May 2015
th
th
Education Week, this year, is May 4 th
to 8 th
. The theme is “Open Doors, Unlock Potential/Ouvrez Des
Portes, Libérez Votre Potentiel!” Education week is a time to celebrate our achievements and reflect on the learning and growing that our students have achieved.
In honour of this week, our students will be participating in many different activities. The entire school will be involved in “Music Monday” on May 4 th
with a school wide assembly. I would like to thank
Mme. Neumann, Mrs. Panter and their team for organizing this wonderful assembly. We will, also, have a “Math Activity Morning” on Thursday May 7 th
. During these activities, the students will rotate to different classrooms to play some math-inspired games. This activity morning was a great success in
February and we are looking forward to exposing the students to more math-related activities.
The following week, each division will participate in an “Arts Day” with artists from the community teaching our students new skills. Thank you to our School Council for its financial support. This financial contribution ensures that our students are able to take part in and enjoy these enrichment opportunities.
Our Primary Choir and Chimes Choirs participated at the Dufferin Youth Arts Festival in April. All of our student musicians did a wonderful job representing Laurelwoods. I would like to thank Ms.
Gaudette for taking over the choir, due to Ms. Neil’s absence and preparing them for the festival. In addition, I would like to thank Mrs. Moritz for her efforts working with our four Chime Choirs. We are very fortunate to have a volunteer as dedicated as Mrs. Moritz working with our students.
As we move into the month of May, we are definitely seeing some bigger smiles as the children are back on the playground structures. In addition, many students are enjoying the various activities in the yard--the basketball nets, soccer fields, and the four-square games are all being used regularly.
We remind the students that it is important to play safely and fairly with their peers as well as share the equipment with others to ensure that our yard continues to be a fun and safe place to play.
With the warm weather approaching, please remember to have your child prepared with a hat, sun screen and appropriate clothing for track and field, field trips and outdoor gym classes. Also, we expect students to dress in clothing that is appropriate for their age group. Shorts and skirts must be a reasonable length and undergarments should not be visible.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Walker

Another administrative task that we begin in late
May and into June is determining the 2015-2016 school organization, and the make-up of classes.
We would like to inform parents about how we approach this important task.
First, our in-school staffing committee receives a tentative school organization from the Board’s
District Staffing Committee. This school organization is based on the expected student enrolment and the number of teachers that are allocated to our school by the Upper Grand District
School Board’s Staffing Committee.
Next, our staff collects data on each student which is then used at grade level placement meetings.
Teacher collaboration occurs around determining student placement for the subsequent year.
Teachers spend a considerable amount of time determining the best possible placement for each student. Teachers have the expert knowledge about how your child learns, their learning style and work habits, and what kind of social groupings foster their growth.
We appreciate your trust in our professional judgment in the student placement process.
A reminder that permission from parents must be granted before riding bicycles to school.
These forms are available in the main office at the school.
Students are expected to wear mandatory head gear. Bicycles are to be parked in the bicycle racks located at the front of the school.
At the end of the day, students who ride bicycles are dismissed after the last bus has departed from the school.
We are expecting warm weather in the near future! We remind parents that students are outdoors for recess and on occasion for physical education class. We strongly recommend that parents take appropriate precautions to protect their child(ren) from the harmful rays of the sun.
Students are encouraged to wear hats, sunscreen and sunglasses when on the playground.
This May and June, Grade 3 and 6 students across
Ontario will be assessed by the “Education Quality and Accountability Office” in reading, writing and mathematics. The EQAO assessments require students to participate in the assessment over six one hour sessions. This year our grade 3 and 6 students will complete the assessment during the first block of the day on May 26 th
- June 2 nd
. Our teachers and students are working hard to prepare for these assessments, and we sincerely appreciate your support in limiting student absences during these periods.
School and provincial results of this assessment will be made public in the fall. Individual student results are also released to parents at that time.
The data from these assessments is one source of information to assist schools in the evaluation of their School Improvement Plan.
1.
Make sure your child gets a good night sleep
before every test.
2.
Provide a light, healthy breakfast on test day.
3.
Have your child dress comfortable and arrive at
school on time.
4.
Send your child off to school with confidence
building words of praise.
5.
Remind your child to carefully read directions.
6.
Tell your child to check his or her work before
submitting the test.
If you know you will be moving over the summer and not returning to
Laurelwoods Elementary School, please inform the office. This helps us to plan classes for the fall.
For the remainder of the year, we will be selling
Terra Cotta Cookie’s Ice Dawgs for $2 each, at second break on Thursdays. These ice cream sandwiches are two cookies filled with vanilla ice cream and still meet the standards of the Food &
Beverage Healthy Food Policy.

Our graduating students are invited to a grade 9 orientation barbeque on Wednesday,
September 2 nd
at Westside Secondary School.
The event will be run by some of the Westside staff, and student Link Leaders. Along with some fun group building games, students will be given their timetables, assigned lockers, and will tour the school to find their classes. Further details will be sent to you in the mail this summer.
Mrs. Jordan and Mrs. Martin would like to thank all of the parents who responded to help us to prepare for graduation. If you would like to lend a hand, feel free to call us at school, or write us a note. The grade 8 students have chosen the theme "A Night at the Oscars" for their graduation night. The ceremony will be held on Tuesday, June 23, 2015.
Students should arrive at school at 6:30 pm to take pictures of one another with their friends, and the ceremony begins at 7:00 pm sharp in the gym.
Invitations will be sent home, with an RSVP card to return to school so that we know how many guests your child will have attend. We suggest that each student bring no more than 5 guests, but please write on the RSVP if you would like to bring more.
Usually, it works out so that there is enough seating for all who wish to attend. Following the ceremony, a reception will be held in the library. Grade 7's are invited to arrive at school at 8:00 pm to help us stack the chairs in the gym, and then may stay for the dance, which ends at 10:30 pm. We are all looking forward to this special night!
We are looking forward to our annual Arts Day at
Laurelwoods. Local artists will be visiting our school to offer students workshops in drama, dance, music and visual arts. Each Division will have their own half day of arts.
Primary Arts Day Tuesday, May 12 th
Junior Arts Day Wednesday, May 13 th
Intermediate Arts Day Thursday, May 14 th
These Arts Days are funded by the generous donation of our School Council and support from the Dufferin Arts “Artists in the School” program.
We are looking forward to a creative experience!
In Canada for the past 10 years, the first Monday in
May has been dedicated as music Monday. It is an annual event that brings together thousands of students, musicians and community members across Canada to celebrate the gift of music in our lives. This year, we have booked some local talent to come to the school. Students are learning a new anthem called We are One, written by Connor Ross a 16 year old student from Bolton, ON. Parents are welcome to come and enjoy Music Monday with us at the assembly from 11:40 to 12:55 p.m.
On April 28 th
we held our annual Storytelling
Competition. Each primary class selected students to share their story in the library. Parents, grandparents, staff and students were entertained with exciting stories. Congratulations to the top storytellers: Claire, Sarah, Evan, and Austin.
The Eco Crew from Ms. Michel’s class is in full swing - sorting and clearing out blue recycling and green compost bins. Once again we had a generous donation of white spruce trees donated from the Copernicus Education company. Each student was given a tree to take home and plant.
Every little bit counts and every tree planted contributes the oxygen that is essential for survival of all life. The Eco Crew continues to focus on the positive things that we can do! Thank you for your support.
A big thank you goes to Ms. Gaudette and Mrs.
Moritz for working so hard to prepare the primary choir and chimes choir for the annual Dufferin
Youth Festival of the Arts. The students traveled to the Compass Community Church in Orangeville where they performed and enjoyed music, songs, and dances from other schools.

Miss Gibson’s Grade 4/5 class enjoyed a morning experimenting with pulleys and gears on April 28 th
. Thank you to the LES Parent Council for supporting the Scientists in the School Program.
The Laurelwoods' Lady Lightning
Basketball Team has had a very successful season to date! Our ladies began practicing in December and their hard work has paid off! The girls were undefeated in league play and ranked first overall. The girls earned a first round bye as playoffs began. In the second round, the Lady Lightning played the girls from Spencer Avenue ES and fought for a hardearned victory! Winning this game, puts the girls into the A pool finals at Westside SS on May 5 th
. Our team will be playing Island Lake, the 7th seed in the division. Our girls have learned a lot this year and are to be commended for their hard work and perseverance over a long season of practicing and playing! We are pleased to note also, that Vanessa and Mariah were featured as Players of the Week in successive issues of the Shelburne Free Press.
Congratulations ladies! Good luck in the finals!

th
th
The Pause to Play challenge encourages students and their families to put their television, video games and computers on pause for one full week.
Participants are more likely to feel good about themselves. Exercise that gets your heart pumping has many benefits to your health!
Being active for at least 60 minutes daily can help children:
•
Improve their health
•
Do better in school
•
Improve their fitness, grow stronger and maintain a healthy body weight
•
Have fun playing with friends and feel happier
•
Learn new skills and improve their selfconfidence
Take the challenge for a week or more and learn how much fun it can be to pause to PLAY!
Go to www.wdgpublichealth.ca
for more information and for a list of free or low cost activities your local library and recreation centres are offering .
Student Council is asking for your help to support the Free the Children organization. This is an organization that helps families in developing countries by providing sustainable income, clean water, education and opportunities to empower those in need. From April 1st to June 19th , we will be collecting small change such as nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies. Small change adds up quickly and can make a big difference in the lives of others. For example, $50 can provide a goat for one child which can help sustain their family and the community they live in.
Our goal is to raise $200 in small change so we can potentially help 4 families break the cycle of poverty. Donations can be given to your child’s teacher and will be collected every Friday. Thank you ahead of time for your contribution.
For safety and efficiency reasons, we want to reduce the amount of cash and cheques coming into our school. School related expenses such as pizza days, field trips, spirit wear, yearbooks etc. will be available for online purchase. More information will be available soon.
School Cash Online Benefits:
 Convenient: Make payments anytime..
OnLine!
 Easy to Use: Fill a shopping cart and check out.
 Safe: No need to send cash or cheques to school.
 Secure: Our website is protected and PCI compliant
 Save Time: It takes less than 5 minutes to register.
We are pleased to announce that we have brought
Lightning wear back to the school! If you would like to show your school spirit and buy some clothing,
Lightning wear is a great way to do it! We have partnered with a locally run family business,
Archbold’s. We have set up an online ordering system that families can use all year round to buy clothing with the Laurelwoods logo on them. Just go to http://www.archbolds.ca/store to login in. You will need to choose the “Returning Customer” section. In this section the username is our email address: laurelwoods.es@ugdsb.on.ca
and the password is Lightning (capital L). Simply follow the steps as outlined. If you have any difficulty, please contact Archbold’s at 1-888-941-6775 or
Mr. Johnson at the school at 519-940-3666.
After your family has read this newsletter, please sign and detach this coupon. “Our Family” must include at least one parent/guardian who has read the newsletter. This coupon must be placed in the yellow mailbox in the front hall of the school. This month’s draw will be on Friday, May 29 th
, 2015.
Family Name: ___________________________
Child’s Name: ___________________________
Parent’s Signature: _______________________

Sun Mon
May 2015
Tue Wed Thurs Fri
Pizza Day
1
Sat
2
Education Week
3
“Open doors, unlock potential”
10
17
24
Music Monday
4 5
Basketball Finals -
Westside
Pita Day
11 12
Primary Arts Day
Pita Day
18
25
EQAO
GR 3 & 6
19
Mansfield Outdoor
Ed Centre - Gr. 7/8’s
Pita Day
26
New JK Meet &
Greet - 9:00 am
6 7
Math Activity
- 9:00 am
Parent Council Mtg
7:00 pm
Smoothie Day
Pizza Day
8
13
Junior Arts day
14
Intermediate Arts
Day
Smoothie Day
20
Elmvale Zoo
JK / SK
EQAO
GR 3 & 6
27
Pizza Day
15
21
Gr 4’s to Island
Lake - Habitats
Volunteer Tea
- 1:30 pm
Smoothie Day
22
Dairy Presentations
-Primary Division
Pizza Day
EQAO
GR 3 & 6
28 29
Pizza Day
EQAO
GR 3 & 6
9
16
23
Grand Valley
Duck Race
30

Follow STWDSTS on Twitter!
STWDSTS will be using Twitter beginning
August 2015. You will be able to follow us @stwdsts. Please make sure you connect with us to hear about inclement weather, cancellations and important information.
New geographic areas have been assigned to STWDSTS technicians.
You can find your technician by area at: http://stwdsts.ca/home/schools/
JUNIOR, SENIOR KINDERGARTEN & NEW STUDENTS
If your child is new to the Ontario school system and has been registered at a school prior to the end of June, transportation information will be mailed to your mailing address on August 24, 2015.
NEW TO THE AREA (i.e. not registered at a school yet)
If you are new to the area please contact your school to register your child. STWDSTS will not be accepting new student information over the phone for security reasons. Any new students throughout the summer will not receive transportation arrangements until they are registered at their home school. Once this occurs, you can contact your school directly to obtain your new busing information. Please note that during start-up, busing could take up to 2 weeks to be arranged.
BUSING INFORMATION FOR EXISTING STUDENTS
If your child is an existing student, go to www.findmyschool.ca
and login to this secure site with your child’s OEN number (located on report card), school name, birth date and house number. This will be available after August 24 h .
.
Each year in August, due to possible route changes or e-mail alterations, we are asking parents to resubscribe so you have the most current, up to date information.
To subscribe go to: https:// www.findmyschool.ca/ subscriptions/login.aspx
and follow the instructions.

Students in JK, SK and Gr
1 who ride a school bus will receive a tag from their school showing the student’s afternoon bus route number and bus stop location.
The identifying tag should be worn
(preferably on his or her backpack), by your child every day throughout the year.
This tag will assist drivers in identifying students who are required to be met by a parent or guardian when they are getting off the bus.
Tags will be distributed at the beginning of the school year by your child’s school.
How do I change my student's bus information AFTER
September?
Service de transport de Wellington-Dufferin Student Transportation Services
(STWDSTS) will no longer be accepting any changes to student information over the phone for security reasons. Parents are asked to contact their school administration directly about any changes to their address. All information will come from the school to
STWDSTS and will be consistent across the board.
Will my child be assigned to a school bus?
Transportation is assigned according to School Board policy. Your child must live within your school’s attendance boundary and live further from school than the Maximum
Walking Distance assigned to your child’s grade level. Refer to STWDSTS Policy 002
Transportation Eligibility or go to www.stwdsts.ca
and click on “Are you eligible”.
Can my child receive transportation from an alternate address?
Both your home address and the alternate/caregiver address must be within your school’s attendance boundary and meet the distance criteria for transportation. Be sure to advise your school about alternate arrangements. The alternate address must be used consistently 5 days per week and there must be room on the alternate bus.
Refer to STWDSTS Policy 034 - Transportation for Child Care .
May a student temporarily ride another bus while parent(s) or guardian(s) are away?
All temporary transportation requests shall be refused, except under extraordinary circumstances where the personal well-being of a student is at stake. Refer to STWDSTS
Policy 029 - Temporary Transportation Requests .
How do I apply for courtesy transportation?
Courtesy transportation is assigned based on the youngest of age (grade), then travel distance to school, using available seats and existing stops. Courtesy assignments are not done prior to October 31 st of each year. To apply, refer to STWDSTS Policy 017 -
Courtesy Transportation and Form TF006.
Can my child’s bus stop be changed?
Requests for changes to bus stops should be submitted in writing for consideration ( Form
TF033 ). Requests for changes to accommodate parent/caregiver convenience or health issues will not be considered. No changes to bus stops are considered during the first four weeks of school . All students are required to walk to/from their bus stops. Refer to
STWDSTS Policy 009 – Walking Distances to Bus Stop .
Who is responsible for my child’s safety prior to boarding the bus and after disembarking from the bus?
The parent or guardian is responsible for their child’s safety prior to boarding the bus and after they disembark from the bus. Refer to STWDSTS Policy 005 – Responsibilities of
Parents and Guardians .
Where do I find STWDSTS Policies?
Our policies can be found online at http://stwdsts.ca/home/policies/.