John Norquay Elementary School
4710 Slocan Street, Vancouver, BC V5R 2A1
Telephone: 713-4666    Fax: 713-4668

Date:  Monday June 21, 2004 Newsletter #9
Area Superintendent - Mr. Tom Grant  604 713-4590
Principal -. Ms.Gail Wynston
Liaison Trustee - Mr. John Cheng
Vice-Principal - Ms Kim Nemeth
School Consultative Committee Chairperson: Mrs. Anne Miller
Norquay School on the Internet: norquay.vsb.bc.ca

SEPTEMBER
Tuesday September 7th is the first day of next school year.  All students will attend from 9:00 to 9:30 a.m.  Students are to go to their last year’s classroom.  During this time we will take attendance to determine our class organization for the year.  Wednesday September 8th will be a regular school day.  When our staffing is confirmed by the School Board, we will move students to their new classes.

If your child will not be returning to school by noon on Thursday September 9th, you must let us know in writing by June 29th.  Otherwise, the space may be given to another student.

If your plans have changed and your child will not be returning to our school, please call the office before July 2nd or after August 30th to let us know.

VOLUNTEER TEA
Our annual tea to thank those who have volunteered their time at Norquay this past year will be on Wednesday, June 23, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m.  in the staff room.  We will be sending invitations home, but may have missed some parents who have volunteered in the school this year.  If we missed you, please accept our apologies and come to the tea.  Childcare will be available.

CONCERT
Our year-end concert will be held on Friday, June 25th, at 1:30 p.m. in the gym.  Families are invited to attend the performances of the Grade 7 Choir, the Grade 7 Recorder Ensemble, the Kainer Korps Dancers (Division 4), the Grade 6 Choir, the Grade 6 Recorder Ensemble, the Grade 5 Choir and the Gym Club.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION DISPLAY
Students in Divisions 9, 22, 23 and the Grade One students of Division 25 presented a display on Wednesday June 16th.  Under the coaching of Mrs. McIlwaine, Ms. Magee, and volunteer Miss Tonge, our students once again impressed their audience with their skill and enthusiastic performance.  We are so fortunate to be able to offer our students the opportunity to learn from dedicated and talented staff.

RECOGNITION AWARD
Mr. Colpitts was chosen as one of ten recipients to receive the Vancouver School Board Recognition Award.  He was honoured at a ceremony at the VSB Education Centre for his contributions to the district as a “dedicated teacher in music and computer studies and  outstanding work to enhance learning opportunities for students”.  Parents, students and staff at Norquay are well aware of Mr. Colpitts’ efforts and application of his many talents to the our students’ classroom and extra-curricular learning.  We are delighted that he has received this district recognition and congratulate him on receiving this award.

STAFF CHANGES
As always, at this time of year, we see staff moving to new assignments and others returning from leave.  We thank them for their caring contributions to Norquay’s students.   We are going to very much miss Ms. H. Paris, Mrs. Huttunen, Ms. Walker, Ms. Tilston, Mrs. Koh, Ms. Bell, Mr. Polsom and Ms. Skipper as they move to new schools for September.

PARENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Our last meeting of the year and AGM was held recently.  The following parents agreed to be the executive members of Norquay’s PAC: Mrs. Anne Miller, Chair, and Ms. Tina Tran, Secretary.  The position of treasurer will need to be filled in September.

SCHOOL GROWTH PLAN
As required by the Ministry of Education, our plan for the 2004-05 school year has been filed with the School Board.  Next year our focus will be improving student reading comprehension and continuing our work to reduce the incidence of verbal bullying.  We appreciate the input of our parents on the School Planning Council, Mr. Pace, Ms. Robertson, and Ms. Anderson.

ANOTHER STUDENT STAR
We have another writing contest winner!  Ray Cheung, Grade 6, is to be congratulated on being a finalist in the Canadian School Creative Writing contest.  Ray’s story will be published in Unicorns and UFO’s, an anthology of short stories by young Canadians.

RECORDER FESTIVAL
In the first week of June, Norquay and Mr. Colpitts  hosted the Vancouver Elementary District Recorder  Festival.  Over 700 students participated.  Norquay’s Grade 7 Recorder Ensemble played at each of the performances to much applause and admiration.  This year’s group, consisting of Kathy Yu, Annie Zhou, Vanda Orm, Nora Tong, Monika Chan, Sahar Ahmed, Julie Ngo, Jennifer Lin, Neelam Khare, Anita Mah, Christine Biala, and  Nabila Chowdhury,  will be going  on a special celebration field trip to Victoria before the end of the school year.

TRACK AND FIELD
The final Track meet of the season was held on June 2nd.  Our coaches, Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Abe, Ms. Holmes, Mrs. Koh, Ms. Tilston, Mr. Lovering, Mr. Fast, Ms. Nemeth,  Ms. Paris, her sister, the other Ms. Paris, were all proud of the fine showing of Norquay’s athletes.  Those who participated on this year’s team were Ronverg Mendoza, Nestor Chau, Colin Robertson, Alex Liu, Geronimo Kolkus, Bruno Teixeira, Godfre Molemba, Rishal Chan, Andrew Simonson, Vanda Orm, Nora Tong, Samantha Trinh, Deidra Hall, Stephanie Hill, Samantha Chenatte, Quinton Vigh, Anthony Lu, Kevin Medieros, Mike Mangaoang, Dennis Trinh, Lance Lee-Chun, Eric Valdez, Mitchell Agostinho, Enmanuel Rosales, Kenny Tran, Jordan Jiang, Jasbinder Basra, Hansen Do, Wesley Ha, Jimmy Li, Quy Vu, Jeffrey Nguyen, Hassan Haque, Christina Mao, Jade Paul, Andrea Sing, Annu Singh, Janice Chau, Irene Amores, Denise Wong, Grace Tan, Gurjita Gadey, Harpreet Basra, Andy Zhen, Darius Davidson, Harish Tak, Tommy So, Joshua Bae, Derek Ha, Mark Amores, Tammy Fung, Eliza Lin, Anne Li, Mandy Jiang, Ronnie Chi, Ryan Lee, Jonard Mendoza, Tony Fan, Roger Luk, Cavan Frederick-Pace, Kennie Jiang, Suchin Pawa, Jimmy Nguyen, Oliver Chau, Jarone Mendoza, Gagan Mahil, Ryan Chand, Jordan Menard, Karan Tak, Jared Chow, Jerry Fan, Donny Nguyen, Sang Vu, Nicole Choi, My Dung Phan, Michelle Situ, Janice Leung, Wendy Ma, Kana Chin, and Julianne Keu.

STREAM OF DREAMS
We received the following announcement from the co-ordinators of this project in which our students participated: Thank you for all the beautiful hearts, stars, rainbows, brilliant colours and swimmingly gorgeous ‘Dreamfish’ you all painted these last few weeks.  

All 2,000 fish are safely tucked away until September 2004, when just like real salmon, they will return to the Still Creek watershed.  Their release onto the fences will help celebrate the 25th BC Rivers Day and the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival.

We would like to acknowledge the very generous supporters who made it possible to bring the Stream of Dreams project to four Still Creek watershed schools – Nootka, Norquay, Renfrew and Thunderbird:

        The Community Public Art Program, Office of Cultural Affairs, City of Vancouver
        TD Friends of the Environment Foundation
        General Paint
        And fish preparers: Byrne Creek Streamkeepers, Windermere Secondary students, and numerous community volunteers – parents, seniors, teachers.

SUMMER PLANS
We encourage families of our students to enrol their children in one of the many summer programs offered through the local community centres.  Cedar Cottage, Collingwood and Renfrew all offer excellent, affordable, enriching programs that will benefit your child’s education.  Children who have a variety of experiences with others bring more vocabulary and life learning to their formal studies.  We have sent information home about these programs. Contact your nearest community centre/neighbourhood house for details.

COMMUNITY NEWS
1. The Strathcona Community Dental Clinic will remain open during the summer to meet the dental needs of families in the Vancouver area.  We are located in the Strathcona Elementary School, next to the Strathcona Community Centre (601 Keefer St.)  Clinic hours are Monday to Friday 9 - 5.  The clinic accepts all dental coverage including the Healthy Kids Plan and First Canadian Health, as well as offering a 20% discount to those who do not have dental coverage. Phone 604-713-4485 to book an appointment.

SCHOOL CALENDAR
Tues. June 22    7:30 p.m. School Leaving Ceremony for Grade 7 students
Wed. June 23    2:30 - 4:00 p.m. Volunteer Tea, Staff Room
Fri. June 25       1:30 p.m. Concert in the gym
Tues. June 29    Last day for students (Students will attend until 3:00 p.m.)
Tues. Sept. 7     First day of school (Students attend 9:00 - 9:30 a.m.)
|Wed. Sept. 8    Full day of school for Grades 1 - 7 students.