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 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