Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s)

Field Trip
This is just a reminder that on April 27th the elementary students will be traveling to the Roy Thomson Hall. There they will listen to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's presentation of Peter and the Wolf, conducted by John Morris Russell. The bus will be departing around 12:00 pm and we will be returning around 3:00 pm.

Character Building
April's character building theme has been 'Generosity'. We have been having lessons and activities throughout the month to reinforce our theme. Please take the time to review with your child what generosity means and how to best express it to friends and family. Some activities you can do at home are to draw a picture of what generosity means or to write a short story or poem about generosity.

Special Dates
Please keep in mind these special dates: Saturday April the 16th is our Chinese Literacy Competition located at Coppard Glen Public School. This is one street east of McCowan. Earth Day is April 22nd. On Friday April the 29th we will be having our pizza day for all the students at our school. On Saturday April the 30th we will be having our Yip's Music Festival at our Markham Main Campus located on Crown Steel Drive. On May 6th we will be having a PA day. Regular classes will be cancelled but we will be having our PA day camp as well as our Fun Day activities in the afternoon.

Building a Garden
Work is progressing in the building of a garden for our students on our school property. Students will take turns tending and participating in the care of the garden. This will provide endless educational possibilities for the students in many academic areas. We invite any donations of planting or gardening material. We also invite any volunteers who would like to help us take care of our garden. Please contact the office for details.

Year Book
We have received great support for our plan to create a 2004/2005 yearbook. We will finalize our plans and then we will send out a notice to collect the fee. If there are parents who have time to volunteer to work on this project please contact the office for details.

Poetry
Our entire school has been busy learning about and creating poetry. In Drama, Mrs. Sonali has been teaching her students proper enunciation when reading poetry. Mrs. Lee, in our Reading Program, has been teaching a love for reading and enjoying poetry. Elementary students have been learning to differentiate various kinds of poetry and to write poems in that style.

Book Orders
We have sent out our last Scholastic book order forms for our school year. Please note that the due date back to the school will be Monday April the 25th. Please make out any cheques made payable to "Scholastic Canada LTD."

Special Thanks
I would just like to extend a special thank you to all the parents who have donated books to our library system. We appreciate all the donations and are currently working to make our library system more accessible to all our students. Please keep donating.

Fun Day Activities
Parents are invited to bring their children to our school to participate in fun learning activities with their children on May 6th. These activities will be in all the academic subjects that their children partake in. For Montessori we will have booths set up for Language Arts, Math and for Culture. We will also have booths set up with fun activities for Chinese and for French. Elementary students will have fun activities set up in the main building. There will be activities for Math, Language Arts and for Science. Students are invited to these indoor activities from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. There will be lots of fun outdoor activities that day which students are invited to attend starting from 3:30 pm. These will include a jumping castle, face painting and sporting activities. Also for a minimal cost you can purchase some cookies, freezies, and other treats. The fundraising is going to support our Yip's Choir and Musical Theatre on their trip to Hawaii. Please note that because parking is limited we hope that you will only park on either the west side of Brimley Road or on the North side of Lee Avenue. Please come out and support your child's school and our community activities.

Summer Safety
The York Region Public Health Unit would like to remind everyone of the need to be safe and cautious in warm weather. Things to be aware of is to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. People also need to wear sun block and avoid heat related illnesses. Parents should also be wary of smog days this summer. Parents should also try to avoid leaving their cars to idle. Turning off your car can save gas as well as our environment. If you are taking a day trip to the beach please be aware of water quality. This information is usually posted at the beach or on the York Region website. Also please always practice pool safety. If you would like more information please contact 1-800-361-5653.

Teacher Corner
"Spring has sprung. Birds have returned and are finished with migration. Hibernating animals have come out for fresh air and sunshine. Lovely flowers will soon start to bloom. The ground will quickly be covered with the carpet of green grass and the atmosphere will be lively once again. Here at Yip's we are busy as well. We will soon be growing flowers and vegetables while at the same time learning about botany and the changing seasons. We believe that we learn by working with our minds and hands and we incorporate this into our educational practices as much as possible. So please wish us luck in our teaching and providence in our gardening." - Ms. Naj

Student Corner
"I like to study at Yip's because I learn a lot about many different subjects. I like it here because I can learn to play the violin, to act, to speak French and to speak clearly, thanks to Mrs. Sonali. My favorite subject is dance because I get to learn many ballet steps as well as Chinese dance. I like our school because it has the best teachers I've ever known." - Jessica Wu. Grade 5

Parent Corner
For the parent corner this month we thought it necessary to discuss some of the results of the questionnaire we circulated with the second term report card last month. There are still many questionnaires outstanding. Please take the time to fill out this form and return it to the office as soon as possible. If you misplaced your old questionnaire then please feel free to stop by the office for a new one. Taking the time to fill out this questionnaire helps us to improve in our educational practices. About 60% of all parents are satisfied overall with their children's classes. Approximately 40% of parents are very satisfied with their children's classes. There were a lot of constructive comments by parents providing feedback to us. Some parents had concerns about making guidelines and due dates for assignments clear. Others are concerned regarding specific details about curriculum being taught. We have read all the comments and are addressing every concern.

Sincerely,

Christian Bayly

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