Tuesday, June 7, 2016

RAPT News

Rippleton Families,

RAPT would like to extended a big thank you to all the families that supported our BBQ & FUN FAIR. It was a wonderful day and so lovely to see many families joining in on the fun. We could not have asked for better weather. A huge shout out to the parents and former students that volunteered their time.

If you were the highest bidder for a Silent Auction Item you will be contacted by the end of the week with the details of how to obtain your item(s).

*IMPORTANT * Tomorrow’s (Wed. June 8th) 2016-2017 fundraising planning meeting has been postponed until Tuesday the 14th of June at 8:50am. We welcome anyone who would like to come. It is a great opportunity to share a new idea next year’s fundraising.

RAPT

Saturday, May 14, 2016

RAPT May News

Hello Rippleton Parents,

Here is RAPT's news for the month of May.

Special Lunch Days- As always we are in need of volunteers for Pizza/Burrito lunch days this month.
The following classes still need helpers at Pizza Lunch this FRIDAY;
Williams, D’Angelo, Di Cesare, Fitzgibbons, Wakabayashi
We would appreciate it if you could please come help if you are able, even if your child’s class already has a volunteer. We cannot get the students their food on time without your assistance.

Lost and Found/Lovable Labels-The Spring Lost and Found is set up in the front hall. Please check it for your child’s missing items. If you are tired of your kids loosing their things, you can use our school website to order Personalized labels www.rippleton.lovablelabels.ca 20% of sales comes back to the school.

BBQ-Fun Fair-Our ANNUAL BBQ & FUN FAIR, is on Sat. June 4th 11-3pm.
In the next few days you will receive a BBQ-Fun Fair Pre-sale order form. Please return this form and payment to the school no later than June 20th. There will also be ticket table set up before and after school from May 24th – May 30th.
Entries for the Fun Fair MAP Drawing Contest are due this Thursday. This is open to all Gr. 3-6 students. (see the attachment for more details)
The Annual Bottle Bonanza Drive will begin next week. 
We are still looking for Silent Auction Items. If you would like to donate or know of a business that would like to donate an item, please email RAPT raptrippleton@gmail.com to let us know.
We will need many volunteers to make the BBQ a fun and successful event. Use this link to sign-up http://vols.pt/U8ejbU . If you know of any responsible high school students looking for volunteer hours they are welcome to sign-up as well.  We hope you can get involved.

May RAPT Meeting- Our meeting was Monday, May 9th. The minutes will be posted on the RAPT bulletin board. 
That’s all the RAPT news for now. 




Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Minutes from RAPT meeting, April 6

Minutes Subject to Approval at Next RAPT Meeting                                Apr 6, 2016

2015-2016 Council:                             Vanessa Appleton, Co-Chair
                                                Krista Sevdalis, Co-Chair
                                                Kelly Pellegrino, Secretary (not present)
                                                Hanna Kamal, Exec Council Member
                                                Jessica Tinkler, Exec Council Member
                                                Georgia Panagiotopoulos, Exec Council Member
                                                Christine Shin, Treasurer
                                                Amran Abocar, Exec Council Member

Staff Present:                                      Lynn Chadder, Principal
                                                S. Cooper, Support Teacher
                                                Reba Ormos, Teacher
                                                Cailin McIntosh, Teacher
                                                Pela Gardiner, Child Care 

11)    RAPT Welcome
Call to Order at 6:05pm         Location: Rippleton P.S. Staffroom
a)      Welcome to all parents and staff.
b)      Jessica motion to approve Feb 1, 2016 minutes, Krista approved

22)    Principal’s Report – Mrs. Chadder
a)      School News
a.      School assembly on Apr 4th saw many classes perform and thanks to all who worked with the students
b.      Poor April weather may push back track and field tryouts ahead of May area meet but they will happen in time
c.       Earth Week begins April 18th with a kick off assembly and will include walk to school day, community clean up and lots of other great initiatives –check school calendar for specifics
d.      School Wish List – deferred to next RAPT meeting after Apr 15 teachers’ meeting
e.      Staffing – student enrollment in 2016/17 is expected to be 343 and  largely in line with this year and 2/3 of student population will be in JK/SK -3 next year
f.        Projection for the Next School Year- 3 Kindergarten Classes, Primary classes will predominately be single grade classes; Junior grades will be mainly combined grade classes with exception of one single Grade 4 class.
g.      Teaching assignments are an ongoing process and are not finalized until the new school year begins. The classroom organization for 2016/2017 will be included in the June report card and the class lists will be posted outside on the first day of school in September. Rippleton staff will make every effort to place students in the best learning environment for each child to be successful. Homeroom teachers in consultation with receiving teachers, appropriate support staff and school administration devote much discussion time to the generation of classes that strive to best meet the needs of all of our students. Decisions are made following careful consideration of a number of criteria: balance of student abilities, interests and talents; gender balance; class size (consistent with Board and Ministry guidelines); learning style; learning partners and social factors.
Often parents have new and /or important information to share about their child which lends assistance to class placement decisions. Recent medical diagnoses, significant negative peer relationships that exist outside the school's awareness or significant individual/family issues that may impact learning are items of information which are appreciated prior to the placement process. Should you wish to provide input to the class placement process with this information, please communicate in writing to Mrs. Chadder.
h.    TDSB has begun the process of realigning its elementary, middle and high schools in areas of the board that previously had junior high schools. Mrs. Chadder will be attending two local feasibility team meetings with our area planning officer and the schools in the current York Mills Cluster, on April 27 and May 10, to consider future possibilities related to St. Andrew’s and Windfields Junior High Schools. In other areas of the board, schools that were previously JK – Grade 6 who transitioned to a Junior High School are becoming JK – Grade 5 schools and the children move to a middle school model of Grade 6 – 8 then high school Grade 9 – 12. As more information becomes available it will be shared with parents and the community.

33)    Budget /Treasurer Report
a)      No major expenditures since last meeting, still healthily funded
b)      Teachers are encouraged utilize their class artist allowance; several classrooms have artists booked for April and May
c)      School Wish List Spending VOTE– deferred to next RAPT meeting after Apr 15th  teachers’ meeting


44)    RAPT Report
a)      On behalf of all parents, thanks to all staff who ran winter activities and invited people into the classroom such as Scientist in School. A big thank you to the teachers and staff
b)      Cadence – two performances by acapella group was very well-received and everyone had a great time
c)      April 13th is Anti-Bullying PINK Day. On April 14th Non-profit group Concerned Kids puppet troupe will put on several grade appropriate shows for nominal fee of $75
The Topics Concerned Kids will address with students – Sticks and Stones, Feeling Safe at School, Don’t be mean on the playground, You’re Not the boss of me, rescue or report, what’s the problem
d)      Discussion held to donate $300 to enable Concerned Kids to put on shows at other schools. RAPT will specifically request troupe allocate funds to its next three visits to other schools.
e)      Danceathon – thanks to parents who donated gift cards and to the volunteers. Raffle Event was a great success, kids had a blast at the dance and fundraiser generated $4,713. RAPT purchased gift card prizes for highest fundraising students in each division. Ice cream party for Mrs. Di Cesare’s class, her class voted to wait to have it until the weather is warmer.
f)       Danceathon entertainment – discussion held about using same group for next year, due to late arrival this year which created much disruption. RAPT seeking refund and/or compensation for having to rearrange so much 
g)      Fundraising 2016/17 – planning meeting upcoming in spring. Parents are invited to attend and suggest ideas for fundraising. Meeting DATE to be decided.
h)      PROGrant – an informative evening with Beverley Cathcart-Ross. About 40-50 people attended the interactive session, which was reasonably priced. Copy of her book is in Mrs. Chadder’s office, PDF notes were sent to parents via their class rep and posted on the RAPT Bulletin Board.
i)        Loveable Labels – Parents are invited to order handy labels from this website, which will be up all year, with deliveries to your home. The school gets 20% of- all purchases. Website to order from is www.Rippleton.lovablelabels.ca . Samples on RAPT board.
j)        Lunch, afterschool programs – spring session activities have been organized. New this term are yoga classes, in addition to art, animation, cheerleading, and guitar Activities begin the week of April 18th
k)      New committee to be set up for parents who want to get involved in selecting and planning lunch and afterschool programs for 2016/17. Please contact Amran if you want to get involved.
l)        BBQ Update – Initial planning meeting took place Apr 5; all parents are encouraged to get in touch with RAPT and get involved. All entertainment donated by Ecko Jay, food to be donated by Panagiotopoulos family, music donated by Graterol family. There will be a map contest for Gr 3-6s, and the winning artists will design the official BBQ map. Social Phone Booth will return this year given they are tried and tested. Please contact RAPT if you want to volunteer to help organize the BBQ

55)    Quick Bits
m)   Lunch Program – two options will be explored to replace current provider; information will be shared at later date. RAPT needs parents who currently use Lunch Lady to come look at possible options
n)      Sub Lunch- Sub provider unexpectedly closed business. A Burrito company has stepped in to provide students with Burritos for the last 3 “sub” lunch days. Parents need to return green form by Monday April 11th.

66)    Grade 6 Fundraising Report
o)      Movie Night will be on May 5th  for Gr 4-6 and feature Hotel Transylvania 2
p)      Breakout Studios is booked for grad party and yearbook is being put together.
q)      Discussion began around how fundraising should be setup for Graduation in 2017, limited to a certain amount of events/money raised by the whole school body

Next Meeting Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6pm

Contact: RAPTraptrippleton@gmail.com
Blog: raptreport.blogspot.com
Facebook: Rippleton Association of Parents and Teachers

Meeting adjourned at 7:55pm



Thursday, April 7, 2016

Important change to sub lunch

Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, Quiznos Sub will no longer be providing Rippleton with a monthly Sub Lunch. We have been fortunate to find a local Burrito establishment willing to provide us with lunches for the remainder of the year on the remaining Sub Lunch days. 

You will have five Burrito options available to you as well as the option to opt out and either donate the remaining money to RAPT or receive a refund in the amount of $21. 

The three remaining days to receive a burrito lunch are: Thursday April 14, Friday May 13 and Friday June 17.

Please look for the green order forms that came home this week and submit your preferences.


We thank you for your continued support and understanding!

Blue Jays Spirit Day - Friday, April 8

Friday is Blue Jays Spirit Day at Rippleton P.S.! 

Get out your team shirts, team jerseys, hats and anything else you might have to help cheer on our Toronto Blue Jays as they play their home opener on Friday April 8th! 

No Jays clothing; don't worry, cheer on our team by wearing blue and white to school. 

Go Jays Go!

Monday, April 4, 2016

RAPT April News

Hi parents, 

Please find below the latest RAPT news and items to make note of for the month of April.

1.   BBQ-Fun Fair Planning meeting- Tuesday April 5th @ 8:45am in the staffroom – Parents are welcome to come and contribute. We will share the initial BBQ/Fun Fair plans and begin to form a committee. If you cannot make the meeting but you’d like to be involved please email us at raptrippleton@gmail.com

  1. RAPT Meeting – Wednesday April 6th @ 6:00pm in the staffroom- Babysitting will be provided for school aged children. Please see the attached agenda. Mrs. Chadder will be sharing valuable information for the 2016-2017 school year, as well as, the school’s wish list items. We hope to make a proposal for spending and possibly vote on how fundraising money will be spent. RAPT meetings are a great way to hear about what is going on at school and plans for the future. We welcome all input.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
  2. SPRING Activities- This week you will receive a package of Lunch time and After school activity registration forms. Please return them promptly to the school. Programs begin the week of April 18th.

  1. Lovable Labels- In the next week you will receive a flyer regarding our NEW fundraiser with Lovable Labels. These labels will help to make sure your child’s “stuff” comes back home.  The fundraiser will be ongoing throughout the year, you can order at any point and they ship to your house. Order now for summer camp or plan ahead for the next school year. If you would like to check out the labels and start ordering, our website is www.Rippleton.lovablelabels.ca . Our school receives 20% of every order.

  1. SPECIAL LUNCH DAYS- We have 3 special lunch days this month. Fri. Apr. 8th (pizza), Thurs. Apr. 14th (sub) & Fri. Apr. 22nd (pizza) If you can volunteer your time please sign-up at http://www.vols.pt/iuEdFr

  1. School Calendar –Attached you will find our school April calendar. As you will notice, it is a busy month at school! The Scientist visits and the Bully Awareness Presentations were funded by our fundraising initiatives, so thank you for helping to enrich student life at Rippleton.
You can find the most up todate RAPT information at our Facebook group - search “Rippleton Association of Parents & Teachers”. 

As always, should you have any questions please message RAPT at raptrippleton@gmail.com

Thursday, March 3, 2016

RAPT March News

Hi parents, 

Hope many of you enjoyed our PRO-grant workshop with Beverly Cathcart-Ross. It was a very informative evening and she offered many useful tips to help us become “great parents”. Thank you to all parents who were able to join us.  For anyone interested in borrowing it, the school has a copy of her book, Raising Great Parents. You'll find some of her notes posted on this blog as well.

On Monday, March 7th RAPT has scheduled Cadence, an acapella group to come perform for the students. These arts performances are made possible with our donation funds. Thank you for helping to enrich student life at Rippleton.

We have a Pizza Lunch again this Friday and a Sub Lunch on March 11th. If you are able to volunteer your time please sign-up at   http://www.vols.pt/iuEdFr      

We still need help in the following classes.

Pizza Lunch–March 4th
Sub Lunch-March 11th
Williams
Williams
D’Angelo
D’Angelo
King (x 2)
Di Cesare
Lucas
Meijer
Buck
Fitzgibbons
Meijer
Wakabayashi
Ormos
Buck
Wilson
Ormos

RAPT is looking into having a different hot lunch program (to replace Lunch Lady) next year. If you know of a reputable service with good reviews please forward the information to raptrippleton@gmail.com or drop a pamphlet in our RAPT mailbox in the school office
Please Save-the-Date for our annual BBQ and Fun Fair – Saturday June 4th.

We hope you have a wonderful March Break.


Sincerely, RAPT 

Tips from Parenting Network: Long-range life skills for children

Hi parents, 

These great tips came from the PRO-grant workshop with Beverly Cathcart-Ross last month. It was a very informative evening and she offered many useful tips to help us become “great parents”. Thank you to all parents who were able to join us.  For anyone interested in borrowing it, the school has a copy of her book, Raising Great Parents. 

Long-range Life Skills for Our Children
The following outlines the life skills that parents consider most important. Please take a moment to reflect on these skills. At the end, you’ll find an activity for parents to add anything else that you’d like on your wish-list for your child(ren).

Life Skill - Independence
How parents can help…
 We want our children to have the inner confidence that they can handle whatever comes their way.
 You can help your child(ren) start building this skill immediately by inviting them to make decisions for themselves. Toddlers can decide what clothes to wear and what cereal to eat in the morning.
 Let a child experience struggle and they will learn that they can cope!

Life Skill - Dual respect (for self and others)
 Respect is vital to parenting in a democracy.
 Children are not born knowing how to be respectful. It’s something they learn and modeling is still our best tool.
 You can start off on the right foot by creating a family atmosphere of respect for the child and respect for yourself.

Life Skill - Capacity for close, caring relationships
 As parents, we want our children to have fulfilling lives.
 There is nothing more valuable than experiencing loving, caring relationships.
 Help build this skill by encouraging your child(ren) to love and believe in themselves.

Life Skill - Social interest
 All human beings have the inherent capacity for social interest.
 As parents, we can encourage our children to contribute, and to be cooperative and caring towards others in our families and communities.

Life Skill - Capacity for problem-solving, conflict resolution
 As we all discover, relationships have their moments of conflict. This is normal and natural.
 Whether it’s at home, in the classroom or on the playground, the ability to resolve conflict is a crucial skill for our children to learn.
 A lot of parents are uncomfortable with conflict and confrontation in their lives. It is a skill that is never too late to learn.

Life Skill - Internal motivation
 Most parents unknowingly use a lot of external motivation in influencing their child’s behaviour.
 Threats, bribes and fear of punishment are all external motivators.
 We’ll talk about different things that we can say to foster internal motivation in our children.

Life Skill - Strong self-esteem
 Everyone wants their child to have strong self-esteem.
 Self-esteem simply means how the child estimates himself.
 We’ll be reviewing three critical elements in our children’s self-esteem: Do they feel loved unconditionally, valued and capable “as is”? If they can say yes to all three, they are in great shape!

Life Skill - Happy, healthy disposition, sense of humour
 Parents often say that, above all, they want their children to be “happy and healthy”.
 It’s easier to achieve this lifestyle when one has a sense of humour to help keep mistakes in perspective.

Life Skill - Willingness to take risks, sense of curiosity and adventure
 Many parents see the value in a child who is curious, adventurous, willing to take a risk, and make mistakes.
 Children with these skills can learn to develop resourcefulness, be adaptable, and enjoy their innate creativity.

Life Skill - Responsibility
 It’s vital that our children be responsible for their choices in life.
 We can help our children with this skill by not protecting them from life or from the results of their own choices and decisions.
 We can also give them age-appropriate responsibility and ways to contribute to the family.

A Skills Wish-list for My Child(ren)
You may wish to collaborate on a skills list with your partner, or complete this activity individually and then compare notes afterwards! Specifically, list the skill and then things I can do to help my child develop this skill.