Ventura Park PS BLOG

Dear families, 

 I hope this correspondence finds you and your family healthy and safe.  As you know, on March 12, 2020, the Ontario Minister of Education issued an order to close all publicly funded schools from March 14, with an expectation that they reopen on April 6, to interrupt the spread of COVID-19. Today, the Ontario Minister of Education has written a letter to all families and asked that school boards share it broadly. You may find a copy of this letter on the Board’s website.  At YRDSB, many of us have been working during the school closure to provide resources for students and their families and our staff members. On Friday, we shared resources for online learning and tips for speaking with children about COVID-19. We encourage you to continue to visit the Board’s website or Twitter feed @YRDSB for up-to-date information on education-related news, and www.york.ca/coronavirus or www.ontario.ca/coronavirus for public health updates. For those of you returning to Canada from abroad, please remember the importance of self-isolation for 14 days after your return.  As the Minister has requested, our leadership team is working to provide technology for families who may not have access so that they may benefit from the online resources provided by us and the Ministry.  As our plans develop, we will communicate this information to families.  Once again, I would like to reassure you that we are making decisions with your children’s health and safety as a top priority. Please continue to follow us on Twitter @YRDSB and check your email to receive updates from us during this rapidly changing global situation. 

Sincerely, 
Louise Sirisko
Director of Education

Wishing all of our students and their families a safe and relaxing March Break. May it be an opportunity to recharge and make memories with friends and families.

At this moment, schools are set to re-open on April 6th. Please visit the YRDSB website for more information

A huge thank you to all of our wonderful adult & student volunteers who gave their time to ensure the smooth running of our book fair, especially our Teacher-Librarian Mme Lofsky for putting it all together! Thank you to the VPPS community for your support of this event!

Avery M. (Junior – 5A) –  Phys. Ed. ‘Spikeball’ Unit

Noyan K. (Junior – 5C) – Phys. Ed. ‘Spikeball’ Unit​

Ella P. (Junior – 5B) – Phys. Ed. ‘Spikeball’ Unit​

Parsa B. (Intermediate – 8B) – Phys. Ed. ‘Spikeball’ Unit

​ Mark G. (Intermediate – 8B) – Phys. Ed. ‘Spikeball’ Unit

Elle C. (Intermediate – 8B) – Phys. Ed. ‘Spikeball’ Unit

Mira M. (Intermediate – 7A) – Phys. Ed. ‘Spikeball​’ Unit

​Congrats to all our athletes!!! 

Some of our Grade 8 leaders taught our Grade 2 students an intro lesson on how to use simple robots. The learning involved learning goals and success criteria.

Thank you to our Grade 8 leaders!

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We surveyed over 700 students to learn their thoughts on our VPPS Mascot and School Colours. The results are in and the majority of our VPPS students want to stay the Ventura Park Vikings with our school colours remaining Blue and White.

Thank you to everyone who voted!
– Grade 6 Students

On May 4th at 10 am, we will be having our Change Can Change celebratory assembly.
Giving Mr. Farrell, Mr. Borsuk & Mr. Johnson enough time to grow their hair so that their heads can be shaved in front of our generous VPPS community. Mme MacKeracher will also be dyeing her hair purple at this assembly.
Thank you again for your generous support! VPPS raised over $3,200 during the Change Can Change Fundraiser for the SickKids Hospital.

See flyer below for information on the Northern Karate lunch program that will be starting in April for Grade 1 and 2 students. Registration forms will be sent out later next week.

Currently our Grade 5 students are participating in Project Give Back. Project Give Back inspires young minds to develop meaningful relationships with their community and become global minded citizens.  The program ignites a spark and students of today become the leaders of tomorrow who make a positive impact on the lives of others. Through Project Give Back our VPPS Grade 5 students were able to teach us about a charitable cause that influences their lives and we all learn together. 
Below are some Projects that were created by our VPPS students.

Yesterday, the Earth Rangers visited our VPPS Primary students. The Earth Rangers School Assembly is a dynamic and interactive presentation that leverages the shared connection children of all backgrounds have to animals. Students are introduced to four of the Earth Rangers Animal Ambassadors, including animals like Kateri the Peregrine Falcon, Gizmo the Eurasian Eagle Owl, and Quillow the Prehensile-tailed Porcupine.We were very fortunate to have had this learning experience!