Kiss & Drive, COVID Updates, Upcoming Events

Topics covered in this post:

Yom Kippur
Kiss and Drive
COVID-19 Updates
1. Daily COVID Screening
2. Rapid Testing
PA Meet & Greet / PA Fees and Donations
Photo Day - Tues. Sept. 21
Terry Fox Run - Fri. Sept. 24
Lice Check - Tues. Sept. 28
Orange Shirt Day - Thurs. Sept. 30
Class Reps
Support Our Public Purpose
More Photos!
Upcoming September Events

1. Yom Kippur

G'mar Chatima Tovah. Wishing everyone a good final sealing!

2. Kiss and Drive

As we state in the Arrival Procedures of the Parent Handbook, (the school’s policies and guidelines that all JICS parents have read and agreed to):

Parents will drive northbound on Walmer to the school and create a queue of vehicles.
Staff on duty will assist child getting out of the vehicle and walking to their entrance point.
Parents will remain inside the vehicle and immediately exit the drop-off area once children have entered the school area. Please ensure that your child’s bag/lunch is accessible by your child.
JK to Grade 6 Staggered Drop-off Time Window: 8:30-8:45am
If you see staff on duty looking at their cell phones, they are just checking for updated screening information!

3. COVID-19 Updates

a) Daily COVID Screening

We still have children arriving to school without their screening completed. These children are placed in the quarantine room until we contact their parents and receive confirmation that the screening has been completed. Please avoid having your child start the day this way by completing the screening by 8:00am. Creating a reminder alarm or poster may help.

b) Rapid Testing

Our interest in participating in this program is many: it offers another layer of protection, it monitors best practices by piloting different forms of implementation, and it disseminates findings for the benefit of all. The pilot locations have been conducted within provincial and territorial guidelines and requirements for managing COVID-19. The Rapid Tests Panbio (Nasal) for each JICS child and all teachers/staff will be distributed next week along with information parents and teachers/staff will need.

4. PA Meet & Greet / PA Fees and Donations

Dear JICS Parent Community,

We would like to invite you to our first parents social of the year. It will be held online on Tuesday, September 21, from 7:30pm to 8:15pm. It will be an opportunity to meet and greet this year’s Parent Association executive, as well as connect with Richard and Chriss, who will say a few words of welcome. Please connect with us over Zoom using this link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/74811720991?pwd=bS9vZGNqMnJzdlZqd0pjVTRMWmhsdz09

(RSVP here to receive email reminders with the Zoom link)

We look forward to seeing you there!

We would also like to remind you that we would greatly appreciate it if you could make your annual PA contributions this week, if you have not yet made them. Please click on the following link to do do: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/st-georges-schools-parents-association/events/2021-22-jics-pa-annual-membership-fee-donation/

Very best regards,

The PA Executive

5. Photo Day

Tuesday, September 21

Focus on Children Photography have taken the necessary safety measures for this year’s photo day which will take place September 21. Please dress your children in bright colours! Focus on Children Photography will provide each student with a unique online code for parents to view their photos and place their order. This online order is provided via a secure system. Ordered photos will be distributed to children at school when they arrive.

6. Terry Fox Run

Friday, September 24

Teacher reading book to children — Grade 3s learning Terry's story

Next week, each class Grade 1 to 6, will be participating in the Terry Fox Run at Jean Sibelius Park on Kendal Avenue and JK/SK will run in the school yard. For safety reasons, pairs of grades will be running the Terry Fox Run at different times. In order to prevent crowding, we unfortunately are not inviting parents to participate this year.

The Grade 3 students who are organizing the day and school fundraiser are asking everyone to bring $1.00 or more to donate to cancer research. You can donate directly to the Terry Fox Foundation Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Donation Page.

Here is a message from the Grade 3's:

Terry Fox is a hero who ran for cancer. He loved to play basketball and one day he found that he had bone cancer. He had to have his leg amputated to remove the cancer. He set a goal to run across Canada with his prosthetic leg to raise money for cancer research. He started in St. John’s Newfoundland. Just past Thunder Bay, he found out that the cancer had spread and he had to go to the hospital. The doctors said the cancer had spread to his lungs so he could not run anymore.

Terry Fox is a hero and we want to raise money just like him. Please donate at least $1 to help fight cancer and keep Terry’s dream alive! Also, please send your child to school with running shoes, a water bottle, and running gear so they are ready to run on Friday, September 24th 2021. Thank you!

7. Lice Check

Tuesday, September 28

The Lice Squad will conduct a lice check on September 28. The checks will take place using appropriate health and safety measures. Thank you to the JICS Parents’ Association for funding the annual lice checks!

8. Orange Shirt Day

Thursday, September 30

We will be honouring Orange Shirt Day this year on Thursday, September 30.

Phyllis Webstad was a young child when her grandmother gave her a bright orange shirt before she went to school. The shirt was taken away from her at residential school, and it has become a symbol of all that was purposely taken away at residential schools. Orange Shirt Day provides us with an opportunity to learn about why residential schools existed, how they were enforced and the ongoing effects of these schools on families, generations later.

For more information, see: www.orangeshirtday.org

**If you are thinking of purchasing an orange shirt for this day, please ensure that your money goes toward the goals of Orange Shirt Day. Here are the goals listed by the Orange Shirt Society.

Orange Shirt usage and sales are intended to:

support Residential School Reconciliation
raise awareness of intergenerational trauma caused by Residential Schools
create awareness of the concept “Every Child Matters”.

The Cedar Basket Gift Shop, located just south of the school at the Native Canadian Center of Toronto, at 16 Spadina Road, has an online shop where orders can be placed for curbside pick-up. They have youth and adult sizes of the ‘Every Child Matters’ T-shirts https://thecedarbasket.com

For adult sized shirts online, may we recommend ordering from our friend, Anishinaabe Storyteller, Isaac Murdoch, Bomgiizhik, who has worked with our children and teachers many times over the years.

We look forward to seeing a sea of Orange on September 30, honouring the truth and supporting residential school survivors and their families.

9. Class Reps

We are looking for Parent Class Reps for the Grade 5 cohort. Each grade cohort of students and parents benefits from the organizational work of Parent Reps. If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact our PA president, François at francoistr@gmail.com!

10. Support Our Public Purpose

Natural Curiosity is JICS’ homegrown environmental education program, helping educators embrace the natural world as a place of learning, curiosity and reciprocity, to transform their practice and create generations of lifelong learners with the experiences necessary to tackle the environmental challenges of the 21st century. As the Lab School’s most successful form of dissemination, NC is fulfilling our public purpose by providing workshops and resources to thousands of teachers and parents every year to deepen our understanding of the importance of environmental inquiry and Indigenous perspectives in children’s learning in Canadian education and beyond. Natural Curiosity is 100% donor-funded - click here to support our program and grow our public impact today!