Welcome to the 2019-2020 School Year

Hello Boxwood Families,

As the summer is nearing the end, it is time for school to begin. We look forward to having our students back to continue their educational journey with us. I would also like to take this time to welcome our new families. We are glad that you will be with us. We also look forward to continuing our partnership to support our students' academic achievement and well-being. We have been busy for the past few weeks getting our school prepared for the new school year. As you can see below, our school is bright and shiny. We also had our carpet removed from the office, and we have new, shiny tile. School begins on Tuesday, September 3rd. We will be meeting our students at the back of the school. Our kindergarten students will meet in front of the school in their play area. Please see the pictures below for a glimpse of our school.

Have a great weekend, and we will see you on Tuesday.

Dane Prince
Principal.

Arts Carousel

In April, we had our annual Arts Carousel. This is an event in which the Boxwood community can see the tremendous work that our students have been doing in the Arts. This included musical and dance performances. Furthermore, we had many many displays of the artwork that students have completed outside and inside classrooms. We thank the many parents that attended and supported this event. I would also like to thank all the teachers for their work in making this event possible!

Asian Heritage Month-Ramadan

In May 2002, the Government of Canada signed an official declaration to designate May as Asian Heritage Month. This acknowledges the long and rich history of Asian Canadians from East Asia, Southern Asia, Western and Southeast Asia and their contributions to Canada. It also provides an opportunity for Canadians across the country to reflect and celebrate the contributions of Canadians of Asian heritage towards the growth and prosperity of Canada.

One of the celebrations happening this month that is being celebrated by many in our school community is Ramadan. Ramadan is a holy month of fasting and contemplation for Muslims. During Ramadan, most Muslims fast during the hours of daylight and increase their focus on prayer and contemplation. At the end of each day, the fast is traditionally broken with a prayer and a light meal called the iftar. Ramadan is considered a time for Muslims to recommit themselves to practicing compassion and generosity for others, as well as a time to cultivate spiritual renewal within themselves and their communities. Some of our students are fasting during this period as well. During this time of reverence and renewal, we extend our good wishes to staff, students, parents and members of the Islamic community who will be observing Ramadan. Lastly, we would like to thank Ms. Hadi and Ms. Calverley for our wonderful display that recognizes this event!

Studens Working on Fractions

Here are some examples of students working on fractions. This task is designed for them to understand that the same fraction (e.g., 1/2) can be represented in different ways!

Fraction Anchor Chart

Anchor charts are a way to record learning and have something tangible for students to refer to. Here is an example of a fraction anchor chart in the primary grades that introduces the concept of fractions. As you can see, it uses the concept of sharing to help students understand that fractions are parts of the whole.

Fractions Professional Learning

As you know, math is a focus at Boxwood Public School like all YRDSB schools. After our whole school diagnostic, we have determined that we need to support our students from grade 1-8 with the concept of fractions. Our kindergarten teachers are working with early numbers with their students. To address this need, teachers will be working together for three half days to plan targetted lessons that have a focus on problem solving. Teachers will also deliver common assessments and mark them together to track student progress.

Celebrations in February

February is a month filled with some celebrations. Specifically Lunar New Year, Black History Month and Vasant Panchami are in February. We have updated our display case by our library to recognize these important celebrations! If you have time, come and take a look at them.

Kolam in our SK/1 Class

Today, Ms. Forth's SK/1 class had the good fortune to have a parent volunteer instruct the students in creating a Kolam art piece to recognize Tamil Heritage Month. Kolam is a form of drawing that is drawn by using rice flour, chalk, chalk powder or rock powder, often using naturally or synthetically colored powders, in Sri Lanka, the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and some parts of Goa, Maharashtra as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and a few other Asian countries. A Kolam is a geometrical line drawing composed of curved loops, drawn around a grid pattern of dots (Wikipedia.com). We are so fortunate to have amazing parent volunteers to provide new experiences to our students. Thank you!

Learning in the Intermediate Division

Last Friday afternoon, I observed the learning that the intermediate students were engaged in. While they were working on a variety of tasks, they were all working on rigorous tasks that worked on various necessary skills.

Our grade 7 were working on their math project. They have to design the grounds and attractions for an adventure park. In this task, they have to use a variety of computational strategies (e.g., multiplication) and use their understanding of various math concepts (e.g., area).

 In our grade 8 class, they are getting ready for Black History Month by doing a diagnostic assessment to see what they currently know about Black History in North America.

In our grade 7/8 class, students were working on their "Novel in an Hour" assignment. This is a one page summary of the chapter that they read. This includes identifying, explaining, and representing the key themes, characters, quotations, and settings.

Keeping Active

 As you know, we were challenged with some cold temperatures this week.  On some days we were able to go outside while on other days we had to stay inside. We also had another challenge in that our outside play areas were iced over. After two days inside we decided to have the whole school engage in physical activity instead of being in their classrooms. The kids had fun and got some exercise by power walking in the halls. As daily physical activity and fresh air is good for us, we are hoping that we have better conditions for students to go outside this week.

Happy Thai Pongal!

Happy Thai Pongal!

Today many within our community are celebrating Thai Pongal. Thai Pongal is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Tamil people.  Thai Pongal is a harvest festival dedicated to the Sun God. It is a four-day festival which according to the Tamil calendar is usually celebrated from January 14 to January 17.Thai Pongal corresponds to Makara Sankranthi, the harvest festival celebrated throughout India.

In 2016, the Federal Government of Canada proclaimed January as Tamil Heritage Month. Tamil Heritage Month aims to celebrate the richness of the Tamil language and its literature, as well as to highlight the vibrant traditions, histories, arts, and cultures of Tamil Canadians. In addition, it seeks to recognize the significant contributions of Tamil Canadians in key areas of social, cultural, economic, and political spheres. 

To recognize this month Ms. Calverley and one of our parent volunteers, Ms. Paramasamy, created a display to celebrate Tamil culture in our display case by our library. Thank you so much! It looks amazing. To further recognize Tamil Heritage month, we are going to read quotes each day from the Thirukural. The Thirukural is a classic Tamil text consisting of 1,330 couplets or Kurals, dealing with the everyday virtues of an individual. It is one of the two oldest works of Tamil literature.