PRINCIPAL ADDRESS
Dear families,
There are many things happening in February and leading up to March break. The first term
report cards and communication of learning will be sent home with students on February 14.
Once these reports are sent home, our staff will work on updating IEPs to send home before
March 21. Our grade 3 students are participating in Swim to Survive this month, a program to
help students learn to swim and be safe around the water. Students in grades K-6 will be attending
Arrowhead Park later in the month for outdoor activities.
A few reminders as we continue into the last half of this school year:
● If your family is planning a vacation and your child will be absent for multiple days,
please send an email to [email protected] with the dates so that we can mark
attendance accordingly.
● Please encourage your child to dress warmly for the weather conditions. We go outside
unless the temperature is at or below -25.
● Our office will be closed from 12-12:30 each day. This means that phones will not be
answered and the door will not be opened. We ask that you avoid this time for picking
up or dropping off your child.
● Please remember and discuss with your children that personal mobile devices (phones,
tablets, and smartwatches) are to be turned off or on silent and put away from when
they are on property in the morning to the bell at 3pm. If a student needs to be in
contact with a parent/guardian, we have a system already in place through the school’s
main office.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher.
Erin Hills, Principal
Black History Month
The theme for this year’s Black History Month is Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating
Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations. We hope to include learning activities and
announcements on this topic over the month of February to continue our school learning about
Black History Month and the importance of diversity.
After school program
Our after-school program is looking for gently used puzzles. If you have any that are 50 pieces
or less that you are interested in donating, please drop them off at the office.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
5th – Book Fair starts
6th – Ski race at Arrowhead for cross country team
7th – Gr. 3 Swim to Survive
7th – Book Fair ends
13th – Grade 7/8 Valentine’s Dance at Huntsville Public School
14th – Valentine’s Day hot lunch
14th – Report Cards go home
14th – Gr. 3 Swim to Survive
17th – Family Day – No school
20th – Junior/intermediate speech competition
21st – Grades K-6 Arrowhead Trip
26th – Pink Shirt Day
27th – Parent Council virtual meeting 7pm
28th – PA Day
PARENT COUNCIL
Happy February Irwin Families!
Thank you to all who were able to join us for our virtual meeting last week. 11 parents joined our
Principal to get school updates and brainstorm ways to best support our students. This represents
about 10% of our Irwin families, and it is so great to have such strong parent engagement! We hold
the meetings to a 1-hour timeframe, and everyone is welcome to attend with no commitment
necessary. If you missed it, you can see the meeting minutes on the Irwin website
at https://irw.tldsb.on.ca/
Our January hot lunch of chicken on a bun raised $506, and as always, we would like to thank all who
support these fundraisers and the volunteers who make them happen! Special thanks to Dana
Sinclair and Joanna Marelli, who take the lead on these lunches each month. Another big thank you
goes out to our hot lunch sponsors, Robinsons/Baysville General Store, H.O.L.D, and Camp Olympia,
for their ongoing support!
In February we will host a hot lunch on Valentine’s Day; please stay tuned for more info and details
around that.
All funds that the school council raises go directly to support wish list items provided by students or
staff at Irwin. At the last meeting, we approved a request to purchase and install 2 more soccer
goalposts with nets in our yard to create a second pitch. Soccer is a popular sport at Irwin, and we
think that these will be heavily used at recess and potentially allow us to host soccer tournaments
with other schools. We hope that students will get many years of enjoyment from this new addition,
and we look forward to getting them installed this spring.
Our Irwin Breakfast Club is incredible and provides a healthy snack for each student in our school
every single day. School Council funds do not go towards this program but we are very grateful for
funding provided by various community support groups, to Lynda Peterson and Rachel Goulden for
taking the lead on the program, and to our parent volunteers who make it all possible!
If you would like to learn more about the school council or hear of ways to become involved at Irwin,
please reach out to [email protected] There are many fun events coming up that you won’t
want to miss! You can also stay in the loop by joining the Irwin Memorial Parent Council Facebook
page or by joining us for meetings when you are available. The next meeting is scheduled for
Thursday, February 27th, at 7 pm; please [email protected] for the link.
Have a great month everyone!
Irwin School Council
CROSS COUNTRY SKIING UPDATE
Our skiing program is fully up and running. Good luck to our students who are competing in the first
regional race on Thursday February 6th.
For those students who are interested there will be a 2nd race (weather dependent) on March 6th.
Students will need to practice in advance if they are interested in attending our 2nd race. For more
details please reach out to Mr.Y.
KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS WANTED, NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!
Help spread the word that beginning January 13, 2025 Kindergarten registration is open for students
born in 2021. All information including the link to register can be found on the TLDSB Kindergarten
page. https://www.tldsb.ca/kindergarten-registration/ Kindergarten registration is open all year round.
However, in order for the Board and schools to plan staffing for the upcoming school year, the Board
urges parents/guardians to complete registration by the end of February.
If families have questions about what school their child will attend, visit mybustoschool.ca.
GRADE 7/8 FUNDRAISER UPDATE:
Our grade 7 and 8 students will be going on an exciting 3 day trip to Montreal this June and we have
been hard at work fundraising to make the trip affordable for all families. Thank you to everyone who
has supported our efforts at this time, including: pancake breakfasts, a grade 7/8 dance,
the Christmas toonie sale, snack tables at our basketball games, the Coffee fundraiser
and family photos at our Holiday concert.
We are nearing the end of our fundraising for this trip. The following are our last efforts if you are
interested in supporting this initiative:
- a bottle drive – if you have any bottles or cans that you would like to donate, please call or text
Jessica at (705) 380 2656 to arrange pick up.
-We are also selling tickets for a 50/50 raffle kindly organized for us by the Dwight Lions Club. Tickets
are $5, and if all 1000 tickets are sold, the winner of the draw will get $2500 with the remaining profits
going towards our Montreal Trip. Tickets are currently being sold at the Websters Beacon, Henrietta’s
Pine Bakery, Lake of Bays Garden Center, Dwight Lumber, Erika’s Bakery and the Dwight Market.
You can also call or text Sarah at (705)783-5011 to purchase tickets for yourself or for a booklet of
tickets to sell to your friends if you would like to. We appreciate all support around this! The draw will
take place at Irwin Memorial on March 7th, and tickets must only be sold to adults over 18 years old
who reside in Ontario. Our lottery license number for reference is M706929.
-information for the Little Caesars Pizza Kit orders was sent home last week. Please check this out
and order online if you are interested.
Thank you everyone! Go Irwin!
SPOTLIGHT ON STAFF
Mrs. Brown
- What is your favourite sport to participate in?
My favourite sport is biking. I love to ride my mountain bike on trails. I also enjoy traveling to
different places with my touring bike. I do a bike trip every summer. - If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
If I could travel anywhere right now it would be to Iceland. I would like to hike and explore the
incredible landscape there. - What is your favourite thing to do on Family Day?
My favourite thing to do on family day is to get outdoors with my husband and dog, and my
sons if they’ll join us. We usually go for a snowshoe or hike.