The Gledhill Guardian

It’s a busy week at Gledhill– here is a round up of what’s going on!

Tuesday Dec 3: Giving Tuesday, consider donating to Gledhill, check out the blog post here or click here to go directly to the donation page.

Mon Dec 2- Fri Dec 6: Book Fair
Find your next great read & support the school! Kiddos in Gr 1-5 can visit during recess or during their scheduled classroom visit.
If you are able to volunteer your time and support our School Book Fair, please sign up here. It takes a village to raise a child!

Friday Dec 6: Movie Night
Join us for our first movie night this year! Adults: our movie nights rely on volunteers to run. Please offer your support, even for an hour, to make this another successful movie night for our school community.  Sign up to volunteer at this link.

Sunday Dec 8: 2nd Annual Gledhill Community Food Drive

The face of hunger is real and it’s very close to home. Your neighbour, a work colleague, a friend, someone in your family; hunger isn’t an issue reserved solely for strangers or the homeless. Food insecurity can be found even within our closest circles and more often than not, these people go by quietly unnoticed.

To volunteer, fill out the Google Form at http://bit.ly/gledhill_food. Questions? Email gledhillfooddrive@gmail.com Unable to drop off on Dec 8? Email  gledhillfooddrive@gmail.com no later than Dec 6 to arrange a porch pick up.

Sunday Dec 8: Pizza Orders Due
The next pizza lunch will be held on Friday, December 13th! Check school cash online to place an order by December 8th. If you have any issues, reach out to use at thegledhillguardian@gmail.com

The Gledhill Parent Council, a group of student parent volunteers, is deeply impressed by how our community has come together over the past few years, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic. At a recent spring council meeting, someone coined the phrase “From Covid to Community,” and it truly captures the spirit of our school and our group.

In the 2023/2024 school year, the Parent Council proudly contributed over $30,000 in support of the students of Gledhill Junior Public School. These funds were used for the following:

• A full class set (30) of new Chromebooks – $7,700
• A Chromebook charging station – $1,500
• English and French literacy materials – $1,500
• Drama program with Jeff for the 2024/2025 school year – $4,000
• Chess program for the 2024/2025 school year – $6,000
• School buses for field trips in 2023/2024 – $6,250 (each teacher was given $250 for field trips)
• Classroom support for teachers in 2023/2024 – $3,750 (each teacher received $150 for classroom supplies)

The support council provided was available because of funds raised in previous years when we were unable to support the school in this way. Those surplus funds were combined with the monies raised from a variety of community events like Movie Nights, Pizza Lunches, Family Fest, a Marlies game, and an incredible silent auction. We’re bringing these events back this year but, to maintain the same level of support, we need to raise more than just those events bring in.

In both the 2020/2021 and 2022/2023 school years, we asked our community to direct their charitable donations to Gledhill Junior Public School. Today, on Giving Tuesday, we are asking for your support once again.

Let’s come together to create the best possible learning environment for our children. The 2024/2025 Parent Council will collaborate with the school administration to prioritize funding needs and create opportunities, all of which will be voted on at council meetings. Details will be shared in the Gledhill Guardian. Expect them to be focused around literacy, classroom enrichment and technology.

Currently, the school serves just over 400 students. To provide some context, if we were to raise $15,000 from this campaign, it would amount to just $38 per student. Every contribution counts, and we understand that not every family can give that amount—others may be able to give more. This is a collective effort, and all donations, no matter the amount, are incredibly appreciated. Additionally, the TDSB offers tax receipts for all gifts of $25 or more.

To make a donation, please click here. We also encourage you to share this campaign with others in the Gledhill community—alumni and future families alike—who have a stake in supporting our school and students.

All funds raised go directly to supporting Gledhill students.

Please consider making a contribution today to help fund our Gledhill School Council initiatives. Together, we can continue to provide dynamic opportunities for our children and make a lasting impact.

Join us in making this possible!

Sincerely,
Mark Sedore
Gledhill School Council, Chair

Jessica Braun
Fundraising Chair

Lindsay Tarvit
Fundraising Chair

All Month: Reading Challenge
Starting December 2nd, we invite all students to participate in a fun reading challenge as we move towards the winter break. Our hope is that the active engagement with reading at home, will build a love for reading outside of school and create positive reading habits.

Students will receive a bingo sheet containing fun reading activities. Completed sheets can be handed into the office in exchange for a small prize. A digital copy of the board can be found here

Dec 2-6: Book Fair
Find your next great read & support the school! If you are able to volunteer your time and support our School Book Fair, please sign up here. It takes a village to raise a child!

Friday Dec 6: Movie Night
Join us for our first movie night this year! Adults: our movie nights rely on volunteers to run. Please offer your support, even for an hour, to make this another successful movie night for our school community.  Sign up to volunteer at this link.

Sunday Dec 8: 2nd Annual Gledhill Community Food Drive

The face of hunger is real and it’s very close to home. Your neighbour, a work colleague, a friend, someone in your family; hunger isn’t an issue reserved solely for strangers or the homeless. Food insecurity can be found even within our closest circles and more often than not, these people go by quietly unnoticed.

To volunteer, fill out the Google Form at http://bit.ly/gledhill_food. Questions? Email gledhillfooddrive@gmail.com Unable to drop off on Dec 8? Email  gledhillfooddrive@gmail.com no later than Dec 6 to arrange a porch pick up.

Thursday Dec 12: Winter Concert
The WINTER CONCERT will be held on Thursday, December 12th at 5:30 pm. Homeroom teachers will be preparing a performance and they will choose whether their class will perform in the winter concert OR the spring concert. Please stay tuned to find out which classes are in each concert. In addition to the classes, the Doane Music School will perform their ukuleles and the Primary Choir will sing 3 songs. 

Friday Dec 13: Parent Karaoke Night
Save the date for a fun night to celebrate all your hard work! More info to follow

Dec 23-Jan 3: Winter Break
School will reopen on Dec 6

The next parent council meeting is Tuesday Nov 26 at 6:30pm in the library

Agenda for Gledhill Parent Council meeting

Next meeting/open discussion/other items (all)

Principal’s message (Ms Minos)

EQAO scores update (Ms Minos)

School priorities and funding (voting item) (Mark Sedore)

Dogs on property/signage (for discussion) (Ms Minos/Mark Sedore)

Treasurer’s report (Jonathan Parham)

2024/25 class funding (voting and discussion) (Jonathan Parham)

Movie Night – DECEMBER 06 (Maria Dasios)

Parents’ karaoke night – DECEMBER 13 – (voting item re: fundraising) (Amy Lee/Laura Patriquin/Mark Sedore)

Family fest (discussion only)

Process discussion (Mark Sedore/all) 

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Just a couple of friendly reminders for this week:

• Pizza orders for Friday Nov 22 lunch, are due Thursday Nov 14. Please place your order through school cash online. Anyone interested in volunteering, please email us at thegledhillguardian@gmail.com 

• For any one interested in getting their grade 5 grad a sweater, orders are due Monday, Nov 18. Check out this blog post for more details!

Dear Grade 5 families,

We are excited to share that we have a hoodie design and are organizing a group order so that we can have the sweaters distributed before the holidays. This way, our grads can enjoy wearing them for their last year at Gledhill!  A big shout out to Mr. Webb for helping make this happen! We will offer a parent/guardian pick-up time, if you don’t want your child to see it before the holidays. 

The pricing of the sweater will depend on how many families are interested in ordering. If we get at least 18 orders, the price drops to $38.25 plus tax per sweater. And shipping will be free with the group order!

Please see the design below. There is also an option to add your child’s first or last name on the right sleeve for $7.95.

Please email thegledhillguardian@gmail.com by Monday, Nov 18th with your desired order.  Please include: your child’s name and classroom, hoodie size and name personalization if you would like it. 

Once we know how many people are interested, then we will communicate the final cost of your order so that you can e-transfer to the thegledhillguardian@gmail.com by Friday, Nov 22nd. 

For guidance on sizing, please see this link and scroll down to the Sizing Guide tab: https://gledhilltigers.entripyshops.com/gildan-youth-hooded-sweatshirt

A friendly reminder that picture day is tomorrow, Thursday Oct 17

The deadline to order pizza lunch for Oct 25 is also tomorrow, Thursday Oct 17

Mr. Newhouse is seeking gently used storage furniture and books for the library as well as volunteers for the book fair. If you’re interested please email antoine.newhouse@tdsb.ca

Gledhill School Council is excited to offer Pizza Lunch days for all students who wish to participate (Kindergarten – Grade 5).  

Our first Pizza Lunch day is Friday, Oct 25.  Here are the details:

–       Pizza is supplied by Pizza Pizza

–       Your choice of cheese, pepperoni, dairy-free cheese or cheese with gluten-free crust

–       $3 per slice (up to three slices per student may be ordered)

–       Orders are placed through SchoolCash Online (you will receive an email directly from SchoolCash Online so check your junk mail if you cannot find it; alternatively, you can register/sign in here: https://tdsb.schoolcashonline.com)

–       Order Deadline:  Thursday, Oct 17, 2024

Kindly note that pizza orders cannot be changed once they have been placed, and there are no refunds for students who miss their lunch or who are absent on Pizza Lunch day.  Be sure to place your order in advance as pizza will NOT be available for sale on the day of the Pizza Lunch. 

Please continue to send snacks and drinks with your student(s) on these days, as only pizza will be offered for those who have placed an order.

All pizza orders contribute to Gledhill School Council’s fundraising efforts – thank you for supporting Gledhill and our students!

Upcoming Pizza Lunch dates: 

Mark your calendar for the scheduled upcoming Pizza Lunch days (separate emails will be sent with order information at a later date):  

– Friday, Nov 22

– Friday, Dec 13

– Friday, Jan 31

– Friday, Feb 21

– Friday, Mar 28

– Friday, April 25

– Friday, May 23

Should you have any questions about Pizza Lunches, please email thegledhillguardian@gmail.com

P.S.  Pizza Lunch days are organized and executed by a wonderful group of Gledhill parent volunteers.  It is a great way to get involved in the school community, meet other families and support our students.  If you’re interested in helping with Pizza Lunch day or want to learn more about volunteering at Gledhill, please email thegledhillguardian@gmail.com

We will be hosting Elections tonight in the school library from 6:30-8:00pm. For those in person, we will have child minding & pizza available!

If you are unable to attend in-person, please use the link or dial in details below to attend.

By Video: https://meet.google.com/dmk-anrp-gkj
By Phone: +1 405-433-4043 and enter this PIN: 382 278 647#