June 2023 Newsletter

Days of Significance this Month


Principal's Message

As we finish up our school year in June, and welcome the warmth of summer, I am delighted to share our June newsletter with you. It brings me great joy to reflect on the incredible achievements and memorable moments that have shaped this school year. Our students have demonstrated resilience, dedication, and a thirst for knowledge that has made our school community proud. From outstanding academic achievement to exceptional extracurricular accomplishments, our students have truly showcased their talents and abilities. As we approach the end of the school year, I want to express my gratitude to our dedicated teachers and staff who have gone above and beyond to provide a nurturing and enriching environment for our students. Together, we have created a supportive community that fosters growth, learning, and character development.

Thank you for your unwavering support throughout this academic year. I am truly grateful for the trust you have placed in us, and I look forward to continuing our partnership as we finish up this school year, and into the coming school year. Wishing you all a Jolly June!  Please check out the items below from our staff about what is happening at our school this month.


Mr. G. DonaldsonPrincipalJohn T Tuck PS

Traffic Safety

We would like to remind our parents to be extra careful if they are driving in the school zone.  While we hope you can walk to and from school with your children, we ask that you follow by-laws and street signage if in your car. Please note that the front of the school is a no stopping zone. and we ask that you park on side streets and walk to grass area to meet your children after school or drop them off in the morning.  The Halton Region Police department has been and will be at our school during drop off and pick up to monitors speeds, parking, and unsafe driving such as three point turns in heavy traffic areas. Thank you for your diligence in keeping our roads, and our students, safe!


Crash Rhythm

Please come join us and make some beautiful noise with Crash Rhythm on Tuesday, June 20, 6-7pm. Parent Council has organized this all ages family event to help end the school year with a bang. CRASH uses bucket drumming to bring together fun, music, rhythm and drumming. Please consider bringing along an item to add to our school’s ROCK Infant Food Bank and Food Pantry charity donation. 


Plan of Care

All students with a prevalent medical condition (i.e., anaphylaxis, asthma, diabetes, epilepsy) are required to have their Plan of Care document reviewed annually. Should there be recommendations provided by your Health Care Practitioner, these may be incorporated into a revised Plan of Care for your Child when this document is finalized when we return to school.  Thank you for completing the Annual Review of Medical Information Form now, so that we can be ready for start up  in the new year. Please contact our Vice-Principal, Mrs Klomp (klompm@hdsb.ca) if you have any questions.  Please see the form below:

 

PDF Version (download and save prior to filling in): Annual Review of Medical Information Form


Staffing Update

As we plan for next year, we know that some of our staff will be moving onto other opportunities.  We would like to wish all the best to Mme Casson, who will be heading to Clarksdale PS in Burlington and we thank her for her work in Core French this year. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our Long Term Occasional Staff who have done an admirable job filling in for maternity, medical and/or other leaves in our school - Ms Saundercook, Ms Barran, Ms Wilson, Ms Lemon, and Ms Caruso.  We will be working over the Spring and Summer to complete our staffing process, and will share that with our community in the new school year. 


Grade 4 Cataplults

During our study of Early Societies in Grade 4, students used a variety of hand tools and wood materials to carefully follow a design to construct a functioning model of a catapult.  Students then had the opportunity to engage in our catapult launch day using marshmallows in order to see how far their Medieval weapon would toss it.  Grade 4's also attended an exciting trip to the Medieval Times Dinner theatre in Toronto where we watched a thrilling show put on by the castle king, queen, knights and horses.  Next we are off to Mountsberg to continue our learning about Habitats. So much fun in Grade 4!


ROCK Infant Food Bank and Food Pantry

As this school year winds down, Parent Council is organizing one last school-wide event to help give back to our community. The supplies at the ROCK (Reach of Centre for Kids) Infant Food Bank and Food Pantry are running low. Last June, the Tuck infant food drive helped provide food and items for families across Halton Region for over six months. Look for the trucks parked on the black top the morning of Tuesday, June 20! Items most in need include:

Diapers sizes 4, 5, 6


Non-perishable food items: 


Junior Relays and Track & Field

On May 17, 2023, the Halton Junior Relay meet was a big success.  The JTT teams put in a lot of work during early morning practices, and it paid off.  Every team performed amazingly, and they outscored the competition by six points. Good luck to the Junior Track and Field team who have their Halton meet next week at Nelson High School. The students will be competing in several Track and also Field events.  A special thank you to all the staff members who have volunteered during practises to assist in preparing the students for the upcoming Track event on June 6. Wishing success to all of our athletes competing next week.  They are urged to wear suitable clothing for the weather, bring sweaters, sunscreen, and umbrellas, as you never know what the weather will do!


Senior Track and Field

On Monday May 23 our Senior Track and Field Team traveled to Nelson High School to compete against eleven other Halton schools in this year’s Collier division meet.  There was some pretty tough competition, but our athletes didn’t back down.  The team should be very proud of their personal efforts and overall performance.  A special shout out goes to our grade 8 girls who ended up winning their division.


Parent Council

We would like to thank Shawna Plawiuk and Jessica Charland for their leadership as co-chairs of our parent council this year, as well as the rest of the council who committed to attending our bi-monthly meetings.  Through council's dedication, we were able to support the school in a variety of ways from the proceeds of Dance-a-thon, Pizza and Pita days.  Council has supported school initiatives in whole or in part for the Grade 8 Graduation, classroom projector replacement, concrete outdoor play equipment, Junglesport, Music Instruments, butterfly kits, literacy resources, Cross Country and Track uniforms, Phys Ed equipment, and various teacher resources in each classroom through Teacher Support Funds.  This year, council also focussed on initiatives that give back to our community with the fall Food Drive and organized our successful Movie Night in May. We look forward to Crash Rhythm this month! We are thankful for the continued support of our community and look forward to working with our new council next fall.


Equity and Well-being Update

During the month of June we honour and celebrate the importance of Pride Month. Pride Month symbolizes or signifies the importance of taking action against discrimination and violence toward members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (2S&LGBTQ+) community and to promote, dignify, affirm, maintain equality rights as well as increase visibility and build community.  


At JTT we will be honouring Pride month by supporting awareness through daily announcements, raising the Progressive Pride Flag, spotlighting books and resources connected to 2S&LGBTQ+ in our classrooms, library and virtual read alouds in addition to engaging student voice in our school bulletin boards connected to equity and inclusion. We will also be wearing a rainbow of colours on June 1st as a school community as a symbol of our safe, inclusive and diverse school culture here at JTT! Our staff book club will also be meeting weekly to discuss the book “Melissa” by Alex Gino and we are looking forward to the rich learning.


Indigenous History Month is observed Nationally in June as First Nations, Métis and Inuit are the history of this land. It is a time to deepen our understanding of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis histories, truths, beauty, brilliance and joy of Indigenous peoples.  As a school we will continue to broaden our understanding of the lived experiences and realities of Indigenous peoples while striving to elevate their voices and honour their stories. We will do this by engaging in resources shared by the HDSB to support our ongoing learning.


Our school resource audit is well underway as our new books that our staff have ordered for our classroom libraries have started to arrive!  We are excited to dig into more diverse books where all students can see themselves, their families and others in the texts that we read at school.


Summer Learning

This summer HDSB is offering summer school to those currently in grade 6, 7 and 8. If your child has struggled in getting a level 3 in math and/or literacy this year, you may wish to sign them up for a summer refresher course. If you are interested please review the information at: https://garyallan.ca/elementary-students/elementary-summer-school


For current grade 8's that have consistently received a level 3 or above, you may wish to sign your child up for the "Reach Ahead" credit course. Here students can achieve a high school credit online by successfully completing one of 2 summer school courses.  Participation in these courses will help students transition into a high school environment, and may result in a spare in their senior year of high school. Registration closes on Wednesday June 15 @4pm, so please register before that! Any questions, please feel free to contact Ms Simmelink at simmelinka@hdsb.ca.

Jump Rope for Heart

A huge thank you to the Tuck Community for supporting our "Jump Rope for Heart" event. Together we raised $2,450 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. We had a beautiful day and it was so nice to see all the students being active and having fun together. Way to go Tuck!