1. Art and Diseño

Gala Matters
HMDCS
Holland Marsh District Christian School  Tel. (905) 775-3701  Fax. (905) 775-2395
www.hmdcs.ca
[email protected]
volume 20, issue 21
Mission: The mission of HMDCS is to equip students to positively impact society through a Christ-centred education in a supportive and dedicated community.
Vision: As a vibrant, connected partner in our community, HMDCS integrates 21st century learning skills, resources and strategies to engage students in a
Christ-centred education.
Calendar – February 3, 2015
Wed. Feb 4
Fri. Feb. 6
Wed. Feb. 11
Fri. Feb. 13
Mon. Feb. 16
Tues. Feb. 17
Wed. Feb. 18
Thurs. Feb. 19
Fri. Feb. 20
Sat. Feb. 28
Pyjama Day
Sub Lunch
Chapel
Pizza Lunch
Guilds 2pm
Hotdog Lunch
Kindergarten Information Evening 7:00 p.m.
Guilds Grades 6-8 ~ 2 p.m.
PA Day ~ No Classes
Family Day ~ No Classes
nd
HMDCS 72 Birthday Winter Carnival
Popcorn snack
Basketball Tournament
Toronto North Basketball Tournament
Pizza Lunch
Gala Dinner
Gala News
The Gala is quickly approaching! Have you
bought your tickets yet? We need your support
to make the evening a success! Reserve your
tickets by calling the HMDCS office (905)7753701, by emailing [email protected] or by filling
out the Gala form sent in the email with School
Matters. Order your tickets now and not only
will you be helping the school, but you will have
a great time at Gala too!
From the Principal’s Desk
How Majestic is Your Name! King of the Nations
Nebuchadnezzar had asked the wise men of his court to do something impossible and when they pushed back, he ordered their
executions. Daniel intervened with wisdom and tact and asked for some time to do as the king commanded. He and his friends turned
to God in prayer and asked that the mystery be revealed to them. This is the prayer that Daniel prayed after the mystery was revealed
to Daniel in a vision. “Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and
power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the
discerning.” (Daniel 2:19b -21) What was asked of the wise men by Nebuchadnezzar was impossible, but not impossible for the King of
the Nations who works with his people to carry out the plans he has for them. This King of kings wants a relationship with his people.
May He work in and through us again this week!
Snow Days/School Closures/Bus Cancellations
The snow day yesterday came a day early as an announcement was going to go out on Monday about changes to our current snow day
policy. As it stands now, when the South Simcoe buses and/or York Region buses are cancelled the school is closed. Please note the
following changes:

If South Simcoe buses are cancelled, then bus 4 (all South Simcoe) and South Simcoe stops on bus 3 will be cancelled, but the
York region stops and buses will be running and the school will remain open.

If York Region buses are cancelled then all the buses are cancelled, but the school will remain open.

If your child(ren) will not be attending school because of the weather please notify the school by phone or email as we need
to account for each student when the school is open.
It’s really important that the phone chain works for everyone and that the right information gets passed on to an adult in the
household. Thank you for working together to get the right information passed on.
Kindergarten Information Evening
On Wednesday, February 11 at 7:00, HMDCS will be hosting a Kindergarten Information Evening and we’d like everyone to invite
friends who might be interested in attending. There will be childcare available. We’d especially appreciate if current kindergarten
parents could attend with their friends who have kindergarten-aged children to provide testimonials of the quality and blessing the
kindergarten program has been to their children. Word of mouth is the best way to fill the classrooms at the new school! Please let
Mrs. Robinson or Miss Bokma know who you’re planning to bring with you.
Before and After School Care
In 2006 HMDCS put a Before and After School Care program into place, but it was discontinued months into the program because it
was not covering its costs. We know that more and more parents are looking for childcare before and after school, so we’re looking to
update and provide this service in the coming school year. Having this program available will also be attractive to potential families.
We would appreciate as much input from our current families as possible so we’re asking you to let the office know if you’re interested
in participating and how often you might participate. Times would be 7:30 to 8:30 am and from 3:30 to 6:00 pm.
Job Opportunity
HMDCS is currently accepting resumes to fill a temporary full-time maternity leave in Grade 7 from March to June 2015. Vocal
music/drama would be an asset. Only selected applicants will be contacted for interviews. Interested applicants are asked to submit a
cover letter, resume, statement of faith and professional references to Sherry Bokma at [email protected] . The deadline for
submissions is Friday, February 6, 2015.
General News & Information
Planning for 2015-16
We’re halfway through the school year and it’s time to begin planning for next year. God is faithful and true and we, his servants, are
faithfully working out our place in his kingdom every day.

Joy School and Junior Kindergarten Registration
Registrations are now being accepted for the 2015/2016 school year for Joy School and Junior Kindergarten. Please contact the office
to request an enrollment package and let the office know of anyone in your community who would like this information sent to them.
Trip Matters
The TRIP ordering process is now available online! Check it out here: http://bit.ly/hmdcsTRIP
Are you visiting out-of-town family on the Family Day weekend? You can bring them their gift card order! Send them the
link, have them place their order, and you can deliver the cards when you see them. Online orders are processed every
Wednesday morning. The online form has been beta tested, but if you notice something amiss, please don’t hesitate to let
me know. Thank you for your support, -Tess Terpstra [email protected] 905-778-0205
“
How Majestic is your Name!” Psalm 8
Lunch Forms 3rd Term
Lunch Forms for April to June will come home today. If you would like to order lunch for your child(ren), please return the
completed forms by Friday Feb. 20th.
Drivers Needed
The Boys' and Girls' Basketball teams are in need of drivers for two tournaments. 1) The Toronto South tournament is being
hosted at two different locations - the girls play in Oakville at JKCS, and the boys play at Toronto District Christian High - on
February 18. 2) Our Toronto North tournament is at Timothy Christian School, in Barrie, on February 19. Are you available as a
driver? Please contact Mr. Geertsema if you are. Thank-you!
Pyjama Day
This Wednesday, February 4, at HMDCS is Pyjama Day. Students are encouraged to wear their pj's to school along with their
slippers, blankies and teddy bears.
Guilds
Guilds 2015 continues this week on Friday for students in grades 6, 7 and 8. Each guild has been busy for the past three sessions
and I am sure that this week's will be more of the same.
Science Fair 2015
Science Fair 2015 is 1 month away! Please note that all students are expected to attend the evening of celebration on March 3
as the projects will be on display for all to see. It is important for the students to complete their projects by themselves with
lots of parental encouragement and teacher guidance along the way. Students should be planning out their display board which
is due on February 6 as well as the abstract which is due on the 12th of February. There are still several display boards available
for $5.00. Please see your teacher to purchase yours.
Music Festival dates
The National Festival in Collingwood will be held on Wed. March 4 for the grade 8’s only. The North Toronto Music Festival will
be held at Holland Marsh on Tues May 5 for grades 7 and 8.
Classroom News
Grade 1/2A – Welcome to a new, busy month. Today we’ll be reading Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather. This ties in
nicely with our new math unit on Data Management and Probability as we’ll be making a graph of our Groundhog Day
“weather” predications as well as focusing on the letter g and how it can make the soft /j/ sound in our Grade 2 Phonics and
Spelling work. We’ll look at groundhogs as one of God’s creatures for an Animal Research project the 2’s will be assigned in the
near future. In word work, Grade 1 students will be continuing to work with a mixture of short vowels while adding a suffix. This
week it’s the –s ending. In French, we’re learning the vocabulary needed to introduce our family members, so I’d like to
encourage my students to bring in photographs of their family members that they could use to introduce their families to all of
us with, using our new skills. Today Kaitlyn and Luke will be our guest readers at the library. Looking ahead, we’ll be celebrating
the 100th day of school as well as Valentine’s Day on Thursday, February 12th. I’m hoping all of my students will be able to bring a
collection of 100 things for this celebration. ~ Mrs. McKinley
Grade 2B/3 – The “Wright” Newsletter for Grade 2/3 is coming home today with all the information you need to know about
the coming week. Scholastic book orders for February are coming home today and are due on February 11. The spelling words
and a memory verse will be checked on Friday. I trust the country projects are going well and lots of learning about God’s
incredible world is going on. Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Wright
Grade 4/5A – Happy Tuesday! This week we will continue practicing two songs to help us learn all the books of the Bible. For
spelling this week we will have a list of vocabulary words that have to do with our new Social Studies unit on Australia! Both
grade's Math tests will be moved back from Wednesday to Thursday. The review for the Math test is due Wednesday. Have a
great week! ~ Mrs. Pranger
Grade 5B/6 – Welcome to February! Time sure flies when you having fun in grade 5b/6! We will be having a Bible Test on
Wednesday. Review sheets were completed last week. Math tests will be returned early this week. Each student is expected to
bring their test back to school with a parent signature. Last week we started to write our introductions and conclusions for our
recitations and we will be putting our finishing touches on them this week. Students should be busy memorizing their
selections. We will spend some time on Wednesday working on our Science Fair abstracts. It is helpful if the projects are more
than halfway complete at this point. Parents, please check your inbox for an email from me containing information about a
class trip next week. ~ Mrs. Schenk
Grade 7 – The grade 7 class left the school around 10:00 on Monday for the overnight trip to Sainte-Marie among the Hurons.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we spend two adventurous days together in the cold northern temperatures.
The rest of our week looks quite ordinary. We will have a Geography test on Thursday which students have been preparing for
since early last week. Recitation introductions and conclusions were handed in on Friday and will be given back to students on
Wednesday or Thursday. I would encourage everyone to continue to use whatever memorization strategy is most effective for
them. "Faith is not knowing what the future holds, but knowing who holds the future." ~ unknown author ~ Mrs. Brickell
Grade 8 – This week, we'll have our Math mid-unit quiz on Wednesday, and our unit test next Thursday. In Geography, we'll be
conducting a review of our unit on the Deciduous Forest Biome. We'll have the unit test next week Wednesday. In Spelling, we
will continue with Lesson 26 and have our spelling quiz on Friday. In Language Power, Lessons 45 - 49 are due on
Friday. Recitation speech choices were made last week and students will need to practice their presentation. On Friday, display
board plans are due for science fair projects. ~ Mr. Geertsema