TDSB Budget Cuts - your voice is needed
The TDSB is currently under great budgetary pressure. The Board has been told by the Minister of Education that it must cut $58 million from its budget by the end of June or be placed under supervision by the Ministry. Government funding of our public education system is not keeping pace with inflation, leading to increasing budget shortfalls year over year. TDSB Trustees are calling for the Government of Ontario to give fair funding of our public education system. It is time for parents and caregivers to ask for the same.
To learn more about the Trustees call for fair funding, please see their press release of May 7 here.
At risk of being cut are our children's access to a pool in school (and consequently also in the community), itinerant music teachers, special ed supports, outdoor education programs, and more. To object to pool closures, please consider signing this petition.
Please also consider calling or writing to Premier Ford, Minister of Education Paul Calandra, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy, and our Local MPP Mary-Margaret McMahon. You may use this website to easily send a pre-populated email to the above individuals. Templates for phone calls and emails are available here.
Additional resources and information on the issue are available through East End Parents 4 Public Education on Facebook, a group led by local parents and caregivers.
School Council Meeting - May 6
School Council Meeting - May 6 at 6:00pm
A friendly reminder that our next School Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 6, from 6:00 to 7:30pm in the school staffroom. Doors will open early at 5:30pm for pizza, drinks and time to socialize. Childcare is available on site and pizza is also provided for the children. Please bring your own water bottles. Please RSVP here. if you are able to attend so that we can be sure to have enough pizza for everyone. We are pleased to welcome Anastasia Poulis, our Superintendent, and Bruno Berto, Caring and Safe Schools Centrally Assigned Principal, to our meeting. Topics to be discussed include Caring and Safe Schools work at Bowmore, a presentation on the Bowmore Cares fund, and updates from numerous Council committees.
Freezie and Chip Fundraiser
Chip Wednesdays and Freezie Fridays are back!
Orders can be placed starting on Wednesday, April 23rd to Wednesday, May 7th. Place your order through School Cash Online.
For the last three Wednesdays in May, students who pre-order and participate in Chip Wednesdays will receive a personal size bag of chips delivered to their classroom. Price $6 (includes all 3 dates) - May 14, 21 & 28th. In June we will be running Freezie Fridays (and one Thursday) again. Students who pre-order and participate in Freezie Fridays will receive a jumbo size Freezie delivered to their classroom. Price $6 (includes all 3 dates) - June 5, 13 & 20. This fundraising event is organized by the Grad Committee, and funds raised will go towards supporting 2025 grad events. Financial assistance is available to all students if needed. Please contact Principal Kosta Flegas (Konstantinos.Flegas@tdsb.on.ca) for more information.
School Council Meeting - April 8
School Council Meeting - April 8 at 6:00pm
A friendly reminder that our next School Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 8, from 6:00 to 7:30pm in the school staffroom. Doors will open early at 5:30pm for pizza, drinks and time to socialize. Childcare is available on site and pizza is also provided for the children. Please bring your own water bottles. Please RSVP here if you are able to attend so that we can be sure to have enough pizza for everyone. We are pleased to welcome Anastasia Poulis, our Superintendent, and Bruno Berto, Caring and Safe Schools Centrally Assigned Principal, to our meeting. Topics to be discussed include Caring and Safe Schools work at Bowmore, a presentation on the Bowmore Cares fund, and updates from numerous Council committees.
DPA Equipment Drive
Empowering our School Community
To help restore/restock/replenish DPA bags, the Bowmore School Council is holding a sports equipment/outdoor activity items drive.
We have polled Bowmore's teachers to determine which items are needed by age division so we know exactly what we need. The needs of the kindies are different from the juniors to the seniors, etc.
Timeline: Start your Spring cleaning!
● Item donations drop off in the main lobby (Monday, March 17th - Friday, March 21)
● Cash online donations (Monday, March 31 until we have reached our total)
If you have any connections to organizations who may wish to donate items to our drive, please reach out to bowmoresc@gmail.com
What is a DPA Bag:
DPA Bags are essentially large mesh bags containing age-related outdoor activity items (i.e. soccer balls, hula hoops, baseball mitts, volleyballs, etc.). Over time, equipment is damaged due to wear and tear or lost, thus depleting the activities available to the kids during this time.
The drive will happen in two phases:
Phase 1: Donations of gently used items
We are looking for community donations of gently used/like new items from the list below. This is a way to reduce environmental impact by reusing existing items like those frisbees and balls that aren't getting any love at home. It also allows us to reduce the overall financial cost of this initiative.
Phase 2: Cash online donations
School Council will assess the physical item donations and compare them to school needs and determine how much is left to purchase. We will use targeted fundraising to the amount needed via cash online to purchase the remaining items.
Full list of needed items:
Kindies
2 sets of outdoor blocks (mega blocks or similar)
Mud kitchen supplies (old pots/pans/utensils/pasta strainer/baking pans)
Sandbox items (shovels, rakes, pails)
2 large outdoor storage bins
12 soccer balls / 24 rubber utility balls / 6 hand pumps
Primary (1-3)
Skipping ropes (short and long)
36 hula hoops
12 volleyballs / 12 soccer balls
12 basketballs (small size)
36 frisbees
48 sets of scoops/wiffle balls
36 small baseball mitts
12 hand pumps
Junior (4-6)
100 pylons
55 skipping ropes
22 frisbees
11 basketballs / 11 volleyballs / 11 soccer balls / 33 softballs
22 beanbags
55 hula hoops
110 pinnies
22 gator balls
33 tennis balls / 22 footballs
11 hand pumps
Senior (7-8)
100 pylons
22 frisbees
22 basketballs / 22 volleyballs / 22 soccer balls
22 rugby balls / 22 footballs
14 hand pumps