Message to Families - May 19, 2023

Posted On Friday May 19, 2023

Happy Long Weekend to all of our Pine Ridge Families!

As we approach the end of our second semester and therefore, the end of the school year, it is important that you are checking in with your child(ren) to ensure they are staying on top of all of the work that is needed to achieve their goals of passing or achieving a certain percentage. Encourage them to ask for help, show you what they are working on and what they need to complete, and ensure they are not feeling overwhelmed. Our staff can help students prioritize and chunk the necessary work as well as support with closing any gaps. If you feel that your child could use some extra support please reach out to your child’s teacher(s) and/or our Guidance and Inclusive Student Services.

Below and attached you will find some additional important information for you to review:

Text Messaging Communication:

As of Tuesday May 16, all school Principals can send SMS Text Messages to families through SchoolMessenger. Please see attached flyer for more details.

Instagram:

The administration is committing to continuing to improve our communication with our families, students and community. We will be posting daily to showcase some of the things happening in and around the school as well, we will share flyers and information for upcoming events both in the school and school board. Please follow us @pineridgess .

Pine Ridge Pride Celebration:

We are inviting students to sign up and to join our celebration and workshop to learn about the complexity of Queer Identities, The history of 2SILGBTQ activism and celebrate the rich diversity and all the community has to offer! This event will be held in our library from 11:00 – 2:00 on Thursday, June 8^th. Participation is first come-first serve for students who sign up. Students can register at the following link: https://forms.gle/vgpHQJUQn1QHg2C78 . Come Together to Celebrate Pride and Support One Another. Allies are Welcome!

Ontario’s Learn and Stay Grant:

Students enrolled in eligible nursing, paramedic or medical lab-tech programs could receive free tuition, books and other supplies! See attached document for more information.

School Community Council:

Guest Presenter Dan Hogan from the DDSB Safe Schools Department presenting information about Vaping, Drugs and Teens. We will also be reviewing our Code of Conduct updates for the 2023-2024 school year to seek community feedback before finalizing this document. Please join us virtually at 7:00 on May 24th. Please join us at the following link: https://meet.google.com/xvt-ngmc-mht

Good Neighbour Policy and Respect for our Community:

We would like to ask parents/guardians to speak to their children about being a good neighbour and having respect for our school and community. With the weather being much nicer and students spending more time outside, there is a lot of litter being left in the forest behind the school, at the parks and track and along our sidewalks. We all work and live in this space and enjoy it more when it is clean. Please encourage your children to hang on to their garbage until they find a garbage can to dispose of it properly and to pick up after themselves. In addition, out of respect for our community partners please remind your children to not loiter at plaza’s and other places of business as well, to move over when passing others on the sidewalk. If the office becomes aware of any disrespectful behaviour, it will be addressed.

Ticks:

Some of our students like to go into the forest during the lunch hour and some classes such as our outdoor education class do access this area. Please be ensure your children are checking themselves for ticks afterwards as we have had a couple of incidents already this spring where a tick has been discovered on a school member during the day. Please see attached document for more information about tick identification and testing.

Good News from the Library:

The White Pine Book Club were at Harbourfront Centre for the day on May 17th. Ms. Lewis, Ms. Malcolmson, and the Book Club members were part of the sold out Awards Ceremony for the Forest of Reading nominated authors. Students also wrote letters to their favourite authors, had a chance to attend workshops given by the authors, and were able to bring home some free books and other swag from the Ontario Library Association. A lot of bookish fun was had, and it was heartwarming to see GTA students of all ages participating. We had a great time and are already planning on how to make it a bigger event next year.

Looking Ahead at a Glance:

May 22 Holiday – school closed

May 24 School Community Council Meeting

May 24 Music Trip to Wonderland

May 26 Business Tip to Wonderland

May 26 Accident Awareness Presentations

June 13-15 EQAO Math for Semester 2 Grade 9 Classes

June 14 Last Day of Classes for Grade 12 Courses

June 15-20 Grade 12 Exams

June 20 Last Day of Classes for Grade 9 – 11 Courses

June 21-27 Final Exams for Grade 9 – 11 Courses

June 23 Grad Formal