Topics covered in this post:
1. Happy Holidays and January Return Date
We wish everyone a holiday that is safe, happy, and restful. The Fall Term ends tomorrow (Friday, December 17) at noon.
Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year!
We look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. Should there be a ministerial order to change our return date into the building, we will email parents during the holidays.
2. School Newsletter
Please enjoy the stunning celebration of a wonderful Fall term at the JICS Lab School in the Fall Newsletter! Use the password provided in the Weekly Info email to access this page.
3. Rapid Screening Tests - IMPORTANT
Please continue to complete the rapid screening tests on Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the holiday break. It is our collective responsibility to contribute our results to the Thrive data pool, in order to continue to receive more testing kits going forward. Thank you for your cooperation and support with this important layer of protection and for helping us to keep our community safe and healthy.
RAPID TESTING RESULTS MAY BE CRUCIAL INFORMATION TO DETERMINE OUR RETURN TO IN-PERSON LEARNING FOLLOWING THE HOLIDAYS.
4. JICS Daily Screening Form & Reporting During the Winter Break
The JICS daily screening form does not need to be filled out during the Winter break. Please resume this screening the day before we return to school. However, if anyone receives a positive PCR test result during the break, this information must be uploaded into the Thrive app. The school will receive a notification of this result and be able to help guide families with timing for returning to school. If you have any covid-related questions during the break, please contact Telehealth and/or Toronto Public Health:
Telehealth Ontario
Telephone: 1-866-797-0000
Toronto Public Health Hotline 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Telephone: 416-338-7600 TTY: 416-392-0658 Email: PublicHealth@toronto.ca
5. Daycare
The ICS Daycare has spots opening in January 2022.
Here is a sample of what happens in Daycare:
Afternoons are filled with fun activities. We work on crafts, play games, read stories, build structures and best of all, play with our friends! We spend lots of time in the school yard for some snowy fun with new flood lights that extend the time of possible outdoor play and we go to the gym to play with Luis.
Please contact Annemarie am.lopez@utoronto.ca
6. Thank you!
Thank you, JICS parents for your thoughtful gifts and kind words this holiday season. The PA delivered very generous Indigo gift cards to each teacher and staff member. These are very much appreciated and will be put to good use!
Thank you all also for purchasing gift cards at Indigo using the link: https://indigo.flipgive.com/f/1578748
20% of your purchase amount is given to JICS to spend on books! You have raised $175 for the JICS Library collection!
7. Food Drive Success
The Grade 6 students received many, many bags and boxes of food to the Food Drive that will be delivered to the Avenue Road Food Bank. The Grade 6 students report that we have collected at least 317 pounds of food so far! And to help you imagine what that pile of food is really like, 317 pounds is as heavy as…
6 Christmas trees
7 fully-grown capybaras
8 average garden gnomes
158 adult guinea pigs
1 full grown tiger
The delivery will take place on Friday afternoon. The Lab School reception is open today until 4pm and tomorrow 8am to 12 noon – donations are still welcome and it is not too late to drop off items off. Thank you to everyone in the JICS community for your kind and generous support!
Deep Learning Behind the Food Drive:
Food Insecurity and Food Sovereignty
The Grade 6s started the food drive by doing some learning themselves first. In the classroom with Ben, they read, annotated, and discussed the Daily bread Food Bank’s Who’s Hungry 2021 Report and learned about food insecurity in our city, and its relationship to both long-term poverty and the ongoing pandemic. In the Library with Krista, they were introduced to the issue of ‘Food Sovereignty’. Treena Delormier, associate professor at the School of Human Nutrition at McGill University, describes Food Sovereignty as “The right of people to control and make decisions about their own food systems. (It’s about) the availability of food , accessibility of food , being able to use food that is culturally appropriate and that’s nutritious and that you have enough of it.” Students watched a clip of a show on aptn called ‘Wild Game’, where Chef Rich Francis (Mohawk), explains how the development of the St.Lawrence River seaway affected the way that the people of Kahnawake could access the river, and development continues to impact traditional means of accessing food.
Students listed traditional methods of getting food (fishing, hunting, farming, and foraging), as well as the animals and plants that are important to a traditional Mohawk diet. Chef Rich Francis shares his ingredients for a traditional Mohawk corn soup, and students reflected on the foods that we can donate to the food bank that may support food sovereignty knowing that it wouldn’t be as good as white corn, grown in a community, or fresh fish, caught from a lake. When donating to the Food Bank, we can all be more mindful of what foods have significance to various cultures and people, who may find themselves accessing a Food Bank, and donate items that provide nourishment to both bodies and souls.
After all this great learning, the Grade 6s launched the Food Drive with the whole community. They wrote a series of letters to send home, made donation boxes, and spoke to every class. And the results of their leadership and efforts have been outstanding!
8. Re-enrolment for 2022-2023
Re-enrolment forms and the non-refundable $5000 deposit are due in the office by Wednesday, January 19, 2022. Please take the time to review the JICS values, philosophy, and mission before making your decision to re-enrol.
9. Parent Education Events
February 3, 2022 | 7:00pm-8:00pm
Book-Ticket Event with Jesse Wente
Save the date! We are thrilled to invite all JICS families and friends to a book/ticket fireside with Inclusion Speaker Jesse Wente. Jesse has appeared on CBC Radio's Metro Morning as a film and pop culture critic for 20 years. He is currently the Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts. He previously served as Director Film Programmes at TIFF Bell Lightbox, where he oversaw theatrical, Cinematheque and Film Circuit programming. A self-described "Ojibwe dude" with a national and international lens, he encourages audiences to consider diversity and inclusion into their future view of their organization, industry and country. Jesse is an outspoken advocate for Indigenous rights, and First Nations, Inuit and Métis art; the first nationally syndicated Indigenous columnist for the CBC; and the first Executive Director of the Indigenous Screen Office. For Jesse’s full bio, please visit: Jesse Wente Full Bio
Tickets in the form of Jesse's book are now available for purchase. See full details on our events page.
10. Upcoming December Events
Fri 17 – Report Cards mailed home (Nursery to Grade 6)
Fri 17 – Last day of Fall Term. School ends at noon.
Mon 20 – Winter Holidays begin (Dec 20 to Jan 3). School and Daycare closed.
Sat 25 – Christmas Day
Sun 26 – Kwanzaa begins (Dec 26 to Jan 1)
Tues January 4 – Winter Term begins. School arrival starts at 8:30am (Daycare opens at 8:00am)
