Dec 17, 2020

Festival of Lights, PA Letter, Parent Ed

Updated: Dec 18, 2020

Topics covered in this post:

Happy Holidays and January Return Date
See you Tonight, 7:00pm!
Letter from PA President, Deepta Rayner
Daycare
Thank you!
Parent Education - Parenting Series with Ellie Lathrop Recording
Food Drive Success
We want to Hear from You
Upcoming December Events
Upcoming January Events
Photos!

1. Happy Holidays and January Return Date

We wish everyone a holiday that is safe, happy, and restful. The Fall Term ends tomorrow at noon. Daycare is open to registered users until 6:00pm.

Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year!

Thank you all for your kindness, support, and encouragement.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Monday, January 4, 2021. Should there be a ministerial order to change our return date into the building, we will email parents during the holidays.

Please look out for a very important letter from Richard Messina coming today by email about the Lab School’s January start date.

2. See you Tonight, 7:00pm!

We hope every JICS family will join our live-streamed annual Family Festival of Lights Sing-along. Although we cannot be together in our auditorium to sing together this year, we will provide the lyrics and music so that you may sing as a family at home some of the songs from the many festivals that focus on bringing light into the darkness at this time of year.

Please invite grandparents and other special friends to join in from the safety of their homes. In an extraordinary year when we can’t physically be together to sing, we can use the power of song to feel united with loved ones.

To watch the live stream, click on the link below to view it from the JICS YouTube page:

https://youtu.be/OuK0injw7SE

Click below to download the lyrics and have them ready or print them in advance.

We recommend setting up a device prior to 7pm with external speakers or by connecting it to a TV if possible to ensure everyone in your family can hear and see the entirety of this event. This will not be something you want to miss!

3. Letter from PA President, Deepta Rayner

Dear JICS Families,

It’s the last week of school before the holidays! Thanks to the guidance and leadership of Richard, Chriss, and all the teachers and administrators we made it through the entire term in a most unusual year.

As I reflect back on 2020, I’m so grateful to be a part of the JICS community. Even though we haven’t spent a lot of time together in person, there were many times that we were able to gather virtually and bond as a community. We’ve cared for and helped one another, we’ve learned from each other, and we’ve all contributed in one way or another.

Some silver linings in 2020 – we learned how resilient each of us can be, especially our children. We have learned the true difference between ‘need’ and ‘want’ and honed our skills at ‘prioritization’. We are now all learners of new things as chefs, bakers, barbers, listeners, builders, crafters, and more!

A few items before we close out the year:

Masking Program:

Check your email or class WhatsApp group to find the update on the masking program, organized by parents Lisa Strug and Andrew Murray. If you would like to participate in the program, please register here by no later than Saturday December 19th: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LR35CYW

Donations & United Way:

For those of you who participate in corporate giving through United Way, please consider donating a portion of your contribution towards the JICS PA. We have a goal of raising $5,600 through the United Way campaign. If we surpass this goal, we’ll assign all additional funds towards Tuition Support.

The JICS PA is registered as the “St. George’s School’s Parents Association” for historic reasons. You should just need the charity name and number to donate. Please contact Deepta Rayner (PAExecJICS@gmail.com) if you experience any trouble donating through your employer.

Charitable Information: The St. George's School's Parents Association

Reg #: 119175537RR0001

Gift Giving

Please continue to register with Fundscrip. To purchase eGift Cards and regular Gift Cards that are sent to your inbox or your home, click here and be sure to use campaign code “7CUVLT” to direct donations towards the JICS PA.

Stay well, Happy Holidays and all the best for the New Year!!

Deepta

4. Daycare

The ICS Daycare has spots opening in January 2021.

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 Anne Marie am.lopez@utoronto.ca

5. 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 FlipGive link. 20% of your purchase amount is given to JICS to spend on books! You have raised $700 for the JICS Library collection!

We continue to be spoiled with appreciation lunches and we would like to thank the Atlin, Davis, Dabiet, Tomczak, Singh and Salamon Families for yesterday’s delicious lunch! Also, a thank you to the Pearson Family for starting the lunch trend way back in September.

6. Parent Education – Recording of Ellie’s talk: Parenting in the Digital Age

If you missed Ellie’s latest talk in the JICS Parenting Workshop Series, Parenting in the Digital Age, you can view the recording here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/llb2fyl3l21o6fi/AACMBYd8D24fGq46eNGqykNwa?dl=0

Stay tuned for more workshops with Ellie in the new year!

Also from Ellie, click below to download a guide on surviving the holidays, Holidays on Lockdown: A Guide to Cultivating Peace.

7. Food Drive Success

The Grade 6 students received many, many bags and boxes of food for the Food Drive that will be delivered to the Daily Food Bank.Thank you for your generous support!

8. We Want to Hear from You

If you have questions or comments about the information provided in the weekly post or about any aspect of JICS, please email or join Chriss and Richard on zoom any Friday at 9:30.

Zoom link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/82065545911 Password: jicsfamily