Sep 24, 2020

PA Message, Orange Shirt Day, Daycare Spots Available

Topics covered in this post:

Message from Parents’ Association
Orange Shirt Day (JK to Gr 6)
Daycare Spots Available for October!
JICS Health and Safety Information Summary Poster
Terry Fox Run
Safer Holiday Planning During COVID-19
Upcoming September Events
Upcoming October Events

1. Message from Parents' Association

Dear JICS Families,

Thanks to all who were able to attend the “Parent Social” on Tuesday evening. It wasn’t the same as previous years, but it was truly great to see so many familiar and new faces without masks! In case you missed it, this note is a summary of what we discussed.

Overview

All JICS families are automatically members of the Jackman ICS Parents’ Association, a registered charitable organization.
The purpose of the PA is to provide educational resources and programs that advance the education of the students, and to build, foster, and support the JICS parent community – for more info on who we are and what we do, please go to www.jicsfamily.com/about-the-pa

Fundraising

The Fall is typically when the PA does its biggest fundraising and we are currently asking families to contribute to fees ($25/child) and donations ($150/child) to help with several key priority areas: please pay your PA fees and donations here.
Thanks to those who have already contributed - We are currently only at 20% of our goal, and every contribution will go a long way this year.

Parent Education

This year, we will focus on leveraging the fact that our events will be virtual and we will be reaching out to JICS faculty and guest speakers both within and outside of the GTA (or even outside of Canada) to inform us on various topics, including: COVID, Racism, Emotional Wellness and more.

Getting Involved

A number of parents asked how they could contribute to the PA or the broader JICS community. Please connect with Carolynne Hew at carolynnehew@gmail.com
We received a question about the best way to thank all the teachers and admin for their tireless efforts over the summer months preparing for our children’s safety and learning this Fall – please share ideas with your Class Reps.
We will also be working with the Class Reps to explore ways to engage with parents and families over the coming months to create community.

A few words of thanks, in advance, to our PA Exec and Class Reps:

Francois Tanguay-Renauld – for planning the parent social
Carolynne Hew and Shami Bee – for helping to ensure we have enough parent volunteers when needed
Andrew Cain – for making sure we are all connected and communicating
Casey Dabiet – for coordinating parent education events throughout the year
Shawn Konopinsky – for keeping our budget and finances in order
Beth Corcoran – for your guidance and mentorship
Richard Messina and Chriss Bogert - for your leadership at the school, ensuring all families are welcome and that everyone can participate
All the Class reps – for engaging each cohort of parents!

Warm regards,

Deepta

JICS PA President

2. Orange Shirt Day (JK to Gr 6)

We encourage all students to wear orange shirts on Wednesday, September 30 to demonstrate an affirmation of our commitment to raise awareness of the residential school experience and to ensure that every child matters as we focus our hope for a better future in which children are empowered to help each other. Here is an informative description of Orange Shirt Day from the TDSB website. Each grade will honour the day in developmentally appropriate ways. If you don’t have an orange shirt, and you would like to purchase from an Indigenous organization, they are available for order from JICS friend and visiting artist, Isaac Murdoch. Nanook Goren Foreal, the silk-screen printmaker who made the orange shirts the JICS community ordered last year, will be selling her t-shirts at a table in Kensington Market this weekend.

3. Daycare Spots Available for October!

It is wonderful to hear the children’s laughter and watch their joyous play in the ICS Licensed Daycare. Spots are now available for both before-school and after-school beginning on October 1. Parents can register for full time (5 days) or part-time (3 days). For more information, please contact Anne Marie at ics.after.school.daycare@gmail.com

The following are some of the measures in place to provide a safe and engaging environment:

The program is divided into 4 cohorts and each cohort has its own new equipment and supplies.
The length of outdoor play time has increased.
Staff have been trained on COVID protocols and procedures.
Toys and materials are disinfected throughout the day.
Drop-off and pick-up procedures have been designed to reduce risk while maintaining a convenient and nurturing experience for children and parents.
More information here.

4. JICS Health and Safety Information Summary Poster

Please print and post this updated Summary Poster. It is also available on the COVID-19 Daily Screening page.

5. Terry Fox Run

The Grade 3 students are asking every child (JK to Gr 6) to please bring $1.00 (or more) to donate to cancer research. Parents can also donate directly to the Terry Fox Foundation Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Donation Page.

See below for photos of some of the classes taking part in the run!

6. Safer Holiday Planning During COVID-19

Toronto Public Health has provided the following helpful information to families about upcoming holidays