Library in a Minute Newsletter Edition!

LIBRARY IN A MINUTE – NEWSLETTER EDITION!

The library has been an exciting place this year! A huge thank you all students who made the library the place to be! Some of my favourite highlights included the Hunger Games Trivia Challenge in March and The Forest of Reading Celebration in May. (Not to brag or anything, but the Valleys was the second largest school attending! Way to go VIPERS!)

In addition to the Forest of Reading program, Ms Mulcaster will be running a reading club every Friday at lunch times next year. We will read every Friday and on the last Friday of each month will meet to discuss our books! Come join us and read a variety of graphic novels, chapter books and full length novels. There will be something for everyone...

Ms. Mulcaster is continuing to build our library collection. Look forward to some of these titles in the fall!

The Rise of Nine – Aug. 21 (Pittacus Lore)

The Mark of Athena – Oct 2 (Rick Riordan)

Amulet #5 – Oct 2 (KazuKibuishi)

Remember, there’s no such thing as “I don’t like to read.” You just haven’t found something you like to read .... yet. Do I accept the challenge? Yes....yes I do.

Happy reading over the summer! See you in September!

p.s. Keep in mind to check out the programs at the Mississauga Public Library this summer! They’re a blast!

The We Club

The WE Club thanks all The Valleys students and teachers for their contributions and interest in helping others, especially in aiding children get an education in Haiti. Over $900 was sent to Free the Children to support this program.

For Earth Hour, members of the WE Club joined 6C and 67Z to help raise awareness in the community about the event. They were great ambassadors at the Grade 5 Open House. They also helped teachers prepare the classrooms for the school Art Exhibit and with the Major Production during Education Week. The WE Club was counted on for many different leadership roles, most recently as guides during a tour by the Grade 5 students from Thornwood. All in all, the club has had a very productive year! We look forward to new students joining the WE Club in September. - Mrs. Fernandes and Mrs. Zubrickas

SCIENC FAIR

After months of preparation, most of the Valleys Science Projects went on display on Tuesday, March 27 evening. All students are to be commended for their efforts.

The winning projects, most of which represented the school at the Peel Regional Science Fair were as follows:

Grade 7

1. Ram Upadhyaya of 7D – Energy Efficient Traffic Light Systems

Ram also won the Motor Vehicle Association Award at the Peel Regional Science Fair along with a monetary prize of $200.

1. RomasAlmalhi and Abed Hammamieh of 7E – Solar Cells

Grade 8

1. Chinmay Patel and Hanyu Zhu of 8A – Titanium Oxide Solar Cell
2. Razan Samara and Aimee Williams of 8C – Futuristic City
3. AnushaNasim and DrishtiThakkar of 8D – Nano ‘Hi” to a Happy Heart
4. ShravanGajjela and Krishna Ravishankar of 8F – Electric versus Hydrogen versus Compressed Air Cars

GAUSS MATHEMATICS CONTEST

Congratulations to all students who participated in the Gauss MathematicsContest. This contest encourages the pursuit of mathematical excellence as an enjoyable extra-curricular activity. Congratulations to all students who participated for their strong efforts made during preparation classes.

The top five scorers in Grade 7 with a score out of a total of 150 are as follows:

In 5th place MehwishSiddiqui of 7D with a score of 110

In 4th place Elias Alshabah of 7E with a score of 118

In 3rd place Yusef Khedr of 7F with a score of 119

In 2nd place Alvin Han of 7D with a score of 124

In 1st place Ram Upadhyaya of 7D with a score of 128

The top five scorers in Grade 8 with a score out of a total of 150 are as follows:

In 5th place DrishtiThakkar of 8D with a score of 114

In 4th place Chinmay Patel of 8A with a score of 115

In 3rd place Nishi Parikh of 8A with a score of 120

In 2nd place Bill Zhu of 8A with a score of 134

In 1st place Ahmed Sabie of 8A with a score of 142

ATTENDANCE

This past month the school has begun using the Synrevoice Attendance and Messaging system. This system, used as a safe arrival system, automatically calls home whenever your son or daughter has been absent from school and we have not received a phone call from the home indicating why your child is absent. This system also allows us to send messages and reminders out to all our families regarding any special events or important information. We do ask that you continue to call the school at 905-275-5125 and press 1 for our attendance line to leave a message when your child will be away or will be late.

VOICE MAIL SYSTEM

A new voicemail system is also up and running at the school. Currently, teachers have not programmed their mailboxes but this function will be available in the Fall. Parents will be able to call the school and leave a message for the appropriate teacher, or report an absence.

Geoquery Website -

This website also allows parents to login and find their child’s transportation information by following these instructions:

• type in the website address: businfo.stopr.ca
• click “student login”
• enter your child’s OEN number, street/house number, school and grade
• click “login”

This will automatically display the child’s transportation information, if they are eligible.

This capability for “student login” will be available for parents starting the second last week of August until the end of June each year. This feature will be locked down during the summer for route planning purposes.

Additional features of this website are, School Information, Which School Do I Attend and Transportation Eligibility and Delays and Cancellations

STOPR Website

A STOPR website is - The items available in this website, include the following:

• “About Us” – background information on Student Transportation of Peel Region
• “Policies and Procedures” – STOPR procedures and Peel and Dufferin-Peel Transportation Policies
• “FAQ” – frequently asked questions in regards to student transportation
• “School Forms” – the forms that go with the STOPR procedures
• “Operators” – a list of all the school bus operators in Peel Region and their telephone numbers
• “Links” – Ministry of Transportation links ie: booster seat legislation
• “Contact Us” – STOPR contact telephone numbers by area
• “Inclement Weather” – updates on a daily basis for inclement weather cancellations
• “Which School Do I Attend” – a direct link to our Geoquery website
• “Am I Eligible for Transportation” – a direct link to our Geoquery website
• “Your Child’s Busing Information” - a direct link to the student login on our Geoquery website
• Dufferin-Peel CDSB and Peel DSB logos – click one of these logos and it takes you directly to the school board home website page

Transportation Eligibility Policy:

The Peel DSB Transportation Eligibility Policy:

Kindergarten1.0 kmGrades 1 – 41.6 kmGrades 5 & 62.0 kmGrades 7 & 8 3.2 km Secondary 4.8 km

MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATION

It has been another great year here at The Valleys filled with field trips, special events, sports teams, clubs, musicals, guest speakers, math and science contests and so much more. There has been something for everyone. It has been through the tremendous dedication of our teachers who have volunteered their time to offer such great extracurricular activities and we thank them for doing this.

It is with some sadness that we say goodbye to a few of our teachers who are moving on to other schools. Mr. Skrypek will be missed from the grade 6 team and for all his involvement in the music program. Ms. Deveau is not only leaving our school’s ISSP program but she is expecting her first child in October – very exciting. Ms. Drehuta and Ms. La Fleche, our awesome French teachers, are off to other schools to expand their repertoire of teaching programs. Mr. Davey is taking a leave of absence for a year from the grade 6 team and French. We extend our best wishes to all of these teachers and hope that someday our paths will cross again.

We wish all of our students, families and staff a very safe and happy summer. See you in September!

GRADUATION 2013

In June 2013, The Valleys will move to a daytime celebration of our grade eights moving on to Secondary School. The cost of going off site for this celebration continues to rise. The ceremony itself will be planned for the morning of June 24 and will be followed by an afternoon social which will include a dance and goodies.

SUCCESSFUL STUDENT AWARD