What's Up Next at DCPS! (Issue #1)

Welcome Back! 

First, we would like to extend a special thank you to our staff for all of their hard work in making the transition back to school smooth and the first four days of the 2025-2026 school year a wonderful and welcoming experience for our students. Next, we thank all of our families for your support, flexibility and understanding as we begin the new school year. Finally, well done to our students who did a great job adjusting back to life at school! Everyone was so excited! 

We are thrilled to be the administrators of Donald Cousens P.S. We look forward to meeting you in the days to come. We will endeavour to send a bi-weekly newsletter, “What’s Up Next at DCPS!” to families with some key information, upcoming events, and attachments for you to view. If there are urgent messages in the time between the newsletters, we will send them in a separate email. If you do not receive the newsletter and hear from others that it was sent out, please check your junk or spam folder to see if it ended up there.  If not, please call the office to let us know, and we will check to see that we have your correct email address in the system.

Sean Yao     Joanne Trim

Principal     Vice Principal

YRDSB School Year Calendar for 2025-2026

The 2025-2026 school year for all elementary and secondary schools consists of 194 days and includes the designation of 187 Instructional Days and seven Professional Activity Days. Tuesday, September 2, 2025, was the first day of school for students, and Thursday, June 25, 2026, is the last day of school for students. You can visit the YRDSB website to access PDF and downloadable (Google and iCal) versions of the calendar.  Please visit the School Year Calendar page.

Morning Entry/End of Day Dismissal

Students in Kindergarten enter and exit from the kindergarten yard each day. Parents are asked to wait outside the fence.

Beginning and End of Day Supervision

Morning supervision begins from 7:55 a.m. to 8:10 a.m. Dismissal is at 2:40 p.m. 

Students should not arrive before 7:55 a.m. or be in the yard after 2:40 p.m. for their safety, as there is no adult supervision.

Kiss & Ride, Before, and After School Pick Up

If you are driving when dropping your child off in the morning or picking them up after school, please use the Kiss & Ride, which is located beside the north side of the building along the curb. Students should never exit a vehicle anywhere on school property other than in the Kiss and Ride area.

The bus loop at the front of the school is NOT a drop-off location. To ensure our buses arrive on time and that students are received safely, the bus loop will be closed to vehicles during morning entry and at the end of the day. Please DO NOT use the bus loop to drop your child off or to pick them up at the end of the school day.

 At Donald Cousens P.S., the bus loop at the front of the school and the entire Kiss & Ride area (including the driveway in front of the portables) are designated fire routes. These areas are marked very clearly with signage, and this is a reminder that, to avoid a parking infraction, vehicles should not be parked at any time. 

A driver violates this parking regulation if the driver is stopped or parked in a Fire Route, even if their engine is running, hazard lights are flashing, or there is someone in the car. The City of Markham patrols this area often and issues fines regularly to those idling in the Fire Route.

When Fire Route signs are displayed, drivers are permitted to immediately drop off/pick up individuals; however, there cannot be a delay, even while waiting to pick up your child. When a parent is engaged in picking up their child, the child should already be waiting at the curb for their parent. After the child gets into the vehicle, the parent should then immediately drive away. 

When this sign is displayed, drivers are NOT permitted to:
          1) Sit and wait in the car for their child (even for a few minutes); or

          2) Leave their vehicle for a quick second

Animals on School Property

Please remember that except for trained service animals, such as seeing eye dogs or behaviour dogs, all other animals, including dogs, are not permitted on school property for any reason. Thank you. 

Reporting Student Absences and Lates

We are pleased to let you know that we have a telephone attendance reporting system. This is in addition to online absence reporting through Edsby. 

Regular and punctual attendance affects school success and is expected of all students. You are responsible for notifying the school before the bell time if your child will be absent or late. We have a safe arrivals program so that we can account for the whereabouts of absent students if the absence has not been reported before the morning bell time. 

To enhance our safe arrivals system, this new telephone system will reduce the time it takes to verify student attendance. It will also confirm student absences that have not been verified by automatically calling you. 

If your child is going to be absent or late, please let us know before bell time by 7:45 a.m.  You can notify the school of your child(ren)’s late/absence in one of the following two ways:

1. By logging in to Edsby and using the “Report an Absence” feature. For more information on reporting your child’s attendance through Edsby, please see the YRDSB Website page “Online Resources - Edsby” page by clicking on the link below: https://www2.yrdsb.ca/about-us/departments/information-technology-services/virtual-school-it-support/online-resources-edsby    or,
2. By calling the school’s main phone line at 905-202-8120 and selecting the option “To report a student absence or late.” 

Long-term absences or absences beyond the following day can be reported through the new telephone absence reporting system, Edsby or by contacting the school. If your child will miss more than 5 consecutive days of school, you must complete the Request for Vacation Form available through the school. 

Thank you for your cooperation as we continue to ensure the safety of our students. Please feel free to contact us with any further questions. 

Health Forms

Fillable Health Care forms are now available for families who have children with asthma, seizure disorders, anaphylaxis, diabetes, and/or other prevalent medical conditions. This also applies to children who require the administration of medication at school. These forms can be accessed through the links below, and/or a paper copy can also be requested from the office. 

• Anaphylaxis Health Care Plan
• Asthma Health Care Plan
• Diabetes Health Care Plan
• Epilepsy/Seizure Disorder Health Care Plan
• Self-Administration of Medication Form

Once you’ve completed the appropriate Health Care Plan, please return it WITH the appropriate medication to school with your child. The form and medication will be placed in a sealable bag, with the student's name marked on the bag and left at the office.

School Start-Up Package

The YRDSB is offering online start-up forms to all families at all schools for the 2025-2026 year. 

• Forms will be sent centrally to all families during the second week of school. Translations are available. The YRDSB will send a central email to all families with a link to the Family Dashboard to complete the start-up forms.
• Accessing the forms:
  • Families that do not have a Family Dashboard account can follow these instructions to set up an account. Forms completed through the Family Dashboard will be prepopulated with student information, saving families time.
  • Families that do not set up a dashboard account can access a generic Google form from the Board website.  The generic form will be blank, requiring families to have information such as their child’s OEN.
• If you prefer, a printed form (hard copy) can be sent home with your child. Please call (905-202-8120) or email the office (donald.cousens.ps@yrdsb.ca) if you would prefer this method of completing the forms.
• Information about the Start-Up forms will also be accessible at https://www2.yrdsb.ca/family-resources. Families can click on the “Need Help” button under School Start-Up for links to the start-up forms and FAQs to support them in creating a Family Dashboard account and accessing the forms.
• The form will include:
  • The Start-Up Permission Form (mandatory)
  • Student Information Consent Form (mandatory)
  • Request for Faith Accommodations Form
  • School Council Nomination Form
• The Guide to the School Year is available online. The link is included on the Family Resources page on the Board website.  

Hot Lunch Program

We will be offering a hot lunch program again this year.  Emails will be sent out during the week of September 8-12 with further details. Orders will be placed through SchoolCash Online. If you have not yet set this up for your child(ren), please visit the YRDSB website to register at https://yrdsb.schoolcashonline.com/ .

Terry Fox School Walk/Run 

Once again, Donald Cousens Public School is proud to take part in this year’s Terry Fox Marathon of Hope! Students will  outside walking or running outside for 40 - 60 minutes at scheduled times throughout the day based on their grade level.

Event Date: Thursday, September 25th

Rain Date: Monday, September 29th

Please stay tuned for more information about this event. 

We look forward to continuing the legacy of one of Canada’s greatest heroes by donating to support cancer research while building fantastic school spirit!

Mabel’s Labels

Our school is fundraising with Mabel’s Labels! If you’re not familiar with Mabel’s Labels, they are personalized, durable, waterproof labels. They are great for everything from shoes, clothing tags, water bottles and backpacks. You can customize them with your name and a design, and they are dishwasher, laundry and microwave safe.

 Mabel’s Labels also offers clothing stamps, silicone bands for water bottles and medical alert labels. This is a great way to ensure your items don’t end up in the lost & found or mixed up. To reduce the spread of germs, we highly recommend labelling, but they are also useful for everyday life.

To support our fundraiser, visit campaigns.mabelslabels.com and type in “Donald Cousens Public School (Markham)”. You can pick out any labels or products you want, and it will ship for free directly to your house! Thank you for supporting us! 

Inside DCPS!

At DCPS, we work hard to make the school a welcoming and safe place for all of our students and their families. Here is a glimpse of the front foyer and an end-of-first-week activity that all of our Kindergarten students participated in on Friday!