Teaching Awards

Congratulations to JK teacher Wendy Anderson who has been selected as one of the 20 finalists for the OCRI Capital Educator's Award and thank you to our parents who nominated her for this award!

The tender for the Primary Structure and the Junior/Intermediate Structure is being finalized at the OCDSB and we await the bids from the equipment suppliers. 

Don't forget to check our School Council website www.castorvalley.ca regularly for information including upcoming parent information sessions held at our school and other schools throughout the OCDSB.

Make some space in your basement and on your bookshelves by donating your gently used books to the Annual Used Book Sale scheduled for Friday, April 29th. Students will visit the sale with their class between 9:30 and 3:30. Children's books will vary from 25 cents to $1. Parents and staff are welcome to shop during the day as well. Sale will be open to the public from 4:00 to 7 pm so please tell your friends and neighbours.

We will be accepting donations of children's fiction and non-fiction books, comic books and adult fiction ONLY. Donations can be dropped off in the foyer starting Monday, April 18th.

Please do not send in encyclopedias, adult non-fiction, damaged books and used activity books as these types of materials do not sell and require many volunteers to pack up and recycle.

Subscribe to the CVES Council Blog

Visit www.castorvalley.ca, under CVES Blog Subscription, enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email!

This site is an excellent resource for all things going on at Castor Valley, including, Parent Info Sessions, Community Events, Fundraising, Forms, Sponsors, CVES important calender dates, and upcoming events.....and much more!

Volunteer Appreciation Reception

Lost and Found

A VERY BIG THANK YOU to all the parents and students for their support of our School Library during the March Scholastic Book Fair. Sales were over $5100 with approximately $3570 coming back to CVES as book credit for our teachers and the library. We claimed 150 books directly from the sale, which are being processed, catelogued and put into circulation. We will also be purchasing specific sets of books which teachers have asked for. That should leave us with a remaining credit of approximately $800 to be used in the future as need arises. 

Our carpeting will be replaced over the summer. Custodial staff plan to fix and clean all lighting fixtures and clean ceiling ledges, rafters, etc. The library will have to be completely boxed, packed and removed, including computers, all shelves, the librarian's office, etc. Once the re-carpeting has been completed, one week will be spent during August to put the library back together for Back to School.

We hope to arrange an All-French Scholastic Book Fair for September and Meet-the-Teacher Night. This is something new for Scholastic and CVES. This not only reflects our commitment to provide our students with the best possible French language education and will provide our library with the ability to refresh and suppliment our French resources.

Castor Valley Has Talent!

Talentfest 2011 was a huge success! Over 85 performers from JK to Grade 8 proudly displayed their talent the evening of Thursday, April 14th. The showed featured singing, dancing, instrumental acts and more, including a surprise finale! Students, staff and parent volunteers were also very busy behind the scenes. The Talentfest Committee would like to extend a special thank you to Madame LaCharity and Mr. Jeff for all their help and support. Donations were accepted at the door to support arts in the classroom with over $1100 being raised. Thank you Karen Warren and her amazing Talentfest Team: Jen Danby-McDonald, Laurel Wills, Julie McDonald and Heather Wyche. During intermission, the Ambassadors ran a canteen offering popcorn, water and juice, with money raised going to support Castor Valley's "Adopt a Village Sierra Leone Project" through Free the Children.

Yoga Classes

Yoga classes are running in the library on Friday mornings at recess. Over five weeks, the registered Grade 4, 5 & 6 students get a chance to stretch and relax, and learn about yoga. Yoga helps children strengthen and stretch their bodies, while becoming more body-aware. They learn skills that help them manage stresses in their lives. With enough support, we hope to be albe to offer these classes to other grades at Castor Valley. The Yoga for Children course is offered through the Board's Continuing Education Extra Curricular Creative Arts Program. The instructor is one of our own Castor Valley parents, Leanne Damas. To learn more about the Extra Curricular Creative Arts Program, call 613-239-2747.

This environmental fundraising program supports a local grandmother's group, "Grandmas Aiding Grandmas for Africa". We are collecting used cell phones, digital cameras, ink cartridges in a Think Recycle collection box near the milk fridge in the front foyer of the school. These items are completely recycled and will not end up in a landfill.

This project helps our environment and raises funds for the remarkably resilient African grandmothers who are raising their orphaned grandchildren as a result of the AIDS epidemic. Our grandmothers' group earns funds for each item collected which will then go directly to support grassroots projects in sub Saharan Africa such as food, medical care, adequate housing, school fees and uniforms, HIV awareness and bereavement counseling. Please support this program and enjoy the wonderful feeling of being able to help Grandmas and their grandchildren in Africa and our environment. For more information visit www. thinkrecycle.com. 

The Ambassadors held their Free the Children Five Days for Freedom campaign from April 11 to April 15 to raise awareness and funds for the Adopt a Village Alternative Income Program in Sierra Leone, Africa. This project is designed to promote alternative sources of income eg. cows, pigs, goats, sewing machines, etc. On Tuesday, students had the chance to get their hands prints on a ceiling panel for $1 to represent stamping out disease. On Thursday, students were asked to bring spare change to raise awareness and funds for thirst. The Ambassadors also hosted the canteen at Talentfest. On Friday, students werencouraged to bring in a canned food item to support the Ottawa Food Bank and help end poverty in our city. In total, the Ambassadors raised over $1145.00 for the Adopt a Village Alternative Income Program for Sierra Leone, which is amazing work and we should all be very proud of our CV Ambassadors!!!!!

Thank you very much Castor Valley for your generous help and support, we were able to raise $3068.30. There were a number of activities that CVES children were able to participate in such as having their names written in Japanese, viewing Japanese photographs and "dressers" and watch origami being made. A number of families dropped into the school to participate in the activites.  We also had one student donate her 8th birthday presents to the Castor Valley collection for Japan of $450. The money will be transferred from the Canadian to the Japanese Red Cross and used to help immediately. $10 will provide a family with a jerry can and bucket for clean water. $25 will give 5 blankets to a family. $60 will provide 2 families with hygiene items and $364 will provide a tent for a family. Some families have lost their homes and the future will be uncertain for them with difficult times ahead.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed to this event, and for making it so special and successful.

Please see the touching youtube link, Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami

Eighty-five parents from Castor Valley and schools in our surrounding community attended our PRO grant Parent Information Evening on Managing Stress and Anxiety in Children. Resources and information about training sessions for parents and children available in Ottawa are posted on our website, under the Resources tab.

Moving Up Divisions? 

Wondering about transitioning to full day school from senior kindergarden, moving up from primary (grade 3) to the junior division (grade 4 to 6) or from grade 6 (junior division) to the intermediate division (grades 7 & *)?

Join us for three parent information sessions on Wednesday, May 4th during Education Week:

Welcome to Grade 1 and Full Day School in the Primary Division (for current SK parents)

Welcome to Grade 4 and the Junior Division (for current Grade 3 parents)

Welcome to the Intermediate Grades (for current Grade 6 parents and students)

All are welcome but please register in advance by sending an email to Kim Sheldrick with the number of adults attending and the number of children requiring care.