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Students focused on success

Feb. 2, 2007

Over the past eight years, Orono Public School has seen tremendous improvement.

Our extracurricular activities like baseball, crazy hair day, soccer, choir and battle of the books have made our school a more exciting place. PJ Day was very enjoyable because even the teachers dressed up! Mrs. Moffat and the school council have purchased new equipment and literacy carts which helps our reading scores go up. Our school has raised money to help pay for new books, banners, team shirts and more.

If you come to Orono PS you would be surprised at the kindness and responsibility that is shown. Grade 5 and 6 students take part in the lunch bunch, as bus and milk monitors, and on student council. The Grade 4 pupils are kindergarten helpers.

Students know each other on a first-name basis and all help out in a safe, friendly atmosphere.

In December, the student council created an empathy train. Every class filled a box or two with donated canned goods or a toy for needy families in our community.

EQAO is coming up and Mrs. Hunter, Mr. Parish and our literacy coach, Mrs. Knox, were hard at work with Mrs. Moffat on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 17. Grade 3 and 6 students were to bring their parents to the workshop to learn about higher-level thinking skills, rubrics assessment, websites, etc.We had the Grade 1 and 2 classes attend Family Literacy Night to make books and celebrate Franklin’s birthday. With our new team shirts and banners we are motivated toward winning and success.

Janie Ervine an Hannah Morgan are students at Orono Public School.

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Orono PS students 'soaring for success'

Apr 25, 2007 By: Jennifer Stone

Feb. 2,2007

ORONO -- As soon as you walk into Orono Public School, you notice there’s something a little different there.

“When you come into the library, it’s sort of the focal point of the whole school,” said principal Pat Moffat.

The room is open concept with a wood ceiling.

The open concept is a theme that continues through the school, where pods of classrooms, with very few walls, come off the library.

In 1972, when the school was built, the idea of open-concept schools was somewhat in vogue, with others being built in York Region, said Ms. Moffat.

The junior kindergarten to Grade 6 school has 168 students this year, drawing from the hamlet and its surrounding community.

The school’s mascot, an eagle, gave way to the institution’s new motto, Soaring to Success, chosen last year after a contest and vote within the school.

Orono Public School may be relatively small in terms of population, but it’s big on community, said the principal, who joined the school last year.

The sense of community means “students are very caring. Everyone knows each other, which is great for the warmth and caring,” she said, noting older children act as monitors for those in the younger grades.

“We celebrate everyone’s birthday,” said the principal.

There is a strong school council and plenty of parental involvement with events like hot lunch and an in-school reading program, which also spans generations to allow grandparents to come in to read to children.

An array of events bring families into the school, noted Ms. Moffat.

“We’re really trying to get the parents in the school ... and really getting parents involved,” she said.