Ross R. MacKay September Newsletter
Ross R. MacKay Public School
Newsletter
35 Trafalgar Road
Hillsburgh, Ontario
519-855-4957
Principal: Mr. Huddleston
Office Coordinator: Mrs. Lantz
September, 2014
Welcome Back!
Ross R. MacKay PS School Organization
Hello to All,
2014-2015
I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer holiday with
family and friends. Ross R. MacKay is ready for another
year of teaching, learning, and growing together.
Kindergarten-Ms. Kaufman and Mrs. Wardell
Our school team would like to welcome back all students
and parents for the 2014-2015 school year. We would also
like to welcome all new students and their families to the
Ross R. MacKay Public School Community. It promises to
be an exciting year as we build on initiatives started last
year and begin many new ones.
Grade 2/3-Ms. Spencer
The staff at Ross R. MacKay have created an exciting,
inspiring and welcoming environment for our students. I
thank them for their dedication and hard work in preparing
for opening day.
Thank you also to our amazing custodian, Ms. VanSickle
who worked this summer to clean and organize our
school.
Our school underwent many renovations over the summer
holidays. The Kindergarten and Grade 1 rooms were
completely renovated. Many classrooms have had the
lights and ceiling tiles replaced. Fresh paint was applied
in the front hallways creating a fresh and clean look for the
start of the school year.
I am looking forward to meeting the amazing students,
hearing stories about their summer adventures and
embarking on a new year of learning.
Educating a child is a partnership between home and
school. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time if
you have a question or concern.
Grade 1-Ms. Lawson
Grade2/3– Mr. Gaidies
Grade 4-Mr. Robnik
Grade 4/5-Mrs. Greer
Grade 5/6-Mrs. Miller,
Special Education– Mrs. Miller
Core French, Planning Teacher– Mme. Pearce
Teacher Librarian, Planning Teacher-Ms. Grant
Educational Assistant–Mrs. Burt, Mrs. Pell
C.Y.C.– Mr. Lyons
Office Coordinator– Mrs. Lantz
Head Caretaker– Ms. VanSickle
Principal– Mr. Huddleston
*Welcome to our new staff members, Mr. Gaidies, Ms.
Spencer, Mrs. Greer, Mrs. Lantz, Mrs. Pell, Mr. Lyons, Mrs.
Lawson and Mrs. Wardell. Goodbye and thank you to Mrs.
Alton who accepted a position at Brant Avenue Public School.
We wish her all the best.
Mr. Huddleston
Soaring Higher
Ross R. MacKay September Newsletter
Possible Class Re-Organization
Safety
Each spring we submit our number of students to the
District Staffing Committee. They inform us of our
class organization for the upcoming school year. This
information is based on class size as determined by
the Ministry of Education. We then re-submit our
number of students in September, after we find out
who has moved away and who is new to the school.
Sometimes this will result in a reorganization of
classes. We should know by the end of the second
week if we need to reorganize. We will keep you
posted of any changes.
Our school day begins at 8:55 am. A staff member is on
duty beginning at 8:25 am. We ask that you not send
your child, or drop your child off at school prior to 8:25
am as there is no supervision.
Just a reminder that our entrance to the parking lot
will be blocked off from 8:25 am to 8:55 am in order
to ensure safety in the parking lot. If you are dropping
off your child, please do so at the sidewalk. They will
then proceed to their appropriate yard. No students
should be entering the front doors of the school in the
morning, unless attending Breakfast Club or they have
prearranged permission.
At the end of the day, the driveway will once again
be blocked off from 3:25 pm to 4:00 pm to ensure
student safety. Bus students will leave the school
through their assigned exit doors when their bus is
called. All students who are walking home or being
picked up will leave through their assigned exit doors.
Parents may meet their child at these doors.
Walking or Riding
We have two transportation lists for our younger
students – walkers or bus students. We expect all
students from JK to Gr. 6 to be either a bus
student or a walker and that this will be the
situation for them all the time – unless otherwise
informed by note or by phone from parents. If a
student is on the walker’s list, they will not be
allowed to take the bus. If students are on the bus
list, they will not be allowed to walk. This is very
important for us to know in order to be sure of the
attendance on our buses and to ensure the safety
of our students.
*School staff cannot make changes to students
riding buses. Parents must contact the bus
company directly to make changes. No exceptions
will be permitted. Please keep in mind that student
safety is our number one priority.
*Students who arrive late, or visitors to our building
must go to the office upon arrival. Thank you for
helping to keep our students safe!
Absence from School
If your child is going to be absent, please call the
office and leave a message. This can be done the
night before, or the morning of. If we don’t receive
a message, we will be calling to ensure your child
is safe.
School number: 519-855-4957
Transportation Website
All information regarding bussing can be found
on the transportation website at
www.stwdsts.ca
Soaring Higher
Ross R. MacKay September Newsletter
Agendas
Monthly Newsletters
The use of agendas helps
to promote student
organization, improves
study skills, and facilitates
home and school
communication. We
greatly appreciate your
support in helping to
defray the $6.00 cost of
the agenda. We encourage you to read the
agenda and sign it with your child regularly.
Please send the money to your child’s teacher.
Thank you.
Each month our newsletter will be posted
electronically on our website. We will send
home a hard copy of the September Newsletter
with the youngest and only student at Ross R.
MacKay. If you are not receiving our e-mail
notices, it means that we do not have your
current e-mail address. Please let Mrs. Lantz
know your address, so that you don’t miss out
on the exciting events happening at Ross R.
MacKay. You can also check the website on a
regular basis for other interesting information.
www.ugdsb.on.ca/RossR.MacKayPS
Ross R. MacKay PS—Balanced School Day
8:25 a.m.
8:55 a.m.
8:55 - 10:35
10:35-10:55
10:55-11:20
11:20-1:00
1:00– 1:20
1:20-1:45
1:45-3:25
3:25-4:00
- Staff on duty
- Entry Bell
- Instructional Block #1 (100 minutes)
- Nutrition Break #1 (20 minutes)
- Outside Time (25 minutes)
- Instructional Block #2 (100 minutes)
- Nutrition Break #2 (20 minutes)
- Outside Time (25 minutes)
- Instructional Block #3 (100 minutes)
- Dismissal and Bus Loading
Visitors to Ross R. MacKay
To ensure the safety of our students, we ask that all visitors check into the office with Mrs. Lantz. Throughout
the school day, all other doors to the school are locked in order to better control access to our building.
Should you wish to meet with your child’s teacher, we ask that you please arrange a mutually
convenient time. If you are picking up your child at the end of the day, please wait for the 3:25 pm dismissal
bell outside at your child’s exit door. This will enable us to get students to their proper bus and dismissal
locations with reduced congestion in the hallways.
Thank you for your support and understanding with this safety routine.
Soaring Higher
Ross R. MacKay September Newsletter
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), Overdrive (eBooks and audiobooks), and
much more.
When students are at home they can go to this URL:
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!
September Student Information
Package
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Student Information Routines Uses and/or
Disclosures
Student Data Verification
Board Calendar
Walking Trip Form
Consent to Share Personal Information
Your child’s safety is a priority for us at Ross R.
MacKay P. S. Each student has received a
student data verification form of the family and
emergency information on our database.
ONLY people listed on this database will be
allowed to pick up your child.
Custody order information is also listed.
Please proofread this information, make corrections, sign and date the form and return it to
your child’s teacher as soon as possible.
Life Threatening Allergies
Please do not send products with nuts or
potatoes to school. We have students at Ross
who are allergic to these food items. They can
experience anaphylactic shock by coming into
contact with small particles or residue from
these food products.
As a result, please be aware that there may be
restrictions in your child’s class to protect a
student with such an allergy.
Please do not send nut products to school.
* Parents/Guardians of a student with
potentially life threatening allergies or those
with a life threatening condition are asked to
inform the school by contacting the office so we
can establish a Life Threatening Management
Plan.
Thank you!
Soaring Higher