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.
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed…” (1 Peter 2:24)
Good Friday morning on Thursday, school community, as we bring this short but busy week of learning and teaching to completion in his service; a special week (in more ways than one) during which we reflected on the events of the Passion Week and gave voice to that in our concert, Christ the King Conquered the Cross. We thank and praise the Lord that we could once again have a school concert after almost two-and-a-half years without one. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! May our Heavenly Father continue to provide students and teachers with all they need as they carry out their respective tasks to the honour and glory of his Name.
May the Lord continue to provide for those in our community who need him in a special way; be it those who are sick, are dealing with difficult family situations, or those who are grieving the recent death of a loved one. In particular, we pray for those who are battling cancer.
We congratulate Kevin and Kara North with the birth of their son, Dallas Ransom. He is a brother to Waverly (Grade 2A). All is well with mom and son, and dad and the rest of the girls as well. (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 Kevin and Kara with all they need as they raise their children in the fear of his Name.
What a beautiful afternoon of praise and worship yesterday. The students did a wonderful job as did the director, musicians and accompanists. It was great to have a large turnout for the matinee performance and we look forward to this evening’s concert.
For tonight’s performance, parents are requested to bring their children to the school by 7:20, and pick them up again from their respective classrooms immediately after the concert. It would also be good for the students to wear short-sleeved shirts for the evening performance as it will be quite warm at the front of the church. We also have a request for Grades 6-8 parents to help bring the risers from the church into the school gym after Thursday evening’s performance. The students will look after putting them away in the storage room on Tuesday, April 19. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in these matters. May the Lord bless the efforts of the children, the director, the accompanists, and the musicians for tonight’s performance.
Last week Saturday, I attended the LCRSS (League of Canadian Reformed School Societies) League Learning Day and one of the items on the agenda was a reflection on the four signifiers/markers of reformed education (covenantal, confessional, antithetical, and unity of purpose between school, home, and church). It was good to reflect on these once again, so I thought it would be good opportunity for a refresher on the JCS mission, vision and pillars. They are attached. FYI, a “rebranding” of the signifiers (to be renamed as hallmarks) is currently in the works. More on that at another time.
A few matters for your attention:
*Congratulations to the JCS Chess Team. Out of the eleven schools that participated in the event, John Calvin School finished in first place. Well done Jack L., Rebekah S., and Theo W. (who filled in at the last minute for Merrit D. who was ill). Jack L. finished in third place in the individual scores. Nicely done! Thank you Mr. Witten for coaching the team.
*Dr. Jongsma continues with his six weeks of observation and participation in the teaching/learning process at John Calvin School. Next week he will be spending time in Grade 4A with Mrs. Fledderus.
*After the rehearsal, students and staff alike enjoyed the extended recess on a beautiful Tuesday. This was the prize for achieving, actually exceeding, the goal of the Book Week Reading Challenge.
*The annual Spring Food Drive for West Lincoln Community Care wrapped-up today. Thank-you to everyone who participated by donating non-perishable food items to help fill the tubs. The tubs will be picked up early next week.
*Hike for Hospice: We are planning to once again participate in this annual event, this time in the form of a whole school hike; like we did pre-covid. A staff ad-hoc committee has been in communication with McNally House. We are planning a kick-off assembly on Tuesday afternoon, April 19 at which Ms. Amanda Black from McNally House will give a presentation. The hike is scheduled for the afternoon of May 6, the same day as the Open House. Parents and grandparents are also welcome to join us on the hike, but no pets please. Our school community has raised substantial sums for this cause over the past number of years and hopes to do so again.
*Speaking of the Open House, it is scheduled for Friday morning, May 6, from 8:00 – 11:30. There will be a lunch for the grandparents/seniors served by the Ladies Auxiliary.
*Baseball practices (tryouts) for the boys’ and girls’ teams are scheduled to begin next week Thursday, weather and field conditions permitting. Once again, students in grade eight will be given first opportunity to play on the school teams.
*What follows is a message from Mrs. Danyse VanDam regarding summer soccer:
Hello everyone!
It’s the time of year where I start thinking about summer soccer and sending out forms for teams, etc. I have been organizing this for approximately eight years and I believe it is time for a fresh face and some new ideas!
Please let me know if running the summer soccer program this year is a good fit for you! If this is something that you would like to do, I would be happy to help you get started before handing over the ropes.
Reminders:
*Just a reminder that 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.
*Next week Wednesday is Office Administrator’s appreciation day. We very much appreciate the work of our office administrators, Mrs. Elgersma and Mrs. D’Addazio, for all that they do on a daily basis at John Calvin School.
*Mid-term progress reports (by request): Parents, if you would like to receive a progress report about your child, please contact your child’s teacher on or by Friday, April 22. Requested reports will be sent home on April 28.
*The Spring Membership meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27.
The staff and students of John Calvin School wish you a blessed Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Enjoy the long, Easter weekend and we’ll touch base again next week Friday, D.V..
G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna forevermore. The voices of the school and school community rang out in praises to our Lord and Saviour during the Easter Concert performances! Thank you so much to Miss Breukelman, our director and Mrs Fledderus, our accompanist! And a special thank you to you the parents for practicing and listening to these Easter Concert songs for the past 2 months. The students performed beautifully. We were able to enjoy an extra-long recess this past Tuesday as a reward to meeting the reading challenge during Book Week! The weather was beautiful and enjoyed by staff and students alike. We were also able to finish our spring craft that we were working on last week with Grade 3 and Grade 4. It was so special to see these grades working together again after 2 years of not being able to do so! May you have a blessed weekend as we remember the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour!. JB/SV
Grade 1
The students were pretty nervous about performing the Easter Concert, but as many of you were able to see and hear on Wednesday they did a very good job! Thank-you for all of your help with singing at home. It made the work of memorizing so much easier. Once more on Thursday night and then we will be old hands at concerts. Our Spelling list this week is from our reading program, so there will be eight words. Most of them will be decodable. With the warmer temperatures the students often take off their sweaters and coats at recess time. It would be so helpful if there were names or initials on them so that we can match the right child to the right piece of clothing when they are forgotten outside. (especially when the items of clothing are almost identical.) Wishing all of you a blessed Easter! (AB, SB, JdB, JVE)
Memory work: Psalm 99:1 (Friday) Isaiah 53:6 (April 29)
Spelling/Sight Words: brook, stood, booth, room, south, proud, shout, down
Grade 2
Grade 2 has had a busy week at school! We’ve finished up our Church History unit learning about John Calvin the reformer in Geneva. We have learned how the Lord gathers and cares for his church in all times and places! We hope you enjoyed the Easter concert! A lot of work was put into preparing and learning the program songs! “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Matthew 28:5,6. Have a blessed Easter weekend with your families! RG & BV
Grade 3
Be still and know that I am God (Ps.46:10). Hosanna, loud Hosanna, all the children sang. Our concert could happen; what a blessing. We could sing of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, as well as the empty grave; and we may look forward to being with our Redeemer in the new Jerusalem. Hallelujah, praised be the Son. May the Lord have been praised by the singing, accompaniment , and directing. We pray you may have enjoyed this concert. Have a restful, extra, long weekend; standing still at how deep the Father’s love is for us.
Memory work: Ps. 61:1 text: Deut 18:18 (two weeks)
Spelling words: almost, also, always, hole, whole
Library on Thursday
Mission $ and Spelling test on Friday
Grade 4
Thank you for the many volunteers for the field trip next week Thursday. We look forward to it! Students should remember to wear rubber boots and bring a lunch that can be eaten outside. We wish you a blessed weekend as we remember the suffering, death and resurrection of our Saviour.
Spelling Words: cousins, built, minutes, does, different, interesting, months, weather, science, lesson, except, kitchen
Memory Work: Psalm 6:6/Daniel 2:20-22
Upcoming Memory Work: Hymn 22:2
Grade 5
We continue to learn about the resurrection of our Saviour in Bible class, in perfect timing with the Easter weekend. The unit on Ancient Egypt will be finished today, and we look forward to studying Space! Grade 5B, will also start a new chapter in math, learning about integers and fractions. 5A, has been working on this unit for several days and is making great progress! The devotions for this week are as follows: 5A – Noah (Tu), Paige (W), Thomas (Th), Judy (F), and for 5B – Jasmine (Tu), Ryder (W), Brooke (Th), Ben (F). Have an enjoyable weekend celebrating Christ’s victory over the grave! RK?KVL
Grade 6
A week of much singing and contemplating about the end of the life of our Lord Jesus. So many things happened to Him and in all that happened we see His unmeasurable love for sinners. We talked about Judas and Peter and all the other “good-weather- friends”who left Him. But how encouraging it is to share that the Lord is filled with so much compassion that He can continue to love them. Even us! That lifts up our hearts. In Science we did some research and presented what we found to class. It is so enjoyable to see how grade 6 students really love to find and share the information. Madame Curie and her husband were so passionate…..an example for us and very helpful to try to become good stewards of the Lord’s gifts to his people. We also study the Novel ‘ Lost in the Barrens’ and get to think about differences between Indigenous people who lived here long before we came to live here and how their customs and ways of living are often so much harder than ours . It is so interesting to follow the two boys on their trip up North. Tests are coming up in many subjects so we wish the students a restful and enjoyable weekend so they have enough energy for the tasks that wait for them in the coming weeks. May Good Friday be the Best Day of the week and may Easter celebrations be a blessing to your families. We hope to see you all at the concert. What a Gospel we have to share!!! CvA and IdeV
Grade 7A
After an introduction to Handball, we will begin playing games next week, remembering the rule of three; steps and seconds. Students continue to learn more about a particular War of 1812 battle in History. They will soon use their knowledge to create a map of the battle complete with moving pieces. The unexpected journey continues in L.A. with the company escaping the clutches of the wood-elve king and floating closer to Erebor. In Art, students will transcribe the image they want to print onto a linoleum tile. Enjoy your long weekend.
Grade 7B
It was such a blessing to gather together to sing praises to the Lord this week. Enjoy the long weekend as we commemorate the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Have a blessed weekend! Cheers, Mrs. Ludwig and Mr. J.
Cheers,
Mike Joosse
Grade 8
Have a blessed Easter weekend!
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
