February/March 2018 This month, the Winter Olympics will dominate our television screens. The Olympics provide an excellent opportunity for our students to see great athletic performances, and witness athletes live the Olympic spirit, which is best expressed in the Olympic Creed. The Creed emphasizes the importance of participation, hard work, determination and doing your very best, not just winning. In January, we saw the Creed come to life for both students and teachers. All participants deserve to come to the podium and receive a gold medal. The Grade 8 students presented their IB Community Service Project. They did an exceptional job of sharing their passion with their interesting presentations. I would like to thank Mrs. Machinandiarena, Mr. Jessome, all the upper elementary teachers, and parents for all their work in supporting each student to make it to the finish line. Science Fair is always a fantastic event and this year’s Gr. 5-7 Science Fair was no exception. Congratulations to all the students for working so hard, their parents and Mr. Wilson for supporting them each step of the way. Kudos to Mr. Lillie for inspiring our students to love Math, especially Grade 9 Math. As a result of a successful Ministry of Education Inspection, I have been given the authority to continue to award the Grade 9 Math credit to our Grade 8 students taking Grade 9 Math. Read more detailed articles about the IB Community Project, Grade 9 Math and the Science Fair, which reveals the winners, in the rest of the newsletter. Kudos also goes out to Mrs. Marion Griese, our Lower Elementary Visual Arts teacher. She is not only our amazing art teacher but also an artist in her own right. She was interviewed by Create! Magazine. You can read her interview. At the end of February, we say goodbye to Dianna (Da Yeong Jung), Hannah (Ha Yeong Jung) and Bailey (Bomin Kwon), our student visitors from Korea. We really enjoyed having them in our school and learning about their culture. Re-enrolment forms for the 2018-2019 school year will be emailed at the beginning of February to all our families. We encourage parents to complete the forms and return them before the March 5th deadline. If you have any questions concerning next year’s program, please speak with me. I can be reached by email (eda.varalli@wheatleyschool.com) or call the office to make an appointment. This newsletter covers both February and March. Many activities are taking place in these two months. Please take the time to read the newsletter and check the online calendar, regularly, to remain up to date. Since the next newsletter will not be posted until April, I want to wish everyone an enjoyable Family Day, and a safe and relaxing March Break.