PRINCIPAL’S ADDRESS:
Dear families,
March always passes quickly with a lot of learning and other activities for our students.
The volleyball team has just participated in the opening volleyball tournament, and
games have started on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. Our intermediate
students participated in the Skills Ontario challenge, designing and building houses. 4
of our grade 8 students will participate in the next level of competition. Thank you to
Dwight Lumber for the generous donation of lumber and materials for these projects, to
Patti Blundell for organizing and to Drew Nelson who assisted with building day.
If you have a child starting at Irwin in September for the 2026-2027 school year, please
register as soon as possible, so that we have accurate numbers for our class
organization. If you know a family planning to attend, please share the information or
ask them to phone the school for more information.
Thank you to the parent council for organizing hot lunches each month and using funds
this month to purchase additional materials for our students. The hot lunch program is
an amazing opportunity for fundraising and for our students to enjoy a meal together.
Please reach out to our parent council if you have your Vulnerable Sector Check and
are interested in volunteering with parent council activities.
We continue to have a mix of winter and spring weather, sometimes all in one day!
Please continue to check the weather and send your child with outdoor gear for the day.
Our younger students especially need extra clothes (socks and pants in particular).
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s teacher.
Erin Hills, Principal
Reading at Home
Did you know that…
– reading 20 minutes each day adds up to 3600 minutes of reading in a school year?
-reading 5 minutes each day adds up to 900 minutes of reading in a school year?
-reading 1 minute each day adds up to 180 minutes in a school year?
Reading with your child for just 20 minutes a day can make a big difference in language development,
vocabulary development, emotional growth and strengthening critical thinking skills. Consider how
you can build this small daily habit at home that can have a big impact. Happy reading!
Reading at Irwin
We have several parents who volunteer and read with students in classes to provide some extra
practice with their reading. We would love to have more volunteers help with this. If you are
interested and you have your VSC on file and documents up-to-date and this is of interest to you,
please reach out to your child’s teacher or to Mrs. Hills.
Mark Your Calendars:
April: 1st – Parent Council meeting 7pm
2nd – World Autism Acceptance Day
2nd – Volleyball game Saint Mary’s at Irwin
3rd – Good Friday – school closed
6th – Easter Monday – school closed
7th – Second round of grade 7 immunizations
9th – Volleyball game Irwin at HPS
13th – Volleyball make-up day
14th – Volleyball Irwin at Riverside
16th – Volleyball game Irwin at Spruce Glen
21st -Planetarium presentation for all students
21st – Volleyball game Pine Glen at Irwin
22nd – Earth day
23rd Volleyball game make-up day
27th – Welcome Elder Save Rice for Indigenous learning
28th – Volleyball semi finals
30th – Volleyball finals
PARENT COUNCIL:
Hello Irwin Families!
We are happy that spring is finally here!
We are excited to start planning our Annual Spring FREE BBQ and family event on May 20th from 5 –
7pm for all Irwin families to attend. We receive grants from the TLDSB to host these events, and we
can’t wait to share what we have planned.
Our March Hot Lunch of chicken and pasta bake with garlic bread and fruit salad was a hit with the
students, and raised $515 for Irwin! Thank you to our hot lunch sponsors this month, Robinsons
General Store, and Baysville Country Store. As always, much gratitude goes to our parent council
and our volunteers for organizing and preparing these hot lunches!
We’ll keep you up to date on the next hot lunch soon!
We are looking for help with our garden this year, if you are someone who has a green thumb who
is willing to help us get our garden up and running, that would be amazing. Please contact us!
Our next parent council meeting will take place virtually on April 1st at 7pm. Everyone is welcome to
attend, with no commitment necessary.
Please reach out to [email protected] to be sent the link to the meeting, or with any
questions, feedback or ideas you may have for the Parent Council.
Have a great month at Irwin!
FOOD FOR KIDS:
We are so lucky to have Muskoka Food 4 Kids program at our school. Through donations and
fundraising they provide students in need of healthy weekend snacks. These bags are delivered to
our school weekly and are discreetly distributed to the students in the program.
If you are interested in receiving weekly snack packages, please talk to Mrs. Reuvekamp in the office.
Please click the link for more information. https://food4kidsmuskoka.ca/
FEMININE PRODUCTS:
Given the high cost of feminine products, TLDSB has supplies available to those students who would
benefit from receiving a box. Please talk to Mrs. Reuvekamp in the office.
IRWIN’S AUTISM AWARENESS DAY
World Autism Acceptance Day takes place on Thursday, April 2nd. The staff at Irwin are planning our
own Autism Awareness Day later in April, when the snow has melted. This will be a day with a variety
of fun hands on and sensory based activities. We look forward to celebrating this special day with out
students and having a ton of fun while doing so.
PICKELBALL CLUB
Mr. Y. will once again be running a pickleball club for interested students in grade 3 to 8. We will play
on Fridays in April. This is for beginners or fans of pickleball.
MENTAL HEALTH
Hi, it’s Korri, your school’s Mental Health Counsellor, back with a Mental Health Moment.
Did you know research has shown that a good night’s sleep helps reduce stress and manage things
thrown our way?
A good night’s sleep starts with a healthy routine. Check out Tips for building a mentally healthy
nighttime routine to learn practical, research-informed tips for building a nighttime routine that
supports mental well-being.
Since not every strategy works for everyone, exploring different ideas and discovering what feels best
is key to creating a routine that truly supports individual needs!
Until next time,
Korri
LOST AND FOUND
Our lost and found is OVERFLOWING and items are BEGGING for their owners. If parents could
have a look and claim any lost items before Easter break, that would be great. After Easter, we will
bag all the left-over clothing and will donate it to the thrift store.
SPOTLIGHT ON STAFF
Ms. de Bock
- What is your favourite animal? My favourite animals are as follows: Moose, Koalas, and Elephants.
- What was your best subject in school? My best subject in school was Phys Ed.
- Do you like Brussel sprouts? Yes! I actually really love Brussel sprouts, especially from the Cast
Iron grill in Baysville, they do a Brussel sprout appetizer and it’s delicious.
Mr. Duffield - What is your favourite animal? Whale shark
- What was your best subject in school? History
- Do you like Brussel sprouts? No!
