April 2015
With the arrival of spring, hopefully, we will start to see the arrival of the warmer weather.
However, as the temperature increases our school yard becomes soggier. Please ensure that students have appropriate clothing for outside. Some students may need a fresh pair of socks in their backpacks if they tend to get wet feet. The creative playground is not yet open and the slow start to spring has set the opening date back a few days. I will inform all students once it is open, which I am hoping will be this week.
We had some exciting news at Laurelwoods as Ms. Neil’s baby arrived early last week! We wish Ms. Neil all the best as she begins her Maternity leave. We are extremely pleased to have Mrs.
Lesley Anderson join the Laurelwoods staff. She will be taking over the class starting Tuesday April 7,
2015. Mrs. Anderson will be working with Ms. Neil to ensure a smooth transition for the students in her class.
As we are progressing through the school year, we know May will arrive quickly. This is a reminder to parents that our grade 3 and 6 students will be writing their EQAO tests during the last week of May and the first week of June. Near the end of the month, we will be sending home the specific days that each grade will be writing its respective tests. If at all possible, please do not book appointments for students during this two-week window. Your co-operation is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely ,
Jonathan Walker

During the next three months we will be practicing both our tornado and fire safety procedures. During these drills anyone in the school is asked to follow the same procedures as students and staff.
If you have not already registered your child for full day every day Kindergarten in September 2015, please drop into the office and complete the necessary forms. Eligible students for the JK program must be four years of age on or before
December 31, 2015. On Wednesday, May 6 th
there will be a “Meet and Greet” for all the new registered
JK and SK students. Invitations to follow.
With the warmer weather approaching our students are anxiously waiting for our playground structure to reopen. This is a good time to remind everyone - students, parents, staff and yard supervisors of the rules on the playground and play structures that help make break times fun and safe.
On the playground........
Remember:
• play in the designated boundaries
• play safe, fair and appropriate
• use appropriate language
• avoid any physical contact games, rough play, or
play fighting
• eating or drinking on the playground or play
structures is not permitted
• share playground equipment
• respect playground equipment
• leave stones/rocks on the ground
• ask for permission to use the washroom or enter
the school
• enter/exit through the appropriate door with
permission
• respect the environment
• refrain from use of personal sports equipment (i.e.
roller blades, skateboards, scooters)
We know how much the children enjoy our play structures and are looking forward to the spring weather so they can use them again. We make safety at play our major concern, and will be reminding our students and staff on a regular basis about playground rules. We hope that you will reinforce them at home with your child.
A reminder that permission from parents must be granted before riding bicycles to school. These forms are available in the main office at the school. Students are expected to wear mandatory head gear. Bicycles are to be parked in the bicycle racks located at the front of the school. At the end of the day, students who ride bicycles are dismissed after the last bus has departed from the school.
Laurelwoods E.S. Breakfast
Program continues to provide the opportunity for students to have a nutritional breakfast on Monday,
Wednesday and Thursday mornings. With breakfast, students have a great start to their day!
Our program is sponsored by Food for Friends grants but we continue to be thankful for any donations parents or community partners wish to make. If you have any questions about
Laurelwoods’ Breakfast program, please contact
Danielle Cellucci at the school.
th
We welcome parents to our second annual Music
Monday event on Monday, May 4 th at 11:30 am in the gym. More details to follow.
This new Ontario Provincial Police KIDS Program is a timely and interactive way of engaging grade 6 students in conversations about matters that are important to them. KIDS stands for Knowledge,
Issues, Decisions, and Supports. This new program was developed by the OPP as a tool for officers to talk to young people about decisions they may need to make and what supports are available. Provincial Constable Nancekivell will be leading these 6 classroom sessions with the use of videos, workbooks and interactive games. This new OPP program will now take the place of the
D.A.R.E. program which has been taught in the schools over the last few years.
If you would like to register for Grand Valley Minor
Softball or if you have any questions, please contact grandvalleyminorsoftball@hotmail.com
by April 15, 2015.
After your family has read this newsletter, please sign and detach this coupon. This coupon must be placed in the yellow mailbox in the front hall of the school. A ballot will be drawn each month indicating the winning family for the month. This month’s draw will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Family Name: ______________________________

Our Beginner, Intermediate and Senior Chimes
Choirs will be performing at various Retirement
Residences during the month of April as well as preparing for the Dufferin Arts Festival which takes place on April 22, 2015. Many thanks to all the
Chime Choir members who practice every
Thursday under the direction of Mrs. Moritz.
We are waiting for some green to finally show so that we can do our yard cleanup on April 23rd!
Tree seedlings have again been donated by the
Copernicus Company and will be handed out during the week of April 20th. Every tree counts in making the world a better place! In the meantime, we are still collecting batteries. Check your junk drawers and bring in those toxic batteries to be safely recycled. Stay tuned for more news from the
Eco Crew!
Earth Day is just around the corner! April 22 nd
has been recognized as Earth Day since the early
1970’s and was originally created to highlight the need for all of us to be involved with environmental protection.
Although many of our communities organize neighbourhood clean-ups and earth friendly activities for us to participate in on Earth Day, more and more schools are trying to make the environment a focus in the day to day lives of students and staff. One way is through the participation in Ontario Eco Schools.
Ontario Eco Schools is an environmental education and certification program for grades K-12 that helps school communities nurture environmentally responsible citizens while reducing the environmental footprint of schools. Schools that have opted to participate in this rigorous program create a “Green Team” consisting of students and teachers. In some cases, parents, principals and custodians also participate to create a team that truly reflects the entire school community. This
Green Team takes a leadership role in the school.
Students are empowered to take a close look at how the school is conserving energy, minimizing waste, greening up the school grounds, engaging in environmental stewardship and environmental leadership. The purpose of this program is to engage students throughout the year by having them collect data about their own school, create action plans, educate others about how to make some change, and then follow up and report the results back to the school community. The goal is to create environmentally conscious citizens who think about their impact on the environment as they walk through their day to day life at school, at home and in the community.
Whether your school is involved in Eco Schools or not, many schools are working with students to actively engage them in things like litterless lunches, re-useable water bottle campaigns and reducing landfill waste. Parents can help by supporting students in their participation in these initiatives and by modelling environmentally conscious actions at home. Having conversations with your children about your choices and actions are a great opportunity for them to understand how important we are to the environment. By supporting our children to grow up green, we are helping to create a more sustainable future.
~ Connie Bender – Elementary Curriculum Leader
Laurelwoods Elementary School is a Silver
Certified Eco School.
Milk tokens are available through your child’s classroom teacher or the school office. The tokens are sold in bundles of 20 tokens for $17.00.
Students can also pay $1.00 cash by putting the coins directly in the milk machine.
A big Thank you and Congratulations goes out to our Intermediate Hockey Team. On Monday,
March 9 th
, they played in the Dufferin Wellington
Friendlies Tournament against 4 schools and came out as one of the top teams! They played hard and showed great respect to other team members, coaches and referees! It was a fun and enjoyable day. Thank you to our parent volunteers, coaches and trainers!

Student Council is asking for your help to support the Free the Children organization. This is an organization that helps families in developing countries by providing sustainable income, clean water, education and opportunities to empower those in need. From April 1st to June 19th, we will be collecting small change such as nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies. Small change adds up quickly and can make a big difference in the lives of others. For example, $50 can provide a goat for one child which can help sustain their family and the community they live in. Our goal is to raise $200 in small change so we can potentially help 4 families break the cycle of poverty.
Donations can be given to your child’s teacher and will be collected every Friday. Thank you ahead of time for your contribution.
Around the world, there are those whose voices are not heard. They are the girls who are denied an education because of their gender, school fees or the need to stay home and care for younger siblings. They are the child labourers or the children growing up in poverty. They are the students who are bullied at your school.
Everyone of them has a voice that needs to be heard.
Take a silent stand so they can speak out.
At Laurelwoods, we are taking a vow of silence for one period. This means no talking for 40 minutes.
You can make your own personal pledge and continue this vow at home by not talking, texting or using any form of social media.
Education is the key to bringing an awareness and breaking the cycle of poverty altogether.
Thank you ahead of time for your participation on
April 16th .
Graduation night is scheduled for Tuesday, June
23, 2015. Any parents of grade 8 students who are interested in helping to decorate for graduation night are invited to meet Mrs. Jordan and Mrs.
Martin in the library at 6:30 p.m. on April 20 th
, 2015.
For April and May, we will be selling Terra Cotta
Cookie’s Ice Dawgs for $2.00 each at second break on Thursdays . These ice cream sandwiches are two cookies filled with vanilla ice cream and still meet the standards of the Food & Beverage
Healthy Food Policy.
If you know you will be moving and will not be attending Laurelwoods Elementary
School in the fall please let the office know.
We are pleased to announce that we have brought
Lightning Wear back to the school! If you would like to show your school spirit and buy some clothing, Lightning Wear is a great way to do it!
Information about ordering will be sent home with your child.
On the Afternoon of April 7 th
, Norah McClintock will be making a presentation to our Grade 6, 7, and 8 students. Norah McClintock is a Canadian award winning author specializing in young adult crime fiction. She is also one of the SEVEN series authors. Credit Meadows Elementary School is hosting a presentation of the Seven Series Authors on the night of Tuesday, April 7, 2015 from 7:00 –
8:30 pm. Bring your camera and books to be autographed.
Registration is still available for the 2015 Season.
Please contact the Registrar: Judy at gvmsoccer@gmail.com
or 519-928-2043 – Costs are under 4 years of age(2012 & 2011) - $60.00, under 6 to under 16 - $80.00.
After your family has read this newsletter, please sign and detach this coupon. This coupon must be placed in the yellow mailbox in the front hall of the school. A ballot will be drawn each month indicating the winning family for the month. This month’s draw will be held on Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Family Name: ______________________________
Child Name: _______________________________
Parent/Guardian Signature: ___________________

Sun Mon
April 2015
Tue Wed Thurs Fri
Hep B & HPV
Vaccinations
1 2
Skills Competition
World Autism Day
3
Sat
5
6
Pita Day
7
O.P.P. Kids
Program Grade 6
Author Visit -
Norah McClintock
International Pink
Day
8 9
Pita Pit & Smoothie
Orders are due
Ice Dawgs
12 13
Scientists in School
Ms. Neil
14
Scientists in School
Kdn.
Pita Day
19 20
Beginner Chimes
Choir at Bethsaida Pita Day
21
15
Ice Dawgs
16
Vow of Silence
Day
Parent Council
7:00 p.m.
Smoothie Day
22
Dufferin Festival of the Arts - 10:15am
Earth Day
23
Smoothie Day
Ice Dawgs
10
Grade 1 trip to the
Sugar Bush
17
24
P. A. Day
26 27
Senior Chimes
Choir at
Montgomery Village
28
Scientists in School
Ms. Gibson
Pita Day
29
Intermediate
Chimes Choir at
Lord Dufferin
30
Spirit Day -
“Western Day”
Smoothie Day
Ice Dawgs
11
18
25
4

YOUR SCHOOL NEEDS YOU- PLEASE GET INVOLVED!
KEY DATES
Thurs., April
16
7:00- 9:00 pm
WHAT'S HAPPENING
It's time to start finalizing the plans for Spring Fling!
~ Some more Volunteers are needed to solicit Donations and Gift Certificates for the SILENT AUCTION
~ Volunteers are needed to help with organizing the
CARNIVAL GAMES
If you are unable to attend the meeting, but would like to help out with the preparatory work involved in organizing this very special highly celebrated event please contact me.
New ideas and suggestions to this event exciting are always welcome.
Thurs., April
30
What to expect in May
~ Place a BUSINESS CARD AD in the school yearbook for
~ only $25.00
Please see enclosed flyer and forms for more details.
~ Spring Fling Flyer
~ A request for items to be included in the themed
Classroom Baskets for Spring Fling
~ Yearbook Order form
Thurs., June 4
5:00 - 8:00 pm
the
Alexandra Ince
Chair, Parent Council
519-940-3666, Ext 495
Email: 3froesche@gmail.com