October 2016 Newsletter
Author: Windows User
Keywords: newsletter, october

Regency Griffins

October, 2016

From the Office of Ms. Leoni

September was a very smooth transition back to school after a fun summer! The classes are filled with evidence of student learning – lots of great writing and drawings. Our School Council has been formed and we are excited to work together this year. Our school remains committed to Healthy Living, an important Regency value and so much has been planned already. To encourage healthy eating, we continue to offer the Snack Cart throughout the day. We also encourage students to bring healthy snacks and to hydrate-well. To encourage a healthy attitude, we have presentations for students planned for this school year (including assemblies and author visitors in our library). To encourage health relationships, we plan on providing many leadership opportunities for students this year (including Student Council, Friendship Clubs with our Community Classes, and Peer Lunch Assistants). I am also excited to announce that our Junior students will have the opportunity to learn music with Mr. Fuller – we have purchased many new instruments and a junior music room has been established in our school. These are just a few ideas in store!
Just a reminder that Thursday Oct. 6th is our Meet the Teacher/Open House from 5:30-7:30. For this first hour, we are having a BBQ – a social gathering on the school playground area. Each combo is $6.00 and you can purchase that evening. The second hour will be a chance for you to visit your child(ren)’s classroom and other school spaces. Don’t forget to visit our Book Fair in the library. We hope to see everyone out this evening.
Thank you to everyone who has expressed interest in volunteering at our school. I have passed along your various requests/areas of interest to the appropriate staff as they will contact you once the need arises. You time and help is greatly appreciated. Working together makes a difference and strengthens our school.
Just a reminder that Monday, October 10th is a school holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Ms. Leoni (Principal)

Important Dates

QSP Assembly
Our ‘Kick off Assembly’ for QSP fundraiser will start at 1:30 p.m. on October 3. Please ask your child for information.
Gym Clothes
Please note that if your child/ren is/are buying Regency gym clothes, that all orders should be in by Friday, October 14th. Order for Gym clothing can also be placed on School Cash Online.
Regency Water Bottles will be sold at the BBQ and ongoing through the school year.

Principal: L. Leoni
WEBSite:
http://www.regencyacres.ps.yrdsb.ca
Phone: (905) 27-9811 FAX: (905) 727-5109
123 Murray Drive, Aurora, Ont. L4G 2C7
Trustee: Peter Adams-Luchowski (416) 906-0937
Superintendent: bECKY green (905) 884-4477

If you wish to receive email from us regarding fundraisers, pizza forms, Popcorn forms, hot dog forms or anything that may be sold at school, please Judy (905) 727-9811.

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Regency Griffins

Hot Lunch Wednesdays

This year's Hot Lunch program starts on October 12th. Order forms have been sent home, received and recorded. We look forward to making our first hot lunch delivery. This first session will run until Wednesday, February 15, 2016.
We appreciate everyone who has chosen to participate in this important school fundraiser and we are still happy to accept new orders.
Please keep in mind that the weekly availability of menu items on a cash and carry basis will be on a very limited basis and items will not have a guaranteed supply. For more information please visit our school website.
Payment may be made in full with a cheque dated September 29, 2016, or with two cheques dated September 29, 2016 and post-dated December 7, 2016. All cheques should be made payable to: Regency Acres P.S. If you are using School Cash Online, orders will be processed on a monthly basis and orders must be completed by midnight of the third Wednesday of every month. If you order via School Cash Online, you do not need to complete a paper order form.

From the Library

All students have now completed a library orientation session and are borrowing books from the library. Kindergarten students are able to borrow one book at a time, all other students may have 2 books. Please encourage your child to read and return their books so others may have the opportunity to borrow them as well. There are many wonderful books in our collection, with more being purchased to keep our collection fresh and relevant.
Regency Acres is fortunate to be part of the Adopt A School Book program through Indigo Books. Please visit their website this week at https://adoptaschool.indigo.ca/eng/schools/1680 to make a donation for our library. This is a fantastic opportunity to put quality books in the hands of our students. The Adopt A School program runs until October 9, 2016.
Our first Scholastic Book Fair will run from October 3-7, 2016. It will be open each afternoon until 4pm, and Thursday evening from 5-7:30 to coordinate with Meet The Teacher Open House. Proceeds from the book fair will be used to add books to our library and teacher classrooms. Please take an opportunity to drop in and see our library and makerspace makeover!
Regency Acres is very lucky to have author Eric Walters coming to Regency October 19. Students from grades 4-8 will hear his presentation. We will have an author for our primary students later this year.

BOOK FAIR HOURS
Mon. Oct. 3: 8:15 - 3:45
Tues. Oct. 4: 8:00 - 4:00
Wed. Oct. 5: 8:00 - 4:00
Thurs. Oct. 6: 8:00 - 3:45
and 5:00 - 7:30
Fri. Oct. 7: 8:00 - 10:35
The book fair is open each A.M. at recess, but closed at lunch.

October, 2016

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Safety In and Around Regency

Scooters and Skateboards:
We ask that students lock up Scooters and Skateboards on the bike racks. We are going to try having bins for storage available in the back of classrooms so they do not become a tripping hazard. We are asking that they not be stored in lockers as we have already had an injury with scooters being swung around and it may fall out of a locker.
Kiss and Ride:
A reminder: please pull up to the end of the Kiss and Ride, do not stop in the middle to let off students. We do not want anyone to get into an accident and want to keep traffic moving smoothly through the drop off.
Concussions:
Our school board protocol around concussions is: If your child has sustained a concussion whether at school, at home or somewhere else, please ask us for a concussion form. This form helps give us direction around what your child can or cannot do and when they may resume activities.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Lunch Time

As a reminder to parents, please be aware that allowing your child to spend the lunch hour off school property may put your child at risk. Once off school property, your child’s destination and activities may be unknown and unsupervised. The school is NOT responsible for students who leave school property during the lunch break. If students stay at school for lunch, they must remain on school property for the remainder of the noon break. When deciding to give your child permission to leave for lunch, please think carefully about your decision and speak to your child about the responsibilities of being off school property and what to do if they encounter dangerous or uncomfortable situations.

Vehicle Safety

A reminder to all parents, who drop off in the morning and pick up at the end of the day. Please drive slowly when in our parking lot. In the first month of school, we have witnessed some cars driving extremely fast in the parking lot. Remember there are many children and adults who may be in this area that may be hit. Please exercise caution when driving. We ask that you do not park in the fire route. As always, we encourage you to use the kiss and ride to drop off your children in the morning.

Regency Griffins

IMPORTANT NOTICE
Our Kiss and Ride area (where we have been used to parking our cars during the day and after school) has been IDENTIFIED by the Fire Department as a FIRE ROUTE. Appropriate signage will be installed in this area soon. As well, a By-Law officer will be enforcing this area during the transition. Kiss and Ride will operate the same way so our morning drop-off procedures will not be impacted (since it is a “moving line”). However, beyond this time, no cars can be parked in this area, regardless of time.
Thank you for your understanding.

Farm to School

Great news!
We are excited to announce that our FARM TO SCHOOL proposal was accepted!. Our school will receive $10,000 over the next 3 years to implement a sustainable Farm to School program that will focus on eating locally sourced, locally grown foods. Our school will be offering Salad Days (8 this year and 20 in the next couple of years). On Salad Days (dates TBD), students will be able to build their salads and top them with delicious and healthy organic ingredients. We are happy to be supported by Farm to Cafeteria Canada, our provincial partner, Sustain Ontario, York Region Public Health, York Region Food Network, Aurora Food Pantry, Windfall Ecology Centre, and of course, the primary funder, Whole Kids Foundation. We have excited plans that we will share as this year progress. To begin, we are pleased to announce that we are launching our involvement with this movement with a FREE “Harvest Salad” Buffet (as well as hot apple cider) for every student and staff on October, 25th at our school! We have invited local media and special guests to our launch. We are so excited!
NOTE: Only the first Salad Day will be FREE, all salad days after there will be a minimal charge.

Regency Griffins

School Council

Our first School Council meeting was Wednesday Sept 21. We had a great turnout and it was nice to see so many new parents come out! We closed out the 2015-2016 business and selected the 2016-2017 council. I am pleased to announce the members of the 2016-2017 school council:
Principal: Lisa Leoni (non-voting)
Chair: Joan Lash
Treasurer: Carol McLeod
Secretary: Kim Davies
Chair - Fundraising: Leah Clark
Chair - Healthy Schools, Food, Fitness: Jillian Snider
Community Rep: Rodney Mooy
Teacher Rep: Heather Deckert
Support Staff Rep: Judy Sandiford
General Voting Members: Kathy Duncan, Sandy Kennedy, Sophia Li, Maryam Mogouei, Diana Moniz, and Pat Morton
I would like to thank all members for volunteering their time to be part of school council. This is a dynamic team who bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to School Council and hope to make a positive contribution to our school community and implement new ideas, goals, events that will directly impact the well-being of all Regency students, and support the Principal, administration, teachers, and parents.
A few of the topics we discussed:
School cash-on-line is up and running. The response has been tremendous! Please continue to use this convenient option for ordering items and help the school reduce the use of paper.
Mrs. Claus gave an overview of the new set-up of the library and the plans she has for the space & assortment of books. It looks terrific! Please pop in the next time you are in the school. Also, the new MakerSpace area is ready to go and your donations are very much appreciated. Please refer to Mrs. Clause’s wish list sent via email.
The next big event is the QSP kick off assembly on Tuesday, Oct. 4. This is a major fundraiser for the school and all of the proceeds go to help to fund the purchase of items that will enhance the success of all our students (for example: library books and resources, physical activity equipment, new musical instruments, innovative school programs, and classroom supplies). Thank you to Diana Moniz for leading QSP this year!
Due to the success of last year’s Halloween shop, we will be holding another this year! Your donations of gently used Halloween costumes are welcome. Leah Clark is leading this event once again. Details will be sent soon.
Mark your calendars for Thursday, Nov. 10, 7:30pm at Regency. Sandy Kennedy has secured a PRO Grant and we will be hosting a workshop “Motivating Kids & Teens” with guest speaker Dr. Karyn Gordon!! Dr. Gordon is a Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Corporate Trainer, Producer; Host and Relationship/Career Expert for Good Morning America (USA) & Cityline (Canada).
Thank you for your continued support of School Council. Please do not hesitate to contact any of the members with feedback, suggestions, ideas, etc. We appreciate it very much!
Joan Lash
Chair, School Council

Regency Griffins

In, Out and Around Regency.

On September 15th Ms. DiGrigoli and Ms. Chiarelli's FDK class celebrated Peter Reynold's Dot Day! We celebrated the power of a dot and the ability that we all can make our mark! Follow our blog at www.rapsfdk.weebly.com to see all our artisan creations!

Mrs. Moffitt, Mr. Lanning and Mr. Fuller’s students had the opportunity to participate in The World Hockey Future Goals STEM experience. Students had the opportunity to hear Colonel Chris Hadfield (the first Canadian astronaut ) speak about his experiences as an engineer, a pilot and an astronaut. Students also participated in a scavenger hunt in the Fan Village, where they visited different stations that highlighted cultural information on the countries and teams participating in The World Cup of Hockey. Students were also surprised with a concert by the Mini Pop kids! Everyone had a blast and actively learned how hockey could help them reach their future goals!

RAPS second annual Halloween and Party Boo-tique will be ready for business on Tuesday October 11 2016 until October 31, 2016.
The Boo-tique will be open during lunch recess and after school until 3:30pm.
Everyone is invited to come and take a peek at the great selection of costumes, makeup, wigs, jewelry, masks and accessories.
All items are on sale for $1, $2, $5 and $10. Deluxe quality items for low prices!! New items added daily!!
We are also accepting donations of gently used costumes and accessories to add to our inventory. Please drop off inside the main entrance by October 6th. This event is a fundraiser and all proceeds will be used to enhance learning at Regency.
If you have any questions or are able to volunteer some time in the Boo-tique, please contact:
Leah Clark (leahclark357@gmail.com)
*As with all our fundraisers, no purchase is required in order to participate.