OELC

     It was great to go and visit our TSLT student leaders as they took part in leadership training at OELC. We were fortunate enough to have 18 of our wonderful grade 6 and 7 students attend this amazing camp on the shores of Lake Couchiching. They spent four days in intense training how to develop and enhance their leadership styles, which they will put to good use around Tay Shores PS.

     Thanks, also, to the five staff members that escorted them on this trip. Our teacher leaders are amazing and I know that they, too, will benefit from this experience.

      As you will see over the course of our first year together, we put a lot of emphasis on our TSLT team. These students are learning life-long lessons about leadership, getting involved, commitment and cooperation and they will be heavily involved in creating pride and spirit in our building.

       One of my favourite parts of the week are when I get to work with these wonderful students. We're going to have a fantastic year together.

Feeling "Groove"y

What a great day at Tay Shores!!

"Groove" came to our school to work with all of our students. The gym was transformed into a dance hall for the day, as students learned how to move, get fit, have fun and dance up a storm.

Thanks to our TSLT Publicity Team for getting some great shots and videos - we can't wait to see the show at our Recognition Assembly.

Today, I got some really nice letters from a couple of our young students. Thanks Chloe M and Sienna H for making a card for me and making me feel so welcome at Tay Shores.

Thanks, also, to Asa for my new train picture. I'll have to find a spot in my office to display it.

Don't forget, everyone, that tomorrow is Wacky, Crazy Hair Day. Come to school in your craziest doo to earn House Points.

Have a great night.

What A Blur!!

Wow, that was an incredibly busy week!! I think we packed two weeks of excitement into just four days.

It was great to see so many students take part in our first Spirit Day - Sunglasses Day. We certainly do have a bright future here at Tay Shores PS!!

Today, I invited any grade 5-8 student with an interest in Leadership to a TSLT meeting in our gym. I was overwhelmed by the turnout!! I had photocopied over 200 applications, and we needed to go back to the photocopier to print more. A wonderful mixture of boys, girls, young students and older students have decided to join our amazing team. We are going to become the greatest school in the SCDSB thanks to these great students.

Now, I'm going to take the next two days to sleep and rest up for another busy week.

Tay Shores PS Rocks!!!!!

4-Way Soccer

I'd like to thank our TSLT leaders for putting together today's House Challenge, "4-Way Soccer". We had well over 100 students who decided to take part and earn House Points.

Even though the field was still a little wet, the students participated with great enthusiasm!!

Congratulations to all of our JKs for a wonderful First Day!! I really enjoyed seeing their smiling faces and their look of amazement at finally being at school. You're going to love being at Tay Shores!!

Just a reminder to all students that tomorrow's Spirit Day is "Sunglasses". Wear your favourite shades to earn House Points.

Also, a final reminder to all of our potential grade 5-8 leaders. There is an important meeting tomorrow at first break in order to learn more about how you can help make Tay Shores PS the best school in SCDSB.

See you all tomorrow!

Names, Names, Names

Day Two and my head is spinning with so many names and faces.

I've barely memorized the names of our huge and amazing staff and now over 500 students are swarming our hallways and fields. I'm very glad that our Tay Shores students are so friendly and patient with me. I'd like to thank the many students who have had the courage to come forward on the yard or drop in to my office and introduce themselves. What a great group we have here!!!!

Speaking of our great students, it will be the students here at Tay Shores who will come up with a great mascot, school colours and motto. For those students who have awesome ideas, suggestion sheets are available in my office and are due back on September 18th. Our TSLT will be poring over the numerous suggestions to come up with something suitable for our school.

After two days of House Competitions, the standings are as follows:

House 1 = 34 points
House 2 = 47 points
House 3 = 40 points
House 4 = 40 points

Tomorrow's House Competition will be 4-Way Soccer. Come out and play to earn valuable House Points.

Amazing First Day

The very first day of Tay Shores PS is now in the history books.

The building is now silent after an amazing day of laughter, dancing, cheering, greeting, teaching and learning and I feel so blessed to have been a part of this piece of history.

Our TSLT leaders organized a fun-filled House Challenge of Dodgeball for our students. We managed to squeeze in two Spirit Assemblies, where the students got to meet their new 'housemates'. We danced to the Cha-Cha Slide, Macarana and Happy. Recesses would have been better, if the weather had cooperated, but the students and staff made the best of the damp situation.

While there were a couple of tears in the beginning, students quickly learned that we're an amazing new family and that Tay Shores is a great place to be.

As our custodial team cleans up after a hectic start, I can't wait to get up in the morning and see everyone again.

Don't forget, students. If you are in Grade 5-8 and you want to join our TSLT, please come to the meeting in the gym on Friday at first break. We would love to have you join us!!

Also, we are looking for input regarding our mascot and school colours. Please get an entry form from the office if you have cool ideas for us. We'll be collecting ideas until the 18th.

See you all tomorrow!!

Final Preparations

       Over 50 staff members arrived this morning to make final preparations for our opening day on Tuesday. Our office was buzzing with the excitement of anxious teachers and anxious support workers, as they worked hard to prepare their classrooms for Tuesday's start. The rooms look fantastic, thanks to their hard work and the hard work of our amazing custodial staff.

       There were even current and former students who came in today to help our staff. What a great way to start collecting your 40 hours of  community service.

        The Board personnel even got in on the action by attaching our new school sign to the building. Have a look at the picture below to see the results - it looks great!

        While there are still some boxes to unpack and some technology to prepare, our school is ready for the 500+ students who will arrive on Tuesday. We can't wait to see their faces!!

          Now, to get some rest over the weekend...

Student Leadership Kickoff

What an exciting day today!
Today, we had close to 20 students volunteer to come in to our school to prepare the Spirit Events and Activities for the first week of school.
These students have formed the core of what is currently known as the TSLT (Tay Shores Leadership Team) and they spent today playing some leadership games, talking about leadership styles and organizing some fun events for all of the students at Tay Shores. They've also planned to make themselves available to help nervous, anxious students on the first day and escort our young students to their buses in the afternoon.
Fueled only on a couple of slices of pizza and a bottle of water, these students enthusiastically took part in these activities for four hours in the crazy heat and never complained once.
We are hoping that their enthusiasm and excitement for Tay Shores will be infectious, as the rest of the student body looks to start on Tuesday. If it does become infectious, Tay Shores PS will be the most exciting and fun school in Simcoe County.
I can't wait for the first day of school to arrive. Our students are awesome!!!!