General News

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven and nature sing

And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

Greetings everyone as we share with you the last Chronicle for the calendar year, 2018.  The students and staff are looking forward to the two-week Christmas Break; a time for family and friends and renewed energy.  Thank you, parents, for the support you continue to show to the staff through prayer and commitment to Reformed education; and as an extension of this support, through cards and gifts your children have given to their teachers and staff during the past week or earlier. This is all very much appreciated.  May our Heavenly Father to continue to bless the work that the parents and teachers do together in teaching the covenant children He has entrusted to us.  Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

May the Lord continue to be near to those in our community and the broader community who need Him in a special way.  May He continue to watch over them and their loved ones during the Christmas season and into the new year.  We think especially of our Grade 6B teacher, Mrs. Inge deVisser, who underwent successful surgery for a single mastectomy this past Monday.  During surgery the surgeon also removed some lymph nodes for another biopsy, results of which won’t be known until January 9. We pray that the Lord will bless Mrs. deVisser’s recovery and continue to be near to her and her family in the days and weeks ahead.  This morning we received an email from Mrs. deVisser that her recovery is going well thus far.  Praise the Lord!

We thank the Lord that Mrs. Jessica VanSydenborgh (Grade 2A) and her son Nelson were spared serious injury as they were involved in a single vehicle accident earlier this week.

We say farewell to Mrs. Lemstra who will be going on maternity leave as of January 1st.  We thank her for all the work that she has done in Grade 4B during the 2.5 years that she has been on staff at JCS.  We wish her and her husband all the best as they wait for the arrival of their first-born.  May the Lord bless the remaining weeks of her pregnancy so that, in due time, a healthy baby may be born to the Lemstras.

The theme of this morning’s assembly was Joy to the World. In her presentation, Miss Hoeksema and her class focused on that theme in their readings, singing, and instrumental presentations which included the new set of hand bells that came in earlier this week, just in time for the assembly.  Our special guest, Rev. Dethan, spoke to us about his work in Timor and included in his presentation was the work being done at the New Hope orphanage which the students of JCS support with their weekly mission money contributions.  We are thankful that a cheque for $1000.00 could be presented to the CRWRF, care of Rev. Dethan, for the orphanage.  May the Lord continue to bless the work of the Dethans in Timor.  On that note, we also say farewell to Micah and Sam who will be leaving JCS and heading back to Timor with their family in early January.  Hope you enjoyed your time at JCS boys!

A few items for your attention:

*Royal Canadian Legion Poetry/Essay/Poster Contest:  Congratulations to the following students who achieved a top three finish in the Branch contest. Ilse Ravensbergen’s poem won at the Branch and Zone levels and has now moved on to compete against Legions from a large part of Southern Ontario.  All the best and congratulations!

Intermediate Poetry:

Ilse Ravensbergen- 1st place

Clarissa Lof- 2nd place

Caleb VanIperen- 3rd place

Junior Black & White Poster:

Kathryn Heemskerk- 1st place

Erin Tenhage- 3rd place

*Attached to this week’s Chronicle is the revised School Teams Procedure in its policy format.  It includes a cover letter and the procedure.  Please read the cover letter (Appendix #1) before reading the procedure.  The School Teams Procedure can be added as an appendix to your Parent Handbook.

*Lost and Found:  All remaining unclaimed items have been taken to the GBF or BFM.

*You are invited to our “welcome back” New Year assembly on Monday, January 7 beginning at 8:15 a.m. in the gym.

Reminders:

*Please continue to collect tabs for cans for Jude VanVeen so he and his family can get a wheelchair for his sister Anna.

*Today is a 2/3 day of school.  Students will be dismissed at 12:00 and the buses will be leaving at 12:10.  The Christmas Break is scheduled for December 24 to January 4.  The first day back in January is Monday, January 7.

*PLEASE NOTE:  The a.m. route for Bus #5 (Mr. VanIperen) will be changing as of January 7th due to a new stop on his bus run.  All of his stops will be five minutes earlier except the last four stops; they will remain on regular time.

We wish everyone a joyous Christmas and a blessed 2019.  Have a safe and relaxing Christmas Break whether spending it at home or travelling elsewhere.  The Lord willing we’ll touch base again in the new year. G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

This past week was most definitely a fun filled one for kindergarten! Everyone enjoyed baking gingerbread cookies and was very excited to eat them.  We also had the opportunity to share them with the staff!  During Bible we had the opportunity to learn about God’s faithfulness to Simeon and Anna and to the wise men. On Thursday and Friday the students loved being cozy in their pajamas and KB was able to attend a beautiful Christmas assembly on Friday morning! We wish you all a very Merry Christmas from kindergarten! I hope you all have a wonderful time with friends and family, celebrating Christ’s birth! NR & JB

Grade 1

Memory Work for Friday, Jan.11 – Hymn 56:3; 1 Sam. 16:7b

Spelling Words:  many, so, them, then, these

We have had a busy and exciting week in Grade 1.  We finished some nice Christmas projects with the help of some of the Grade 8 girls.  Thank you so much, girls!  We wrapped up our math unit with a test on Wednesday.  We also wrote a Science test on our unit on living and non-living things, as well as a spelling test.  All of the tests should be in your child’s school bag today.  We have one story left in our Bible unit and then will do a review and a test will follow.  Check the agendas for more information on when the test will be.  We will then switch over to Church History. Our unit is on our church life, God Cares for His Church. We will answer the question, why do we go to church? Thank you for all the best wishes, cards and gifts. We are humbled.  Have a blessed Christmas as you celebrate the birth of our Savior. We will see you in 2019.

Grade 2

It’s hard to imagine that we have come to the end of 2018 in JCS. We are very thankful for all of God’s care and blessings thus far,  and look forward to His continued care in 2019. Have a wonderful season of celebrating the birth of our Saviour! See you in January! BB/RG

Memory work: Hymn 65:1; Text: Isaiah 53:5

Spelling words: were,  sure,  truck, sister,  beautiful

Grade 3

The Lord has guided us to the end of the year and we thank Him for his goodness and faithfulness. We ended our Bible unit with a test on Thursday. Please check your child’s agenda for the results. We look forward to hearing the Joseph stories in January! Grade 3 has successfully finished their penguin posters and did they ever turn out well! Congratulations boys and girls! On Wednesday, Grade 3A traveled to Grassie Church to sing to the elderly members of that church.  What a joyful time of song and communion of saints! On Friday, Miss Hoeksema and Rev. Dethan led us in a Christmas Assembly. Thank you. We thank the Lord that Taylor’s surgery went well. We continue to pray for Mrs. DeVisser that the Lord continues to heal and sustain her. At this point, Mrs. Poort and Miss Breukelman would like to thank you all for your cards, gifts, and prayers. We were totally spoiled and we appreciate your love and support. Together we serve our awesome God! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.  Luke 2:14 May the Lord grant us all a blessed Christmas and New Year. J.B./M.P.

Words:  anyone, are, can’t, don’t, everybody, everything, hidden, our, right, terrible, trouble, won’t, wouldn’t, write

Psalm 135:2,3; Text:  The Ten Plagues

Gym clothes on Monday and Thursday.

Library Books on Tuesday in a Library Bag.

Mission $$ on Friday.

Grade 4

It was a wonderful last week of the 2018 school year!

Psalm 13:1 (January 11) Hymn 6:1 (January 18) Isaiah 40:28-29 (Jan. 11)

Spelling: donkey, stole, anybody, beautiful, busy, hotel, hockey, anymore, coffee, weeks, money, nobody, finally, holiday, (4B only) gloomy, ache, lackadaisical, gossip

Grade 5

We made it! When we get back from the break, we will be starting our novel study The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which we are very excited about. We will also be doing a cell project during Science class! Thank you all for your continued support and for all you do for us as teachers! Have a wonderful break and a joyous Christmas! RK/KV

Memory Work: Ps. 98:4; Text (for Jan. 18): John 15:5-8

Devotions: 5A – M. Kiera, Tu. Madison, W. RaeAnna, Th. Landon, F. Teagen

5B – M. Gabrielle, Tu. Mya, W. Isaac, Th. Kelty, F. Morgan

Grade 6

The students spent a lot of time putting together their bird displays this week. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mrs. DeVisser. We pray that the Lord will give her a good recovery. If you need to get a hold of Mrs. Oosterhoff you can contact her through this email: simoneoost@live.com. Have an enjoyable holiday and blessed new year. SO/CVA

Grade 7A

The week and the month end with a strong push in Grade 7A. We wrapped up our bridge building activity in Science. As a conclusion to our “Structural Strength and Stability” unit we planned, designed, built and demolished popscicle stick bridges. It was an interesting process to follow a project from brainstorm to reflection. Student have learned about the annotated bibliography in Independent Study and are going to annotate an academic journal article relating to their topic; be sure to ask your child the title of their article. Two speakers visited us in History class to present their ancestors, the United Empire Loyalists. Our next study in History will focus on roads, governors and settlements in preparation for the War of 1812. After three months we say goodbye to Micah Dethan. It was good getting to know him; he was an asset to the class and he’ll be missed. The LORD has a plan for all of us and His plan takes Micah back to West Timor. Take care, Dethan family. Enjoy your Break.

Grade 7B

As we come to the end of the 2018 part of the school year, I wish all of the students and parents an enjoyable Christmas break! The first part of this school year has flown by and I look forward to continuing on January 7th! Devotions – Tristan W. Have a Merry Christmas and a safe and blessed New Year!

Grade 8A/B

After a flurry of activity to finish the month of December, the coming break is much anticipated. Rest up, enjoy the break and the time to focus on remembering the birth of our Redeemer! Have a blessed break. Cheers, Mr. J/ AB