There Was A Buzz Around Here Today

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Derek Logan

Today was an amazing day at KCS. Five of our teachers, including myself, had their heads shaved in support of The Terry Fox Foundation. You can see the before and after photos below and on our KCS Facebook page and through our KCS Twitter feed.

We set a goal at the beginning of the school year to raise $25 000, and if we reached the goal, the six of us had agreed to have our hair cut by Cos and Jackie from Cos on the Kingsway Salon/Spa. To see the excitement in the school leading up to today was tremendous. The students would come up to the each of us and say things like:

“Are you looking forward to having some taken off the top?”
“I can’t wait to see you bald!”
“Bzzzzzzzz.”
“Can ‘I’ cut your hair?”
“It’s going to get cold soon.”
“Hope you are enjoying your hair as its going to be gone soon.”
And my favourite, “Isn’t this great that we are helping people and their families who have cancer?”

Achieving a goal such as raising over $25K takes a little effort from a lot of people. We realize how our the parents, staff and faculty helped us raise the $25 000. A special thanks to our students who opened up their piggy banks, who asked for money for their September or October birthdays in order to donate it, and who went out into their neighbourhoods and asked for donations. It just goes to show that when many people contribute to a cause by doing what they can, it is possible to accomplish wonderful things.

Derek Logan
Head of School

Hope for Habits for Today and for the Future

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Ms. Gaudet

This past week was National Volunteer Week and Earth Week. The thing about celebrating weeks like this is that we hope that we raise awareness of important ideas. What we really hope will happen is that those ideas spread!

We have Earth Week activities at KCS:

Meatless Monday
Trashless Tuesday
Walk to School Wednesday
Turn off the Lights Thursday
Fill your Water Bottle Friday
Grade 7 service learning students reminded classes about energy conservation, water conservation, recycling, rain forest preservation, and more.
Grade 1 students participated in workshops presented by older students about water conservation and recycling.
Grade 2 students read books, wrote poems, and made posters about helping the planet.
Grade 3 students planted seeds and prepared soil experiments.
Grade 4 and 6 students cleaned up the school grounds and surrounding areas.
Grade 5 students will be calculating their eco-footprint using a carbon footprint calculator online.
Grade 7 students did a creative assignment about sustainable happiness. Sustainable happiness is ‘happiness that contributes to individual, community and/or global wellbeing and does not exploit other people, the environment, or future generations.’ (C. O’Brien)
Grade 8 students viewed Sharkwater, a film about sharks, their habitat, and the effects of humans on their ecosystem.

What we hope will happen is that our community learns about being friendly to the environment. We hope that they incorporate green habits that they will have for their whole lives, not just during Earth Week. We show this by having green habits integrated into our daily lives at KCS.

Similarly, we love and appreciate our volunteers at KCS! We don’t wait until volunteer week to thank them! Increasingly, our students are volunteering in our school and in the surrounding community. Once one person tells others how they volunteered to help, many of their peers are willing to join in the joy that comes from helping others. We are grateful to them and proud that they are making a difference.

Here are some of the many ways that students are volunteering:

Mentoring younger students
Providing lunch leadership to younger students
Leading chapels and assemblies
Conducting tours of our school to guests
Making gift baskets for local women’s shelters
Helping at a local church fundraiser
Refereeing basketball games for Special Olympics Ontario
Teaching younger students at figure skating
Caring for neighbours when they are sick
Sorting food at a food bank
Helping seniors at a retirement home

We hope that students see volunteering as one of the habits that they continue to do well after they have left KCS. We don’t have green habits only during Earth Week. And we don’t just volunteer or thank our volunteers during National Volunteer Week. But here’s to the happy future that comes from the habits learned at KCS!

Ms. Gaudet
Citizenship Coordinator

Kind Gesture Leads to Unexpected Encounter

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Derek Logan

Last Monday I was sitting in my office when one of our grade 8 students knocked on my door and asked to speak to me. He had been on our European Battlefield trip with his Dad in March and they had written a thank you letter to me (as well as the five other faculty and staff who were on the trip). In addition he gave me a Vimy Pin. April 9^th was the 96th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and he asked me to wear the pin the next day to commemorate the battle and honour those Canadians who had fought in 1917.

The next morning, I put the pin on and went outside during drop off. A parent rode up with her son on her bike. She noticed the Vimy Pin and said that she saw an article in that day’s National Post about Vimy. This led me to stop into our Business Manager’s Office later in the morning as I knew she had the Post delivered to her house. I asked her if she would save the article for me as I was interested in reading it. While standing in the doorway of her office, the Church receptionist overheard us talking. She asks me if she heard correctly that I was speaking about Vimy. I said yes, and then she asked me whether I knew the name of the designer of the Memorial. Of course, I couldn’t remember on the spot! That’s when she told me she was related to Walter Seymour Allward, the designer. She told me some stories, including that she has visited the Memorial twice, the last time in 2007 after it was refurbished; that she’s been in the catacombs beneath the Memorial; that Walter has other pieces of work at Queen’s Park, in Brantford, etc., and that he’s buried locally in Toronto. Her and her sister have researched Walter over the years. Of course this led me to a further conversation with one of our history teachers and one of the main organizers of our biannual battlefield trip. She said she would arrange for some of our students to interview the Church receptionist for their end-of-the-year history project.

The above story started with a thank you. A very kind gesture indeed, but one that had the added bonus of leading to an unexpected encounter at KCS. You just never know where good deeds will lead and where this story may go next.

Derek Logan
Head of School

Why KCS is the best

Posted on November 27, 2012 by KCSMATTERS

There are so many wonderful things about KCS! Let me tell you about a few things that make our school so special. First of all the teachers are so kind because they help you when you need it, they make you feel better when you’re sad, they have a great sense of humor and they will spend their time at recess to help you finish something. The students are also amazing because they are so enthusiastic to learn, they help other people, they are willing to spend their time at recess to finish up something or help someone else finish up something and they always follow the three school rules. The athletic programs at KCS are great because every single person always tries their best, shows good sportsmanship and they show their school spirit. The students are also very welcoming to visitors and if it is your first day they make you feel that you have been here for your whole life. That’s why KCS is the best school ever!

Kiana
Grade 5 student

Our People + Effort = Successful Change

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Derek Logan

Last week we announced our proposed amalgamation with St. George’s on-the-Hill Nursery School (SGNS). The faculty and staff of both schools reacted to the announcement with a positive mixture of excitement and anticipation as we tackle our future together. Both organizations understand the benefits of amalgamation. I really didn’t expect anything less. And here’s why.

I joined KCS back in September 1999 as the grade 8 homeform teacher. At that time I taught history, Language Arts and geography to our grade 7 and 8 students. In 1999, KCS had one class in each grade, and we had approximately 150 students in the school. Our staff was about 25 people, a number of whom still teach at KCS today. Halfway through my first year, I was happy with my decision to join the KCS team. Even then, I knew this was a great school.

Over the past fourteen years, KCS has grown to 317 students and 46 faculty and staff. The school has faced many opportunities and challenges along the way – some planned for, others unanticipated. We’ve opened two additions to the school, one in March 2003, and one in December 2009. Those of you who have lived through a renovation know the inconveniences you have to live with during construction. We have managed our school through an economic recession and a flood in February 2010 that closed six of our classrooms for an extended period of time. Through each opportunity or challenge, I’ve watched the people at KCS listen, ask questions and propose solutions, and then get to work to make sure KCS comes out the other side a better school. And importantly because of that can-do, positive attitude, we’ve created many memories and had many laughs along the way. I know that the people at SGNS have had to face similar opportunities and challenges over that same time period that they have successfully dealt with.

Change either succeeds or fails due to the efforts of the people involved. Based on past experience at KCS, I am confident that the people at SGNS and KCS will all grow and learn together as we amalgamate the two schools at this exciting time. We have responded successfully to opportunities in the past, and I feel the future will be no different. In fact, with such a positive outlook with the faculty and staff of both schools, I am certain we will be better together. We are excited for the outcome of the vote at both upcoming AGMs, which will put a stamp of approval on this project and enable us to move forward.

Derek Logan
Head of School

Traditions

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Andrea Fanjoy

“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”
-Rudyard Kipling

We have a saying at KCS. As soon as we try something new and all goes well, it immediately becomes known as a tradition.

Part of the beauty of traditions is that with each occasion, the story of that tradition grows. Christmas is a story with a chapter for every December. Remembrance Day is a tradition with a chapter for every service.

And last Thursday was the celebration of another special tradition – Chapter’s Night. Of course, it also comes with… ahem… chapters.

I remember the second Chapter’s Night. It took place a long time ago when we used to have winter. It was a dark and stormy night and the elements proved a formidable foe, antagonist if you will, to all who eagerly tried to attend. I was teaching French that year and had offered to have my grade 6 students perform a French play.

Luckily, my car made it through the snow. Many of my students and their parents weren’t as lucky. We delayed the performance and rounded up any present and willing classmates. Excitement and angst at the imperfection of the situation filled our veins.

In the end, like all good stories, we persevered and the students performed undaunted for the crowd. And like all good stories, I recall that it was a magnificent performance. The story ended Hollywood-style.

Last week was a wonderful new chapter in our Chapter’s Night tradition. The weather has clearly learned it will not deter us and has moved on to challenge others elsewhere. KCS parents, students and staff came out in huge numbers to mix, mingle, shop and enjoy wonderful performances. And KCS is a richer story as a result.

Thank you most sincerely to everyone who worked to keep the story growing. It’s unforgettable.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics
You can follow Andrea on Twitter @afanjoy.

It All Started With Two Words

Posted on October 30, 2012 by Derek Logan

I grew up a Notre Dame football fan. My Uncle Bill was an usher on fall Saturdays at the stadium. As a family we used to drive to go to the games in South Bend. My son and I have continued to go to at least one game a year for the past four years. To me, there’s no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon in the fall than at a college football game south of the border, especially when they are putting together a great season like this year. So when I see somebody with an Irish shirt on, I will usually talk to them.

A couple of years ago the younger brother of one of our grade 2 students (at that time) walked by my office as I was on my way into a Finance Committee meeting. He had a polo shirt on with an ND logo. I said to him something like, “Nice shirt.” He stopped, looked up at me, and said quite confidently for a four year old, “Do you like Notre Dame?” We then spent the next five minutes talking about the team. He quizzed me on my favourite players, etc. Sadly, I missed the first five minutes of our Finance meeting and likely missed a discussion on something like “leading Indicator”, “long-run average total cost”, or “tactical asset allocation.”

I was so impressed with this young boy, that I emailed his father about my encounter. Since then, all of our conversations, whether with the Dad or his son begin with our most recent observations on the football team. Last year my son and I met up with this KCS family at the Air Force game in South Bend.

And here’s where the story gets even better. Usually at the start of every school day, when Mme Giguère arrives at KCS and opens the French classroom across the hall from my office, she pops her head in and we talk about sports: football, hockey, soccer, golf, etc. (I will miss not only her talents in our primary French classes as she goes on maternity leave in February, but I will miss out on these conversations). At some point during these informal meetings over the past couple of years, we discussed Notre Dame and the story above. She has a cousin whose husband, Brad, played for the Irish at the turn of this century (no, not the 1900s!). Mme Giguère let Brad know about our student. He took the time to write an inspirational letter to him, which I understand is now proudly posted on the young boy’s bedroom wall. And in return, his Dad was able to find a number of tapes he had recorded of games in late 1990s, made a copy of them on a DVD, and sent it back to Brad. For the first time, he was able to sit down with his four children and have them watch him play in games at Notre Dame. Small gestures, kindly done, lasting memories for many people. Really, it doesn’t take much to make a difference in the lives of others. I’m proud to be surrounded by people who do this daily in our community.

Derek Logan
Head of School

With Awe and Appreciation

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Andrea Fanjoy

One popped in to help my Mandarin student with his pronunciation.

Two co-chaired a gala that will live on as the most fun gathering of pirates, Willy Wonkas, Godfathers, Flappers and other assorted book characters Etobicoke has ever seen.

Two others worked steadfastly, as always, in our Parent Network Store.

I sat with six at our strategic planning meeting on Tuesday. Another six joined the grade ones on their outdoor education trip.

About a dozen worked in the hallways putting up 309 pieces of “Hero” art.

Thirty hosted dinner parties for hundreds of grateful KCS Moms, Dads, Friends and Staff.

Dozens more gave generously in time, expertise and goods to our Feast of Fiction extravaganza.

… and that doesn’t even cover the whole week.

One of our KCS Habits is Respond with Awe and Appreciation. Between all of the above, and the countless other ways parents help make KCS what it is – New Family mentors, Welcome Back BBQ, special lunches, library helpers, various fundraisers, Open House volunteers, the Board of Governors and committees, class parents, and many more – I am filled with the awe and appreciation we aim to establish in our students.

With effort, the world can be pretty awesome. With appreciation for the huge contributions of our parents, our little corner of the world is.

Andrea Fanjoy,
Assistant Head, Academics