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.
Good Friday morning everyone as we bring the first week of term two to a close. We thank and praise the Lord for a wonderful and successful first week (in 2021) back in the classrooms, the halls, and the playground of John Calvin School. What a great, wintry week as well. Students had lots to do outside, including sledding down Mount Calvin. Apparently, more cold and snow is on the way so it looks like students will be able to continue with the snow activities for at least another week.
This past Monday, we could welcome Sawyer Nichol to Grade 2A and on Tuesday of next week, the Lord willing, we will be able to welcome his sister, Autumn, to KB.
Term one report cards have gone home today with your child(ren) marking the end of the first term. Technically, it ended last week Friday but we wanted to distribute the report cards in-person. Thanks again parents for all your work in contributing to student achievement for term one.
As for parent-teacher conferences, we are planning a revamped version of them during the week of February 22. The plan is to make this set of parent-teacher conferences optional instead of compulsory. We felt that we needed to make a decision at this time not knowing what the situation will be like in this region in the coming weeks, and we did not want to wait until March for the conferences to happen. In addition, there has also been a lot of parent-teacher communication during the weeks of remote learning. Parents who choose to have a conference will be able to choose between a telephone conference and a Zoom conference. An email will be going out to the parents next week Tuesday containing two questions: Do you wish to have a conference with your child(ren)’s teacher(s)? Do you prefer a telephone or Zoom conference? Please respond to those questions promptly so we can plan accordingly. The date(s) for conferences will be determined by the number of parents who respond in favour of having a conference with their child(ren)’s teacher. Thanks for your consideration.
May the Lord continue to provide for those in our community who need Him in a special way; be it those who are sick, who are impacted by the virus (either directly or indirectly), who are dealing with difficult family situations, or those who are grieving the death of a loved one; in particular we think of Miss Hoeksema who continues to recuperate from a bout with mono. We hope and pray that it is going well and that she can take up her teaching task again in Grade 4A in due time.
We congratulate Justin and Sarah Jongsma, one of our EAs, with the birth of their first-born child, a daughter, Rae Louise. All is well with the baby, mom, and dad. We also congratulate Adam and Brandy Stieva, one of our bus drivers, with the birth of their son, Declan Peter. He is a brother for Mason (Grade 4B), Seth (Grade 2B) and Gabriel (Grade KB). All is well with the baby, mom, and the rest of the family too. What a blessing considering previous health concerns of mom. We also congratulate Marian and John Blokker on becoming first-time grandparents! (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 Justin and Sarah and Adam and Brandy and Tyson and Rochelle with everything they need as they raise these covenant children in the fear of his name.
Regarding March Break: Principals from the six Guido feeder schools are meeting with the principal of Guido and the League coordinator this afternoon to discuss plans for when to have March Break; either stick with the current date of March 15-19 or follow the recommendation from the Ministry of Education, April 12-16. Stay tuned.
A few matters for your attention:
*Yesterday, Heritage/Flag Day was given some attention in various grades. The official birthday of the Canadian flag is on February 15.
*News and Views materials are due on Monday, February 15 with distribution scheduled for Sunday, February 21.
*For the grade eight students- today is the deadline for Grade 9 registration. Please submit your on-line registration to Guido if you haven’t already done so. Grade 8 Day at Guido has been rescheduled to May 5.
*Book Week, originally scheduled for February 16-19, has been rescheduled to April 19-23.
Enjoy the long, Family Day weekend everyone and have a blessed Sunday. We hope to touch base again next week Friday. G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
A week of school is complete! I have never been so happy to have students back in the classroom and listening to their voices as they share their stories with their friends. This week has been a week of adjustments and relearning the routines. The students have done excellent with the classroom expectations and are settling into routines quite well. Way to go kindergarten! I have noticed that many of the students are not drinking enough throughout the day and in an attempt to encourage them to drink more water, the students receive a sticker if the majority of the water in their water bottles is gone by the end of the day. A small reward motivates these students so well! A reminder to parents who have not returned the at home learning assignments: please return all of the letter art assignments (the umbrella, bumblebee, fishbowl and lion). These letter arts are crucial for their final portfolio! Have a great weekend and enjoy the extra day for Family Day this weekend! JB/NV
Grade 1
How lovely it was to be back at school with the children! It is so much more fun looking at and interacting with them in real time as we teach, than it is to try virtually. If you still have one of our whiteboard markers at school, could you please have your child take it back to school. We use whiteboards quite often in grade 1. We hope to finish the stories about Samuel and Saul in the coming week. So expect to see a note about a test on Thursday or Friday. In Phonics, we are continuing to look at spelling patterns for long vowel sounds and we are using what we have learned to help us decode long vowel words when we read. Please remember that we are celebrating Valentine’s Day on Tuesday February 16. If you want to share treats with the class, please make sure that they are individually wrapped.
Memory Work: Psalm 132:6, Psalm 8:1 (text)
Spelling Words: come, good, made, may, part
Sight words: check agenda
Grade 2
We have had a great first week back to school here in Grade 2! The students have been busy getting back into the routines of the classroom. On Monday, Grade 2A welcomed Mrs. Gansekoele back! They didn’t need to say good bye to Mrs. Schulenberg because she is now their EA in the classroom for Math and Language Arts! Next week will begin our new unit of Church History, starting with John Chrysostom and we will be finishing our unit on Zimbabwe in Social Studies. Please continue to practice math facts at home! Some students have already started to try and get their certificates! Please bring extra socks and masks to school! Have a blessed weekend and an enjoyable Family Day on Monday! RG/BV
Spelling Words – aunt, quit, uncle, use
Memory Work – Hymn 85:1, Luke 2:8,9
Valentine’s Day – Tuesday
Zimbabwe Test – Thursday
Grade 3
I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121: 1-4
What a comfort it is to know that our God does not sleep nor slumber but watches over us every secondof the day. We are safe in His care. So thankful. We are very thankful for all of your hard work and dedication during the online learning session. Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement as well. May the Lord continue to bless our efforts for His Glory. So thankful also for the privilege of coming back to school. What blessing it is indeed to be allowed to teach His covenant children at JCS. The students were so EXCITED to be back and so were the TEACHERS We continue to explore division in math. Keep practising those multiplication facts too, grade three. One day you will be very thankful that you have them memorized. In Church History, we heard about a minister named Rev. de Cock. Ask your child how the Lord used him to gather His church in The Netherlands in 1834. Science is all about exploring heat and temperature! We can’t wait to do experiments and make a good hypothesis! Report cards are coming home with your child today. Please sign the envelope and return it to school with your child on Monday. Thank you. You may keep the report card. May the Lord continue to bless the education of your child for God’s glory and for the benefit of our neighbours.
And…PENGUINS..stay tuned…right Mrs. Poort? That’s it for now.
Have a safe and blessed weekend. J.B./M.P.
Psalm 95:1; Text: Psalm 32:1,2
Words: about, especially, except, friendly, knew, new, know, no, myself, really, probably, then, usually, what
Library Books on Thursday in a LIBRARY BAG.
Mission $ on Friday.
Grade 4
We are so thankful that we are back in school. It’s so nice to see all the students. Please keep encouraging students to review the times tables and read at least 20 minutes daily.
Wednesday: Long Division Test
Friday: Bible Test Kings of Israel Part 2 (possible), memory work Psalm 107:1, Psalm 121: 1-4, next week is Psalm 67:7
Grade 5
We are so happy to be back in school with students in the classroom! Thank you again, parents, for all the work you did at home with your children. We continue moving right along with our subjects. The dioramas for “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” are looking fantastic, and we hope to finish those up next week. We also hope to do the last lessons of our Science unit, “Investigating Agriculture and Forestry”. There will be no test. We will be starting Chapter 7 in Math on Tuesday, which is all about geometry. Enjoy the time spent with your family this long weekend! RK/KV
Devotions: 5A – Tu. Chloe, W. Madelin, Th. Evan, F. Emersyn
5B – Tu. Liam, W. Kensi, Th. Reuben, F. Ella
Grade 6
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. These are the words that I’m sure will resonate with many of us this week. We are so thankful to be together again. The students quickly adjusted to the routines of school life. We pray that the LORD will continue to bless the treatments Mrs. Folkerts receives so that she may continue to teach Gr. 6B. Her musical talents are also enjoyed by Gr. 6A as we, too, truly enjoy listening to her play. To go along with our novel study, we are singing some spiritual songs that the slaves would have been singing many years ago. They surely were a good example in their trusting of the LORD to guide them. We had a closer look at the deceitful actions of Simeon and Levi after they had heard that Dinah had been defiled. In Science we discussed why we can say that all healing comes from God. Have a blessed and enjoyable long weekend. AF/CV
Grade 7A
By God’s grace we were allowed to resume our work in class this past week. We began our novel study, “There and Back Again”, with a documentary about the author. In Science the students have built and tested their better energy barrier as they attempt to stop the transfer of thermal energy. Since we are now in class, we could continue with our Independent Study and learn about journal articles and their importance to research. Students will be required to find a, “white paper”, relevant to their topic area using Google Scholar. Enjoy your long weekend.
Grade 7B
What a wonderful sight Monday morning was, seeing all the students back in the hallways! It has been 7 weeks since we were in the classroom, and it was great getting back into the swing of things. This week we began our Church History unit on Zwingli and the Swiss Confederation. Next week we will be looking his childhood and his early life as a priest. In Physical Geography, we have started our chapters on resources and we will continue to see how our needs and wants impact our environment and those in other parts of the world. We also begin a new stage in Independent Study, looking at Journal Articles. Next week we will be finding Journal Articles about our topics and trying to understand them! Have a great long weekend, a blessed Sunday, and an enjoyable Family Day!
Grade 8
It was fantastic to be reunited in person, able to take up our work together again! In the same room no less! We are also thankful that the benefits of Google Classroom allowed us to seamlessly transition and continue with our units. This meant that we could even hold two unit tests to conclude the week (Bible and Accelerated Math). Some students were also able to reflect how some choices they made during at-home learning really hindered their success over the past few weeks. At any rate, it is great to be back and we hope and pray that it can stay this way moving forward. Don’t forget about those Guido registrations! Cheers, Mr. J & Ms. P
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
