PA DAY – DEC. 2nd, 2016
A reminder that Friday, December 2nd, 2016 is a PA Day and there is NO SCHOOL for students on this day.

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING
Our next School Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday November 29th, 2016 beginning at 6:00pm. All parents/caregivers are welcome to attend. Pizza and babysitting are provided for children.

CONCERT, CONCERT, CONCERT
Mark your calendars for Thursday, December 8th, beginning at 6:00pm, the date of our Winter Concert. This year our Winter Concert will include students in the Primary Choir, Junior Choir and Strings Ensemble, as well as Rooms 12, 13, 22 and 23. If your child is performing in the concert they have already received a letter from Ms. Hanson with all the information you need. We’re looking forward to seeing you that evening.

BOOK FAIR NEWS FROM THE LIBRARY
We are excited to announce that we will have a book fair again in December! This year, it will be run by Ella Minnow bookstore, and will include books from a range of publishers with bookstore staff to recommend great reads. Students will get an opportunity to preview books with their classes on Tuesday, December 6th and to recommend books for the school library to buy for its collection. The book fair will then be open December 7th (before school, and period 1) and 8th (before school, period 1, and after school/evening during our Winter Concert). Proceeds from the book fair help support buying books for our library.

We are excited to announce that we will have a Book Fair again in December! This year, it will be run by Ella Minnow bookstore, and will include books from a range of publishers with bookstore staff to recommend great reads. Students will get an opportunity to preview books with their classes on Tuesday, December 6th and to recommend books for the school library to buy for its collection. The book fair will then be open December 7th (before school, and period 1) and 8th (before school, period 1, and after school/evening during our Winter Concert). Proceeds from the book fair help support buying books for our library.

Over the past few days, a number of disturbing incidents of racism and hate have occurred across our city and in our communities. These acts of hate have no place in our city and will not be tolerated by the Toronto District School Board.

At the TDSB, we work every day to ensure that our schools are safe and caring spaces for everyone who walks through our doors. In light of these recent incidents, we have provided direction to all school administrators on what to do should they see or hear of any acts of hate in their school communities. In all cases, the Toronto Police Service must be notified immediately so that the incidents can be investigated.

The TDSB has a longstanding commitment to equity. Racism, bigotry and hate are issues that concern us all – staff, parents, students and members of the community. We share a responsibility to promote acceptance and respect, and to identify and report acts of hate. As a school system, we also have the opportunity to engage young people in a broader conversation about the importance of building a more inclusive society.

We know that hearing about these acts of hate can be discouraging and we share in your frustration. However, in times like this, it is important that we remain focused on our commitment to fairness, equity and inclusion in our schools and communities. For our part, the TDSB’s Integrated Equity Framework ensures that fairness, equity and inclusion are reflected in everything that we do. We are empowering our students, staff and parents to challenge bias, and promote and celebrate diversity.

As these recent incidents demonstrate, we cannot afford to remain silent on issues of equity. We must come together and continue working to bring about real change in our classrooms, schools and communities.

HURON MONTHLY EARTH HOUR

Our November “Huron Monthly Earth Hour” will be held on Friday November 25th, 2016. After recess in the afternoon, at 2:20pm, we will be turning off as many lights as we can and powering down an many electronics as possible. As part of our committment to being a Platinum Eco-School, our monthly Earth Hours are a chance for us to really focus on energy conservation – and we encourage you to do the same at home.

WINTER CONCERT – MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Don’t forget to mark your calendars – our Winter Concert is going to be on Thursday, December 8th, 2016, starting at 6:00pm. A special message from Ms. Hanson: In advance of our winter concert on December 8 @ 6 pm, choir lyrics and mp3s files can be found at: http://huronmusic.wikispaces.com/Huron+Choir+Archives
This will enable the choir members to practise away from school and help prepare themselves for their special night.

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING

Our next School Council meeting is planned for Tuesday November 29th, 2016 at 6:00pm. Babysitting and pizza is available for children and all parents/caregivers are welcome to join us for this meeting.

WARD 10 MEETING

Our next Ward 10 Council meeting will be held on November 24 at Kensington Community School, 401 College St from 6:30PM to 8:30PM. Agenda and Flyer to follow. Child-minding will be provided and refreshments served. Join us for a discussion on Educational Pathways – Elementary and Secondary. Representatives and alternate representatives are needed for the Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (PIAC) and French as a Second Language Advisory Committee (FSLAC). More details about the positions, committees and meeting dates can be found here (http://www.tdsb.on.ca/Community/HowtoGetInvolved/CommunityAdvisoryCommittees.aspx) and the elections will take place at the upcoming Ward Council meeting. We will also be selecting representatives for other advisory committees. If you are interested or have questions, please send me an email at Ausma.Malik@tdsb.on.ca for more information.

PA DAY
A reminder to everyone that Friday November 18th, 2016 is a PA Day. There is NO SCHOOL for students that day.

LOST AND FOUND
I know we keep repeating this message, but truly, the amount of Lost and Found we have this year is far more than usual! Please check Lost and Found regularly and take home items that belong to you!!

WELCOME TO POLICE CONSTABLE STATHER
We would like to welcome Officer Stather (a.k.a. Officer Jan) back to Huron again this year. As part of the Toronto Police Services education program, Officer Stather will be here for a few days this week and next Monday visiting classrooms. We look forward to her classroom presentations.

If you have not yet ordered pizza for our pizza lunches and you would like to – this is one, last reminder to do so by the end of this week. We are re-opening the Pizza Lunch Registration System for 2 weeks. Anyone who needs to create a new order or revise an existing order can do so now. The deadline is November 18th. Please go to http://www.huronpizzalunch.ca and log in or create your account.

Registration is now open for the 10th Annual TDSB Parent Conference: Parent Involvement Makes a Difference.
When: Saturday, 19 November 2016, 8:00 am – 3:45 pm
Where: Earl Haig Secondary School, 100 Princess Avenue, Toronto

The theme of the 2016 conference is Parents and Communities Partnering for Student Achievement. Presented by the Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (PIAC) and the TDSB Parent and Community Engagement Office, this free event will feature a keynote address by renowned author and speaker Jennifer Kolari, along with a wide range of workshops, networking opportunities, and information about TDSB programs and services.

Please note that child-minding, bussing and interpretation are available through advance registration ONLY. For details, please visit http://www.tdsb.on.ca/parentconference to learn more. Registration closes on 11 November 2016, so register online today

PHOTO RETAKES

The photographers are coming again on Tuesday November 8th, in the afternoon, to take individual photos for all students who were absent on our original photo day. If you would like retakes and your son/daughter has already had photos taken, you need to return the proofs that you received in order for retakes to be taken. If you would like retakes make sure your child brings the first set of proofs back to school on Tuesday to give to the photographer.

CLOCKS FALL BACK THIS WEEKEND

Don’t forget that Standard Time begins at 2:00AM on Sunday, Nov. 6th, so when you go to bed on Saturday night remember to set your clocks BACK one hour.

PIZZA LUNCH UPDATE

We are re-opening the Pizza Lunch Registration System for 2 weeks. Anyone who needs to create a new order or revise an existing order can do so at this time. The deadline is November 18th. If you have already ordered pizza you don’t need to do anything.

Please go to http://www.huronpizzalunch.ca and log in or create your account.

HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween everyone – on Monday, October 31st. Students are encouraged to bring their costumes to school on Monday but we also strongly suggest that they wear other clothes and only put on their costumes at specific times. Costumes that are worn all day, especially during recess and lunch, often end up dirty or torn, so it’s best to have regular clothing as well that day and then students can change into their costumes at appropriate times based on class activities and for our school parade. Weather permitting – we are planning to have a school parade of costumes in the afternoon. All classes will be participating and we will plan to leave from the school at about 1:15pm. All parents/caregivers are welcome to join us, and if you wear a costume too that’s even better. We’re going to walk around the block and anticipate being back at the school by 2:00pm. Please plan to join us for some fun if you are available. A special note of reminder to all families – Huron is an ALLERGY SAFE school and we have several students in our school with allergies. Please check all Halloween treats carefully before sending any to school (both on Monday and in the days to follow) and please don’t send any that contain nuts!!

PIZZA LUNCH

Our first pizza lunch for this school year is going to be on Wednesday November 2nd. Thank you so much to the many parents who have worked hard to organize our pizza lunches and to those who will be here at the school on Wednesday to help as well. The pizza for Wednesday has already been ordered. If you did not pre-order your son/daughter is welcome to bring $2.00 on Wednesday and any extra slices will be sold then. Please make sure however that if you did not pre-order that your child also has a lunch that day – sometimes demand is high and we don’t have enough extra slices.

PHOTOS

The deadline to order photo was today – October 28th. If you have not yet returned your order to the school please make sure you do so Monday morning as the company will be coming to pick up the orders. Remember that photo retakes are scheduled for Tuesday November 8th. If your child was absent on our original photo day their photo will be taken on Nov. 8. If your child did have photos taken but you would like retakes, you must return the proofs you received in order for your child to have retakes. Make sure your daughter/son brings back their proofs on Nov. 8th if you would like photo retakes.

LOST AND FOUND

Our Lost and Found collection is continuing to grow, and grow, and grow. There’s some very nice clothing in there, as well as several umbrellas, hats (both baseball caps and winter hats), water bottles, boots, and even two towels. Please remember to check Lost and Found regularly and take home items that belong to you.