General News
The purpose of John Calvin School is to assist and support parents in the education of their covenant children to the glory of God. In accomplishing this mission, the vision of John Calvin School is to provide excellent Christ-centered education in service to God and our neighbour.
Yesterday we could celebrate Ascension Day, remembering the ascension of our Lord and Saviour into heaven where he remains seated at the Father’s right hand until the day of his return. How does Christ’s ascension benefit us? First, he is our Advocate in heaven before his Father. Second, we have our flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that he, our Head, will also take us, his members, up to himself. Third, he sends us his Spirit as a counter-pledge, by whose power we seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and not the things that are on earth. (H.C., Lord’s Day 18, Q&A 49)
Greetings readership as we wrap up this short, busy week of instruction at JCS, the last full week of the month of May. In only four weeks time, D.V., the 2021-2022 school year will come to an end. However, that does mean that there are still twenty school days remaining but not all of them necessarily spent in the classrooms. During this time, students will carry on with their regular classroom work, writing tests and quizzes, and completing projects; and, besides regular lesson planning, teachers will be busy finalizing marks and writing final report cards. May our Heavenly Father provide the students and staff with all they need for their respective tasks during the last month of the school year.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who need the comfort, encouragement and guidance of our Heavenly Father in a special way; be it those who are sick, are dealing with difficult family circumstances, or who are grieving the recent passing away of a loved one. In particular we think of the family of Mr. Tom Dekker who passed away earlier this week. Several of his great-grandchildren (Madison, Reuben, and Mitchell VanMiddelkoop, and Linden and Charlize Bartels) attend John Calvin School.
We congratulate Tom and Rebecca Bosscher with the birth of their daughter, Katelyn Grace. All is well with mom and daughter, and the rest of the family too, including Allison (Grade KA). (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 Tom and Rebecca with all that they need as they raise their children in the fear of his Name.
You are invited to join us for the Ascension/Pentecost assembly planned for Friday, June 3rd beginning at 8:15 a.m. Rev. Swaving will be the guest speaker.
A few matters for your attention:
*The baseball teams had their final practices this week. They are planning to leave by bus from the school tomorrow morning. Players need to be at the school by 6:15 a.m. (sharp!) at which time they will head off to Dorchester, the same venue as 2019, the last time the tournament was held. The tournament schedule is as follows:
JCS Girls JCS Boys
9:30 DACS vs JCS 8:30 ACRES vs JCS
12:50 JCS vs ACRES 11:30 Timothy vs JCS
3:50 JCS vs Timothy 1:50 DACS vs JCS
4:50 Finals (if either or both of the teams make it that far)
The return time to the school will depend on the level of success achieved by the teams. The parents of the students involved will receive a phone call or email to let them know when the bus is expected to arrive back at the school. See the schedule above for the time of the last games that one of the teams could play.
*Year End Trips: Soon, next week🙂, it will be the month of June and all of what that month represents on the school calendar (after two non-school, extra-curricular event Junes). One of the exciting events is the annual year-end class trips. This year, Grades K-3 are planning to visit Safari Niagara on Tuesday, June 21 and Grades 4-6 are planning to travel to Wet ‘n’ Wild in Brampton the same day (along with about 600 other students from LCRSS schools; lots of fun). Grade 7 is planning to participate in a number of activities in Niagara Falls on June 17, and Grade 8 is looking forward to spending the week of June 20-24 at Wilderness Tours in Canada’s National Whitewater Park on the Ottawa River. As mentioned previously, this year there will be no extra fees required from the parents for the Grades K-7 trips. The JCS Student Fund has sufficient funds to cover the entrance fees to all three destinations for all the children. There is also no need for students to bring any spending money on the K-6 trips. This year we would again ask that all students wear JCS or blue t-shirts while on their 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 any of 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. Also, all parents (including class moms and classroom volunteers) who come along will need to pay the group rate: $28.00 for Wet ‘n’ Wild, $22.55 for Safari Niagara, and $38.50 for the Grade 7 Niagara trip.
For the June 21 trips, the buses are scheduled to return between 3:45 and 4:00. Parents are requested to pick-up their children from the school at that time.
*Request: We are still in need of about 10 2L pop bottles for one of our Play Day events. If you have any, please pass them along to the school via one of your children. Thanks.
Reminders:
*It’s that time of year again, so when you are outside please continue to be wary of ticks and mosquitoes. See last week’s Chronicle for information from Niagara Public Health about identifying ticks.
*Just a reminder that the school is still collecting can tabs for wheelchairs.
*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 shorts and tops as found in the Polices and Procedures section of the Parent Handbook.
*There are still a number of rapid test kits at the school. If you would like a box or a partial box, please contact the school and arrange to pick one up.
*For Kindergarten parents: Just a reminder to return the Kindergarten registration form and student information form on or by May 31. Kindergarten Day is on Tuesday, August 30.
*We had a very enjoyable School Spirit Day today. When next at the school, check out the hands with students’ and staff members’ favourite texts. We will have thoroughly enjoyed the movie afternoon as well.
*Library Books: The last library day for Grade 8 is next week. They then have two weeks to return all library books. The last library day for Grades K-7 is June 10. They will then have two weeks to return their library books.
*Teachers College graduation this evening.
*Regional Track and Field meet on June 10
*News and Views material is due on Monday, June 13.
*Local Play Day on Friday, June 17
Have an enjoyable weekend everyone and a blessed Sunday. We’ll be in touch again in a week’s time, the Lord willing.
G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Grade 1
We are working hard in our “Green Fern Zoo” reader. Grade 1B has already started to write reports about some of the animals we learned about. Grade 1A will begin their writing activities by the end of the week. We have begun practising standing long jump and running 100 metres to prepare for some of the activities on our play day on June 17th. This week we will have only five Spelling words to learn and students should be able to decode four of them. “Where” is our tricky word. Ask your child what are two things that they can use to describe sound. Mrs. deBoer talked about that in grade 1A this week.
Memory Work: Hymn 72:3
Spelling/Sight words: after, am, play, ride, where
Grade 2
We enjoyed our nice short week in Grade 2! In Bible we finished with Paul’s second missionary journey and have moved onto the third journey! We also finished up the fraction lessons in our Math unit and have moved onto measurement! On Monday both Grade 2 classes will be starting our 20 day countdown to the last day of school! Each day we will be doing something fun! Some days we will be reading the surprise in the morning when we get to school, other days we will read it the day before so the students can come prepared to school! We’re looking forward to it! Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday! RG & BV
Grade 3
We had a short, but very productive week. In Bible History, we came to the end of our unit dealing with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai where they learned how God is a God of order, and how they were to worship Him in a holy manner. Great job on your Bible test, boys and girls. In Math we focused on plane, solid, and congruent shapes. We are working in teams on posters pertaining to the unit on Communities. Ask your child how he/she is showing good team habits. It is great to have PE outside and practise some of the Track and Field activities. Symmetry is the topic in Art. Ask your child about the activity that keeps us busy. We continue to use the talents with which we have been blessed to honour God. What a blessing to be able to serve Him. Have a wonderful weekend and blessed Sunday.
Memory work: Hy. 82:1
Spelling words: picture, please, receive, serve, thanks
Thursday is library day and Friday: Mission $, Spelling test, & Mem. Work
Grade 4
And just like that, we’ve almost reached the end of May already. Thank you for returning the blue Medieval Day sign-up forms. You should have received an updated food and volunteer list on another blue form. Thank you for your offers of help. We have been busy learning all about the Middle Ages in Social Studies. We have wrapped up our Bible units for the year. We have covered from the time of Samuel all the way to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. We have seen that although the Lord’s people turn away from Him time and time again, He remains faithful to His covenant promises. We will now turn our attention to various mission work around the world for the remainder of the school year. We have also come to the end of the Grade 4 spelling program, so there are no more spelling tests this year. A few more things:
Thursday: Grade 4A Math Test – Decimals
Memory Work: Hymn 68:1,8/Revelation 21:1-2
Upcoming Memory Work: Psalm 27:1
Have a restful weekend. YF/KO
Grade 5
The much anticipated trip to the Ontario Science Centre took place yesterday!. We are very grateful for the opportunity to be able to do this once again and are also very thankful for the volunteers who came along as group leaders, as well as all those who offered to come along! It is good to have so many parents who are eager to join us 🙂 After writing the first Church History quiz, we will continue to learn about God’s preservation of the early church and the fall of Jerusalem. Students are putting in an excellent effort to cover many new math concepts and we are happy to see their enthusiasm for learning! The devotions for the week are as follows: 5A – Cohen (M), Nolan (Tu), Aubrey (W), Teagen (Th), Ryley (F). And for 5B – Tara (M), Lilly (Tu), Victoria (W), Izzy (Th), Mason (F). Have an enjoyable weekend! RK/KVL
Grade 6
We have enjoyed the beautiful weather during our recesses and Phys. Ed classes. Our baseball skills were put to the test as both classes competed in their first baseball match. Our guest umpire was very impressed. As we have wrapped up our novel study, we will start our last one on ‘Island of the Blue Dolphins’. Have a blessed weekend. IdV/CVA
Grade 7A
In Church History William Farel has convinced John Calvin to remain in Geneva and carry out God’s church gathering work, but will the City Council allow that work to happen and what control will they want? In Math our study of financial literacy continues with a study of education, careers and entrepreneurship. We’ll mix things up in Science as we learn more about solutes, solvents and solutions. While we don’t like to be critical, in Art we’ll learn how to look at art and be critical. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
Another busy week has come to an end, and this one the last full week of May! A number of units also came to an end and that meant students were studying for three tests this week: Geography, French and Bible. Our study of the Kings of Judah and Israel ended with the story of King Ahab and the prophet Elijah. This means we switched back into Church History, and were introduced to John Calvin. In our Personal Finance unit we have been looking at debt and credit, and that has led into Chapter 3: Education, Careers and Entrepreneurship. Is it possible to get through post secondary education debt free? In LA we continue with our novel study of the Hobbit. Smaug’s pride in showing off his impenetrable armour has led to his downfall. But now what will happen to all that treasure he carefully guarded for so many years? Have an enjoyable weekend! MJ, AL
Grade 8
What a beautiful week in May, where we could enjoy a diverse variety of tasks in grade 8! On Wednesday, students were able to practice the track and field events that they signed up for – the list of events they have been chosen for will be available next week.
On Tuesday, the regular math class has a Chapter 10 quiz (10.1-10.6). On Wednesday, both classes will have a Science quiz on Chapter 7. Classes will have had review time on Friday or Monday. Students are working on a brochure project in History class, where they culminate information on the Railroad. Tomorrow, Grade 7 and 8 students will be representing John Calvin School at the Baseball Tournament. Go JCS! Have a great weekend, MV/RT
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
