One of our Grade 3 classes was off-site each day last week, at the Chevron Open Minds “Zoo School”. The students and their teacher participated in hands-on, trans-disciplinary programming directly linked to their program of studies. Two other CFIS Grade 3 classes already took part in this program earlier in the school year, and our fourth Grade 3 class will be spending a week at "City Hall School" in the near future.

Did you know…that in addition to providing physical and mental health benefits to children, spending time outdoors together can also improve family bonds and relationships? This guide from the Children & Nature Network shares some of the current research around “nature time” and includes suggestions of ways to enjoy the outdoors with children from the time they are babies through to the teen years.

Did you know…that boy-girl friendships help children learn things that they may not learn in same-gender peer relationships? Being friends with the opposite gender helps children see beyond any traditional gender stereotypes they may have already internalized, and helps them explore different parts of their own personalities. (Click on "Read more" at the bottom left corner to see the remainder of this post.) 

Our school’s 10th annual musical theatre production—Newsies, The Broadway Musical—was a magical experience! Our student actors, singers, dancers, and musicians together transported the audience to New York City in 1918. Their performances were the culmination of months of hard work, by over half of the Secondary Division’s students, both on the stage and behind the scenes, as well as the efforts of their teacher and parent volunteers. _{^{(Click on "Read more" at the bottom left to see M. Mousseau's full blog.)}}