Parkinson Centennial
September 2014 Newsletter
Paola Argentino, Principal
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Wendy Clarke, Vice Principal
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Attendance (519) 941-2461 Ext. 100
Principal’s Message
Welcome back from summer. I hope that you enjoyed your precious family time.
It is with great pleasure that I join the Parkinson Centennial Public School community. I wanted to take the
opportunity to let you know a little about me and in particular, and my beliefs. Those who know me well know that
being an educator has not been simply a job, but a calling. I have had the opportunity to teach and learn each day.
I have learned from students, from my colleagues, and from the many families that have been part of my working
life.
I have been in education since 1987 and have had the pleasure of teaching students from kindergarten to grade
10, and have taught adults English as a second language. I have also been a special education teacher. While in
the Program Department of the Board I have had leadership roles in the areas of early literacy, curriculum, ESL,
and special education. I believe in resourcefulness, hard work, and fair play. I am a big believer in the need to
have a sense of humour and the need to have fun. Most of all I am deeply committed to improving student life
chances. Teachers who believed in me made the biggest impact in my life and doing what I do is my way to give
back.
I would like to extend my thanks to all who have so warmly welcomed me and look forward to meeting those who
have not yet crossed my path.
On the school front, the staff have been busy preparing for another great school year! During the summer, our
Custodial staff, did a fantastic job of cleaning our school and getting things ready. Please help us keep our school
looking clean inside and out by using garbage/recycle bins and minimizing potential litter in lunches. Our office
coordinator Lisa Gallant has done an outstanding job registering new students and keeping track of students who
have moved to other schools.
We hope to see you at our Meet the Teacher BBQ on September 25th from 6:00 to 8:00. This is a great occasion to
meet your child(ren)’s teachers, see the classroom and the school and to catch up with neighbours! As always we
are grateful to the hardworking team from the School Council. Without their dedication, time and commitment
many of the opportunities your children enjoy would not be possible. Having said that, they are always looking for
volunteers.
We will continue to do our best to ensure your children’s academic, social and emotional success. If you have any
questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call the school.
Thanks for your help with another smooth school opening. On behalf of the staff, we look forward to another great
year at PCPS.
Paola Argentino
Principal
Learning? Thinking? Or Learning to Think?
Everyone sends their child to school to learn. Or do we? Do we send our children to school to become
programmed robots who simply regurgitate facts and formulas, or do we send them to school to learn to think?
Learning is not about committing ideas to memory. Learning is about exploring ideas and building on our
understanding of the world. Remember your two year old child who never stopped asking “why”? They were
learning to make sense of the world around them. Learning is about problem solving, generating ideas, analyzing
facts, critically evaluating decisions and asking questions to make sense of things. David Perkins in Smart
Schools (1992) says that “learning is a consequence of thinking”. Scores on a test (depending on the test) are not
evidence of learning.
I know as a parent, I often said to my children; “think about it”, “think for yourself, or “what do you think?” For
those of you with pre-teens and teens, I’m sure, like me, there were plenty of times you wished you knew what
they were thinking (well, maybe not all the time)!
As parents we need to model thinking and learning for our children. Instead of saying “I don’t know” or “because I
said so”, we need to share our perspectives, insights, ideas and misunderstandings with our children. We need to
share how we plan, organize, make a decision and seek clarity at home or at work. We need to share our thinking
with our children so they can develop their own ideas and learn how to think.
When our children offer a differing opinion, we need to value what they have to say, instead of allowing it to
become a “because I said so” power struggle. We need to ask our children this simple question; “what makes you
say that?”, and listen – really listen. We need to have them explain and share their thinking with us. Even when
their ideas are very different from ours, we need to give them their voice, and then offer ours with an explanation
as to why we think that way.
Tonight when your children come home from school don’t ask them what they learned today or what they did.
Instead, ask them what made them think today. When they look at you as if you have two heads and have
completely lost it, ask them more questions. Push them to think. Together, we need to encourage them to
question what they see and read on the internet, we need to model for them how to make informed decisions, and
we need to prepare them for jobs not yet created.
Excited, interested energy is learning, because that’s when thinking occurs; that’s when children own their
learning, and that’s what going to school is all about.
Cheryl Van Ooteghem
Principal of Program
Help your children navigate a media dominated world.
In today’s busy world, the media* is constantly sending subtle messages to our children that is impacting
their mental health and behaviours. Join us for a fast-paced 90 min presentation that will inform parents
on the implications these messages have on their kid’s self-esteem and social interactions with peers,
family and others. Learn parenting tips and tools to help your children navigate today’s mediadominated world.
Location:
Register:
Cost:
Orangeville Public Library – Mill Street branch
Online – visit www.familytransitionplace.ca or call 519-942-4122, ext. 245
$10/family (youth 14 and older) – if the cost of registration is a restriction, please email
kelly@familytransitionplace.ca
NO REFUNDS – LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE
*television, video games, movies, advertisements, and the Internet
Our board has a wonderful resource for all of our students that can be accessed 24/7 from school or from home.
It’s called UG2GO and includes Learn360 (educational video streaming), Student Link (a site children use at school
that gives them access to web sites that are kid friendly and relate directly to their current units of study),
Tumblebooks (a site that has hundreds of books children can click on and have read to them), Overdrive (eBooks
and audiobooks), and much more.
When students are at home they can go to this URL:
https://www.ugdsb.on.ca/ug2go
They will be prompted to enter the same Windows username and password that they use at school to get onto the
school network. Once they enter their Windows username/password they will enter the site and they can then click
on any of the resources and be taken directly to the individual resource without the need for any additional
passwords.
Please take a few minutes to explore the site with your child. It is an important tool that will aid them in their
education, and may make your life easier when it comes to homework and projects. We are excited that students
will be able to access information from anywhere and at any time in this information age!
Custody
In the cases of special custody, it is very important to provide the office with the most up-to-date paperwork. If we
do not have a court order with regards to custody, both parents are entitled to equal rights.
Attendance and Safe Arrival
As a means of ensuring that students who leave for school in the morning and afternoon arrive safely, Parkinson
Centennial will continue to operate a SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM daily for students of all grade levels. Regular
school attendance is a key ingredient for student success; however, it is essential that you contact us if your child
will be late or absent from school.
To report an absence or late arrival, call the school at (519) 941-2461, extension 100, and leave a message
stating the child’s name, reason for absence, and teacher. The answering machine is available 24 hours a day. If
we do not hear from you, we will be contacting you and/or your emergency contacts to confirm your child’s
absence. For the safety of your children, it is important to know where they are.
If your future plans include a family vacation of 15 or more consecutive school days, please notify the Principal in
writing of your plans, in accordance with Ministry of Education Guidelines.
School Day Schedule
School Day Schedule
8:30
Entry Bell
10:30 – 10:50
1st Nutrition Break
10:50 – 11:15
Outside
12:35 – 12:55
2nd Nutrition Break
12:55 – 1:20
Outside
3:00
Dismissal