Rosedale Heights P.S. aspires to be a Healthy School and partners with various organizations, such as Public Health, in the interest of student health and well-being.  The Ontario Health and Physical Education Curriculum includes many expectations that emphasize young people selecting healthy foods, developing food literacy skills, and educators reinforcing healthy eating habits.  Consistent with these overarching goals, our school snack program typically offers two healthy snacks for students each and every day, and we have established as commonplace, students snacking on items ranging from carrots to cheese, from clementines to yogurt.

Next week, will be bring our healthy eating effort to scale across the entire school.  On Thursday, March 7^th Rosedale Heights P.S. will be participating in the Great Big Crunch (linked) program, where our entire school is going to make a conscious effort to choose a healthy snack and count down together, biting into apples at the exact same time, making a … Great Big Crunch!

How might you help?  Consider talking to your child about their own food choices and eating patterns, and encourage them to opt for healthier snacks whenever possible, such as those available at school.  Working together, we hope to develop our students’ food literacy skills and prepare to enshrine our healthy eating commitment with a school-wide Great Big Crunch!

For more details visit the Coalition for Healthy School Food (linked).

Here is an easy way to keep your children engaged and learning over the upcoming March Break. Vaughan Community Health Centre is offering a number of free March Break activities for children ages 6 through 12. There is a Craft Day, a Nature and Science Program, and even activities involving Cooking Fun!

For more details, including how to register for programs (the deadline is March 1st), see the linked March Break Activities flyer.

Next Wednesday –February 28th, 2024—is Pink Shirt Day.

Pink Shirt Day emphasizes kindness and the importance of lifting each other up. We have pink shirts on display throughout our school, where students share how they demonstrate kindness. If you are in the school, please be sure to read some of them!

The origins of this day trace back to 2007, when Nova Scotia secondary students David Shepherd and Travis Price saw a grade nine student being bullied for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. In an effort to stand up for the student, they purchased 50 pink shirts and distributed them to other students, who wore them in solidarity. Since David and Travis’ act of kindness in 2007, the spirit of their effort has grown each year. Over the past number of years, people in almost 180 countries shared their support of Pink Shirt Day through social media posts and donations. (For more information, visit the official website for Pink Shirt Day.)

Please encourage your child to wear a Pink shirt to school on February 28, 2024. Let’s engage in kindness and stand up to bullying next Wednesday, and every day.

Our Eco Team is launching a shoe and boot collection drive for Soles4Souls Canada, which focuses on recycling materials and fighting poverty. They work to “turn unwanted shoes and clothing into opportunity, by keeping them from going to waste and putting them to good use–providing relief, creating sustainable jobs, and empowering people to disrupt the cycle of poverty.” It couldn’t be simpler to participate. Simply drop off gently used shoes or boots in the blue decorated container in the foyer up until March Break, and the Eco Team will do the rest.

Don’t throw out those shoes or boots … drop them off at the school!

Though it’s only February, Rosedale Heights P.S. has already begun planning for the 2024-2025 school year.  In many respects, the work we do now is particularly important, because our accuracy with anticipated enrollment helps us better plan, and optimistically, minimizes the need to move students across classes (‘reorganize’) in September.  This is especially the case given the ongoing growth of new residential dwellings in our school’s catchment area. We are asking you for your help!

First and foremost, if you know you will be moving out of the area in the months ahead or you know your child will be attending a different school next year, please let the office know as soon as possible, to help us be accurate with our enrollment estimates.  Similarly, if you have a child who will be joining us at the school for the first time in junior kindergarten (or any other grade) and you have yet to register, we would kindly ask you to do so at your earliest convenience.  And if you meet someone moving into the community, or have a neighbour with kindergarten-aged children, please encourage them to register sooner rather than later!  To update any information or get the registration process started, simply email the school at rosedale.ps@yrdsb.ca.

We aim to be as meticulous as possible in our preparations for next year, so we thank everyone in our community in advance for their support with our school planning.

We wanted to share with our community regarding the upcoming School Council Meeting on Thursday, February 8th at 7:00 p.m. in the school library. We welcome everyone’s involvement and encourage all those interested to attend. Minutes from the previous School Council meeting can be found here. You needn’t be an elected member of the School Council to get involved. Simply come out and lend a hand!

We thank you for your continued support of our school.

At Rosedale Heights P.S. we have an active Eco-Team that raises awareness about our school’s environmental impact and emphasizes actions that support environmental stewardship and sustainable living. They undertake many initiatives throughout the year, including applying for EcoSchools certification. This month they wanted to share about two upcoming initiatives.

This Wednesday, February 7th, 2024 is Winter Walk Day!  On this day (and throughout February) we remind students and our community that the Winter season notwithstanding, the fun outside doesn’t have to stop!  We encourage our school community to remain active this season, and enjoy the outdoors … catch snowflakes, build a snow fort, or simply enjoy nature – there are so many ways to celebrate Winter!  Most of all, we encourage families to walk to school on Wednesday (and whenever possible).  Our classes will also be encouraged to take the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and get some Daily Physical Activity outside.  Please ensure that your children are dressed in appropriate outerwear and boots for the outdoors.  We want everyone to enjoy the experience.  Don’t hibernate, celebrate!

Also as part of a school-wide Eco-Team initiative, Rosedale Heights P.S. will take part in the World Wildlife Federation Sweater Day on the same day, Wednesday, February 7th, 2024.  We will be joining millions of other Canadians that day wearing a warm sweater to school to build awareness of climate change, in a gesture representing how we might be able to reduce heating expenses globally by bundling up.  Sweater Day is a great day to be comfortable, fashionable and talk about energy conservation!  You are invited to take that opportunity to consider how you can cut back on your energy consumption to benefit you and the environment in the long run.

We thank our community for their support in our ongoing efforts to reduce our environmental footprint and promote a more sustainable future for our students.

On Saturday February 10th it will be Lunar New Year!  We will recognize Lunar New Year at the school the day before, on Friday, February 9th.  We welcome all those who celebrate the holiday to dress up in traditional New Year clothing, if they wish. And we welcome all our students to get into the spirit, even in the absence of traditional clothing, by dressing in red on Friday, February 9th.  The colour red is thought to symbolize good luck, so please help us usher in the Year of the Dragon with some colourful good fortune!