1. education
2. school

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School Matters
HMDCS
Holland Marsh District Christian School • Tel. (905) 775-3701 • Fax. (905) 775-2395
www.hmdcs.ca
hmdcs@hmdcs.ca
volume 20, issue 19
Mission: The mission of HMDCS is to equip students to positively impact society through a Christ-centred education in a supportive and dedicated community.
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Vision: As a vibrant, connected partner in our community, HMDCS integrates 21 century learning skills, resources and strategies to engage students in a
Christ-centred education.
Calendar – January 19, 2015
Tues. Jan 20
Wed. Jan. 21
Thurs. Jan 22
Fri. Jan. 23
Sat. Jan. 24
Tues. Jan 27
Wed. Jan 28
Thurs. Jan. 29
Fri. Jan 30
Mon. Feb 2
Wed. Feb 4
Feb. 2-3
Wed. Feb. 11
Thurs. Feb. 12
Tuition Restructuring Focus Group ~ 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Hotdog Lunch
Board Executive Meeting ~ 7:30 p.m.
Tuition Restructuring Focus Group ~ 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Chapel ~ 9 a.m.
Pizza Lunch
Lego Club~ 12:40 p.m.
Guilds Grades 6-8 ~ 2 p.m.
Tuition Restructuring Focus Group ~ 9:00-10:30 a.m.
Tuition Restructuring Focus Group ~ 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Popcorn Snack
Guilds Grades 6-8 ~ 2:00 p.m.
Tuition Restructuring Focus Group ~ 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Bring a Friend to School Day
Pizza Lunch
Lego Club ~ 12:40 p.m.
Bring a Friend to School Day
Sub Lunch
Grade 7 Sainte Marie among the Hurons class trip
Hotdog Lunch
Kindergarten Information Evening 7:00 p.m.
HMDCS 72nd Birthday Winter Carnival
From the Principal’s Desk
How Majestic is Your Name! El Elyon – The Most High, King of Kings
The Grade 5B/6 class will be sharing at Friday’s chapel different Biblical examples where God reveals
himself as El Elyon. It’s amazing that El Elyon, The Most High, King of Kings, who is greater than all and
creator of everything, considers those who love and honour him. Not only does he consider the lowly, he
loves us! What an amazing God we have! “Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the
proud he knows from afar.” (Psalm 138:6)
Thrift Store
Is there someone in the Bradford area that has some space to temporarily store merchandise that will be
donated for the thrift store? Ideally they are looking for an enclosed unit (one that could accommodate
furniture, but does not need to be heated) that is not being used for anything so that items can stay as
clean as possible. Please contact Maria Wilcox at brushdaily@yahoo.com if you or someone you know
could help in this way.
Tuition Restructuring Focus Groups – Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this week
You still have the opportunity to sign up for one of the 5 focus groups. The Board is seeing these focus
groups as an opportunity to discuss and receive information as well as to build community. A
representative of each family is strongly encouraged to attend one of the five sessions offered. If there is
someone you know who would like to attend the focus group, but hasn’t received an invitation, please
share the information you’ve received so they can sign up.
Prayer Group
Every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. a small group of parents meet with me to pray for the HMDCS community.
There’s plenty of room if you’d like to join us! Please forward prayer requests to me and know that we will
pray specifically or generally, as you indicate, with complete confidentiality.
The Savior can solve every problem.
The tangles of life can undo.
There's nothing too hard for Jesus;
There's nothing that He cannot do.
(Author unknown)
Kindergarten Information Evening
On Wednesday, February 11 at 7:00, HMDCS will be hosting a Kindergarten Information Evening and we’d
like everyone to invite friends who might be interested in attending. There will be childcare available. We’d
especially appreciate if current kindergarten parents could attend with their friends who have kindergartenaged children to provide testimonials of the quality and blessing the kindergarten program has been to
their children. Word of mouth is the best way to fill the classrooms at the new school!
General News & Information
“How Majestic is your Name!” Psalm 8
Guilds 2015
Guilds 2015 continues this week on Friday for students in grades 6, 7 and 8. Thanks go out to Mrs. Riest,
Mrs. VanderKooij, Mrs. Brickell, Miss Bokma, Mr. Geertsema, Mrs. Frasier and Mr. Sparrow for agreeing to
lead a guild. We are looking forward to seeing, tasting and hearing about what you did this week.
Science Fair 2015
Science Fair 2015 is a little less than 2 months away! Tuesday, March 3 will be a day of
judging followed by an evening of celebration as the projects will be on display for all to
see. Students are encouraged to be working on their projects over the next few weeks. It is
important for the students to complete their projects by themselves with lots of parental encouragement
and teacher guidance along the way. Students should be planning out their display board which is due
on February 6. There are still some display boards available for $5.00. Please see your teacher to
purchase yours.
VOLLEYBALL!! VOLLEYBALL!! VOLLEYBALL!!
Get your team together for the TDCH Belize Fundraiser Volleyball Tournament! My name is Allison
Vander Wier and I'm a grade 12 student, part of the TDChristian missions trip to Belize during March
Break. I am raising money through a volleyball tournament, taking place January 24 beginning at
8:30 am. I am looking for teams ages 14 years and up. The total cost for a team is $120.00. Please submit
your team to allison_vanderwier@tdchristian.ca by January 20, 2015. There will be pizza, baked goods,
and drinks sold throughout the day. Hope to see you all there, and thanks for your support!
Classroom News
JK/SK – This week we will learn about the letter D. We have been working on the letter W and learning
about snow and the water cycle. It has been really interesting learning about God's creativity and
design even in a simple snowflake. Memory Work for Wednesday is 1 John 1:5b. We are
working on presenting some items for our chapel on Friday, February 6th. You will find them in
your child's learning journal on Wednesday. You will also find a home reading record in your
child's learning journal. I hope that your family will read lots of interesting books together! 
~ Mrs. Robinson
Grade 1/2A – This week our studies in Geometry and Geography will continue. On Tuesday,
both Emma and Daniel will be our gr.2 guest readers in the loft of the library. On
Wednesday, my gr.1 students will be reading me their Set C high Frequency words. Set D
words will also go home as their next goal to achieve with grade 1 expectations. On Friday
our typical routines of reciting a Bible verse and having a spelling test will be in place. ~ Mrs. McKinley
Grade 2B/3 – The “Wright” Newsletter for Grade 2/3 is coming home today with all the information you
need to know about the coming week. The Spelling Words and a Memory Verse will be checked
on Friday. We will continue studying 3D Geometry, Japan and God’s Law. The grade 3s need to
have recorders at school on Tuesday and Thursday. Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Wright
Grade 4/5A – Happy Monday! This week's Spelling comes from Unit 17. For our Memory Verse we will be
working on learning the books of The Old Testament with Genesis-Proverbs being tested this Friday. We
will also have a Bible test on Samuel next Monday. We continue to be busy working on Science Fair and
Recitation. Grade Four has a French test next Tuesday. Remember to have your recorder and recorder
book at school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Pranger
Grade 5B/6 – Welcome to a new week! Keeping us busy this week will be the planning and practicing for
our chapel on Friday. Information about recitations were handed out on Friday. Parents, ask your child to
show you the handout, if you haven't already seen it. Recitation selections are due on Friday. The new
Spelling Words were given out today and the activities on spellingcity.com are ready to be completed. The
Memory Verse for Wednesday is Esther 4:14. There will be a health quiz on Wednesday. Students were
given the review material last week Wednesday. ~ Mrs. Schenk
Grade 7 – A happy Monday to everyone! I have received almost all the required money and
information for the school trip and will be making my selections for chaperons this week. I
know that I had set my initial date for January 12th and I apologize for the delay. You will be
notified by e-mail of my decision either way. I have been blown away by the number of
parents willing to join us at Sainte-Marie and I truly appreciate the support. Our year is quickly filling up
with assignments and presentations. Grade 7 students will be blessing us with history presentations
starting on Wednesday, January 21st. The presenters will be randomly selected so please come prepared.
Our Memory Work quiz from last week has been moved to this week as I was away on Thursday due to
illness. Recitation topics need to be selected by Friday, January 23rd as we begin the memorization and
presentation part of this assignment. Students will be given a copy of the evaluation form so they are clear
on the expectations of this assignment. We will be finishing up Unit 3 in French this week. There will be a
final test next week Thursday. I am looking forward to a fantastic week with everyone! ~ Mrs. Brickell
Grade 8 – Grade eight students did a wonderful job last week as they led chapel with skits and
music. Thanks for all your hard work, students! In the week ahead of us we'll be completing Unit 5 and
have our test on Tuesday, January 27. In Language Power workbooks, students will complete the unit
review sections of Unit 5 and Lessons 36-39 from Unit 3 will be due Friday. A writing assignment on
establishing Setting in a story is due on Wednesday. Our Spelling quiz will be based on Lesson 23 on
Friday. We'll have a mid-unit quiz in Science on Friday, January 23. There will be a vocabulary quiz this
Thursday in French. ~ Mr. Geertsema