The Empire Express Empire Public School http://emp.wrdsb.on.ca Date: April 2015 Principal Ms. K. Wilkinson Vice-Principal Mr. B. Weigel Head Secretary Mrs. L. Hart Secretary Mrs. C. Black Mrs. D. Showers Dates to Remember April 8 School Council April 10 Blues in the School assembly @ 2:40 pm April 16 Science Quest Evening for families at 6 pm April 17 Spring Bulb orders due April 17 PD day No school for students April 22 Earth Day Wear green & blue Planning for September 2015 April is the month school staff begin planning for next year. Next month, we will begin organizing classes for September based on our best estimate of the enrolment for the coming year. It is important for us to know the accurate number of students in all grades. If you will be moving or plan to move prior to the start of the next school year please call the office to let us know. Already, lots of eager 3 and 4 year olds have been registered to start kindergarten in September. Children born in 2011 are eligible for JK and those born in 2010 for SK. Please encourage your neighbours to call the school for information if they have not yet done so. Empire school staff work diligently considering many factors when creating next year’s classes. In completing this complex task we are bound by many rules including hard class caps in the primary division. In order to create successful classes, we consider the following factors: The academic level and learning style of each student; The social/emotional level of each student; How the child’s leadership potential will have an opportunity to develop in the class. While we attempt to place children with at least one of his/her current friends, we find that children are adaptable and will make friends wherever they are placed. Our guiding principle is to group children for instructional purposes. We aim to include positive role models as well as children with special learning needs in each class, while also striving for gender balance. We do our best to ensure that your child’s placement will best serve his/her learning needs. This is not an opportunity to request a specific teacher for your child(ren). Since the staffing process occurs into June, with staff possibly choosing to transfer, we cannot guarantee that specific teachers will be here in September or that they will be teaching the same grade level as this year. Please trust that we will do the best job of placement we can, because it is important to us that every child has a good chance for success. PAGE 2 THE EMPIRE EXPRESS Earth Day @ Empire Wednesday April 22 is Earth Day. Wear green and blue to celebrate. EQAO Provincial Testing The Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics Primary Division (Grades 1–3) and Junior Division (Grades 4–6) are based on the reading, writing and mathematics expectations in The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8. These assessments provide both individual and system data on students' achievement. Our grade three and grade six students will write the provincial assessment between May 25th and June 5th. These grades will dedicate approximately an hour a day of programming, over three days to writing the test. You can find further information about the EQAO provincial assessments by visiting the web site at http:// www.eqao.com/ . Flower Bulb Sale Are you ready for spring? Do your gardens need a splash of colour? Please purchase flower bulbs through our Vesey fundraiser! Our school earns 50% from every purchase you make. Ask your neighbours and family to support our school. We are hoping to raise $5,000 towards our new outdoor play space and we need your help! What is a naturalized outdoor play space? Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC_RVCD4MgU All order forms must be in by Thank you for your support. Empire School Council April 17. THE EMPIRE EXPRESS PAGE 3 School Council meeting next Wednesday April 8, 2015 Next Meeting: Wednesday April 8, 2015, in the library starting at 7 pm. All parents and guardians are invited to attend the school council's monthly meetings. They are typically 1-2 hours. This month's agenda will be posted at http://emp.wrdsb.ca/school-council-2/school-council-agendas/ sometime before the meeting. If you miss a meeting, or would like to find out about current topics of discussion, visit http:// emp.wrdsb.ca/school-council-2/ to find meeting agendas and minutes. This year you can also stay informed by following us on Twitter. We are @EmpirePSCouncil. Should you have any questions about the school council's activities please do not hesitate to contact this year’s co-chairs, Shannon Berkhuizen (shannonberkhuizen@hotmail.com) and Erica Hind (ericahind81@gmail.com) or the school directly. Save the date: Next meeting: Wednesday May 13, 2015 Volunteer Opportunity! The June Fun Fair has become a wonderful yearly school and community event. School Council is working hard to organize this event. We need volunteers to help us recreate this fun evening. Please let us know if you can help. You can volunteer by email (contact Empirepscouncil@gmail.com) or by sending a note with your child. Please include your contact information. We hope to hear from you as we look forward to our Fun Fair on Thursday June 10th! THE EMPIRE EXPRESS PAGE 4 Students and their families are invited to a Family Science Night at the school. Engineering Science Quest, from the University of Waterloo, will oﬀer small-group workshops in several classrooms and a variety of interac"ve ac"vi"es in the gym. Children and their parents will have the opportunity to experience hands-on science and engineering, and get excited about learning together! Classroom workshops will take about 40 minutes each and include the following ac"vi"es for all ages: o Down to the Core – Students will act as mechanical/ design engineers who work with NASA. They are asked to create a mechanism that can extract asteroid par"cles. Students must take into considera"on the physics required to exert extreme forces. o Handy Gadget or Robo-Arm – While learning the biology of muscles, joints and tendons, students will build their own robo"c hand or arm that moves like a real one! o Build a Tree House – Students test their engineering skills by designing and construc"ng miniature treehouses that must be able to hang from a tree branch and support weight. o I Lava Lamp - In this ac"vity the students will be introduced to chemistry concepts. They will learn about density, and chemical reac"ons while making their own lava lamp to take home with them! o Mars Lander – While learning about the components and func"on of a basic circuit, students will build an “alien spaceship” that will only turn on when placed on the special landing pad. o Well Made Wells – How can we make sure Jack and Jill don’t fall down the hill? Students will build working model wells in order to explore the concepts of civil engineering and simple machines. Empire Public School Wednesday April 16 6 - 8:00 pm (Last ac,vity starts no later than 7:30 pm) Event Sponsored by Empire School Council