General News
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour…, Luke 1:46b-47
What a blessing to be able to praise God in song as we celebrate the Saviour’s birth. We look forward to a break as staff and students. May this break provide rest but also time to connect with family and friends as we celebrate our Saviour’s birth.
Mrs. D’Addazio and Mrs. DeVries have a new button installed at their desk. When you ring the bell of the school you will hear a click at the front door to allow you access to the building. This saves our secretaries from being human yo-yos. We are grateful to Mr. Jason DeBoer who helped install this leg and time-saving gizmo.
We thank Mrs. E. Breukelman for making Olliebollen for the staff and students this week. What a special treat!
After the two-week break, we will start our year on January 8th with an assembly starting at 8:15.
During the holidays Mrs. Schulenberg (Dec 31) and Mr. Witten (Jan 3) will celebrate their birthdays. We wish them God’s continued blessings in their various tasks.
Further, we celebrate with Mrs. Elgersma that she has made progress and is walking the floors of St. Peter’s. May God continue to richly bless the physiotherapy and surround her and her family with his loving care.
Wishing you all a joyous Christmas and a blessed New Year!
JVI
Jan 8 – 12
Monday – Assembly 8:15
Tuesday – Ed Comm Meeting
Thursday – HR Meeting
Classroom News
Kindergarten
What a busy but exciting and special week this past week has been. Concert rehearsals, crafts with grade 5/6, gym with grade 6, the matinee concert and then the evening concert. The students performed magnificently for both concerts. All their hard work memorizing the songs really paid off! Well done!!!! Thank you also for all the lovely Christmas presents. Praying that everyone has a restful and relaxing break but also a time to reflect on the most wonderful present we have ever received: the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! JB
Grade 1
O magnify the Lord! What beautiful performances the children gave. The students put their heart and soul into learning the songs for the Christmas concert. May His Name have been magnified indeed! We had a fun week doing activities about the book called “The Mitten”‘ written by Jan Brett. In math we could work on some fun activities as well, reviewing what we have learned so far. The children will have brought their pencil crayons home. Please check if replenishing is needed. Thank you for your thoughtful words, cards, and gifts. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas, remembering the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May God continue to richly bless you in the year 2024.
Grade 2
It was exciting time in Grade 2 this week. We spent some of our Language Arts time working with both the literary elements of the book Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett, as well as working through a few fun activity pages to go along with it. In Math we continue to work on learning how to tell time, and some strategies for that. In Bible classes, we focused on five points for advent, hope, peace, joy, love, and Christ as the final and foremost focus as we are looking forward to Christmas Day. Praying for a blessed and beautiful Christmas break, celebrating Him. BV&MB
Grade 3
For those of you already thinking about the first week back (I’m sure that’s all of you, right?), we can look forward to starting a new Social Studies unit about our beautiful province of Ontario, a new Bible unit about the life of Joseph, and we will continue working on multiplication facts in math. Memory work for that week will be Psalm 135: 2, 3. Please keep an eye on your child’s agenda for any other important events or activities. Wishing all families, a wonderful time off, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! JB/ KO
Grade 4
Our final week of school before Christmas break was filled with finishing projects and creating art that represented Christmas time. Your children have been working so hard to learn tunes, memorize lyrics, and practicing singing their songs for the Christmas concert – it has been a delight to learn with them and see their joy as they magnified the Lord’s name! We thank Mrs. Tigchelaar for all of her hard work in grade 4, and for the guidance and instruction that she has given to both classes! Her joyful presence in our hallway will be missed. We also thank you for all of the wonderful, thoughtful gifts that we have been gifted!
We wish you the Lord’s blessings over the Christmas season and hope that it is a refreshing time to meditate on the miracle of Christ’s birth. Mrs. VA & Mrs. T
Grade 5
We are thankful for the opportunity to present our Christmas concert after many weeks of practice. The Christmas break will be a much-deserved rest for the students and accompanists after all the work they have done!
Devotions for the week are as follows: 5A – Brooklynn (M), Matthew (Tu), Mitchell (W), Peter (Th), Dylan (F). For 5B – Quinn (M), Jodine (Tu), Amryn (W), Ezra (Th), Cason (F).
We wish you all the best this Christmas and God’s richest blessings in 2024! RK/KVL
Grade 6
After a busy last week of school, students (and teachers) are very much looking forward to the Christmas Break. Thank you very much to the students, organizers, and musicians who put on a wonderful Christmas concert! We wish everyone the LORD’s blessings throughout the Christmas break and we will see you all back in 2024!
Grade 7A
It has been wonderful to witness the development and maturation of the Gr. 7A class over the past four months. They have responded positively to the expectations of the grade and have shown increased independence and accountability. They are sure to enjoy their time away from work. Upon their return, the Lord willing, they will begin their speeches for the public speaking and poetry declamation contest. They will also learn about thermal energy as well as the American Revolution and the United Empire Loyalists. Plane geometry will be waiting for them as well as more low order cooperative games. Enjoy your Break.
Grade 7B
As we close out the 2023 portion of the school year, we have much to be thankful for. After many weeks of practice the concert was a success and we can be thankful to our heavenly Father for such a beautiful opportunity to praise our Lord and King! Wishing the students some much-needed rest over the next couple of weeks. See you in 2024!
Cheers, Mr. J
Grade 8
Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year spent with loved ones. Thinking ahead to January and February, grade 7 and 8 are looking for some volunteer parents who may be interested in being judges for the various speech contests in the classroom, for the in-school final (in the gym) and the Regional Contest that we will be hosting for our area in Ontario. Feel free to contact Rachel Tesfaye via her email at:
rachel.tesfaye@johncalvinschool.com if you are interested in volunteering for any of these events. RT, AL and RV
