"Sharing Our Stories, Shaping Our Dreams"
For October 2010 – Volume 2
Stanley Mills P.S.
286 Sunny Meadow Blvd.
Brampton, ON
L6R 3C3
(905) 789-0925
Ms Patrice Ward – Principal
Ms April Zeleny – Vice-Principal
Mrs. Leanne Hope-Godfrey – Office Manager
Mrs. Mary Bayaborda – Office Assistant
website: http://schools.peelschools.org/1487
S.T.A.R.S.H.I.N.E. Theme of the Month: Truthfulness
"whole" truth, recounting all the
significant events and not just what the
other party did that was wrong.
Another student behaviour that we try
to overcome is the habit of cheating, or
trying to, during games or other
forms of competition. The desire to
win is universal, but we try to instill in
children that being a trustworthy
person whose word counts for
something and can be counted
upon is a more important kind of
winning!
To sum up, at Stanley Mills we will take
a school-wide approach that upholds
truthfulness by emphasizing both
personal responsibility and social
sensitivity.
There is so much exciting news to share this
month!
Thank you to all of you who attended our
Open House last evening. This is a big step
in ensuring a strong home and school
partnership.
October brings many special events to our
school. I'd like to highlight 3 of them.
1)
This morning was our
S.T.A.R.S.H.I.N.E. assembly
reinforcing the idea of truthfulness.
We ask that you discuss with your
child(ren) what they have learned.
Parents and teachers share the
responsibility to set a positive example
for our children and be truthful and
trustworthy in all of our
communications and actions. Our goal
at Stanley Mills is to teach our children
the fine merging of truth and tact, so
that we practise truth-telling that takes
into account the feelings of others
and the context or situation involved.
When problem-solving, our staff
always emphasize the need to tell the
2)
Please watch for Move-a-thon
packages, coming home with your
child after a kick-off assembly on
Tuesday, October 5th. We look forward
to your active support of this year's
Move-a-thon, whose proceeds which
will once again directly benefit all of
our students. We thank Mrs. Katrina
Murphy for her outstanding coordination of this event for four years in
a row!
Our fundraising targets for this year
Include:





Ways to beautify the interior of our
school with inspiring murals,
artwork, and banners
Diverse and multicultural
presentations by various artists,
authors, speakers, and/or groups
Replacement and refurbishment of
our recreational equipment.
children have beautiful, welcoming,
and exciting places and ways to play
and learn
all students start the day wellnourished and ready to succeed!
Patrice Ward
Principal
Movers and Shakers!
In order to allow children to benefit this
school year, please support the
Move-a-thon generously. In addition
to the benefits for all of our students,
there are some magnificent individual
and group prizes to be won!
3)
Another new and very exciting project
returning to our school this year is a
breakfast program, in partnership
with "Breakfast for Kids." Research
has shown that, when children eat a
nutritious breakfast, they are more
focused, attentive, and productive, and
their achievement soars. Teachers Ms
Amanda Galea and Ms Deanne
Decker are our in-school coordinators, and many other staff
members have pledged to donate their
time to this program, which is open to
all students in grades one to five.
Please note that we will be offering a
balanced halal and vegetarian menu
that meets Ministry guidelines. Be sure
to read the enclosed letter and, if you
would like your child to participate,
complete and return it by Wednesday,
October 6th. The launch of the
Breakfast Club will be during the week
following the Thanksgiving weekend,
on Wednesday, October 13th.
As always, thank you for helping us to make
Stanley Mills a place where:

the truth is happily upheld and
modelled in ways that promote
responsibility
Mr. Robson
Ms Lee
Mrs. Chadha
It is with mixed feelings that we announce the
imminent departure of Ms Shannon Lee from
Stanley Mills. Ms Lee has successfully
obtained a term appointment to a position of
added responsibility: Mathematical Literacy
Elementary Instructional Resource Teacher at
the North Field Office, Peel District School
Board.
We congratulate her on this resounding
affirmation of the excellent knowledge and
experience she brings to programming for
elementary-aged students. Although
saddened by her departure from our school,
we are encouraged by her determination to
continue and expand the partnerships with
teachers that she has established in her role
with us as teacher of English as a Second
Language.
We know that our students and their teachers
will continue to reap the benefits of her
exemplary practice.
As a result of Ms Lee’s promotion, we are
delighted to announce that Mr. Michael
Robson will be joining Mrs. Debra Holland in
coordinating our English as a Second
Language program here at our school. Mr.
Robson has many years of teaching
experience at all grades from Kindergarten to
grade five, and special expertise in ways and
means to support English Language
Learners.
As well, It is our pleasure to announce the
hiring of Mrs. Sonia Chadha to teach the
morning Kindergarten class formerly taught
by Mr. Robson. Mrs. Chadha is well known to
our staff and students, as well as to the wider
community, as a result of the several roles
she has served in our school. She was for
several years the on-site director of our
P.L.A.S.P. (Peel Lunch and After-School
Program), and has been a guest teacher in
our school in all grade levels. She, too, is a
highly experienced teacher who has made
Kindergarten a recent focus of her ongoing
studies and professional learning.
Congratulations to all three of these teachers,
and we know that they will be able to count
on the appreciation and support of our entire
learning community, as each takes on new
responsibilities.
Our September S.T.A.R.S.H.I.N.E.
Assembly
On Friday, September 17th, we held our first
S.T.A.R.S.H.I.N.E. assembly of the 20102011 school year, focusing on our theme,
"Smile with School Spirit". There were
plenty of smiles and even a few chuckles, not
to mention rousing applause at the wit and
antics of the Stanley Mills staff during
introductions by Ms Ward and Ms Zeleny.
We all enjoyed some special audio-visual
presentations. These included “O Canada”
as performed by singers at Clarkson
Secondary School in Mississauga, and
“Share the Smile,” a “welcome back to
school” feature produced by the Peel District
School Board.
The plight of the country of Pakistan was the
focus of a moving presentation in words and
images by some of our grade 5 students,
coached by Ms Norris, Ms Holland, and Ms
Lee. They made a compelling case for us to
reach out and help our friends across the sea.
Stanley Mills went on to respond to this
challenge by raising close to $2000 to
donate for flood relief.
Other highlights of the assembly included
some very important reminders to help keep
ourselves AND our planet safe and well. Mr.
Macri outlined the rules for appropriate
enjoyment of the creative playground,
including our new swings.
Our Boomerang Lunch program was vividly
dramatized by a troupe of bouncy
“Kangaroos”, coached by Mrs. Ardila. To
the musical accompaniment of “My
Boomerang Won’t Come Back”, they
demonstrated responsible recycling, the value
of reusable containers, and the need to take
back home all items not consumed at school.
For the assembly, students had been asked
to wear blue and gold, our school colours, to
show their school spirit. Ms Phillips
displayed the Spirit Trophy and encouraged
students to participate in spirit days. The
class that has the most students dressed
according to the monthly spirit day will be
awarded the trophy for the month.
Ms Norris gave everyone a few reminders
about House Points. This system is another
way that Stanley Mills students are rewarded
for showing positive behaviour. House point
updates are always a highly anticipated part
of our assemblies!
Our upbeat and high energy assembly was
brought to a close by the singing of our
school song.
Parents and family members are always
welcome at our assemblies, which are usually
held on the first Friday of every month.
We hope that all of our families were present
for the special presentation prepared by our
support staff and shared in grades one-to-five
classrooms on changes to the Ontario
Provincial Report Card, to take effect during
this school year.
We'd like to acknowledge the outstanding
work of our custodial team for scrubbing and
polishing every surface until it gleamed. We
appreciate the way they help all of us to take
pride in the learning environment that we
share.
Many of you stopped to admire the
spectacular bulletin board outside the main
office, beautifully prepared by Ms J. Norris,
paying tribute to the ongoing dream of Terry
Fox. The colourful t-shirts there show how
each member of our learning community
continues Terry's Marathon of Hope.
A special thank you to all who stopped by to
introduce yourselves—or to be introduced by
your young people!-- to the administrative
team in the office. To those of you who take
the time to voice your appreciation for all that
we work hard to achieve on behalf of our
students, we echo your sentiments and thank
you for your support. We especially
appreciate the observation that our school is
so visibly child-centred! We continue to build
with you a strong partnership that has at its
centre the children whose best interests we
share.
Aid for Pakistan
Open House / Meet the Teacher Night
Our entire staff would like to extend thanks to
all the families who turned out for our Open
House on Thursday, September 30th, from
6:30-7:30 p.m. We were very pleased with
the excellent levels of attendance and with
the many compliments that we received about
the quality of education here at Stanley Mills.
Visits to teachers in classrooms were full of
praise and affirmation, and the Book Fair
organized by Mrs. K. Ardila, our teacherlibrarian, was extremely well supported.
Thank you to everyone who made donations
via our school to the Aid for Pakistan
campaign in mid-September. Thanks to your
generosity, we were able to raise a total of
$1851.16! Thank you for teaching our
students the importance of kindness, caring,
and extending a helping hand to those in
need.
Our Sixth Annual Terry Fox Walk
Terry Fox made history when he began his
Marathon of Hope in 1980. He planned to run
across Canada to raise money and
awareness for cancer research, and doing so
with one artificial leg, having lost his own leg
to cancer. Terry made it more than 5,000 km
across the east coast, Quebec, and Ontario
before the cancer spread to his lungs,
preventing him from continuing. Terry died at
the age of 22.
On September 13, 1981, the first Terry Fox
Run took place at 760 sites across Canada,
with approximately 300,000 people
participating. The first run raised $3.5 million.
To date, the Terry Fox Run has raised more
than $400 million for cancer research.
On the morning of Monday, October 4th,
students, staff, and community members are
planning to participate actively and
enthusiastically in our sixth annual Terry Fox
Walk. Together, we will take steps to keep
alive Terry's Marathon of Hope and the dream
to raise money to find a cure for cancer.
Perhaps even more importantly, we celebrate
the power of one ordinary person with
extraordinary courage to make a lasting
difference.
Special thanks to all who will be supporting
this event, especially to Ms J. Norris for coordinating this event and for ensuring our
students understand the cause. We'd also
like to thank Mrs. L. Godfrey and Mrs. M.
Bayaborda for rolling all the coins and doing
all the banking!
Important Dates
Friday, October 1st Our S.T.A.R.S.H.I.N.E.
assembly took place this morning. We will
share highlights in our next newsletter.
Student awards for last month's theme of
"Star Spirit" were presented. Grade 3 classes
introduced Truthfulness, and the Spirit
theme was Crazy Hair Day.
Monday, October 4th is the day of our Terry
Fox Walk. We will begin with a gathering in
our gymnasium, with the walk itself to follow.
Please consider joining us at approximately
9:00 a.m.
Tuesday, October 5th is World Teachers’
Day. Developed by the United Nations and
celebrated since October 5, 1994, the day is
intended to commemorate the work of
teachers and their contributions to society.
Teachers would love to receive a note or
picture from your child, stating or showing
what they are thankful for about them.
This is also the date of our Move-a-thon
Kick-off Assembly!
Monday, October 11th is Thanksgiving Day.
There is no school that day.
Thursday, October 14th is the revised date
for Photo Day. (Please see information
regarding elections on October 25th.)
On Tuesday, October 19th in the morning,
we will be holding a practice lockdown
procedure. We want you to know about this
ahead of time so that you will not be unduly
concerned and will understand the
commitment of the Peel District School Board
to providing a safe environment for our staff
and students to work and learn.
The board requires that each school practise the
lockdown procedure at least twice a year. During
our first drill of this year, our school will follow our
board's procedure by locking all outside doors of
the school, as well as closing and locking all
classroom doors and ensuring that students are
safe. It is important to emphasize that there is no
increased safety concern in our community. This
procedure is only a practice drill. Making sure
that all students and staff are familiar with this
procedure is only one of the ways in which we
work to protect the security of our school. The
staff of Stanley Mills remains committed to
providing a secure learning environment for your
child.
Wednesday, October 20th is Bus Driver
Appreciation Day. Please take this
opportunity to thank the people who safely
transport 36,000 students to and from school
each day. Please ask your child to do so, as
well.
October 25th Our school has been chosen
as a polling station for the municipal and
school board elections. Please review safety
reminders with children, as will we, in
consideration of the many strangers who will
be both outside and inside our school that
day. As well, please note that we will NOT be
accepting the delivery of lunches on this date.
On Friday, October 29th, we are inviting
students in grades one to five to dress up in
black and orange, or bring a costume to
change into after our second nutrition break.
Morning and afternoon Kindergarten students
are permitted to wear their costumes to
school, if so desired. Please remember that
we strongly discourage costumes that include
masks or weapons. We do plan to have a
parade late in the day so that all of our
students can display and enjoy their and
others' creativity! Weather permitting, this will
take place outdoors, and we hope to expand
our route to include a visit to our neighbours
at the Leisureworld retirement facility. Please
feel free to come and watch, beginning after
our second nutrition break, at about 1:30 p.m.
Stanley Mills School Council, 2010-2011
Congratulations to the following parents, who
have been elected by acclamation to this
year's School Council:
Kamalpreet Dhillon
Rajni Minhas
Opuku Nyame
Grace Porter
Rajni Salwan
Karen Sewpersaud
Baljit Singh
Our first meeting will be on Wednesday,
October 6th from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in our
library. We look forward to seeing you then.
Procedures Keep Students Safe
Peel schools provide a safe environment for
students and staff to learn and work. Staff
have been trained on what to do if faced with
an emergency situation. Here are the
responses schools may take to an emergency
situation, depending on the type of threat.
A school will initiate a lockdown if there is a
major incident or threat of violence in or near
the school. During a lockdown, students and
staff inside the school will:



go to the closest room, close the door and
lock it, if possible
turn off the lights and lie down on the floor
away from doors and windows
remain on the floor quietly until further
directions are given.
Students and staff outside the school will:


move as far away from the building as
possible
remain outside until further directions are
given.
Every school will review the key points of the
lockdown process with students. The drill is
rehearsed twice per year to make sure staff
and students know what to do in the unlikely
event of a real lockdown.
The term hold & secure will be used when it
is necessary to secure the school because of
a situation outside and not related to the
school.
During hold & secure, classes continue
normally inside the school, with the exception
that all exterior doors and windows are locked
and no one enters or exits the building
without approval from police or the school.
This means parents/guardians will not be
allowed to enter the building.
The term shelter in place will be used for an
environmental or weather-related situation
where it is necessary to keep everyone within
the school to protect them from an external
situation. During “shelter in place,” no one
will be allowed to exit the building.
Tips for Being a Smart Trick-or-Treater
Halloween is a fun filled exciting time, but
safety should be the number one concern.
Here are some safety tips for children:
1) Wear a properly fitted costume that is
bright and non-flammable. Use
reflective tape on your costume so you
can be seen in the dark.
2) Use face make-up or enlarge the eyes
on your mask so you can see well.
When wearing a mask, push it up on
your head while walking.
3) Teach children to visit the front door of
well lit homes and never go inside.
4) Help your child plan a route and a time
to be home.
5) Remind children always to walk on the
sidewalk and obey traffic and
pedestrian signals.
6) Have an adult check treats at home
before allowing children to eat them.
7) Younger children should go trick-ortreating with an adult. Older children
are reminded to trick-or-treat in groups.
8) Teach children their home phone
number and how to call 9-1-1 if they
have an emergency or become lost.
Important Information about Your Child's
Immunization Record
Peel Public Health is currently reviewing the
immunization records of all students at our
school. In order to attend school in Ontario,
your child must have a complete
immunization record. It is your
responsibility to make sure your child's
record is updated.
If Peel Public Health does not have complete
immunization records for your child, you will
receive a letter in the mail telling you that your
child's record needs to be updated. If you do
not update the record by the date indicated
on your letter, or you do not have a valid
exemption, your child will not be allowed to
attend school.
An incomplete record does not necessarily
mean that your child has not been
immunized—what it means is that Peel Public
Health does not have a record of your child's
immunizations. Your doctor does not send a
record of this immunization to Peel Public
Health—you must report this information
directly. If you haven't already done so, you
can update your child's record in one of three
ways:

Go online to www.immunizepeel.ca and
click on 'Report your child's immunization'

Fax the record to 905-502-7109

Phone 905-799-7700 (Toll free: 1-888919-7800). Translation services are
available.
To find out if your child's record is complete,
and for information about free immunization
clinics for students who do not have OHIP
(Ontario Health Insurance Plan) or a record of
immunization, call Peel Public Health at 905799-7700.
What you should know about immunization
In order to attend school in Ontario, your child must have an up-to-date immunization record, unless you
have a valid exemption. When you registered your child for school, you provided a copy of your child's
immunization record. The school sends this information to Peel Health.
Keep track of your child's immunizations
After registration, keeping your child's records up to date is your responsibility. Students who are not
completely immunized and do not have a valid exemption may not be allowed to attend school. Use this
chart to keep track of your child's immunizations:
Ontario immunization schedule for infants and children
Immunizati
on
Diphtheria*
Pertussis*
Tetanus*
Polio IPV*
Hib
Measles*
Mumps*
Rubella*
Hepatitis B
HPV
Influenza
Varicella
(Chickenpo
x)
Meningoco
ccal
Pneumococ
cal
4–
6
yea
rs
old
Age
(months)
2
4
6
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1
2
1
5
X
X
X
1
8
X
X
X
X
X
Grade
7
12
years
old
Grade
8
female
s
13-14
years
old
X
X
X
X
1416
year
s
old
Annuall
y after
age 6
months
X
X
X
X
X
X
X1
X2
X
X
X
X X X
X
X
Your child must receive the immunizations marked with * to attend school in Ontario. Other immunizations
are recommended.
Peel Public Health reviews student immunizations on a regular basis to ensure that all students attending
school have the required immunizations.