General News
“Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Eph. 6:11
Two community events took place this week. The first was the Spring Membership Meeting, where we were able to approve the new budget for the coming year. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of our regular donors who help keep tuition affordable. May God continue to provide the means to educate covenant children in the fear of His name.
The second event was our annual Open House. The halls were filled with parents, grandparents, friends, and even “grandfriends”! What a blessing it was to celebrate Reformed covenantal Christian education together. We are also thankful for the format of the day — the candy and sweets shared by grandparents could be neatly burned off as students participated in the Hike for Hospice.
Looking ahead, we anticipate another busy week. On Tuesday, Grade 2 hopes to head to Ripley’s Aquarium for their annual field trip to observe aquatic life. We also have a School Spirit Day planned for Wednesday: Twin Day! This should be a lot of fun.
On Thursday and Friday, several of our staff members will attend a Financial Literacy Conference being held here in Smithville at Outback Hall. Educators from our schools across Canada will gather to discuss and learn how we can best teach financial literacy in our classrooms. Mr. Joosse and I have been busy preparing for this event, and we are thankful for the opportunity.
On Friday, we will also celebrate Mrs. D’Addazio’s birthday. We wish her God’s blessings and guidance in the year ahead and thank her for her continued dedication to the work she does here at JCCS.
That is all for this week. May God continue to sustain and bless.
JVI
Mon – Baseball after school
Tues – Gr.2 to Ripley’s Aquarium
Wed – School Spirit – Twin Day
Thurs – Cultivating Biblical Stewardship- Financial Literacy Conference, Baseball after school
Friday – Cultivating Biblical Stewardship- Financial Literacy Conference, Mrs. D’Addazio’s birthday.
Classroom News
Kindergarten
The big day has finally come! We had a lot of fun welcoming our special visitors in the kindergarten classrooms. Thank you parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles for coming to the open house; we hope you enjoyed your visit to the school. We are looking forward to the hike for hospice this afternoon, many thanks to all who joined us on the walk. Please send in your collected money for McNally house next week. In class, we will continue working on teen numbers as we finish counting up to 20. Extra counting practice at home is always helpful; try counting everyday items like toys, lego, snacks, cereal. Reminder: Wednesday is Twin dress up, we can’t wait to see all the matching twins that day. We are in need of baby wipes again; we would appreciate a few packs to get us through to the end of the year. Please check the May calendar, as there are a few schedule changes for kindergarten. Have a wonderful weekend! DV/MV
Grade 1
It is hard to believe, but we have entered the month of May—where did the time go? The children have been very engaged while listening to Bible/Church history stories about Peter, Stephen, and Paul. Through these accounts, we see how the Lord uses weak and sinful people from all times and places to gather a church for Himself through His Word and Spirit. Next week, we hope to learn about an important Christian writer—ask your child about it, as it is a very familiar name! Did your child come home with a certificate? The children are so excited to show they know ALL their tricky words. Way to go, grade 1! We are also enjoying reading about different types of animals at the Green Fern Zoo in our reader. In math, we are learning to add and subtract with larger numbers. This can be a tricky concept to grasp. Thank you to all who came to visit us in class for Open House. It was a blessing to see so many of you—a beautiful picture of the communion of saints. Thank you as well to everyone who came and walked alongside the children during our Hike for Hospice. Next week, your child may bring in the money they have raised for McNally House. Please also check that you have selected the appropriate T-shirt size. A reminder to sign your child’s agenda each day. As the schoolyard is still quite wet, please have your child bring an extra pair of socks. Thank you for your help and support.
Grade 2
This week in our Bible studies, we continued reading in Acts, and learning about Paul and his missionary journeys. In Math, we have been focusing on three and four digit numbers, and graphing them. The students are looking forward to the first lessons in our Animals unit in Science class. They did great finishing off the last unit about air and water. Thank you for the many volunteers offered to come along on our class trip next week Tuesday! The class is very excited about it. Thanks to all the many visitors who came today and to those who joined us on the McNally walk. Remember next Wednesday is twin day;) Have a great weekend!
Grade 3
At the time of writing, Grade 3 is very much looking forward to the fun and excitement of Open House and our hike for hospice McNally walk. What a great opportunity to show some of our learning to the school community. In Church History, we begin to look at the life of Athanasius, a bishop from Alexandria. We will see how the Lord used this weak and sinful man for His service in the Council of Nicea. We are kept busy in science with the building of structures and in math with our geometry unit. Students have learned ALMOST all of the lowercase letters in cursive. How exciting!
Memory Work: *Concert song: Hymn 5*
See agenda for spelling words.
Grade 4
Today was a busy today! We certainly loved having all the special guests and visitors to the Grade 4 classroom. Thanks so much for all the love and attention that you all lavished on the students. It’s always amazing to see how many people are involved with the students of JCCS. We couldn’t do it without you! We also were able to go on the McNally walk. The students did great and persevered to the end where they enjoyed a delicious popsicle from the Ladies Auxiliary. Thanks so much ladies. Next week we will Twin Day on Wednesday. Looking forward to seeing doubles all throughout the school. Have a great weekend. FR/JB
Grade 5
It was so nice to see everyone today at Open House! Next week we look forward to having Twin Day on Wednesday. Please encourage your child to find ways to include others for this dress up day. Triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, etc… are allowed! 5A has finished up their unit on fractions and have moved on to adding and subtracting fractions. 5B will finish up chapter 8 in math and join 5A in using their knowledge of fractions to add and subtract them. Both classes have enjoyed learning about the “Amazing Worlds in Creation” in our World of Literature textbooks, learning about the different parts of God’s creation that we don’t often think about. Once that theme is wrapped up, we will be moving on to Theme 5, “Growing and Changing”. Devotions for next week are as follows:
5A: Jackson (M), Quinn (Tu), Noa (W), Edwin (Th), Julia (F)
5B: Malachi (M), Sawyer (Tu), Shawn (W), Shepherd (Th), Taryn (F)
Have a fantastic weekend! CDV/KV
Grade 6A
It was a busy week in Grade 6! We visited Crawford Lake on Thursday and experienced the longhouses of the Wendat peoples. We enjoyed the open house and our many guests on Friday. We also enjoyed the Hike for Hospice this afternoon. In Church History we studied the forerunners of the Reformation, including Peter Waldo and John Wycliffe. Next week we will study John Hus. In Art we are studying the work of Kimmy Cantrell and will create portrait masks inspired by his artwork. These experiences have helped us learn about history, culture and creativity across our subjects this week in meaningful and engaging ways together as class. Have a blessed weekend, CVA MJ
Grade 6B
Bible/Church History: We have jumped back into Bible history, where we are exploring how God’s covenant to Abraham continues through his son, Isaac.
Math: After three units of fractions in a row, we now move our attention to integers. It will be “divide by half” the fun!
L.A.: We will dive wholeheartedly into Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat, and will begin to discuss the different “roles” for Literature Circles.
French: Students are compiling the work they have completed on their families into an album and will be presenting it to the class.
Science/Social Studies: Our study of Space continues this week. Students, try to get outside to observe the night sky!
Phys. Ed.: With warmer weather approaching, we look forward to taking our classes outside in the near future.
A very busy week saw us spend an enjoyable time at Crawford Lake on Thursday past, we all quite enjoyed welcoming guests and visitors to our classroom for the Open House, and our Hike for Hospice walk was also a great success. Please bring in your donations for McNally House, and remember to plan a matching outfit with another student for Twin Day!
BK
Grade 7A
We thank Mr. J VanLuik for joining our math class this past week in order to discuss financial literacy. As a deacon, Mr. VanLuik could share with us thoughts and ideas about stewardship and giving. It was wonderful to see the interest in what we do day-to-day as manifested by the number of guests we welcomed for Open House. Next week we’ll learn why we should care about fish and forests in physical geography. In science we’ll learn about agitation and rates of dissolving. With drier fields and pits, we hope to move track and field practice outside. Next week we’ll find out what happens when John Calvin plans to spend only one night in Geneva, but the Lord has other plans. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
Thank you to all those who came to see us at our annual open house! It is always a blessing to welcome so many people into our classroom. We have had an introduction to John Calvin, and we will continue with this unit this week. For Language Arts, the students have been given interview questions to ask someone significant in their lives. The questions are designed to get past the basic facts and dig deeper into the “why”, to gain a personal understanding. We still are taking our time working through the war of 1812 in History class and enjoying the many stories about it! Have a great week! RK
Grade 8
Have a great week!