General News
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour…, Luke 1:46b-47
We hope to focus on what it means to magnify the Lord in the upcoming year. At our opening assembly, we focused on our theme text. We are thankful that we could open the school doors and begin the new year under the LORD’s blessing. In a blur of joy, learning, heat, sweat, and perhaps even chill today we have completed the first week!
We are thankful that God has continued to provide for Mrs. Elgersma’s recovery. We are thankful for the updates that we have received and pray that God will continue to bless the recovery in the coming weeks. We miss her and pray that she will be able to return here in due time. In the meantime, you will see the friendly faces of Mrs. D’Addazio and Mrs. Carrie DeVries in the office. The interim plan is that Mrs. D’Addazio will take care of most of the days and Mrs. DeVries will be in for one or two days of the week. We are grateful for the work that they do and we pray for patience and understanding as they take on these additional responsibilities.
School activities are starting this week. We have the soccer teams beginning their practices and we will start with cross-country run practices next week. If your child is in grades 5 – 8 there are opportunities to run in both the grade 7-8 Cross Country Meet at Dundas Conservation Area on October 6th as well as the Golden Horshoe run which is supposed to happen on the Thanksgiving week. More details will follow. These are great opportunities for your children to participate in and we encourage them to join. The practices for these will be held at lunch hour during the school day. You can contact me if you are looking for more details at principal@johncalvinschool.com
I would like to reiterate what was mentioned at the opening assembly. The turning circle is open during the day for drop off and pick up of students. This does not mean that you can drop off or pick up your child(ren) in front of school during bus times. During those times you will need to park your vehicle in the parking lot and walk to pick up your child(ren). Hopefully, this is clear.
Chocolate bars arrived at the school on Thursday. This is later than normal, as for some reason they needed to use a refrigerated truck to deliver them to us. Fortunately, our chocolate supplier understood that we were not necessarily interested in selling a blend of mixed chocolate, plastic, and cardboard. Even at a deal of $3, it does not hit the palette well. Please encourage your child in grades 4 – 8 to sell some of these boxes as they help support year-end trips and other student activities. If you have a hankering for chocolate please find an industrious JCCS student and help support them.
Finally, I’ll leave you with a friendly reminder to submit the forms that were sent earlier to the office if you have not already done so.
Wishing you all a blessed and rejuvenating weekend!
JVI
This week:
Monday – Soccer practice after school; Ed Comm Meeting
Thursday – Soccer practice after school
Mission Money
We will continue to support Word and Deed through our mission money collecting. You will see a poster attached to the chronicle sharing with you details of the three students that we support. We pray that our support will help Sherline, Bathelemy, and Ester in their education. Mission money is collected on Friday. Please continue to support the work that is done through this endeavour.
Voice Lessons
Greetings, my name is Cossette Gritter. I’m a classically trained vocalist with many years of experience in classical music and choral performance, and I have been teaching voice for over five years. I am pleased to be able to offer voice lessons to students here at John Calvin Christian School. My goal, whether in performing or instructing, is to promote healthy singing techniques and to aim to glorify God through music. Lessons will consist of vocal exercises, working through different songs, and touching on aspects of musical theory. Please contact me at cossettegritter@gmail.com with any questions/if you wish to sign up.
Classroom News
Kindergarten
The first week of kindergarten is complete! All of the students were so brave as they entered JCCS for the first time as students on Tuesday and Wednesday. Much of the days have been set aside to learning the routines and expectations of a new kindergarten environment. In Bible, we learned all about the days of creation and how the Lord only needed to use His voice to create all the things on earth except for man, as the Lord used the dust of the earth to create man! The students marvelled at the power of the Lord! In math we have started our first unit on sorting and patterns. If you haven’t sent extra clothes with your child, please do so asap. Also, if you haven’t returned the forms from the office, please do this as well. Next Wednesday we will have our first combined day with all the students! Mrs. Visser and I are looking forward to this new dynamic! Have a great weekend everyone! JB
Grade 1
What a blessing to be back at John Calvin Christian School. Our first week back was a busy one. Learning to sit at a desk, raising our hand to ask a question, and listening to a Bible story were some of the things that kept us busy. Even though it was very warm, the children had a very good week. It is so good to see their smiles in the morning when they come; and their readiness to learn is contagious. Next week, we hope to have our first Bible test. We will do an extensive review and do the test together. We have learned about playground safety this past week. Next week we will learn about bus safety. Wishing you a wonderful weekend and blessed Sunday.
Friday: Mission $
Grade 2
The first week of school went by so quickly! We have settled in nicely and have been learning the new routines in our grade 2 classrooms. This week, we started with our first Bible stories. We are starting in the New Testament with the Birth of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. In Science we started our first unit on bones and muscles! The students were amazed to hear that God has created our bodies with 206 bones and that babies have more than 300 bones! Please bring in over the ear headphones if you haven’t already done so. Have a great weekend and blessed Sunday! MB & BV
Grade 3
Here we are at the end of our first week in grade 3! It seems the students are happy to be back at school and they are settling in very well. We are so thankful that God has brought us back together for another year in His service at John Calvin Christian School. The first week of school was filled with some reading review stories about Sir Gus, an introduction into place value, and a look at how lives were different for Early settlers in Canada and the Indigenous people. Just a friendly reminder to return the various forms that were sent home with the youngest child in the family on the Open House night. The memory work for next week is Hymn 63: 4 and Luke 1: 46b, 47 (theme text). There will be a spelling test on Friday with our new words: who, they, off, into. We wish you a wonderful weekend and look forward to next week and the year ahead! JB/ LS + KO
Grade 4
The first week in grade 4 has flown by and students have settled into their classroom routines well. In Bible class, we have started with the stories of Samuel and are getting ready to learn about Israel’s first king. In math, we are reviewing place value and rounding. We are learning about rocks and minerals in science class – it would be fun to bring in an appropriately sized rock (that can fit in their desk) so that we could describe it in class. Mrs. VanAmerongen is teaching French to both grade 4A and 4B and Mrs. Tigchelaar is teaching both classes Phys. Ed. We hope that you have a restful weekend as we prepare for the second week of school! Mrs. T & Mrs. VA
Spelling Words: hop, mud, there, hunt, frog, buzz, their, rocks, such, swam, clock, shop, bug, cup
Friday: Psalm 122:1; Theme Text (Luke 1:46b-47)
Grade 5
Hello, parents! We are excited to be back in the classroom, getting to know the students! Our first week has been filled with much learning. The first Bible History unit deals with the days in which Jesus was born. This connects nicely to our Social Studies unit about the Romans who were in power at that time. In Language Arts, we have begun reading stories that connect to the theme, “Good Job!”, which is a fitting way to begin our year in grade 5! We encourage parents to initial the agenda each day to ensure you see what is expected of the students the next day. The following students will be leading the class in lunchtime devotions: 5A – Peter (M), Dylan (Tu), Allison (W), Luke (Th), Isaiah (F), and for 5B – Evan (M), Corban (Tu), Micah (W), Meghan (Th), Robby (F). Please take a peek at the prayer they write and help them make improvements if needed. Thanks for all your kind words of encouragement and support! Wishing you a great weekend, RK/KVL
Grade 6
The students and teachers were very happy to be back at school. We had a productive first week starting our units and also doing some fun activities. The students were engineers and had to plan, design, and create a structure that was safe and very high so that ‘Harry’ could see around the classroom. Chocolate bars will be going home today, so try to sell them quickly. Have a blessed weekend. TB/CVA
Grade 7A
It was an interesting week of learning new routines and familiarizing oneself with new surroundings. Be sure to ask your child how they’ve adjusted to new expectations, subject material, and class distribution. We’ve begun Bible History by marvelling at God’s mercy to His children by sending Samuel as judge. In Math we’ve begun number sense, exponents, square roots, notation… The students were introduced to two new subject areas, rich in content and deep in application; History and Physical Geography. To enjoy one’s work is a blessing from God! Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
What a blessing it was to begin again! Gr. 7B has settled in and every day things are more and more comfortable. It promises to take some time with 6! different teachers leading instruction during the course of a week. It’s noted that students will begin leading lunch devotions next week, we have spent some time on this on Friday so they should be more than prepared! I also see that there is some art homework on the agenda for Wednesday. As we get into more of the meat and potatoes next week we also have several extracurricular activities ongoing such as Soccer practices, X-country practices, as well as chocolate bar sales. Have a blessed weekend and day of rest and worship. On behalf of the Gr. 7B teachers, Cheers!
Mr. J
Grade 8
We are well into the swing of things with Gr. 8 already and getting used to our rotary scheduling. Count on two mini French quizzes and a spelling test next week. Please check your emails regularly in case there are some sent asking for help with the various fundraisers we have this year! What a great start to the year! RT
