Community Update - April 9

Good morning, Bellwood Community, the home of the Bobcats where we Belong, Believe and Succeed!

Our annual Eid Dinner was a huge success!  Thank you to all of our community members who came out to this wonderful event!  We would like to thank all of the families who made donations to this event so it could be such a huge success.  Thank you to our SCC chair Jenn Davies for coming out to support this event.  We would also like to thank our staff who came to support and help at this event.  Thank you to Mrs. Sherlock, Mrs.  Raney, Ms.  Belmont (supply secretary), Mrs.  Dahmer, Mrs.  Sahar, Mrs.  Lodrick, Mrs.  Johnson, Mrs.  Bronsema and Mrs. Ferguson. We also had a lot of former students who came out to help!  A special Shout OUT to Abira for all her hard work.  A huge THANK YOU to Mrs.  Khan and Mr.  Mohamed for taking the lead to organize this event.  

The Grey Cup and some football players from the Toronto Argos will be visiting Bellwood on Tuesday April 8, 2025!  We are looking forward to our students meeting these players and seeing the Grey Cup up close!

Our next School Community Council meeting will be on Thursday April 24, 2025 from 6 – 7 p.m.  Please see the minutes from our March meeting by clicking on the link Bellwood School Community Council Meeting Minutes -March 2025.docx 

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Please see below for our weekly updates:

SCC Community BBQ and Mini Fun Fair:  Date is Set for Saturday June 7, 2025 (RAIN date is Sunday June 8, 2025)

Our SCC is planning to end our school year with a Community BBQ and mini Fun Fair.   Please take a moment to fill in the google form that can be found by clicking the following link.  We look forward to hearing from you! https://forms.gle/pgRTMGcdkPC526XA9           

We Grow Food

Our school has partnered with We Grow Food.  Mrs.  Calder, Mrs.  Misner and Mrs. Murray’s classes will working to get this project up and running!  Our childcare will be taking care of this project in summer when school is out!  Please stay tuned for more information!

Kindergarten Registration 2025

DDSB Kindergarten Registration started online on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Kindergarten is a child-centred, play-based educational program that provides children with a stronger start in school and in life.

To be eligible for enrollment in Junior Kindergarten (JK) or Senior Kindergarten (SK):

• Children must be four years old by December 31, 2025 to enroll in year one, JK
• Children must be five years old by December 31, 2025 to enroll in year two, SK

For more information on the Kindergarten program and to register your child on or after January 7, please visit the Kindergarten Registration webpage.

Kiss and Ride and Parking on School Property– We need your help so we will continue to ask you to adhere to the following rules!

• Between 8:55 – 9:15am please DO NOT park in front of the kindergarten enclosure. We need to keep the flow of traffic moving.
• Please DO NOT let your children out of the car in the center lane to pass.  Please drive through the Kiss and Ride to let children out of the car.  This is a safety concern for us here at Bellwood.
• When you are using the Kiss and Ride, please make sure you drive right up, pick up your children quickly and safely and follow the directions to keep moving by the staff supporting the smooth running of our Kiss and Ride.
• Please note our school parking lot is Private Property.  We have noticed that there are a few cars that park here over night taking up parking spaces for our families that drop off and pick up their children. This also affects our snow removal when our contractors come to remove the snow.   If you know who is using up our parking spaces, please let them know that this is not allowed.  We will be looking into ticketing and towing if these cars are not removed.

Two areas that continue to require attention from our community……

• Please stay in your vehicles and do not park in the Kiss and Ride as this causes traffic to back up and is not safe for our students.
• Please use the sidewalks to walk your children around and do not cut between the cars as this is a safety hazard.  This is a safety concern for us here at Bellwood.

Safety is our number one priority, and we work hard to make sure that our Kiss and Ride runs safely and smoothly.  We need your help!

Teams and Activities Around Bellwood

• Junior Boys Basketball – Area Playdowns schedule will be sent home
• Senior Band – Monday and Wednesday at lunch
• BELL Choir – Tuesday and Thursday at 8:15 am
• Pokeman and Games Club:  Day 2’s

• Intramurals: Mondays grades 1 and 2, Tuesdays grade 3 and 4, Wednesdays grades 7 and 8, Friday grades 5 and 6

Students are encouraged to check the schedules posted on the white board outside the gym doors for practice days and times.

Congratulations to our junior girls’ basketball team.  The girls had a very successful year making it to the Area Championships.  Girls’ basketball has a bright future here at Bellwood and we are so excited to see this program grow as the girls continue to work hard developing their skills.  We would also like to thank all our junior girls team members parents for their support this season.  Go Bobcats!

Save the Date

• April 8 – Grey Cup comes to Bellwood
• April 18 – 21 – Easter Long weekend

Dates of Significance

Sikh Heritage Month

April is an important month for the Sikh community. In this month, Sikh Canadians celebrate Vaisakhi, which marks the creation of the Khalsa and the Sikh articles of faith. Sikh Canadians widely celebrate Vaisakhi, also known as Khalsa Day, across Ontario. By proclaiming the month of April as Sikh Heritage Month, the Province of Ontario recognizes the important contributions that Sikh Canadians have made to Ontario's social, economic, political and cultural fabric. Sikh Heritage Month is an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate future generations about Sikh Canadians and the important role that they have played and continue to play in communities across Ontario. 

April 2 was World Autism Awareness Day 

The 2024 World Autism Awareness Day observance is organized by the United Nations Department of Global Communications and Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the Institute of Neurodiversity (ION), an organization established and run by neurodivergent people for neurodivergent people and allies.

Genocide Awareness Month

During the month of April, as we observe commemoration days for four genocides, we also take the opportunity to raise awareness about all genocides, including those being perpetrated today.

Scholars have noted that denial is the last phase of genocide. Indeed, all of the events commemorated in April and others like them have been minimized, denied, or distorted by the perpetrators and their protectors, a process that often begins as the persecution is taking place and which can last for generations after. The act of denial is one that seeks to rehabilitate the perpetrators, to normalize the hateful ideologies that animated the violence, and ultimately to rob the victims of the comfort that acknowledgement can bring. 

April is an opportunity for those committed to history and remembrance to alert others to the moral and physical dangers of denying the past and of ignoring atrocities occurring in our own times.

April 9 is Vimy Ridge Day

Vimy Ridge Day is a day to commemorate the deaths and casualties of members of the Canadian Corps in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which took place during the First World War. This day has been observed annually on 9 April since 2003. 

April 9 International Day of Pink

Communities across the world unite in celebrating diversity and raising awareness to stop homophobic, transphobic & all forms of bullying. The Day of Pink was started in Nova Scotia when 2 straight high school students saw a gay student wearing a pink shirt being bullied. The 2 students intervened but wanted to do more to prevent homophobic & transphobic bullying. They decided to purchase pink shirts, and a few days later got everyone at school to arrive wearing pink, standing in solidarity. The result was that an entire school took a stand and began working together to prevent homophobic & transphobic bullying.

April 11 International Day of Silence

National Day of Silence in April each year is a student-led movement to protest bullying and harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and those who support them. The Day of Silence brings awareness and illustrates to the schools and the colleges how intimidation, name-calling, and general bullying have a silencing effect. Participating students take a day-long vow of silence.

Passover/Pesach April 12 - April 20, 2025

Passover, also called Pesach, is a major Jewish holiday, one of the three pilgrimage festivals, that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt.

Your Admin Team

Sharon Knights and Todd Smart