oriented and comfortable using (or learning to use) web technology.  The web designer/webmaster role requires:  Familiarity with web content management systems such as Wordpress and of other Blog systems Familiarity with current web standards  Knowledge of tools for website management  Knowledge in HTML/CSS and Javascript  Strong communication abilities  The time commitment for both roles is about two to three hours per month, and is flexible in terms of timing/location. You do not need to be at