Joseph Howe Senior Public School
20 Winter Gardens Trail,
Scarborough, Ontario M1C 3E7
(416) 396-6405
PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING
SCHOOL COUNCIL
The School Council meets from 7:00 p.m. to approximately
8:15 p.m. in the library on the second floor. Parents, staff
and members of the community make up the council. All
are welcome. Our regular meetings dates will be as
follows:
Jan. 19, Feb. 23, April 20, May 25 and a tentative date of
June 15 if required.
The minutes will be posted on the School Council website.
Ms. S. Boland, Principal
Ms. J. Solman, Vice Principal
http://schoolweb.tdsb.on.ca/josephhowe
DECEMBER 2014
Dec. 5 P.A. Day - Students Do Not Attend School
Dec. 8 Winter Concert And Showcase – starting at
6:15 p.m. – Concert Starts At 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 12 Mowat Winter Concert – All students
Dec. 12 Pizza Lunch Fundraiser – School Council
Cafeteria Food Service Closed
Dec. 15 Ski Club Forms And Payments Due To Mr. Barnes
Dec. 16 Field Trip – Puppet Show - 7A, 7C, and 7D – p.m.
Dec. 16 Mandatory Ski Club Safety Meeting And
Equipment Fitting At 3:15 p.m. - Cafeteria
Dec. 22 Christmas Break Begins
Jan. 5 First Day Back After Christmas Break
Jan. 9 Pizza Lunch Fundraiser – School Council
Cafeteria Food Service Closed
Jan. 13 Ski Club At Skyloft After School
Jan. 14 Gr. 8 to 9 Info Meeting At Mowat – 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 19 School Council Meeting – Library - 7:00 p.m.
Jan. 20 Ski Club At Skyloft After School
Jan. 23 PA Day – Students Do Not Attend School
Jan. 27 Ski Club At Skyloft After School
Feb. 3 Ski Club At Skyloft After School
Feb. 4 Graduation Photo Day
Feb. 13 P.A. Day – Students Do Not Attend School
Feb. 16 Provincial Family Day Holiday
Feb. 23 School Council Meeting – Library – 7:00 p.m.
If you have an item you would like to post on the agenda
for our next meeting please contact Mrs. Kattsir at
eliza4@rogers.com
REMEMBRANCE DAY
Thank you to Ms. Hanson for organizing our
Remembrance Day Assembly and inviting our
guest speaker, Inspector Art Little, Head of
43 Division, who gave a moving speech.
I couldn’t have been more proud of the way our students,
your children, behaved during the assembly. They
behaved with respect, dignity and proper decorum toward
the men and women who gave their lives or who are on
active duty, so we can live in a free country. We were so
pleased to see some of our parents in attendance.
MOWAT WINTER CONCERT
Joseph Howe students have been cordially invited to Sir
Oliver Mowat on the afternoon of December 12, to attend a
music concert and to see the Arts in Action display at
Mowat. December 12 is also pizza lunch day. The servery
will be closed on pizza lunch day.
WINTER BREAK
This year winter break takes place from
Monday, Dec. 22 to Friday, Jan. 2.
Students attend school until Friday, Dec. 19. Students
return to school on Monday, Jan. 5.
REMIND 101
Sign up and receive short weekly texts from the Principal!
This is a one-way text that will remind parents/guardians
of events that are happening at the school each week.
Text 437-800-2358 with the message @josephh and you will
be a member of Remind 101!
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JOSEPH HOWE WINTER CONCERT
CELEBRATING THE ARTS
Our holiday concert is fast approaching and the groups are
busy practising. Our musical event and showcase will take
place on the evening of Monday, December 8 starting at
6:15 p.m. with the concert commencing at 7:00 p.m.
Limited seating will be available in the gym so be sure to
get your concert tickets early. Tickets will be $5.00 with
proceeds going directly to the enhancement of the Music
Department. During the first part of the evening we will be
showcasing our cooking club, and artwork done by our
students. Our Choir will perform during the concert.
JOSEPH HOWE GIFT
BASKET RAFFLE
The Gift Basket Raffle is a successful
fundraiser with lots of school spirit. All of the
students got involved to put together a themed
gift basket. Ms. Boland invited a runner from
each home room to come to the office and select a theme
for their class out of a hat. The wrapped baskets were on
displayed in the foyer during parent/teacher conferences as
well as during some lunch sessions and will be on display
before and after the Winter Concert on Dec. 8. Students,
staff and families can purchase and submit their ballots to
try and win the basket of their choice.
A holiday party will be given to the class with the highest
percentage of participation.
The draw will take place following the Winter Concert.
Winners will be contacted the next day. Ticket prices are
as follows:
$1.00 each
6 for $5.00
12 for $10.00
30 for $20.00
Thank you to our Joseph Howe parents for donations
towards our fundraiser and thank you to the School
Council for organizing, wrapping the baskets and selling
the tickets. We appreciate the efforts of the teachers to
encourage the children to bring in their items. There is a
lot going on at this time of year.
Ms. S. Boland, Principal
SCHOOL COUNCIL PIZZA FUNDRAISER
December 12 and January 9
The cafeteria food services will be closed on the
above dates. Students will have to bring their own lunch
to school if they did not choose to participate in pizza lunch
days. Students will NOT be allowed to sign out and go the
local plazas.
LIFETOUCH PHOTOGRAPHY
If you missed the picture order deadline you can still order
online at MyLifetouch.ca
Online orders will be shipped to your home when you have
included a payment for shipping fees on line. Lifetouch
will ship to Joseph Howe if there is no shipping fee applied.
EDGE PHOTOGRAPHY
GRADE 8 GRADUATION PICTURES
Grade 8 graduation pictures will be taken on Wednesday,
February 4 in the library by Edge Photography. We
thought we’d give another photographer a try to get a fresh
perspective!
JOSEPH HOWE SKI CLUB NEWS
Payment and forms are due back by Monday,
Dec. 15, at the latest. Please give your completed
form/payment to Mr. Barnes if you are in grade 8 and to
Ms. Downey if you are in grade 7.
We will have a representative from Skyloft come to visit
our Ski Club and speak about Safety on the Slopes on
Tuesday, December 16, starting at 3:15 p.m. Attendance is
mandatory for Ski Club members. The presentation will
last for about 30-40 minutes. After the presentation, there
will be a fitting for those who are renting equipment.
Ski Club will take place at Skyloft on:
Tuesday, January 13,
Tuesday, January 20,
Tuesday, January 27 and
Tuesday, February 3
with a rain/extreme cold weather date of Feb. 10. The
make-up date is in case Skyloft cancels - if we cancel we do
not get a refund.
We will leave Joseph Howe at 3:15 p.m. and arrive at
Skyloft about 4:00 p.m. Lessons will start shortly after
(these lessons are MANDATORY for all skiers/boarders).
We will return to the West Rouge Go Station at around
9:15 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. depending on the weather and road
conditions. Helmets are also MANDATORY for all
skiers/boarders.
Please note that drop off will be at the West Rouge Go
Station parking lot at 9:15 p.m. - 9:30 p. m. Please be
prompt when picking up your child since it will be a long
day for everyone involved.
Thanks to all staff who are involved in such a great
club. Without everyone's co-operation and effort, we
would not have the opportunity to run the Ski Club.
Your Ski Club Team
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SECONDARY SCHOOLS’ GRADE 9
INFORMATION EVENINGS
Students and parent/guardians will make important
decisions early in the new year about choice of secondary
school (subject to optional attendance procedures) and
course selection for next September.
Secondary schools will be holding information sessions for
grade 8 students and their parents/guardians. We strongly
encourage you to review the valuable information about
the high school process in the Choices For Nine 2015 – 2016
brochure and to attend the information evenings at the
secondary schools. You can also access this information at
www.tdsb.on.ca/goingtohighschool.
Sir Oliver Mowat’s information evening will take place on
Wednesday, January 14 at 7:00 p.m.
This is the third part of a series on The Bully, the
Bullied and the Bystander. This month we will
look at the “Bystander”.
THE BYSTANDER
Someone who sees a person bully another is called a
“Bystander”. Bystanders may not be directly involved
with bullying behaviour, however, they may encourage the
bully by laughing or by not taking responsibility for
helping the victim.
Parents and the school community must help children to
understand the problems associated with bullying
(emotional & physical) and the personal contributions they
can make to help reduce it. With adult support, children
can develop strategies to intervene themselves, or seek
adult assistance. For example, bystanders can:
The remaining information nights at local secondary
schools are as follows:

remove themselves from the situation and report to a
trusted adult
Cedarbrae
Delphi Secondary Alternative
East York
Malvern
Maplewood High School
Sir Oliver Mowat
Sir Robert L. Borden
Winston Churchill

reach out to victims; find allies and stand up to the
bully as a group

send the message with words and actions that bullying
is NOT okay and NOT funny

encourage the victim to report or self-report to a
trusted adult

with adult support, bystanders can become active
witnesses, promoting attitudes in their peer group,
which promote social responsibility and encourage
respect and compassion for others.
Dec. 2
Dec. 4
Jan. 14
Jan. 13
By Appt. Only
Jan. 14
Jan. 8
Dec. 3
6:45
7:00
6:30
7:00
7:00
7:00
6:30
MyBlueprint
This excellent online educational planning tool lets students
build “sample” High School Plans, track progress towards
graduation, and instantly discover strengths, pathways,
occupations, and opportunities available to them.
Ms. S. MacInnis, Instructional Guidance Leader

Students are working on their Individual
Pathways Plan in MyBlueprint

Parents are encouraged to create accounts at
www.myBlueprint.ca/tdsb
Mrs. M. Liska, Guidance Counsellor