Greetings Dragon Nation! 
We wish to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU for your unwavering support this year. St. Isidore has been an exciting journey and an alternative form of education that has proved to be a good fit for many families. Our Umbrella skills helped us weather the rain of technology challenges and as we strengthened our literacy and numeracy skills. Our Dragon community proved that relationships can be built from a distance and friends can be made through a device. This Monday at 6:00 pm we celebrate the graduation of our Grade 8 students as they journey to high school and embark on new adventures. We are so proud of them!
We have approximately 133 students, 70 of whom are registered from Out of Region which will allow us to celebrate the diversity and inclusion to an even greater extent. Wishing all our families a safe and restful summer filled with laughter, love and adventure. God Bless!
Student of the Month: Last month’s theme was Mastery and we would like to recognize the following students for exemplary leadership as they lived the theme through word and deed
Nia C x2 Marvin A Connor M
Solomon S DeMarcus C Mrs. Hodd’s Grade 3-4 class
Cavan V Mrs. Fernandes Grade 1-2 class
Vian P Vienna S Sophia E
Sophie K Lily L Ayden A
Katharine R Martina A Jerusha K
Caio B Kaitlynn M Vienna S
Graduation:
Parents of grade 8 students, please save the date for graduation. Our virtual ceremony is Monday, June 26th beginning at 6:00 pm using this St. Isidore Virtual Graduation Link All grad kits have been sent out, if you have any questions reach out to Michelle Coon.
Last Day of School: Our last instructional day of virtual learning is Tuesday, June 27th. There is no school for our students on June 28th, and 29th.
Chromebook/Microbit Drop-off:
Chromebooks and Microbit return will take place on Wednesday, June 28th between 8:00 am – 4:00 pm at St. Luke school. It is important the microbits be returned as we need them for our summer program. Many teachers will be on site for the morning or afternoon so if families would like to connect and bid farewell to their teachers feel free to do so. I know our teachers would love to see you! If you are beginning summer holidays before the 27th, please make arrangements to drop off your child’s device at our St. Isidore office (located at St. Luke School). Out of Bounds families please make arrangements through the office Michelle Coon
Report cards: On Tuesday, June 27th Term 2 report cards will be published to Aspen and can be accessed through the Aspen Parent Portal. As was the case in February, report cards will no longer be mailed out. Michelle Coon will be available in the office all day to help with Aspen access if needed.
In Person Transition: On June 6th St. Isidore hosted an In Person Transition presentation for all families, if you missed this please see the link to the presentation that has been posted on the WCDSB website.
Save the date for our End-of-Year theme day!
- Monday, June 26th – Beach Day – Wear your beach hat, Hawaiian shirts and/or sunglasses
- Tuesday, June 27th – Canada Day – Wear red and white
Encourage learning over proving yourself
One of the biggest mistakes we make in learning is to imagine we need to impress people and prove ourselves instead of being able to accept that we don’t know everything. That’s why we are learning! It is distracting and tiring to feel that we need to be constantly proving how much we know and undermines the actual learning process. Kids who feel this way are likely to quit at the first sign of failure or when someone comes along who is more experienced, as if that person or experience is a threat to their identity.
To help your children master skills with an open mind and humility, teach them “The Terrible 10 Rule”, which is as follows: expect the first 10 times you try something new to be terrible.
A simple but a clear message about expectations for the learning process.
Why would we expect to be good at things we haven’t learned or practiced yet?
By setting our expectations of ourselves as absolute beginners, it allows our egos the space to relax through the first few attempts at anything new. It also allows us to learn from those around us with more experience instead of finding ourselves in a mental competition for who is better. Explain to your children that time and experience are the critical ingredients to mastery, not some natural talent we are simply born with and ready to display on the first attempt.
I explain more about mastery in this summary video.
Until next time,
Dr. Jen, The Umbrella Project
