Volume 25 No. 3
2013 10 29
Together, Making A Difference…..One Student At A Time
From The Principal’s Desk
Pizza Days
I was very impressed by the turn out at the Halloween
Dance on Thursday, October 24th. To see so many
families enjoying a night out with their children was
amazing!! Your support as parents is felt every day by
our staff and students. Thank you to our School
Council for running such a great event. Our staff rep. ,
Lisa Arnott, contributed a great deal of support to this
event as well as great dance moves!
Our next order will be due on Monday,
November 25th (for grades 1-6). You may
send one cheque for your family but
please remember that you MUST SEND
AN ORDER FORM FOR EACH CHILD TO THAT
CHILD’S TEACHER! Cheques are made payable to:
James McQueen Public School.
On November 15, 2013, students will be receiving
progress reports. It is important that parents review
these reports and address any areas of need for their
children. Though the first term report will be issued
on February 7, 2014, the progress report provides
feedback to parents about their child’s progress in
many areas. Information about Parent-Teacher
interviews will be sent home in a few weeks. We have
set aside November 21st after school as well as during
the day on November 22nd.
Lastly, please be aware of student pedestrians around
our school. Parking is very limited at James McQueen
P.S., so it is important not to block the view of other
drivers or walkers trying to navigate to our school
yard. Our students are precious and it is important to
put safetly first.
Always feel free to contact me at school if you have
questions or concerns. Bye for now.
Sincerely,
L. Lacey,
Principal
Family Fit Club
Enclosed you will find a “Family
Fit Club” registration form if
you and your family wish to
participate. Please return to
Mrs. Hopf if you are interested.
Each month there will be a draw
for family prizes. I hope you decide to join us!!
Last month’s newsletter winners
were… Ethan & Zachary Lawrence.
Congratulations!
Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who participated and
donated toward our Terry Fox Run. We were
able to send over $1200.00 to the Terry Fox
Foundation. We have a wonderful school
community!! Thanks again!!
School Council Corner…
Halloween Dance – what a party!!
Thanks to all who came out and strutted their stuff on
the dance floor, watched those strutting their stuff on
the dance floor, or simply enjoyed the bake table!
Terrific costumes and the kids had a blast. And, in the
midst of all that fun, you supported your School
Council. We raised over $850.00!! This money goes
right back into your child(ren)’s school experience
here at James McQueen. Thank you!
Thanks also to Mark Haynes for donating his time,
equipment, expertise and enthusiasm as DJ! Thank
you to Mrs. Arnott and Mr. Lacey for all of their help.
Thanks to everyone who provided goodies for the bake
table. Thanks also to all of the parents who
volunteered their time to work the admission, baking
and goodies, and spirit wear tables.
Congratulations to best costume winners, Emmett
Leary and Nora Aitken! This is such a fun event for
the kids – a shining example of the unique community
spirit at James McQueen!
Give us your email address….
…and we’ll keep you up to date on everything you
need to know at James McQueen. It’s so easy – go to
http://www.ugdsb.on.ca/jamesmcqueen/ and click on
the “subscribe” button. You will receive notification
every time a newsletter comes out, as well as other
updates. Help us cut our photocopying costs and save
some trees along the way!
Math Night-Wednesday, November 27th, 6:30
to 8:00 p.m.
Mark your calendar! A great opportunity to get
families working on math skills by making it fun!
Math games and an EQAO presentation by Mr. Lacey.
Stay tuned for more information to come.
MacMillan Fundraiser
A reminder that these forms are due back on
November 7th. Orders MUST be picked up in the
school gym on November 21st between 3:00 and 6:00
p.m. because we do not have storage for frozen items.
Thank you for your support!!
Need labels?
Get your students’ stuff labeled and help your school
at the same time. Two great fundraisers to choose
from:
Elora Labels: A portion of all purchases is returned to
James McQueen Parent Council. It’s a win-win
situation. You support a local business, get great
affordable labels and help your school!
https://eloralabel.com/jamesmcqueen
Mabel’s Labels: Are you a die-hard Mabel’s Labels
supporter? Don’t fret, we still enjoy a fundraising
partnership with them. Visit
http://jmps.mabelslabels.com
Join us!
School Council meetings are open to everyone – join
us the second Wednesday of the month. The next
meeting is November 13th at 6:30 p.m. Free
babysitting available. With so much going on this
year, participating in school council is a great way to
play an active role in your child’s school experience
within this incredible school community.
Food and Friends Program
at James McQueen!
Parent volunteers are still needed to help buy and/or
prepare the variety of fruit, vegetables, cheese and
crackers, etc. that are delivered to the classrooms. If
you would like to help out by volunteering a couple of
hours per week or month, please call Mrs. Hopf at the
office 519-843-1700 for more information.
Please Keep Checking!!!!
We would like to remind
parents that it is very important
to check your child regularly for
head lice. We remind the
children not to share hats, hair bands, hockey
helmets, etc. and we know that you do as well. If you
do find head lice, please make sure to contact the
school office so that a notice can be sent home asap.
Thanks!
Battery Recycling Program
James McQueen P.S. , in cooperation with
Stewardship Ontario, is now offering a
battery recycling program. Many people
do not realize, but single use batteries
should never be thrown into landfill
sites. Overtime, the battery fluid leaks
out and can get into our water systems. This is
especially important in our area where many people
are on “well water”, and we are surrounded by
precious farmland.
If you have used batteries that are no longer charged,
please send them to our school where they will be
safely recycled.
Acceptable batteries:
-single use (non- rechargeable) batteries (AAA, AA,
9 volt, C and D)
-Lithium batteries (please place in bag or tape both
terminal ends before placing into container to prevent
short-circuiting)
-Button-cell batteries (tape both sides before placing
in container)
-Corroded or leaking batteries (please place in plastic
bag before placing in container)
Thank you for your cooperation.
The James McGreen ECO Team!
Help us make our
school safer and more
inclusive for everyone!
Parents are encouraged to fill in our voluntary school
climate survey by the end of November. Our students
in grades 4 to 6 will be taking the survey in November.
The information we collect will help us find out how
safe our children feel at school, develop programs to
prevent bullying and promote safe and inclusive
schools, and decide if our current programs are
working. We’ll use the results to make our school
better than ever. All our staff will be asked to take the
survey too.
This is easy!
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Go to http://edu-climate-surveys.ca/
Choose a language by clicking either the
“English” or “Français” button
Enter our school’s survey code 0RXU992G
and click the “Submit Code” button (Please
note that the 0 is a zero)
Follow the instructions on the survey
Remember – this is your school. Let’s make it safe
and inclusive for everyone. Please fill in your survey
by the end of November. If you want the survey in
another language, ask us for a copy. If you have any
questions, contact the school. Thanks for your help.
From The Library
Our board has a wonderful resource for all of our
students that can be accessed 24/7 from school or
from home. It’s called UG2GO and includes Learn360
(educational video streaming), Student Link (a site
children use at school that gives them access to web
sites that are kid friendly and relate directly to their
current units of study), Tumblebooks (a site that has
hundreds of books children can click on and have read
to them), Noodletools (gives children help making
bibliographies), and much more.
When students are at home they can go to the main
address: https://www.ugdsb.on.ca/ug2go
They will be prompted to enter the same Windows
username and password that they use at school to get
onto the school network. Once they enter their
Windows username/password they will enter the site
and they can then click on any of the resources and be
taken directly to the individual resource without the
need for any additional passwords.
Please take a few minutes to explore the site with your
child. It is an important tool that will aid them in their
education, and may make your life easier when it
comes to homework and projects. We are excited that
students will be able to access information from
anywhere and at anytime in this information age!
Boundary Review
Underway
Stop a Bully!
As a result of enrolment pressures at James McQueen
PS, and the limited ability to construct additional
pupil places on the site, the board has launched the
“James McQueen PS Boundary Review”.
The key goal of the review is to create viable
boundaries or grade structures for James McQueen
PS, J. D. Hogarth PS and John Black PS. Since James
McQueen PS is a dual-track school, a review of French
Immersion (FI) and Regular Track (RT) boundaries
are necessary.
It is anticipated that any changes will take effect in
September 2014, in time for the launch of Full Day
Kindergarten (FDK) at James McQueen PS and J.D.
Hogarth PS.
A committee that includes the three school principals,
superintendents of education and finance, board
planning staff and transportation officials are meeting
over the next five weeks to develop scenarios. Report
#2 will be posted online on December 6 at
www.ugdsb.on.ca/jmbr.
We welcome your attendance at a public information
session on Thursday December 12 from 7-9 p.m.
at J.D. Hogarth Public School. There will be a
presentation by school board and transportation staff,
a question and answer period, displays of data and
maps, and an opportunity to provide feedback
through comment sheets.
Your input is welcome and valued. To stay informed
and get involved, visit the boundary review’s web
page. (www.ugdsb.on.ca/jmbr) You can sign up to
receive email notifications of significant updates, and
submit comments using an online form (available
until December 20). The page also has details about
the procedure for delegating in person at regular and
standing committee meetings of the board.
Did you know that in the majority of cases, bullying
stops within 10 seconds when peers intervene or
don’t support the bullying behavior?
The Upper Grand District School Board takes all
incidents of bullying seriously. That’s why we
developed an online bullying reporting tool. Stop a
Bully gives students and parents 24/7 access for
reporting bullying. You don’t have to identify yourself
– just your school – and your message gets sent
directly to your school principal for follow-up. We
will follow up on your report.
You’ll find the Stop a Bully button on our school’s
website and the board’s website
(www.udsb.opn.ca/stop-a-bully).
If your child is the victim of bullying or sees bullying
behavior at school, please encourage him/her to speak
with someone at school or use the Stop a Bully tool.
For more information, Contact Mr. Lacey at 519 8431700.
Dates to Remember……
Monday, November 11
Tuesday, November 12
Wednesday, November 13
Our Junior students will walk to the Cenotaph at 10:15 a.m.
Please join us for our Primary Remembrance Day Assembly beginning at 11:15 a.m.
Pottery To Go begins today and goes through November 14.
School Council Meeting at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome!!
Friday, November 15
Progress Reports go home
Thursday, November 21
Crazy Hair Day!
McMillan Orders must be picked up in the gym between 3 & 6.
Monday, November 18
Friday, November 22
Wednesday, November 27
Friday, November 29
COMMENTS:
Dairy Presentations begins today and goes through to November 21.
P.A. Day
Math Night with School Council from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Spirit Assembly at 12:15 p.m. in the gym. Please join us.
Comfy Cozy Games Day!!