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An EXTRA-Curricular Evening
December 4, 2008

We were delighted to see many of you out at our Curriculum Night on Wednesday. We often hear from parents that it was after having met one of our high school students or one of our graduates that people seek out more information about our school and eventually enroll their own children. Our graduates have a remarkable sense of confidence, interest in the world, a sense of being centred and really knowing themselves. Our four panelists on Wednesday evening were certainly all people I would also describe in this way.

There was also so much engaging conversation about our curriculum - teachers across the Lower and High School and across all our subject areas were busy for quite some time answering questions and demonstrating how we connect our academic disciplines with hands-on experience, how we use the arts and movement to more deeply reach the children with our curriculum.

If you did not have a chance to attend on Wednesday, but have questions or want to know more about our curriculum and what is ahead for your child, please contact any of us on the Circle of Chairs and we would be happy to connect you with the teachers and/or some reference material to help answer your questions and spark even greater inspiration in our program. Also, if you missed the event and have some feedback about a better timing or way to get this information for you, we’d also be happy to hear from you. Just email Aileen Stewart with your thoughts.

Warm regards,

Michèle Andrews Rossi


Thank you
November 28, 2008

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Circle of Chairs I want to extend heartfelt thanks for all who joined us this week at our Annual General Meeting. We had a very full Music Room, full of people and also full of interest, engagement and goodwill. Over the coming few weeks we will bring the details of what was presented to the community to those of you who were not able to attend. In the meantime we hope to see you at our Curriculum Night next Wednesday, or an Advent Assembly in the next three weeks.

As always, if you are carrying any question or concern and aren’t sure how to proceed with it, please contact any of us on the Circle of Chairs.

Warmly,

Michèle Andrews Rossi


November 6, 2008

We hope you all enjoyed the fun we had, either in person or vicariously through your students, on Hallowe’en. The pumpkins were a delight to have around the building and property. The Lower School enjoyed the parade, the Grade 5’s were suitably spooked by the Grade 6 Haunted House (along with a few willing adults!), Grade 11 held their traditional pumpkin explosion experiment in chemistry, and the High School students and teachers enjoyed their evening dance.

Mark your calendars
There are two very important dates upcoming in the next few weeks, and we want to make sure that you know what they are and have the opportunity to plan your schedules around them if at all possible.

The first is the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, November 26th at 7:30pm. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about the progress on our strategic plan and our year-end financials from last year, and also hear what is projected financially. In these difficult economic times, we want parents to feel that they can ask the questions and get the answers they need to these important aspects of the school. Our AGM is the best opportunity to do that.

The second is our Curriculum Night on Wednesday December 3rd at 7:30pm. This evening will feature a panel of alumni/ae, and as well offer parents, from Joyful Beginnings through to High School, the opportunity to learn more about our program, how and why we do what we do. There will be teachers on hand to answer some of the most common questions, which could include:

• Where do our graduates go?
• When and how do we teach reading?
• What is our middle school math and science program like?
• What is our high school program about?

More details will follow in the coming weeks, but this is a unique opportunity to get a deeper look into aspects of our Waldorf program and talk to the talented teachers who bring this program to life for our students and the alumni/ae who have been there.

We know parents carry many questions and a desire for more information both on the topics of our strategic and financial plans, and on our curriculum.  These two evening events  are intended to ensure that we meet your communication needs. If you have any questions about either of these events, please contact me, or any of us on the Circle, or speak to your child’s teacher.

Michèle Andrews Rossi for the Circle of Chairs


October 31, 2008

Happy Hallowe'en!

I hope this newsletter finds you well. You, like all of us, are probably marveling at the speed with which this term is flying by! We find ourselves on the eve of Hallowe’en, and at the Fall Break. For those of you with students in the Lower School, I hope you were able to attend and enjoy the really lovely presentation of the many talents and accomplishments of our students. It had me smiling and tapping my feet well into the weekend.

I trust that you are finding our newsletter and the website a helpful enhancement in our communication to you. We are working hard to bring you a variety of items that keep you current and give you a flavour of what is happening around the school.  Your feedback, as always, is most welcome.
Enjoy this week’s edition, as well as the Hallowe’en festivities and Fall Break. We will speak to you again in November!

Michèle Andrews Rossi for the Circle of Chairs


October 23, 2008

Lower School Parent Festival Tomorrow
The highlight of the week is yet to come – the Lower School Parent Festival is Friday at 2:00 until 3:30pm. You will be treated to presentations in German and French, you will hear music and recitations and see a dance and some Eurythmy. We hope to welcome many Lower School parents to this fine event to get a glimpse into the work the children have been taking up in Grades 1 to 8 this fall.

Hallowe’en is coming - bring your pumpkins!
We would like to have a little extra fun and appreciate the range of creativity in our students (and perhaps parent body!). We thought we would invite each student in Grades 1 through 12 to bring your carved pumpkin to school on Hallowe’en Day, next Friday. We will have a particular spot for each class. The children can place their pumpkins in the designated area, and then retrieve them at the end of the day after we have all had the pleasure of admiring them. Imagine the sight -- we could have 250 pumpkins around the school!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to contact any of us on the Circle of Chairs.

Michèle Andrews Rossi, Administrative Director & Todd Royer, Faculty Chair

October 17, 2008

The students are well into their work here at the school, and we have our first Parents Festival for the Lower School next Friday October 24th at 2pm to give you a glimpse into what has been happening this fall. We hope you'll be able to join us.

We had a professional development day last Friday for Lower School, Early Childhood and Administrative staff from our school, in collaboration with several other Waldorf schools in the region. It was a very productive and enjoyable day where pedagogical insights, creative new ideas and best practices were shared, along with a harvest meal we prepared together. We hope that all of you who had an extra long weekend were able to enjoy some lovely family time together.

A note about our newsletter technical questions - we are looking into the current challenge that many of us have experienced, that when you "reply" to the sender of the newsletter, the sender is NOT the email address that is put in your "to" line. Rather, the name of the whole list is there. We are working on this, but in the meantime, if you  want to reach one of us, please contact us directly by name, or send a message to general@torontowaldorfschool.com rather than replying. Many thanks for your patience as we work out these unexpected glitches.

Warm regards,

Michèle Andrews Rossi
For the Circle of Chairs


October 9, 2008

I hope many of you managed to come out last evening to take advantage of the really wonderful eurythmy and spoken word performance. The audience was filled with parents, students, and members of our community, including audience members from our neighbouring Waldorf schools. There was great local media coverage with an article in the Richmond Hill Liberal this week. The eurythmist, Margrethe Solstad, was truly inspiring. Her husband, Trond Solstad, entertained us with poems  and conversation, and our own Esther Chu, one of our eurythmy accompanists, was absolutely magical on piano. Brian Searson also mastered the lighting to help produce a beautiful and highly professional presentation.

The weather is supposed to be lovely as we look towards the long weekend. On that note, we are noticing that as the weather is changing not all children are prepared to stay as warm and dry as is needed. Please make sure you send appropriate clothing for your child. As you may realize, children are out in all weather conditions. One wise Kindergarten teacher once told me “it’s not too cold, you are just not wearing the right clothing!” on a frosty walk through our beautiful grounds with my son and his class. We have the great privilege of this land, and we certainly do use it, regardless of the rain, mud, or snow.

We have also been asked by some parents in the Kindergarten to again remind people driving on our property to drive slowly, and be aware of the possibility of very young children around.

Lastly, look for this year’s TWS Family Directory to come home with your children today, or on Tuesday when school resumes. For families with 2 addresses there should be a copy for each.  If any family needs an additional copy please ask at the front desk and we will be happy to provide it. 

Blessings to you and your family on a lovely Thanksgiving.

Regards,
Michèle Andrews Rossi

October 2, 2008

It is always amazing to experience the month of September – it is filled with the enthusiasm that the students, parents, teachers and administrators bring to a new start. There are so many family picnics, harvest feasts, and parent meetings to help us re-connect and shape our class communities; which is vital to how we support our students in their learning and social environment.

There are also many class trips: from a day at the apple orchard to camping, canoeing, rock-hounding, golfing, community service, and our annual high school “Grade 9 initiation” and Michaelmas celebration. On each trip, in a way that is designed to meet the needs of that specific class' age and stage of development, the students, with their teachers and sometimes some parents, take on adventures and challenges that are valuable to forming their own community each year.

Next week we have the great privilege of hosting eurythmists from all around our area for a couple of days of eurythmy-focused professional development and artistic sharing with Margrethe Solstad. The visit will culminate in a performance on Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm in our forum. This will be a very suitable performance for students in the middle and high school, and inevitably these performances serve as an inspiration for our students in their own eurythmy classes.  We are very fortunate to have such an opportunity.

We are also lucky to have Allison Hudgins speaking at the Rudolf Steiner Centre on Monday the 6th, when she will present a compilation of research demonstrating “why Waldorf works” in practical terms.  Allison was formerly a trademark lawyer, and is currently the Admissions Coordinator at the Alan Howard Waldorf School. She is also a key member of the Board of Directors for the Waldorf Schools Association of Ontario. This will also be a worthwhile evening.

I hope you are finding this newsletter to be informative and timely. We look forward to your continued feedback.

Warm regards,

Michèle Andrews Rossi
For the Circle of Chairs

September 25, 2008

Thanks for the feedback on our new Waldorf Weekly e-News. We know there are a few things to iron out, in particular where parents with more than one child  at TWS get multiple copies of our newsletter. We ask for your patience as we review the technological options available to us to see if we can eliminate these extra emails. We also want to assure all those dedicated to the buy, sell and other “classified ads” that we still have this option.  It is now more robust and always free, at a site that was developed and launched by two parent volunteers. Visit the site to post or review ads any time.

As I mentioned last week, I will take this opportunity to introduce the members of our leadership team to you and to provide you with the information you need in order to ask questions or resolve any difficulties that might arise. 

Our Circle of Chairs is made up of the Chairs of the individual faculties along with the Faculty Chair and myself, the Administrative Director. 

The Chair of Early Childhood is Patti Wolfe, who has long been associated with the school and works with our newest families through the Parent and Tot program.  Read Patti’s bio

Les Black stepped into the role of Lower School Chair last winter, and has been affirmed to continue for this year. Les is also a long time veteran of our faculty, and is taking his third class through the very last step in their journey through the Lower School.  Read Les's bio

Helene Gross is the High School Chair. Helene has also been long associated with the school, she has served on the Board and as Faculty Chair, and currently teaches math in the Middle and High School.  Read Helene’s bio

Todd Royer is the Faculty Chair.  He has taken a class from Grade 1-8 as a class teacher and is in his sixth year as Faculty Chair.  This fall, Todd is beginning the school year by spending most his time co-teaching Grade 6 with our newest class teacher, Bruce McKenzie. Todd’s many gifts as a class teacher, his strong relationship with this class through the role he played supporting this class in Grades 4 and 5, and his work over the past two years in a Waldorf Teacher mentoring program will serve both the children and Bruce very well. Much of Todd’s Faculty Chair work has been temporarily shared out between the rest of the Circle while he lends his support in this way. Read Todd’s bio

I am now in my fourth year as the Administrative Director, and I also have the great pleasure of teaching the Grade 10 Career Studies course. Read my bio

With well over a thousand people (parents, staff and children) from various backgrounds involved in this school, there are bound to be bumps in the road.   Our process for handling issues and concerns is quite simple:  If the concern or issue is about something happening in a class, we strongly encourage taking the concern directly to the teacher involved, or your child’s class teacher or advisor.  If you have taken this step and are still concerned, the individual faculty’s chair will be happy to help resolve your situation satisfactorily.  If the individual chairs are unsuccessful in addressing your concern, we ask that you bring the matter to the Faculty Chair, who will ensure that your concern is reviewed and the situation is mediated.  Beyond this stage, the Ombuds Committee, made up of both parents and faculty members listens to unresolved disagreements and makes recommendations to the school via the Circle of Chairs and the Board on how to resolve the situation.  Leed Jackson is the contact for the Ombuds Committee.

In short, the process is:


If the concern or issue is school-wide, please direct it either to the Faculty Chair or to the Administrative Director.  If further help is needed beyond this step, the Chair of the Board, Bill Harlow, is willing to hear your concern.

We hope that you find this to be a straightforward way to work with us.

As always, if you have any questions, be sure to ask.

Warm regards,

Michèle Andrews Rossi
Administrative Director


September 19, 2008

I hope this note finds you settling into the rhythms and routines of the school year and enjoying this glorious September weather.

I am excited to be writing to you from the new “home” of the Circle of Chairs update – the Current Parents home page and our new weekly e-News. We will use this column to highlight important events and keep you up-to-date on the general happenings around the school. In next week’s column I will take a moment to introduce you to the members of the Circle of Chairs – our school leadership team.

For this week, I thought I would cover just a few of the basic reminders that are always important at this time of year:

Safe Student Drop-off
In Early Childhood, drop off and pick up are with your child’s teacher, unless they are registered in the Kindergarten After-School Program.

For the rest of the school, students should be dropped at, or after, 8am when our supervision begins. We have no supervision for students before 8 am. Lower School students start their day on the “black top” (the area outside the Lower Gym) and the children can enjoy the morning air before settling down to their lessons. High School students can make their way into their classrooms after 8am.  All classes begin at 8:30am.

You will see someone directing traffic at the traffic circle outside our front doors each morning between 8:15 and 8:30. This is a high-traffic time in this area, and we are doing our best to keep things moving and everyone safe. A few things to keep in mind:

• The ideal drop-off location for almost all circumstances is the top of the hill in our Bathurst Street parking lot. This gives the students the opportunity to enjoy some fresh air and exercise as they walk down our beautiful path and into the playground or school, keeps car traffic down to parents with very young children, and keeps the air cleaner too! It can also be faster than driving to the front door, where there are inevitably traffic jams.
• If you need to park and come in or help your children with their belongings, we welcome you to do so. Again, the Bathurst Street parking lot is the best place. You can also park across from the front door or down the hill.
• When you need to drive to the front door, we ask that you have your child ready, and make the good-byes as quick as possible out of respect for the people waiting behind you to pull up to an appropriate spot.
• Please drive slowly through this area.
• Pedestrians are encouraged to use the two new crosswalks.
• Never leave your car unattended in the drop-off area.
• Please reserve the “handicapped” parking spaces for those who need them.

Lateness
We are experiencing the very difficult problem of students arriving late for the beginning of the day. Students should ideally be on the property by 8:20, and ready for their class by 8:25. Late arrivals are a disruption for the other students, and for your child the start to their day is awkward and unsettling. We of course know that emergencies come up. We do appreciate anything you can do to ensure that students join their classes on time each day.

Allergies/ Health Concerns
We have a few students, as well as staff members, with severe allergies which could result in an anaphylactic reaction. Your teacher will let you know if your child is in a class with one of these children, and what you can do to help keep our school safe for them. If your child has such an allergy, or any other serious health concern, please ensure you make contact with your class teacher and the front office. We want to be certain that we have all the information we need to ensure your child’s safety.

Insurance for Instruments
Each year at this time we remind parents that we do not have insurance coverage for musical instruments that the students bring to school. Please ensure that your home insurance is adequate to cover any damage should something unfortunate occur. If you have any special concerns about the handling or storage of your child’s instrument, please speak with their teacher.

Parent Directory
We will be publishing our parent directory in early October. This directory includes names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses for all of our families (from Nursery to Grade 12), and contact information for teachers and staff, for the convenience of all of us to be able to communicate with one another. Only parents, faculty and staff will receive a copy. We do not allow this directory to be used for any kind of commercial purpose, and we ask that we all honour this policy. If, for some reason, you want some or all of your own address or phone number data withheld from the directory, please contact the front office in writing by Monday, September 29th.

I hope to see many of you at the High School Parent Welcome this Monday or at the Michaelmas festivities on the 29th.

If there is anything that we can do to better serve you and your children, please contact your child’s teacher or any of us in administration.

Warm regards,

Michèle Andrews Rossi,  
Administrative Director