Friday, April 20, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Spring
I can't believe we're wearing shorts and sandals to school in the middle of March...
The green grass and sunshine make doing yard duty a joy not a chore. The thing about spring though is that it is even more glaring that we don't have a playground to play on. The kids are wonderful about filling their recesses with skipping, soccer, foot hockey and the usual playground games, but they are definitely missing the playground to climb on.
This is a playground that is not just about our school, but about our neighbourhood. There isn't a park in the whole south east quadrant of the town. This school yard is used by the North Perth Parks and Rec. department, Listowel soccer club and many community groups on a regular basis.
We are just shy of $30 000 in our fundraising efforts with the Kinsmen and several businesses in town promising to make donations in the near future, so that number will rise soon.
Please consider supporting the playground by buying a subscription to the Listowel Banner (see post below) or by making a donation to the playground. Forms are available at the school, or you can donate online at CanadaHelps.org (indicate Listowel Eastdale campaign in "fund/designation."
Thanks for your support!
Happy Spring
Mrs. B
The green grass and sunshine make doing yard duty a joy not a chore. The thing about spring though is that it is even more glaring that we don't have a playground to play on. The kids are wonderful about filling their recesses with skipping, soccer, foot hockey and the usual playground games, but they are definitely missing the playground to climb on.
This is a playground that is not just about our school, but about our neighbourhood. There isn't a park in the whole south east quadrant of the town. This school yard is used by the North Perth Parks and Rec. department, Listowel soccer club and many community groups on a regular basis.
We are just shy of $30 000 in our fundraising efforts with the Kinsmen and several businesses in town promising to make donations in the near future, so that number will rise soon.
Please consider supporting the playground by buying a subscription to the Listowel Banner (see post below) or by making a donation to the playground. Forms are available at the school, or you can donate online at CanadaHelps.org (indicate Listowel Eastdale campaign in "fund/designation."
Thanks for your support!
Happy Spring
Mrs. B
Friday, February 3, 2012
Listowel Banner helps with the playground campaign.
Please consider a subscription to the Listowel Banner.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Playground Update
So as of today we are just under $27 000 dollars raised for the playground.
Here's what the School Council has been working on for this campaign:
Most recently Cowan's Country store ran a great promotion over Christmas by offering eco-friendly gift wrapping with donations going to the playground.
The Listowel Independent sent 6000 flyers with the paper to homes in Listowel. I have been so impressed with the donations that have come from this effort -- it is very rewarding to see how many people in our town feel a connection to Eastdale and have made donations to support us.
The Listowel Banner is going to help us with a campaign in February -- it will be "unveiled" soon!
School Council members made presentations to the Town of North Perth requesting financial assistance as so many North Perth Parks and Rec programs that use our school would benefit from the playground. This request was recently turned down.
School Council also made a presentation to the Listowel Kinsmen, and we are keeping our fingers crossed on this one!
We recently received a grant from the Carnegie Family Fund through the Stratford Perth County Community Foundation.
We've applied for another grant, and are working on the forms for another.
The chair of the fundraising committee has been busy soliciting businesses for their donations.
Our students have also been regularly visiting my office with ideas for fundraising. The recent Gr. 4/5 Pie in the Face contest raised $400 and saw Ms. Martin wear a pie!
This playground will come, and it will be an awesome addition to the school and neighbourhood!
If you are interested in donating, or if you have ideas to support the campaign, please call the school. Donations are tax deductible through the Foundation for Enriching Education.
Here's what the School Council has been working on for this campaign:
Most recently Cowan's Country store ran a great promotion over Christmas by offering eco-friendly gift wrapping with donations going to the playground.
The Listowel Independent sent 6000 flyers with the paper to homes in Listowel. I have been so impressed with the donations that have come from this effort -- it is very rewarding to see how many people in our town feel a connection to Eastdale and have made donations to support us.
The Listowel Banner is going to help us with a campaign in February -- it will be "unveiled" soon!
School Council members made presentations to the Town of North Perth requesting financial assistance as so many North Perth Parks and Rec programs that use our school would benefit from the playground. This request was recently turned down.
School Council also made a presentation to the Listowel Kinsmen, and we are keeping our fingers crossed on this one!
We recently received a grant from the Carnegie Family Fund through the Stratford Perth County Community Foundation.
We've applied for another grant, and are working on the forms for another.
The chair of the fundraising committee has been busy soliciting businesses for their donations.
Our students have also been regularly visiting my office with ideas for fundraising. The recent Gr. 4/5 Pie in the Face contest raised $400 and saw Ms. Martin wear a pie!
This playground will come, and it will be an awesome addition to the school and neighbourhood!
If you are interested in donating, or if you have ideas to support the campaign, please call the school. Donations are tax deductible through the Foundation for Enriching Education.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Celebrating our Achievements!
Staff took time on Friday’s PA Day to review our school goals from last year and to set new ones for this school year. We are proud to share our results:
Literacy Goals:
Our reading goal was for 45% of primary students and 70% of junior students to reach level 3 or 4 in Making Connections in reading (measured by EQAO results). We exceeded our goals here significantly. 67% of primary students and 85% of junior students achieved level 3 or 4.
Our writing goal was for 65% of primary students and 83% of junior students to achieve level 3 or 4 in knowledge of form and style in writing (as measured by EQAO results). 82% of our primary students and 81% of our junior student reached level 3 or 4.
These are great academic results! They show that focused teaching strategies, targeting expectations and specific students reap great rewards. I am proud of our students and teachers!
Community, Culture and Caring
We set other goals last year that will continue this year as well. For Community, Culture and Caring we set a goal to become a bronze level eco-school with a reduction in waste by 10%. In fact we achieved a silver level Eco School designation and reduced waste by 41%!!
We set another goal to participate in Me to We Haiti project by raising $1000. Our Me to We student leaders helped us raise $1519.01.
Our healthy school goal was to focus on intramural programming with 75% of students taking part. For most activities in most grades participation approached 100 % throughout the year.
We are working on setting goals for the 2011-2012 school year. Our focus will continue to be on Literacy, specifically reading, and on Community, Culture and Caring, specifically EcoSchools project, Me to We, inclusion and safe schools.
As we set those goals and work to achieve them we will share our progress with you. We hope you will continue to support our efforts.
Friday, September 9, 2011
TV stars!
This anniversary is creating big excitement here at Eastdale!
Today we had Steve Howe, the communications director here to interview some members of school council, a former teacher, myself and some students about the history of Eastdale and how we feel about the school. Steve is going to create a video of the interviews to put on the school board's website; it will also be sent out to the board's media contacts.
I have to admit I spent some time this morning thinking about what to wear, and wishing my hair was different...
The students were the most calm and self-assured of the bunch of us.
I will post the link to the video when I get it.
I'm also going to call my mom and tell her "I'm in a video!" Cool!
Today we had Steve Howe, the communications director here to interview some members of school council, a former teacher, myself and some students about the history of Eastdale and how we feel about the school. Steve is going to create a video of the interviews to put on the school board's website; it will also be sent out to the board's media contacts.
I have to admit I spent some time this morning thinking about what to wear, and wishing my hair was different...
The students were the most calm and self-assured of the bunch of us.
I will post the link to the video when I get it.
I'm also going to call my mom and tell her "I'm in a video!" Cool!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Back to School
I've been officially back to school for 4 days. My summer holiday is over, but I am excited about the new school year.
Some things to mark on your calendar:
September 6 is the first day of school. Students meet at the back of the school, and then follow staff into the gym to find out which classes they will be in. Parents are welcome to join their students in the gym.
September 13 is the first School Council meeting of the year. It's from 7-8:15pm in the library. Babysitting is provided. We encourage everyone to come out and learn more about the "behind the scenes" of Eastdale. Don't worry -- your presence does not commit you to a year of committee meetings or obligations!
September 20 is Meet the Teacher BBQ 5-7pm.
September 24 is our Eastdale Annivesary Celebration. I am pretty excited about the events the school council has planned. Check out the Anniversary "page" above for details.
September 30 is a Professional Development Day for teachers. We'll be working hard on setting and planning school goals for the year.
See you soon!
K
Some things to mark on your calendar:
September 6 is the first day of school. Students meet at the back of the school, and then follow staff into the gym to find out which classes they will be in. Parents are welcome to join their students in the gym.
September 13 is the first School Council meeting of the year. It's from 7-8:15pm in the library. Babysitting is provided. We encourage everyone to come out and learn more about the "behind the scenes" of Eastdale. Don't worry -- your presence does not commit you to a year of committee meetings or obligations!
September 20 is Meet the Teacher BBQ 5-7pm.
September 24 is our Eastdale Annivesary Celebration. I am pretty excited about the events the school council has planned. Check out the Anniversary "page" above for details.
September 30 is a Professional Development Day for teachers. We'll be working hard on setting and planning school goals for the year.
See you soon!
K
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