August 14, 2014

To Parents/Guardians of Grade 9 Students:

Welcome to Grade 9! This year marks a significant step upwards in expectations for high school

students and we encourage parents to work with us in helping make this a successful year for your

children, our students!

Key thoughts for Grade 9 include the following:

The single biggest comment we hear from Grade 9 students year after year is how surprised they are that teachers treat the content of

courses so much more seriously! Grade 9 is a preparatory year for provincial exams which come into effect in grade 10, and our staff

does an excellent job of this transition period. Concrete thinking and hands-on work continues to be very important, but in Grade 9,

abstract thinking becomes part of many courses. As students progress through Grade 9, they will be challenged to develop their critical

thinking skills of application, analysis and synthesis. Of course a good memory and retaining information is still helpful, but higher level

thinking skills become more important.

Grade 9 is also an exciting year as students get to experience many more leadership opportunities in the classroom, in the school, and

in the community. Students begin to see the bigger picture as they now begin to make choices that affect their future. In addition, stu-

dents now can take full courses in their areas of special interest including Leadership, Visual Arts, Drama, Band and Yearbook

(computer graphics).

It is important to note that parental support is just as important in high school as at any other time in your child’s education. As parents,

stay in touch with your child’s teachers, read school announcements/newsletters, and come to P.A.C. meetings… and no matter what

your kids say, visit the school often! Tours during school operating hours can be arranged for parents with prior notice. This is a great

way to observe our school in operation and to also get a feel for our school culture.

Also, please feel free to call if you have a question or concern. The classroom teacher is the first contact regarding coursework or

achievement. Our school counselor is also available to help with personal or academic concerns, and of course, admin and off ice staff

are often able to help with various issues. We look forward to working with you.

All the best for a great year at Don Ross!

Nick Pascuzzi

Principal

DON ROSS EAGLE

Mr. N. Pascuzzi, Principal Mrs. S. Paquette, Clerical Assistant

Mr. B. Gordon, Vice-Principal Mrs. A. MacDougall, Clerical Assistant

Ms. K. Saenger, Vice-Principal Website: www.sd48donross.org

42091 Ross Road PO BOX 299, Brackendale, BC, V0N 1H0 Tel: 604-898-3671 Fax: 604-898-4672

For staff email address: 1st letter of their first name AND full lastname@sd48.bc.ca i.e. npascuzzi@sd48.bc.ca

DON ROSS EAGLE

Mr. N. Pascuzzi, Principal Mrs. S. Paquette, Clerical Assistant

Mr. B. Gordon, Vice-Principal Mrs. A. MacDougall, Clerical Assistant

Ms. K. Saenger, Vice-Principal Website: www.sd48donross.org

42091 Ross Road PO BOX 299, Brackendale, BC, V0N 1H0 Tel: 604-898-3671 Fax: 604-898-4672

For staff email address: 1st letter of their first name AND full lastname@sd48.bc.ca i.e. npascuzzi@sd48.bc.ca

June 12, 2015

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Our Grade 8 and 9 students have started the countdown to final exams. This year's exam

days are June 16th to the 18th. Teachers will give students clear instructions on how to

best prepare for final exams in each subject area.

In addition to final exams, the month of June is also an important time to recognize the

achievements of our students in academics, service, and athletics. Our annual Grade 9

Awards Ceremony is a special event when we honour students in each of these categories.

This year's Awards Ceremony is scheduled for Monday, June 22nd at 7:00 p.m. Parents of

students receiving awards will be notified by invitation and all parents are welcome to at-

tend.

Another way we recognize student achievement is through our Honour Roll and Princi-

pal’s List. Grade 7,8 and 9 students who have achieved a “B” letter grade average or

higher will be named to our Honour Roll and Grade 7,8 and 9 students with an “A” aver-

age will be named to the Principal’s List. Our School Honour Roll and Principal’s List

will be published and sent out to parents in late June.

We also have a several fun events planned for June including numerous field trips, an

outdoor track meet, and distribution of school yearbooks. Please take a moment to pe-

ruse our June Newsletter for more information on these and other activities at Don Ross

Secondary.

Nick Pascuzzi

Principal

Don Ross Secondary School

Change in School Administration As many of you already know I will be transferring over to Howe Sound Secondary to serve as school Principal for the coming year. I will miss the students, parents and staff of Don Ross Secondary. I have enjoyed immensely my years at DRSS where I have found the school com-munity to be vibrant and dynamic as well as supportive and inclusive of a very diverse and multicultural student population. It has truly been a very rewarding and memorable experi-ence I will cherish well into the future. I would like to welcome Ms. Robin Kirk as our incoming school Principal. Ms. Kirk has experi-ence at both elementary and secondary levels and is presently a Vice-Principal at King George Secondary School with the Vancouver School Board. Robin is looking forward to beginning her new position and meeting students, parents, staff and the community. Another important development to share is that Mr. Gordon will also be leaving our school as he will be taking over the position of Vice Principal of Garibaldi Highlands Elementary. Mr. Gordon has done an excellent job in his role of Vice Principal of Don Ross Secondary this year and he will be missed by all. Transferring into our school as Vice Principal is Mr. Stuart Bent. Mr. Bent is well known in our district and has served in an administrative capacity for nine years in district 48. Mr. Bent is excited to be joining the staff at Don Ross Secondary is looking forward the being an intregal part of our school community. Sincerely, Nick Pascuzzi

The public feedback we have received has been strongly in favour of the proposed amend-ment to our school name from Don Ross Secondary School to Don Ross Middle School. In response to this feedback our Board of Education passed a motion approving this amend-ment to our school name at their June 10th public meeting. The newly amended school name better reflects the grade configuration of 7-8-9, as well as our current programs. Our school will proudly adopt the name Don Ross Middle School as of July 1st 2015.

Don Ross Dates to Remember June 16 Grades 8 & 9 English Exams

June 17 Grades 8 & 9 Math Exams

June 18 Grades 8 & 9 Science Exams

June 22 Grade 9 Awards Night - 7:00 p.m.

June 23 Recognition Assembly - all grades

June 23 Year Book Handout and Locker Clean Out

June 24 Outdoor Track Meet

There are only a few days left to

purchase yearbooks and there are

limited copies left! The price is $65

and they can be purchased online

at www. jostensyearbooks.com or

in the office at nutrition break and

lunchtime. Get yours now, don’t be

disappointed!

GRADE 9 WOODWORK There are many wonderful projects in the woodshop that have not been

claimed. Please check in with Mr. Wallin and pick up any completed

projects before the end of the year.

MATH AND SCIENCE STUDENTS

CALCULATORS ONLY FOR MATH AND

SCIENCE EXAMS.

CELL PHONES ARE NOT PERMITTED.

TRACK AND FIELD

Grade 7, 8 and 9 students had a successful season competing in the North Shore Track and

Field League. Each week during April and May, we traveled to Handsworth Secondary for a

series of exhibition and preliminary meets. Those who qualified then went on to compete at the

North Shore Finals at Swanguard Stadium in Burnaby. The competition was fierce and our

athletes competed well.

The Grade 7 students had two meets with the elementary schools here at Don Ross on May 20th

and 21st. Congratulations to all of our athletes who participated. Competing in track and field

is courageous; there is nowhere to hide, so congratulations to all of our students for trying new

events. While some experienced success, some also found their limits. A job well done! We

look forward to seeing a great turnout out for our team next season!

Cross Country running will start up in September so be sure to listen for the announcements or

see Ms. Heisterman for schedule of practices and races.

DON ROSS OUTDOOR TRACK MEET

Our school will be holding a fun outdoor track meet scheduled for Wednesday, June 24th. This

all day event will includes a variety of individual and group competitions as well as our final

pizza sale of year. Some of the events include:

*Fastest Soccer Ball Kick (clocked by RCMP radar gun)

*Tug-of-War (Teams will be combination of Grade 7,8,9 students)

*Teachers vs Students California Kick Baseball Game

*Team Relay (in which the baton is a large inflatable animal figure)

*Water Balloon Toss *Potato Sack Race

*Longest Baseball Throw Contest *Most Accurate Soccer Ball Kick

This promises to be a fun and entertaining day for students and staff. Parents are welcome

spectators and we invite you to drop by for all or part of the day!

DON ROSS SPORTS PAGES

TO THE FOLLOWING STUDENTS FOR THEIR

PARTICIPATION AND EFFORT:

Hayden Fredericks Christian Smith Wayne Yang Sharon Yang

Carey Yew Larissa McKinney Kailey Chelswick Luke Parry

Jesse Simpson Tristan Wentworth Liam Krueckl Nick Seguin

Linnea Uunila Mia Bortolotto Ryder Bulfone Avneet Sandhu

Talisa Stewart Graeme Bowers Ryan Blasak Jasjot Hans

Andy Kite, Alexandra Hughes Aurora Hughes Connor Lum

Isaac Benoit Mikayla Lorimer James Van Oostwaard

Sorsha Henning.

The climbing club continues to meet on Tuesdays in the gym. It has

been awesome to see the wall full of students challenging themselves in

many different ways! We look forward to the completion of the “Bill

Rizun Climbing Cave” next year, which will open up more space and

opportunities for climbing. Climbing club will continue next year and details will be an-

nounced in September.

Our mountain biking team had another fantastic season. Our Grade 9 boys won the banner

and the trophy for the season by a landslide. We had lots of grade 7s racing with the grade

8s, so next year is looking very promising. Congratulations to Steven Grantham who came in

5th place in the province for the Enduro.

Mr. Rizun is looking to borrow a 12 inch sliding compound mitre saw to finish the faces of

the climbing caves that we are building in the upper gym. He will need it for a couple of

weeks. If you have one to lend, you can contact Mr. Rizun at the school 604-898-3671 or by

email at brizun@sd48.bc.ca.

A huge Don Ross thank you to the “Test of Metal” for the $21,000 donation that has enabled

this long time project to be completed. The students of this school and Squamish are fortu-

nate to have such a strong community group support activities for kids.

Fly on the Wall Fundraiser

On Thursday May 14th, the Leadership 9 students held a

fundraiser to raise money to help children affected by the

earthquake in Nepal. Students were encouraged to pur-

chase duct tape from leadership students throughout the

week and on May 14th at lunch the fun began. Mrs. Czer-

nick and Mr. Gordon were successfully duct taped to the

wall, and Mr. Haiduk needed a little more tape to be

stuck. Thank you to the teachers who volunteered at

lunch to help and to following leadership 9 students who

lead the event: Rebecca Aseltine, Teresa Donovan and

Eva Vanden Heuvel. The event was a huge success and

thank you to everyone who purchased tape; we were able to raise $200 for the Canadi-

an Red Cross.

Don Ross Annual Talent Show

On Friday May 29th, the Leadership 9 students hosted the Don Ross Annual Talent

Show. This year we had some amazing and diverse acts: tap dancers, singers, guitar

and saxophone players and even a yo-yo performer. With all this talent, it was very

hard for the judges to pick three winners. Thank you to the MC’s Jasjot Hans and

Ravisher Dhaliwal, to the sound crew and Mr Verbeek, to Ms. Kyle for prepping the

acts and to the judges for making the tough decisions.

Graeme Bowers (Grade 9) and Connor Lum, (Grade 9)

Violin and piano duet

Lindsay Larson (Grade 8) and Malia Kass (Grade 8)

Singing duet

Third Place: Patrick Aguilera (Grade 9), guitar solo

Third Place: Madison Backman (Grade 7), singing solo

Reading Bingo – Get Rewarded for Your Reading!

Since January, students in all grades have been recording their reading by genre on a Bingo

Card. Completed Bingos earn an entry into the Summer Reading Draw. A student will win a

summer reading prize basket – just for reading! Entries due on June 12 to the library.

Draw on Monday, June 15. (Extra Bingo Cards available at the library).

Library books are now due. Textbooks for examinable courses can be returned on the day of

exam.brary books are now overdue. No new books will be loaned unless everything is re-

turned, paid up or replaced. Text

The Howe Sound Women’s Centre is excited to be able to run two Girls Wellness Summer

Camps again this year. July 13th to 17th for girls ages 9—12 and August 17th to 21st for

Girls ages 7—9. For more information contact Shana Murray at (604)892-5748 or

www.hswc.ca

.

Congratulations to our District Student Council:

Christian Smith, Graeme Bowers, Paula Belza,

Hayden Fredricks and Gurnoor Khosa for winning

the $1250 BC Hydro Grant and receiving a match-

ing grant of $1250 from the School Board. These

grants are for the students’ work on Take a Break-

er Week and a proposal to install motion sensors in

our washrooms and change rooms. The installation

of motion sensors will reduce our school’s energy

footprint and save in our energy costs