he 6th annual Hopewell Read-a-thon kicked off April 7 and there are 16 new schools participating in the Kiwanis Club program this year. Several upcoming workshops are being held at Hopewell Public School in April with well-known authors and media types such as J.C. Sulzenko, Epah Fonkeng, Brent Bambury, Catherine Grier, Jim Watson, Susan Atkinson and Dave Russell leading poetry, cartooning, reading, storytelling and media workshops. April 23 is Bring a Book for Hopewell Day - last year this resulted in a mountain of over 1,000 books being donated to the school and this year's donations will be shared with Centennial Public School, with whom Hopewell is partnering. The Read-a-thon is shaping up to be another fantastic event for the school that will help all of our kids become better readers as well as children in other schools who have adopted the Hopewell program.
At the April 8 School Council meeting, principal Bernie Finnerty reported that Hopewell will be moving to a straight grade format next year. This was the preference of teaching staff with the new curriculum being subject specific, it has become more difficult to teach split grades effectively than it was when there was a more common curriculum. Also, at the meeting School Council chair Brent Fournier raised the possibility of creating a Nominations Committee to assist with getting Council members in place earlier next year than in the past. Parents interested in joining the School Council next year should contact Brent and/or check out the School Council web site at http://www.theglebeonline.ca/schools/HAPSC for more information on the council positions, duties and contacts. Catherine Knoll has accepted the position of Treasurer of the School Council. Brent also visited Centennial School, and they are very excited about exploring partnership opportunities with Hopewell.
The Fundraising program was approved for next year at the April 8 School Council meeting. The following programs have been adopted for next year:
The Kindergarten Information Night was held April 2. Thirty-five families attended and the issue of the registration procedure was discussed again, with the only two options really being the status quo or a lottery system. People seem to want to have control over their own fate so the lottery idea was not particularly well-received. More surveys will likely be done in the fall.
The Spring Fling event was a resounding success and $1,123 was raised for the school and a fun time was had by all and all of the food sold.
The Playground Committee of School Council met with the landscape architect on April 11 and has arrived at a short list of charitable foundations to approach for funding. Volunteers are needed for the transplanting of trees. Phase one of the project will be the removal of the berms and paving of the 70' x 90' area. The committee is working with senior administration, the School Council executive and others to see if it is possible to get this project completed this summer in time for school next fall.
May 1: Education Week Open House, from 1:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
May 1: Junior Oral Communication Festival
May 5 - 9: EQAO testing for grade 3
May 7 - Grade 7: Parent Information Night, 6:30 p.m. in the library
May 12 - 16: EQAO testing for grade 6
May 13: School Council Meeting, 6:30 p.m. in the library
May 19: Victoria Day, no school for students