Oct 17

Diwali, Coffee & Conversation, PD & Dissemination

JICS at a Glance

We've condensed the important highlights for your convenience:

Mark Your Calendars - Diwali Assembly Monday, October 28
New Weekly Event: Coffee and Conversation for JICS Early Years Parents
Deadline for applications to Apple Financial for Tuition Support is November 10

Topics covered in this post:

(Click to navigate straight to a section)

Celebrate Diwali with us at JICS!
Islamic Heritage
Coffee and Conversation for JICS Early Years Parents with Ellie Lathrop, JICS Social Worker
Lunch & Learn with Ellie
All Weather Play
Nursery 2025-2026
Teacher Professional Development
Dissemination - Serving our Public Purpose
Halloween
Halloween Candy
Financial Support
Alumni Visit
Photos from the week!
Upcoming October Events
Upcoming November Events

1. Celebrate Diwali with us at JICS!

Monday, October 28

Diwali, the joyous Hindu festival of lights, is a cherished tradition here at our school. Our entire school community eagerly anticipates this special occasion each year, and we are truly grateful for the unwavering support of our parents. This year, we are delighted to announce that we will come together to celebrate Diwali on Monday, October 28 at 9:00 am.

Parents are invited to join us in the gym for this joyous occasion. In the spirit of this vibrant festival, we kindly request that all JICS children come dressed in colourful attire, which may include kurtas, salwar kameez, dupattas, or lehenga choli. Of course, we also encourage everyone to express themselves through their preferred clothing choices throughout the festivities. This year the parent and teacher committee would like to feature JICS families in our assembly slideshow. If you have a photo of your family celebrating Diwali that you are willing to share, please send it to krista.spence@utoronto.ca.

While Diwali spans five days in most of India (from October 31 to November 1), the main celebration falls on the third day. At JICS, we aim to decorate the school with vivid decorations, illuminating diyas, and crafting inviting flower-petal rangolis. It is a privilege to have such a wonderfully diverse community, where people from all backgrounds come together to embrace and share in the festivities.

During Hindu Heritage Month in November, Walker, Krista and Jessica are happy to work with parents to organize events and invite artists. Please reach out to them if you are interested: walker.kitchens@mail.utoronto.ca; krista.spence@utoronto.ca; jessica.haber@utoronto.ca

2. Islamic Heritage

Thank you, parents for helping us celebrate Islamic Heritage this month and deepen our understanding of the rich and enduring Islamic history. We extend an invitation to parents to enhance our educational journey by sharing your Muslim identity with us, not only in October but at any point throughout the year.

Today, award-winning singer/instrumentalist Maryem Tollar and drummer Naghmeh Farahmand enraptured the JICS students and faculty with their talents.

Maryem Tollar is a renowned Egyptian-Canadian vocalist, known for her world music performances. She was nominated for a 2010 Dora Award and was in the 2009 Dora Award winning production of The Children’s Crusade. She performs with several Toronto musical groups including Al Qahwa and Turkwaz. Maryem was awarded the inaugural 2019 Johanna Metcalf Prize for Performing Arts.

Naghmeh Farahmand is an internationally renowned percussionist. She started playing the tonbak at the age of 6 under the supervision of her father, Mahmoud Farahmand, a well-known tonbak player. Naghmeh also found an interest in the daf and began learning Sufi and Kurdish rhythms from the daf masters Bijan Kamkar and Masoud Habibi. Naghmeh has performed worldwide. In 2016, she released her first instructional DVD on Persian rhythms entitled “The Iranian Daf."

3. Coffee and Conversation for JICS Early Years Parents with Ellie Lathrop, JICS Social Worker

Rolling with Resistance - 1st Coffee and Conversation Drop In

We are delighted to announce the launch of our series of Early Years Parents in-person session!

Who: Parents of Children in Nursery to Grade 2

What: A chance to meet with other parents as well as with Ellie, JICS Social Worker and Chriss, Vice-Principal. On October 24th we will talk about responding to the "No".

When: Thursday October 24th, right after drop-off

Where: Room 120 (next to reception)

4. Lunch & Learn with Ellie

If you missed this afternoon’s Parent Education event with Ellie on “School Home Collaboration”, you will soon be able to view the recording and the recordings of all previous “Lunch & Learn” Sessions in the Parent Education Section of the JICSfamily.com website.

5. All Weather Play

Children play outside in all-weather at JICS (including light rain, snowy days, and cold conditions). Please send your child with outdoor clothing appropriate to weather conditions. As we enter into a rainy season, please provide indoor shoes so that we are not tracking mud into the classroom spaces and the carpets they lay on.

6. Nursery Class 2025-2026

Shama will soon be in touch with current JICS families who have children (born in 2022) who are eligible for our entry year beginning September 2025. To ensure that your child’s information is in our applicant database, please email Shama ASAP. We will host a Nursery Parent Information Session in the new year.

7. Teacher Professional Development

Our commitment to providing exceptional learning experiences for our 202 JICS children and effectively mentoring teacher-candidates remains steadfast. We prioritize our public purpose while continuously deepening our understanding of child development and pedagogy through self-directed and whole-group professional development initiatives. Here are recent highlights:

ARTSECO and Indigenous Resurgence Conference

Representing the Ontario Art Education Association, Tara Rousseau attended a meeting of ARTSECO in October. ARTSECO is the Arts Education Consultants of Ontario, comprised of system-level arts consultants and co-ordinators across the province. Its mission is to support and encourage the arts in education and to liaise with the Ministry of Education and well as existing agencies and arts organizations. Among the topics discussed are issues of appropriation in teaching and learning about Indigenous art, and the diversity within how the arts are taught in elementary schools throughout the province.

Tara also had the privilege of attending the Indigenous Resurgence Conference in August, held at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto and the Humber River Lodge. Many esteemed scholars presented, including Dr. Sandra Styres, Dr. Huia Jahnke, Mervi Salo, Tanya Senk, Dr. Taima Moeke-Pickering, Dr. Brent Debassige, and Dr. Jan Hare. Their presentations and panel discussions provided an important window into their deep and thoughtful work within community and academia.

8. Dissemination - Serving our Public Purpose

Since our establishment in 1925, our school has consistently contributed to shaping elementary educational practices and enriching teacher education globally. Here is a recent instance highlighting our efforts in knowledge dissemination:

Richard Messina was invited to participate in the OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 6th Global Forum. Although he was unable to attend the event in Japan from October 10-13 in person, Richard contributed to the online "administrator/teacher" breakout sessions. These sessions focused on deepening the understanding of key concepts, including teacher agency, well-being, and competencies. His involvement supports the ongoing OECD efforts to gather diverse perspectives and work toward a unified Teaching Compass Framework. Last year, both SK teacher, Carol Stephenson and Richard Messina attended the OECD Forum in person in Bucharest, Romania.

9. Halloween

Parents, please join our JK to Grade 6 Halloween Celebration Assembly on Thursday, October 31st, at the witching hour of 9:00am, in our enchanted gym. Our talented music teachers, Suzanne Schwenger, Russell Hersen, and Jayda Lam will lead us all in some spooky songs and together we will make some Halloween magic!

For our little pumpkins in the Nursery, there is a morning of magical activities awaiting them in their own cozy classroom! Charlotte will share more information soon.

Children (and parents) are all invited to dress up in costumes.

The school doors will open at 8:35am as usual and the children are asked to make their way to the classroom. Once everyone is accounted for, each grade will fly/slither/float into the gym together.

There are many internet articles that provide helpful and culturally sensitive Halloween costume advice. Search: Halloween culturally insensitive costumes.

We are looking forward to making some wonderful memories on this special day!

10. Halloween Candy

With Halloween and the winter holidays fast approaching, we want to share ways that can help make our school a safe and more inclusive place for students with food allergies. We prefer that students do not eat candy while at school. We avoid sweet treats, preferring wholesome snacks whenever possible. However, there is a place for sweets in our diets and parents may choose to occasionally pack individual portions in student lunches or snacks from home. Students are not permitted to share candy, treats, or gum with others. In preparing your child’s lunch and snack, please be certain that all ingredients listed are free of nuts and nut warnings.

11. Financial Support

The JICS Lab School is committed to needs-based financial support that will both enable increased diversity and retain current Lab School families. Tuition support is available to current students entering Grades 3-6 in the 2025-2026 school year. Application and assessment of financial need is made through an arms-length, confidential application to Apple Financial Services, and decisions are made by a sub-committee at the JICS Lab School. All applications and requests are confidential.

The deadline for applications to Apple Financial is November 10.

If you are interested in donating to the JICS Diana Rankin Muncaster Family Tuition Support Fund or the JICS Lab School Endowment Fund, please see here or speak with Richard Messina.

12. Alumni Visit

On Friday, October 11, many public and independent schools had a PD Day, giving many of our Grade 7 alumni the perfect opportunity to return for a visit. During their time back, they offered valuable advice to our current Grade 6 students in class and enjoyed reconnecting with their former teachers. It was wonderful to see them again and witness their growth since moving on from our school.