PARKINSON CENTENNIAL
JUNE 2015 NEWSLETTER
P AOLA A RGENTINO , P RINCIPAL • W ENDY C LARKE , V ICE P RINCIPAL • ATTENDANCE (519) 941-2461 E XT . 100
Principal’s Message
Where has the year gone? It’s June and activities, events and trips continue to run non-stop at Parkinson in addition to
the regular academic classroom programs.
We have a number of year end class trips and events coming up this month including: Blue Jays Game, trips Zehrs with a
nutrition focus, trip to highland Nordic outdoor education facility, grade 3 swim to survive lessons, Olympic Leadership
Camp trip for our grade 8s, a book fair, a visit of our new to JK students and their parents and many more events.
I would like to thank our small, but mighty parent council who have done so much to enrich the quality of your
children’s’ school lives. The have organized: fundraisers, school lunch programmes, Christmas with Santa, Mental Health
Wellness days, just to name a few of the events. With your generous support parent council has helped the school pay
for the following: a new state of the art sound system for our gymnasium/auditorium, contributed to the grade 8
graduation, paid for outdoor play equipment for all classrooms (net bags filled with all types of balls, skipping ropes etc,
for use at recess time), Scientists in the School Programmes for each class K-8, sponsored the curling team and hockey
team and other events and causes.
As always, this time of year is bitter sweet. Parkinson Centennial will be saying goodbye to Mrs. Stevens who will be
retiring. Congratulations on a tremendous career in which you have touched and molded a great deal of the future.
Many other staff will be leaving us including: Mrs. Mall who will be on maternity leave, Ms. Petrenko , Ms. Laughton,
Ms. McLaughlan, Ms. McLennan, and Mr. Kirk. Ms. Clarke, our vice-principal for the last two years, will also be leaving
us and transferring to Centennial Hylands. I wish all our departing staff the very best in their future journeys and send
them my warmest regards for their unique and valued contributions to our school community.
We will have some new staff coming to Parkinson Centennial next September. Ms. Kaye Martin will join our staff as new
Vice-Principal. Although not new on staff, Mrs. Hunter will return from her maternity leave.
This is the end of my first year as a new principal and it would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank all of you
who have helped me in my journey: to our Parent Council, who have been so patient and who have supported me, to
the amazing parent community who have taught me that it takes a village, to your children with whom I have fallen in
love, they are precious, beautiful gifts and I consider it to be a blessing to spend my days with them, and to the
Parkinson staff who understand that we inspire the future and that teaching is about the whole child. I am grateful to all
of you.
Thank you for supporting your child’s education.
P. Argentino, Principal
Changes for September

New school hours for September.
Starting September 8, 2015, the morning bell will ring at
8:40, with supervision starting on the school yard at 8:25; the day will still end at 3:00. Each recess has been
shortened by five minutes to allow for the later start time.

PCPS will be going paperless for our monthly newsletters to promote our eco-friendly school. Please watch the September
newsletter for instructions on how you can sign up to receive the newsletter and other notifications electronically.
A Note from our Parent Council:
It is hard to believe that the end of the school year has arrived! 10 months have passed very quickly!
Cara and I, as Co-chairs of Parent Council, would like to give a huge round of applause to the dedicated members of our School Parent Council who
volunteer their time providing extras that enrich the lives of our children and who set new traditions and build school spirit!! We are so proud our
accomplishments. We appreciate all our members and our school community for making this past year so enjoyable and prosperous.
We are excited about our whole school community. We have a great combination of talented teachers with qualities that complement and bring
out the best in each child. We, the "Parent Council” enjoy working together, sharing ideas, and helping students enjoy the whole learning
experience within our school.
As a team, and as individuals, our first priority is your child’s education and well-being. We work methodically to see that each child receives the
greatest benefits while at our school.
We know from experience that parent involvement is key to your child’s success. Regardless of the experience and expertise of the teacher,
research shows that the biggest and most important factor in a student’s school success is the involvement of the PARENT in daily school
experiences. We urge you to become involved by helping your child with homework and projects, joining our Parent Council, attending school
meetings and conferences, volunteering in the classroom, talking with your child about his or her school experiences, and participating in your
child’s education daily.
Fundraising has been a great success for Parkinson Centennial PS this year. Through our World’s Finest Chocolate Sales, Breakfast with Santa,
online auction, Vessey Bulbs and so much more, we have been able to raise over $10 000. Some of our fundraising dollars have been spent on
presentations for each class through the “Scientists in School” programs, on resources for the library/media centre, iPad apps and new reading
material for many areas. As well, our biggest purchase was a much needed sound system for the school auditorium. This year Parent Council also
introduced a new lunch program from "Lunch Box", Domino’s Pizza lunches and Family Pizza Night. These events have been very successful in
raising funds for our school and for the students’ enjoyment. Our focus is on students and ensuring we are enhancing their school experience. We
still have some goals we wish to attain in the next year as we continue to support teacher requests, contribute towards the Grade 8 graduation
and playground enhancements. Council foresees future playground equipment and enhancements as a on-going project with some large expenses.
We are in the process of creating a “Playground Fund” and researching our options to put proceeds into a GIC to help increase funds for future
years.
The first School Council Meeting in September will be held on Monday, September 14 at 7:00 pm in the PCPS Library. We extend an invitation to all
parents/guardians to join us at the meeting and hope to see some new faces in the fall. At that time, nominations and elections will be held for all
Council positions for the 2015/16 school year. We have different committees you can join and we encourage parents and guardians to join in at
any level of involvement. Dates for the year‘s Council meetings will also be selected at this time.
We would like to invite you to the welcome back BBQ and meet your teacher on Thursday, September 25 from 6-8 pm at the back of the school. It
is a fun night to connect with teachers and meet your children's new school friends!
Also would like to inform our families of our first fundraiser of the new school year starting the third week of school and ending just after
Thanksgiving (World’s Finest Chocolate Sales)! In past years, this fundraiser has been very successful for our school and the students do such a
great job!!
We look forward to working together as a team - student, teacher, and parents - and having a successful new school year and to building a solid
school community and a great learning experience.
We welcome you to join our Parkinson Centennial School Council information page on Facebook where our council keeps you up to date on school
functions and activities. Also, you can follow our school activities on Twitter~Parkinson Centennial @PCPS_1 and our email address is
pcpscouncil@gmail.com
Present Executive for 2015/14
Co-chairs~ Tammy Filsinger & Cara Weatherall
Fundraiser committee leader ~ Samantha Sheardown-Stevenson
Secretary~ Jenny Petryna-Brownrigg
Food committee leader~ Kim Zettle
Treasurer~ Jenn Faulds
Parent reps: Lindsay Selby, Aisling Smith, Winny James, Jamie Ann Mckee, Tabitha Irwin, Lisa VanderByl, Sara Clarke
On behalf of Parent Council.... Have a great summer and see you next school year!! Be safe and have fun!
Tammy and Cara
To find out about the most current events at Parkinson Centennial:
PCPS __1
Parkinson_Centennial
Please Note: the school only posts items on Twitter and Instagram and does not
follow any other users.
Parent Volunteer Social
Parkinson would not be the same without you! Our volunteers make the school a richer and more
exciting place to learn and work. To recognize you for your many hours of help and support, we
are having a social time on Wednesday June 17 from 12:15 pm - 1:15 pm. There will be snacks,
beverages and some student entertainment. If you are planning to attend please RSVP to the
classroom teacher you have been working with. We look forward to seeing you there!
Newsletter Special Education
As summer approaches it is time to start thinking about what I can do as a parent to support my child’s continuing
education throughout their holidays. Upper Grand District School Board now allows for home use of a student’s
assistive technology. Please ask your child’s teacher about the “HOME USE OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY PROTOCOL”
form if you would like your child to bring their assistive technology home for the summer.
Some programs that your child might want to use over the summer:
1. Ontario Ministry of Education: Discover quick and easy tips that can be part of your everyday life and will help
your child's learning.
Learn more: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/abc123/eng/tips/
Watch video podcasts: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/abc123/eng/podcast/
2. http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/summer
This resource was designed to assist in helping students’ from losing progress in their reading skills over the
summer months. This link provides resources, articles and activities to encourage kids to learn, read and have
fun in the summer.
3.
https://webapps.ugdsb.on.ca/ug2go/
UG2GO is the virtual learning commons for the Upper Grand District School Board. UG2GO provides 24/7 access
to quality online subscription databases and websites for the UGDSB community.
4.
Centre of Equitable Library Access:
http://iguana.celalibrary.ca/iguana/www.main.cls?surl=CELA-Home&theme=celadefault&lang=eng
Over 200,000 items available in accessible formats - approximately 85,000 items from CELA and an additional
120,000 items from US based Bookshare.
Library News
Forest of Reading Clubs
Here are the results from the all-Ontario votes. About 250,000 students voted. The winning
books and authors of the following awards are:
Blue Spruce (K-2) - The Day My Mom Came To Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus
Silver Birch Express (grade 3-4) - Kung Pow Chicken #1 Let’s Get Cracking by Cyndi Marko
Silver Birch Fiction (grade 5-6) - The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
Red Maple Non-fiction (grade 7-8) - The Last Train: A Holocaust Story by Rona Arato
Red Maple (grade 7-8) - The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
Year End
It’s that time already!! Time to return all of the library books. Look high, look low, look in closets, under dressers,
behind bed headboards, between magazines, on book shelves, etc. You’ll be amazed where those books hide. All books
are due into the library by June 4th. If any books are lost or ruined please let Mrs. Rea know and a letter will be send
home for book replacement options. ***Primary students need to return the book bags too.
Book Fair
A Scholastic Book Fair will be coming to our school starting on Thursday, June 11 and ending on Tuesday, June 16. See
below for hours. Students will have an in-class visit to look or buy at the book fair. The book fair will be open during
some of the lunch recesses for buyers as well. Parents are welcome to come anytime. Shop early for good books for
summertime reading. See you there!
Win $25 worth of free books by filling out the ballot on the back of your book fair flyer. The ballot box will be in the
library. The draw will be held on the Monday of the Book Fair.
Hours:
Thursday June 11
11:20 pm - 4:00 pm
Friday June 12
8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Monday June 15
8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Tuesday June 16
8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Fundraiser
A huge thank you to all Parkinson parents, students, and staff members as the Logan's Hope fundraiser was an
enormous success! Our community came together and raised $1265.00. Thank-you to everyone who contributed their
toys, games, and bake sale items, and for those who came out to buy something! We could not have done this without all
your support. It is amazing what can be done when a community comes together!
Thank you from Mr. Kirk and his grade 3/4 class.
Ryan’s Law (for students with asthma)
The Ontario Legislature recently passed Ryan’s Law, 2015. This piece of legislation is an important step to support the
well-being of students with asthma in Ontario schools.
Over the course of the next school year, the Upper Grand DSB will be working to implement the requirements of this
legislation. If your child has asthma, we ask that you immediately contact the main office at your school to provide
information about your child’s asthma medication. With your permission, your child will be allowed to carry their
asthma medication.
The Ministry of Education website has resources on asthma that can be found at:
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/healthyschools/anaphylaxis.html
As a best practice and to support your child, please let the school know if your child has a medical condition so that the
school is aware and can keep this information on file.