Community Celebration June 5 - Join us!

Volunteers are still needed for our Community Celebration. Please fill out the Google Form if you can help out.

The event runs rain or shine. In case of rain, we will shift the celebration indoors.

Celebrating Pride Month

As a school board, we remain strongly committed to creating working and learning environments where all students and staff can bring their full identities, feel welcome and valued, and work and learn in an environment that enables them to be successful. We know that our students are more likely to learn, engage, and succeed in school when they know and feel that they matter and belong. This is particularly poignant in June when we recognize and celebrate the history and contributions of our 2SLGBTQI+ community.

During Pride Month (June), Aurora Grove PS, along with all schools in YRDSB, will raise the Progress Pride flag.

On Monday, June 3rd, our whole school will attend an assembly to learn about affirming all identities and Pride month. Then later in the day, the whole school will go outside for the official flag raising and a Pride Parade around the school property.

Throughout the month, led by our GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance), the school will be selling rainbow sprinkle cookies to raise money for The Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity.

Jump Rope for Heart!

Last week we kicked off Jump Rope for Heart! 

Our Event Date is scheduled for June 19th. 

This event teaches our students the importance of giving back and encourages them to learn the EASY healthy habits, so they understand the importance of staying active, eating well, and taking care of their heart and brain health. 

The funds our school raises will help support important heart and stroke research. 

Let’s work together as a school community and show how generous we can be! 

Join our school online and get your child set up with their own fundraising page by clicking here: https://www.jumpropeforheart.ca/ 

Early Dismissal Thursday, June 27th

All schools in the York Region District School Board are committed to improving student achievement and well-being.  On Thursday, June 27, 2024, an early release day will take place to allow elementary staff to take part in meetings during the afternoon of that day.  These meetings will allow for school staff to engage in culminating activities regarding the review and revision of the School’s Improvement Plan as well as year-end and transition activities that support student success.  

As has been our practice in the past, students will attend school during the morning of Thursday, June 27, 2024 only.  Students will be dismissed early that day at 12:00pm.  Arrangements will be made to ensure that students who are normally bused to and from school will receive transportation at this time.  Families whose children attend after school child care should make appropriate arrangements to address this change in schedule.

Scholastic Book Fair - Save the Date!

Mark your calendars! The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school! Our school’s Scholastic Book Fair will take place the week of June 3rd to June 7th, 2024. 

We will also be OPEN during our upcoming evening events, Discover Kindergarten  on May 30th and the Community Celebration on June 5th!

Your investment in your reader helps our whole school. All purchases earn Scholastic Dollars that can be redeemed for books and educational resources for our school’s classrooms and library.

Discover Kindergarten May 30

 

Jr. Girls Basketball - Area Champions!

On Wednesday, April 24th, the Junior Girls Basketball Team represented Aurora Grove at the Area Tournament. The girls played extremely well and demonstrated great skill and sportsmanship. 

They took 1st place!! We are so proud of them!

Shout out to Ms. Currie and Mr. Cuello for all their hard work coaching the team. Go Grove!

Boomerang Lunches Starting April 15

Aurora Grove P.S. is committed to doing our part in helping our environment! In the past few months, we have been focusing on recycling responsibly in the classrooms. Our next step will be to take on a waste-free lunch challenge with BOOMERANG LUNCHES! This will begin on Monday, April 15, 2024. 

HOW IT WORKS: All waste from your child’s snacks/lunches will be returned home in their lunch bags. This includes all packaging, uneaten food and leftovers. 

WHY WE NEED THIS PROGRAM: Most lunch trash comes from disposable packaging of single use food items, plastic bags and foil. It’s estimated that the average school age child using a disposable lunch produces 67 pounds of lunch waste per school year! Using reusable containers, thermos bottles and bringing the right amount of food will let children know they can be part of the solution to our waste problems. 

BOOMERANG LUNCH GOALS:

• Enable parents to see what their children are actually eating during the day

• Reduce the amount of wasted food

• Reduce the amount of overall waste produced

• Encourage healthy eating

• Promote the use of reusable containers

WASTE FREE SNACK/ LUNCH TIPS:

1. Use reusable lunch carriers and containers. Try to avoid plastic bags.

2. If you use single-use containers, provide a resealable bag for the empty containers (yogurt, apple sauce, juice boxes) to be returned home. 

3. Use reusable drinks, bottles, or thermoses.

4. Use a cloth napkin to wash and reuse.

5. Use reusable utensils.

6. Get your children to help pack their snacks/lunches with healthy foods.

7. Pack only as much food as your child will eat.

8. Label* all containers with your child’s name, initial, or a special symbol. 

Thank you for your cooperation!

*Optional: For a fun way to label your child’s belongings (as well as to support our school’s ongoing fundraising efforts), please visit:  https://mabelslabels.ca/en-CA/fundraising/support and search for Aurora Grove P.S. 

NOTE: Students who have ordered lunch through SchoolCash Online will be able to discard their lunch waste at school.

Black History Month

Aurora Grove continues to learn about Black history during Black History Month.  

Grade 2 students learned about Rosa Parks and her courage to stand up for equal rights. 

Our grade 6 students are learning about the history and journey of enslaved black people. They are creating a symbolic "Train to Freedom" railroad all along the second floor. They are working on understanding terms like segregation, racism, and oppression. They are learning about the journey, struggles, and culture of black people in Canada through a historical lens including those who lived Africville in Nova Scotia. 

Lunar New Year

Aurora Grove enjoyed a Chinese Lion Dance to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Everyone had a great time experiencing such a beautiful and fun tradition and learning about the Lunar New Year!

  

Yut Nori

To celebrate the Korean New Year, students and staff learned how to play Yut Nori. This is a traditional game played in Korea, especially during the Korean New Year. Everyone had so much fun!

  

  

  

  

Pink Shirt Day

Wednesday, February 28th, 2024 is Pink Shirt Day.

Pink Shirt Day emphasizes kindness and the importance of lifting each other up.

The origins of this day trace back to 2007, when Nova Scotia secondary students David Shepherd and Travis Price saw a grade nine student being bullied for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. In an effort to stand up for the student, they purchased 50 pink shirts and distributed them to other students, who wore them in solidarity. Since David and Travis’ act of kindness in 2007, the spirit of their effort has grown each year. Over the past number of years, people in almost 180 countries shared their support of Pink Shirt Day through social media posts and donations. (For more information, visit the official website for Pink Shirt Day.)

Please encourage your child to wear a Pink shirt to school on Wednesday, February 28. Let’s engage in kindness and stand up to bullying next Wednesday and every day!

Black History Month at AGPS

Aurora Grove is celebrating Black History Month with many different lessons and experiences from Kindergarten to grade 8. Below is just a little bit of what's been going on.

 
Our 2nd floor hallway display highlights figures from Black History around the world, and encourages our students to celebrate their rich history and the ancestors who came before us all. It's a loving reminder to our students that they were born to shine and can do anything! 

Our main floor display highlights Canadian Black History and is part of a school-wide visual art collaboration for grade 5-8. In class, students are preparing for the collaboration by learning about Freedom Quilts on the Underground Railroad with their teachers. They will then go on to create their own self portraits as part of a larger ‘Grove Patchwork Quilt’ that will show both our connection to Black History and to one another. Stay tuned for the finished display in a couple of weeks!

Our grade 4 students are watching videos and reading stories about significant Black Canadians and then they are drawing portraits of one of the key individuals who inspired them.

Our grade 7 and 8 students are engaging in "A Person A Day" Black History Month trivia to learn about and celebrate Black Candians from the past and present.

We'll share more of our school-wide learning during Black History Month throughout the month of February.

Chinese Heritage Student Groups - Virtual Info Night Feb 15 (tomorrow!)

English 

Aurora Grove Public School will be running two Chinese Heritage Student Groups. We’re holding a virtual information session on Thursday, February 15^th at 5pm so families can learn more about the focus of each group.

Group 1: STRONG

The STRONG program is an opportunity for students who are relatively new to Canada to learn coping skills, discuss their experiences, feel a sense of belonging, and help them adjust to life in their new home.

Group 2: SKY LANTERN

The SKY LANTERN program is an opportunity for students of Chinese heritage to affirm their lived experiences, understand the intersectionality of their identities, recognize the traditional Chinese wisdom, and explore innovative coping strategies that help them to face every day’s life. 

Please join us on Thursday, February 15^th at 5pm at the following Google Meet link:  https://meet.google.com/sfv-zjtg-jxb

Mandarin: 

Aurora Grove Public Sc​​hool 将提供两个支持华裔学生的小组。我们将于2月15日星期四下午5点举办虚拟信息发布会，以便家长们可以更多地了解每个小组的重点资讯。

第一组 STRONG 计划为刚到加拿大的学生提供学习应对技巧、讨论他们的经历、感受归属感并帮助他们适应新家庭生活的机会。

第二组：SKY LANTERN 计划为华裔美国学生提供了一个机会，让他们分享自己作为华裔学生的经验，加强自我身份认同和对中国传统文化的认知。从而帮助他们面对社会各种不同的压力。

请于2月15日下午5点通过以下Google Meet链接加入我们： https://meet.google.com/sfv-zjtg-jxb

Cantonese:

Aurora Grove Public School 將提供兩個支持華裔學生的小組。我們將於2月15日下午5點舉辦虛擬資訊發布會，方便家長們可以進一步了解每個小組的重點資訊。

第一組 STRONG 計畫為剛到加拿大的學生提供學習應對技巧、討論他們的經驗、感受歸屬感並幫助他們適應新的家庭生活的機會。

第二組：SKY LANTERN 計畫為華裔美國學生提供了一個機會，讓他們分享自己作為華裔學生的經驗，加強自我身份認同和對中國傳統文化的認知。

從而幫助他們面對社會各階層請於2月15日下午5點透過以下Google Meet連結加入我們：https://meet.google.com/sfv-zjtg-jxb

Spotlight: Kindergarten (Winter Walk Month)

Today is Winter Walk To School Day and February is Winter Walk Month!

The Kindergarten students at Aurora Grove PS worked very hard to create a few Public Service Announcements about how to stay safe in the Winter. Please check out our superstars on Instagram! The first one is already posted with a couple more to come this month.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by York Region DSB (@yrdsb.schools)

Games Club

Last week, AGPS kicked off it's daily Morning Recess Games Club and it's quite the event!

Kids from grades 3 to 6 are having a great time playing games like Battleship, Uno, Sorry, Guess Who, Connect 4, Chess and more!

It's great to see them cooperating and cheering each other on. 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Walk To School Day - this Wednesday Feb 7!!

 Let's all support Winter Walk Day this Wednesday and walk to school!

Spotlight - Kindergarten to Grade 2

Yesterday our Kindergarten to Grade 2 students got to listen to children's author, Thomas Zachos, read his inspiring picture book, Superheroes Like Me. 

Superheroes Like Me is about an individual with a disability who believes that people can accomplish anything no matter the limitations or obstacles they may face. 

First three of our students, Thomas' cousins who attend AGPS, did a wonderful job introducing him to everyone. After Thomas' reading, students had the chance to ask him questions and learned about how he wrote the book, how the illustrations came to be, what inspires him, and his hope that everyone can find the superhero within themselves. 

We will have copies of the book in our school library for students to borrow. 

If you would like to order a copy for yourself, please email the school. We have copies for sale. These copies are already signed by Thomas!

$20 for softcover

$30 for hardcover  

Alternatively, you can always purchase the book at another time from one of its online distributors. 

Winter Walk Day - Feb 7

Join us on February 7th and walk to school for 

Winter Walk Day!

 

African Voyage Workshop

Last Friday, students in grades 4-8 attended a workshop entitled ‘Voyage Africain’ hosted by the incredibly talented Njacko Backo. Mr. Backo is a French-speaking musician, dancer and storyteller from Cameroon and his engaging and lively presentation kept our students enthralled for over an hour! 

Students listened to a traditional folk story, sang in French and English, danced and learned about musical instruments from West Africa such as the Djembe (hand drum) and the Kalimba (thumb piano). Mr Backo invited students to come up and join him playing different instruments including cowbells, shakers and drums of different shapes and sizes. Once the band was comfortable with the beat, it was time for Mr. Backo to enlist the dance crew. After a quick lesson and a little practice, the dancers and the band joined the singing audience in a musical extravaganza in French and English that brought us all together. Our students left the presentation still clapping the beat and singing the songs and there is no doubt that they will remember this experience for many years to come!