2009-10 teachers list, with room numbers

Your child's placement for next year is listed at the top-right corner of their report card. To find out which teacher is in which room, consult this list. (Subject to change between now and September.)

Thanks for a great year

Well, here it is...the last day of school! A big thank you to all the teachers who work so hard to put the report cards together and to give feedback in a positive and constructive way. But more than that, thank you to those same teachers who work so hard every day to teach and guide and encourage our children. For many kids, you are their first voice of authority outside of their family, their first role model and guide aside from parents. You're introducing them to the world and you're shaping their future. You play an incredibly important role in our children's lives and it's easy to see how much effort and heart you put into the job. On a personal note, thank you to everyone who made our family feel welcome in this, our first year at Clairlea. And to Mr. Puopolo, Mr. Knierim and Ginnie for supporting this blog with content, technical support and enthusiasm. Finally, congratulations to all the grade 8's who graduated yesterday! You worked hard and we hope you had a terrific celebration. A number of volunteers spent many hours putting the graduation together so a big thank you to them, too. (If anyone wants to write a guest post on graduation, send me a note at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.) Have a great summer, everyone!!! Thank you for reading this blog. :-) Catharine

Kindergarten graduation

The kindergarten graduation last week was just lovely! It was so nice to see all the girls in their party dresses and boys in their best shirts, and so many proud parents marvelling at how big our babies have grown.

School Council email list

If you're not already on Ginnie's School Council email list, please drop us a line at clairleacouncil@gmail.com and Ginnie will add you to the list. Also feel free to send us any comments about this blog or topics you'd like to see addressed here or at Council meetings next year.

Planning a Clairlea Fun Fair for 2010

Kudos to the parents who've stepped forward offering to plan a Fun Fair at Clairlea for 2010! This is a time-consuming but hugely successful endeavour with great fundraising potential. For anyone interested in joining the Fun Fair planning team, there will be a meeting on Friday at 10am in the little lunch room (old home education room). This is your chance to voice your opinions and be a part of a fun and fantastic event. In the meantime, I'm sure everyone will want to support General Brock PS in their Fun Fair, which happens this Saturday from 11am-3pm.

School Council members

Here's a photo of some (not all) of the members of School Council this year. This is the team that does the movie nights, pizza lunches, baskets at concerts. These parents advocate for the school, volunteer in classrooms and libraries, raise money for sports equipment and musical instruments, plan the graduation party and take care of just about everything in between. Those who can't be at the school often, find other small ways to contribute to the success of the school. It's a terrific group and we hope you will join us next year!

From left to right, Laura, Catharine, Christina, Jennifer, Rob, Ginnie (our fearless leader), Tami, Hope, Bev, Mr. Landry, and Ann.

Council meeting, new principal and v-p

I will write up a full account of yesterday's Council meeting as soon as I get a chance, but I wanted to quickly summarize our meeting with the new principal and vice-principal, Ms. Persaud and Mr. Frenette. They made a favourable impression. Between them, they have a great deal of experience overseeing large and complex schools. They also seem to have a good balance of skills, including French and English. Ms. Persaud spoke from the perspective of a parent, and seemed to understand the importance of creating a safe, nurturing and enjoyable learning environment for the children. She mentioned professional development for teachers as an important priority. Parents expressed considerable concern about the turnover in the principal and v-p positions at Clairlea in recent years, and Superintendent Dickinson, Ms. Persaud and Mr. Frenette seemed to understand and sympathize with this concern. Ms. P and Mr. F assured us of their intention to make a long-term commitment to Clairlea, barring any unforseen circumstances. (At least, that was how I interpreted their response to the question.) For anyone who's wondering why Ms. Bismilla is being transferred out, the reason is that Ms. Persaud was considered the ideal candidate for principal of Clairlea (there was reportedly some competition for her from other schools), but she doesn't speak French, so Clairlea needed a French-speaking v-p. Ms. Bismilla is returning to Oakridge, where she originally worked as a teacher. Some very kind words were said about Ms. Bismilla and it's clear that she will be missed by Clairlea and warmly welcomed back to Oakridge. More on the rest of the meeting in a day or two.

Play Date at The Park - Friday June 5

One of the parents has organized a Clairlea community Play Date at the Park for this Friday, June 5 at 3:45pm at Clairlea Park. (Rain date: June 12). Updated June 4: This is in fact the joint effort of several Clairlea parents and I hear there will be an ice cream truck and face painting!

School Council Meeting tonight - agenda; May minutes

Well, well... it's June already! The School Council meets today (Wed June 3) for the last time this school year. The agenda is posted here, along with minutes of the May meeting. Superintendent Rauda Dickinson will join us to explain the selection of the new administration, and our new principal Ms. Persaud and vice-principal Mr. Frenette, who come to Clairlea from Oakridge Jr PS, have said they hope to stop by. The meeting goes from 7:00-8:30 followed by a celebration at the home of one of the parents. We hope you will join us! As always, everyone is welcome and childcare will be provided in the gym.

abc123 - an online education resource

Our School Council chair pointed me to abc123, an education site produced by the Ontario Ministry of Education. It is a great resource for any parent who wants to get involved in their child's education. It offers downloadable, printed and video resources in 15 different languages that should help support our kids in school and help keep them learning over the summer months, too! Enjoy!