General News
Greetings readership as we wrap another busy week of learning and teaching at John Calvin School. We thank the Lord for His many blessings during the course of this week and we pray that He will continue to bless the work of parents, teachers and support staff as we instruct His covenant children more about His Word and world. To God be the glory!
We congratulate Walter and Cheryl Feenstra with the birth of their daughter, Mackenzie Grace. All is well with mom and baby and the rest of the family too, including Brooke in Grade 2A and Robby in Grade 1B who are excited to have a new, baby sister. (Our children all are gifts of God, our sons and daughters his reward—each one a blessing from the LORD, as heritage on us bestowed. Psalm 127:3, BoP). May the Lord provide the Feenstras with all that they need as they raise their children in the fear of His Name.
In two weeks time, the students are planning to perform their Ascension/Pentecost concert, The Return of the King. After a rehearsal in the Smithville church on Tuesday morning, the school will put on a matinee performance on Thursday afternoon, May 30 beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Smithville Canadian Reformed church. The concert will be completed in time for the students to take the buses home. For this performance, we would like all the students to wear their JCS t-shirt. If they do not have one, e.g. K students, perhaps they could wear a similar coloured t-shirt. The second concert is on Friday evening, May 31 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the same church building. We look forward to seeing you either on Thursday afternoon or Friday evening. May the Lord bless the efforts of the children, director, and the accompanists/musicians as they prepare for the performances.
For the Friday evening concert, parents need to bring their children to the school by 7:20 p.m., and pick them up again from their respective classrooms immediately after the concert. It would also be good for students to wear short-sleeved shirts for the evening concert as it will be quite warm at the front of the church. We also have a request for Grades 6-8 dads to help bring the risers from the church into the school gym after Friday evening’s concert. The students will look after putting them away in the storage room on the Monday thereafter. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in these matters.
A few items for your attention:
*There are still some outstanding pledges that need to come in from the Hike for Hospice. Please bring them in to the school as soon as possible. Just a reminder that the t-shirt allotment is one per participating student. Thank you.
*This past Wednesday, the students in Grades 7&8 wrote the annual Gauss Math contest. The response sheets have been sent off for marking and we should know the results sometime in early June.
*This week, several grades enjoyed field trips to various destinations in the Golden Horseshoe. Please read the classroom news for trip details.
*The final baseball practices for the boys’ and girls’ teams are scheduled for next week Tuesday and Thursday after school from 2:50 until 4:00. The tournament is scheduled for Saturday, May 25 in Dorchester, the same venue as last year. The boys’ and girls’ schedules are as follows:
Girls Boys
9:30 JCS vs Covenant 8:30 JCS vs DACS
12:50 JCS vs Grace 10:30 JCS vs ACRES
3:50 JCS vs Rehoboth 1:50 JCS vs Covenant
4:50 Finals
*Year End Trips: Soon, D.V., it will be the month of June and all of what that month represents on the school calendar. One of the exciting events is the annual year end trips. This year, Grade 7 is once again planning on an overnight stay at Fort George on Thursday, June 13 before heading off to Niagara Falls the next day. Grades K-6 are planning to visit Marineland on Tuesday, June 18. For both venues, there are enough complimentary passes to cover teachers only. Therefore, all parents (including class moms and classroom volunteers) will need to pay the group rate which is $29.00 for the Grade 7 trip (Niagara Falls only) and $16.00 for Marineland. Payment for all trips must be sent to the JCS office, clearly marked with your name on the envelope. Parents need to email the office (office@johncalvinschool.com) to book their spot on the trips. Please do not contact your child’s/children’s teacher(s). The last date to sign up for a trip is Friday, June 7.
As per usual, the Student Fund kicks in a significant portion of the cost of the K-6 trip but cannot carry it all. Thus we ask that each child contribute $10.00 to a maximum of $30.00 per family (this cost is the same as last year). The contribution should be brought to the school on or by June 14th. Beyond that, there is no need for students to bring any spending money. This year we would again ask that all students wear JCS t-shirts while on the trip.
Parents are reminded of the protocol for class trip volunteers (it’s included with this edition of the Chronicle). Parents who wish to join the trips may not take along their pre-school children. All parents who come along will be assigned a group of students to chaperon for the grade they wish to accompany. If there is no room for parents on the buses, they will have to car pool to the venue.
For the Marineland trip, the buses are scheduled to return at around 5:00. Parents are requested to pick-up their children from the school at that time.
*Lost and Found: The tables are filled up again so when you are in the school please take a look on the tables in the short hallway of the 2016 addition. All remaining items will be taken to the GBF or Value Village at the end of the month.
Reminders:
*Please continue to collect tabs for cans for Jude V. so he and his family can get a wheelchair for his sister Anna.
*With the onset of warmer, sunny weather comes the spring and summer wardrobe for students. We would like to remind parents and students of the dress code regarding tops and shorts as found on pp 3-11 & 3-12 in the Policies and Procedures section of the Parent Handbook.
*It’s that time of year again, so please continue to be wary of ticks and mosquitoes.
*Dental screening for KA and KB is scheduled for the afternoon of Tuesday, May 28. Reminder: Parents do have the option to opt out. Please contact Niagara Health and let them know if you choose to opt out of the program.
*Victoria Day on Monday, May 20
*Teachers College graduation on Friday, May 24. The Lord willing, one of the graduating students will be teaching at John Calvin School next year—Mrs. Alanna Folkerts (Grade 6B).
*Kindergarten Day is on Wednesday, June 5. Any outstanding information packages need to be returned as soon as possible. Class lists were sent home earlier this month.
*Request from the JCS Library: The school will gladly accept any Scout books by Piet Prins that you would like to donate to the library. Apparently, students are begging for them every week and there are just not enough to go around.
Have a great long weekend everyone whether you are spending it at home, camping or at the cottage. May our Heavenly Father grant us a blessed day of worship on Sunday. We hope to touch base again next week Friday. G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
Another week has flown by in kindergarten! This week we took advantage of the sunny days and had a picnic at lunch time. We could hear the birds chirping and the bees buzzing. The children marveled at God’s creation when they saw a wasp’s nest on the side of the school. In Math class we have started to read number sentences and subtract things that we see on the beach. This is a new concept for kindergarten and it is often confused with addition. The students are encouraged to continue practicing the concept of subtraction at home. In Bible class we listened to stories about the many miracles that Jesus did while he was on this earth. Next week we continue to look at miracles as well as parables. We are wrapping up our sight words but will continue to review them until the end of school. Next week we will be focusing more on blends! We wish you a lovely long weekend! NR&JB
Words of the week: Pink & Grey
Blends: oi, ue
Memory work: Concert songs
Grade 1
We have finished our Family unit this week and had a few visitors in our class to wrap up the unit. Mrs. J. VanSydenborgh spoke to us about what a family looks like. She talked about how blessed we are to be adopted children of God, and how we all have received the sign and seal of baptism. She added how some of us have been especially blessed by being adopted two times. Thanks, Mrs. VanSydenborgh for the great presentation. Ask your child about it. On Thursday we could enjoy a beautiful walk to town to participate in the Emergency Services Open House. We climbed in and out of a lot of different vehicles. We enjoyed a hot dog and we are thankful for all the things we were able to take home. Thanks to the moms who joined us on our walk. Our Bible unit will wrap up on Monday with a test on Wednesday. Look for the notes in your child’s bag. Enjoy the long weekend. Until next time.
Memory Work for Friday, May 24: Psalm 121:4
Spelling Words: call, house, nice, people, talk
Grade 2
This week was a very exciting week in Grade 2. We read books and worked on a variety of frog-themed activities. We also enjoyed a day at St. John’s, searching for pond and forest creatures. The pond seemed to be much quieter this year…likely many creatures are further behind in their life cycles due to these cool, wet weather conditions. However, over the course of the day, some of the groups were able to spot the baby Canadian geese that hatched while we were there! That was a new experience! On Tuesday we hope to visit Ball’s Falls for one of their educational programs called Amazing Amphibians. Afterwards, we plan to hike in the park. We hope to leave the school at 8:45.Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered for one of our trips. The children always love it when their parent comes along! And we certainly appreciate the extra help! Our caterpillars are growing, growing, growing! It’s astounding to see God’s handiwork in progress! We are eagerly awaiting the chrysalis stage. That’s all for now, have a wonderful long weekend. BV/RG
Memory work: Psalm 105:1
Spelling words: almost, any, animal, talk, before
Tuesday: Ball’s Falls
Grade 3
Here we are again! It was a delightful week! Together we could serve our God and our classmates! In our Bible classes we heard about the mercy and justice of the LORD and about His covenant people who need to trust and obey. Math is all about fractions. Ask us to explain what they are all about. At the time of writing we are still looking forward to our trip to Niagara Falls. We will tell you all about the Bird Kingdom, Greenhouses, and Dufferin Islands next week (DV). We had fun designing Barefoot Island. Our legends and symbols were very creative! That’s it for now. Have a blessed weekend. J.B./M.P.
Words: fractions, covenant, justice, mercy, Grace
Hymn 77:1,2; Text: Joshua 24:15
Gym clothes on Monday and Thursday
Library books on Tuesday
Mission $ and Spelling Dictation on Friday
Grade 4
We are full speed ahead until the end of the school year. Just a few short weeks left. Please keep working with the times tables. Students should be reading roughly 20+ minutes daily, even throughout the summer. We are looking forward to preparations for the Medieval day. Mr. Tesfaye will also be bringing in his collection of Medieval armour and weaponry for a presentation this week. In spelling, we are working on Lesson 33. The words are: moved, special, move, blue, parents, movie, sold, true, son, threw, pictures, eight, through, aunt, won (4B extra words: unkempt, replenish, agriculture, humdrum).
Tues: 4A Math Quiz Length
Wed: 4B Math Quiz Area and Perimeter
Thurs: 4B French Er and Ir verbs Quiz
Memory Work: Hymn 50: 1, Next week Hymn 68: 1 & 8, Bible Memory Revelation 21:1&2
Grade 5
The planet projects are all in and hung up and they look wonderful! Everyone did a great job on the model and their presentations. On Wednesday, May 22, we have our stargazing party! You should have received a paper home with the details. In case you didn’t, it will start at 7:00 and take place in the gym. We will likely wrap things up around 9:00. Grade 5 students and their parents are welcome to come. Sorry, but no siblings are allowed. In Church History, we have started talking about the fall of Jerusalem. Have a wonderful long weekend! RK/KV
Devotions: 5A – Tu. Hannah, W. Caiden, Th. Jude, F. Jacob
5B – Tu. Eden, W. Mason, Th. Reuben, F. Trinity
Grade 6
We had an enjoyable trip to Crawford Lake. The students went into a couple of longhouses and were able to see and touch several items. We had a unique experience in that our tour guide was a Christian and connected the life of the early Christians in Acts to how the natives lived communally. A practice small group activity using lacrosse sticks was also enjoyed by many. After a picnic lunch the students all hiked and ran around the boardwalk of Crawford Lake. Since there is no oxygen in the bottom half of this meromictic lake, remnants of corn pollen dated to 600 yrs. ago have been found down there. Thanks to Mrs. VanLuik for safely driving us. Next week we will start a Church History unit on the forerunners of the Reformation. We will begin our unit with the life of Peter Waldo and the spreading of the pearl of great price. Have an enjoyable weekend and blessed Sunday. SO/CVA
Grade 7A
Our Independent Study interviews are coming along nicely. Students are able to interview experts and professionals in their field of study. Ideally the interview takes place in person; if absolutely necessary over phone, skype or email. Please ensure an audio recording is available. In Bible History we learned why Jeroboam’s sin of golden calves was so serious. We’ll transition to Judah as we follow redemptive history. Our in-school track and field tryout will be held Fri. May 24 in the morning. We’ll continue training for that in P.E. class. We’ll wrap up “Foundations in Personal Finance” in Math next week and come back to the regular curriculum. Enjoy your long weekend.
Grade 7B
In Bible History, we continue to work our way through looking at the kings of Judah and Israel and how the Lord punishes those who stray from His ways. In Math, we have come to the end of our Foundations in Personal Finance unit and next week we will begin looking at converting measurements. In Language Arts, we continue with our novel study on “The Hobbit”. There are still a few stragglers who have not made contact with someone to interview for Independent Study. Please encourage your student(s) to reach out again and set that interview date. Devotions – Tristan W. Have a great long weekend!
Grade 8A
It was an interesting week this week for 8A! On Monday we had the privilege of taking part in the ‘Compassion Project’ where students took in an exhibit where they walked in the shoes of the less fortunate. I’m sure if you ask them, they will gladly share their experience! On Wednesday, we had our first real whole school concert practice. The anticipation is building. We also continued to work through the history of the Sod House Frontier in western Canada during the late 1800s. In L.A. we continued reading through our novel study on the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J
Grade 8B
We have been busy with all of the many year-end activities that happen in grade 8. We had a lovely trip to the Compassion Experience on Monday. We had to wait in line for some time, but once we started the tour, we were all struck by the living conditions that many children around the world experience. The point of this demonstration was to raise awareness for the ‘adopt a child’ program that is run by Compassion International. Having seen the display, we also have a greater awareness of the situation some ‘our’ adopted children may experience in Haiti or Timor or Africa. We hope to write a formal Math quiz near the end of next week. We’ve picked up our Bible lessons again at the time of the Ascension and we will continue our study through the book of Acts.
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
