To: Parents/Guardians February 4, 2015
From: B. Morgan / C. Bartlett
Congratulations MQW Basketball Teams
It has certainly been a busy month for our elementary boys and girls basketball teams.
We have been to tournaments, accepted afterschool games at other schools and have hosted our own here at school. Our teams are having lots of fun and are continuously improving basketball skills. We are quite excited to be hosting the grade 6 boys Provincial tournament February 20 – 22nd. Thank you to all of our coaches and staff for your support and dedication.
Kinder start Sessions
We are delighted to welcome our new Kinder start students to MQW. Since December we have completed our parent information evening as well as our January Kinder start session. If there is a family in your neighborhood who has a child who will be five by December 2015 could you please ask them to contact the school office.
Our next Kinder Start session will be February 20th. There will be no classes for our regular Kindergarten students on that day. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call the school office for assistance.
2nd Term
Our second term of the 2014 - 2015 school year began November 24, 2014 and concludes on March 7, 2015. Please encourage your child to put forth good effort in all school work, assignments, homework and projects. If you have any questions or concerns on the grade level curriculum please do not hesitate to call the school or make an appointment with your child’s teacher.
We are also pleased to announce that we will be using a program called OPTIS to book all parent teacher interviews. We will be sending our information to all parents which will guide them through the easy process of setting up an OPTIS account so you can book an appointment time with your child’s teacher. The website is located directly on our School Webpage and the directions are posted there as well. Thank you for your cooperation.
NLESD Delay Opening Days
In the event of a delayed opening the NLESD has communicated a procedure for us to follow. For example, an announcement might be: St. John's Metro Region Schools are delayed opening by one hour. Therefore buses would begin their runs one hour later than normally scheduled. A synervoice message would be sent indicating the revised school start time, we would update our webpage and twitter. A school that normally starts at 8:50 would open at 9:50, for example. It there are delays of more than one hour the District will include cancellation of morning Kindergarten in our communications.
Digital Citizenship
The NLESD has implemented comprehensive Digital Citizenship expectations for all schools under its jurisdiction. The policy can be viewed in its entirety HERE or by visiting (http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/safeandcaring/procedure_5.pdf). Within these expectations, students will be taught guidelines concerning online behavior. Topics to be covered include cyber bullying, privacy and communicating online. Please visit our school website for information from the district and other relevant resources regarding this important topic.
Electronic Equipment
We are encountering some problems concerning the use of electronics. We do not encourage the use of electronics during the school day and we cannot take responsibility for lost, stolen or broken items. Many students are bringing cell phones, ipads, DS systems, etc. and are using them without teacher permission during class time. The current NLESD regulation states that “technology cannot be used during class time for personal or private use unless permission is granted by the school principal. Permission shall only be granted for exceptional circumstances”.
As well, students are bringing electronics to the cafeteria which is creating several problems that range from carrying lunch trays to focusing on devices instead of eating lunch. This is resulting in uneaten lunches being thrown out because students have been too distracted by their electronic devices to eat their lunch. As a result, students will no longer be permitted to bring their devices to the cafeteria during lunch. This initiative will help to facilitate our cafeteria expectations.
Unfortunately, we have also had instances where students are taking photos and videos without another student’s knowledge. This is a serious situation as many of our students do not have consent to be photographed. Students are not permitted to take pictures or videos while at school on their personal electronic devices.
Mount Pearl Frosty Festival
The 2015 Mount Pearl Frosty Festival begins on Thursday, February 5 – 14th with lots of fun filled family activities planned! The schedule is posted on their website www.frostyfestival.ca
100th Day Celebrations
MQW students will be celebrating the 100th Day for this school year next week!!
Book Fair
As most of our parent community is aware, we have been steadily working to replenish our library after a major reorganization and removal of outdated resources took place last year. The Scholastic Book Fair that we held this past fall was a great success and we thank you for your support in helping us to rebuild our literature collection. The Department of Education has implemented a multi-year literacy plan that is “designed to provide our students with a strong foundation in language and literacy that will benefit them for life”. As a result, we are continuing to focus on purchasing much-needed resources for our classroom libraries and our Resource Center. We have been notified by Scholastic that if we hold a second fair this year, we will receive at least a 70% percent commission which will considerably help us to continue to replenish our literacy resources. The second fair will run from March 9th-13th in the Resource Center and will be enjoyed by our K-6 students and their families. Your support enables us to purchase educational resources that will help to enhance literacy instruction in our school. As well, with Easter coming up, books make wonderful springtime gifts. We truly appreciate the support that we receive from our school community when we take on fundraising events such as these.
ICF Information Session
We have had a very positive response to our Intensive Core French program for the next school year. Congratulations to Eva Sauve and Heidi Bartlett who assisted Ms. McDonald and Ms. Hanrahan in our ICF presentation last week. You were awesome!
Valentine’s Day
It is great fun celebrating
Valentine’s Day with friends at
school. We know that many of
the children enjoy exchanging
Valentines with their classmates on this day. We do ask parents to keep in mind that we
have a number of students with life threatening allergies in our school and to refrain from sending any food treats to school to be shared. While we certainly appreciate your kindness we need to work together to ensure the health and safety of all of our students. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
50/50 Fundraiser
Our 50/50 Fundraiser for the 2014 – 2015 school year will begin next. We ask that students do not go door to door but sell tickets to family, neighbours and friends or places of family work. Tickets and money are asked to be returned by Friday, March 6th with the draw date March 13th. If all tickets are sold we would have a prize draw of $10,000!!! There will be a prize draw of $50 for the student who sells the most tickets in primary and elementary, as well as early bird gift card draws! We thank you for your support with this 50/50 draw. The proceeds from this fundraiser will assist technology tools to enhance academic learning for all students.
Pizza Orders
Please be aware that we place pizza orders on Thursday morning with our classroom teachers for Pizza Lunch on Friday. Mrs. Case accepts the orders until recess time and then places the order with the Pizza Company. It is so important to have these orders in on time because we only order the amount needed, if not there is a lot of waste or students will not have a slice ordered for them. To prevent this from happening please ensure that the order is placed with your child’s teacher not through a phone call before recess on Thursday if not we will be short pizza. Mrs. Case is finding it really difficult to keep the pizza orders straight and accurate when they are coming in from all directions. Thank you for your cooperation.
Outdoor Play at Lunch
As part of our commitment to health and wellness it is important to get outside for some fresh air and exercise whenever possible during the lunch time break. We have a wonderful area for playing and the children love outdoor play. Please ensure your child is dressed appropriately with boots, coat, snow pants, hat and mittens so that they can enjoy themselves at lunch time.
Our Lost and Found is piling up again. Please write your child’s name or initials on pieces of clothing so that we can return lost items promptly.
Pink Shirt Day
Wednesday, February 25th is Stand Up to Bullying Day and we are inviting all students to wear pink to school.
Synervoice ~ Email ~ Website Teacher Web ~ Home School Communication
We continue to utilize various communication methods to ensure messages from school to home are prompt especially during the winter months with unforeseen procedures. To assist with this process, it is essential that we have accurate and updated information regarding home contact, emergency numbers, email addresses etc. Please notify the office immediately if you change any of these communication modes. Thank you for your cooperation.
Telephone messages to office
Once again we are requesting your
cooperation and support in ensuring that your child knows expectations for each day. (ie if they are going to daycare; if they are having school lunch; if you are dropping off lunch; if they are getting the bus home etc.). Mrs. Case sends telephone messages to teachers via school conference email. You can only imagine the confusion each day when the telephone begins to ring 30 mins before lunch and at the end of the day. We cannot guarantee all messages are received by classroom teachers. We ask your support and cooperation as we strive to deliver the best programming to all of our students.
Scent Allergies
We have students and staff with allergies to scented products. Please refrain from wearing perfumes, aftershaves and body spray mists.
Parking Lot Safety
The parking lot on the east side of the school can be quite dangerous at this time of the school year with slippery conditions. We are asking parents to be extra cautious as you drive on to the lot and please do not drop off the children in between cars. Your patience and support would be greatly appreciated.
The west side (convent) parking lot is also causing concern for student safety as vehicles are congesting on this small lot. There should be no cars parked in the fire lane which is directly next to the building.
Elementary Intramurals and After School programs
We are delighted to inform you that MQW offers many Healthy Living activities to our students during the lunch hour and after school. We are very grateful to our teachers, parents and wonderful volunteers.
Recycling
Thank you so much to our parents and students for your continued support with our recycling program every Friday. Please remember to keep your recycling containers during the holidays for our January pick up date. We appreciate your support!!
Head Lice
We have cases, as do all schools, of head lice among our students. We ask all parents to take an active role by checking your child’s head regularly. Head lice are passed from person to person by close contact. If you find your child has head lice, please contact our school health nurse, Ramona Kelloway at 752 4867. She will provide you with information on effective treatment. A booklet called Managing Head Lice at Home is available on the Eastern District Website under the Parent section. www.esdnl.ca
Dates to remember:
February 8 – 14th Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week
February 13 ~ Valentine’s Sharing;
February 20 ~ Kinder start Session #2 (No classes for Kindergarten students)
February 20 -22 ~ MQW hosting the Grade 6 Boys Basketball Tournament
February 16 ~ February Break (no school)
March 9 – 13 ~ MQW Book Fair
March 9 ~ OPTIS Opens for parents
March 10 ~ 2nd Term reports go home
March 12 ~ 2nd Term Parent Conference
March 13 ~ MQW PD Day ( no classes for students)
March 16 ~ St. Patrick’s Day Holiday
April 3 – 12th ~ Easter Break
Happy Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week!!!
February 8 -14th
“The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.”
Author Unknown
“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.”
Marion Edelman