Mary Queen of the WorldNovember News
To: Parents /Guardians November 2017
From: Mr. Bartlettand Ms. Beckett-O’Leary
Beautiful Thanksgiving Day Assembly
Many thanks to our grade 4 students who led us in a beautiful Thanksgiving Day Assembly. It was certainly enjoyed by all in attendance. We would like to acknowledge the generosity of our parent community for the very generous food donations to the St. Vincent de Paul Society to share with needy families. Thank you!
Remembrance Day Assembly
Please join us for our Remembrance Day Assembly on Thursday, November 9th at 10:45 am. Our grade 5 students will lead us in this most memorable and beautiful assembly. All parents/guardians, grandparents and friends of Mary Queen of the World are invited to come and participate. We look forward to seeing you there.
Picture Retakes
Our Lifetouch Photographers will be back November 7th to complete student re-takes. If you would like a re-take please have your child dressed and ready to smile on that day.
School Holidays
Please note that there will be no school for students Friday, November 10thand Monday, November 13th in recognition of Remembrance Day and District Holiday.
50/50 Fundraiser
Starting on November 20th running until the 21st of December, we will be conducting a 50/50 fundraiser. We are arranging the fundraiser like last year with the added bonus Friday draws of $100 for a total of 4 draws. Our grand prize draw will take place on December 21stjust before Christmas. The tickets will be $2 each or 3 for $5. There will be a note sent home next week with the full details. Thanks for all your continued support
Kinde
KinderStart 2017-2018
Please note that children who are age 5 by December 2018 should be registered for this year’s Kinderstart program. We will be having our first Parent session in December so please look out for details.
Adopt a School Program
The Adopt a School Program has now ended and we can’t thank our school community and Ms. McIsaac enough for all their efforts. Our school will now be able to shop for new books to help rejuvenate our library. The best thing is we get to shop with the total we raised and that was $4000. That is just amazing and we can’t wait to start getting new books into the hands of our students. Thanks to everyone that helped out
Parent/Guardian Reminders
Just a friendly reminder to parents, if you are dropping off your child before 9:00amthey must use the student entrance on the church side of our school. For security reasons, we are trying to limit our entrances and having a more consistent entry/exitto our building.
Please remember that ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS must check in at the office when coming to school for arrival or dismissal. Due to safety and security reasons parents are not allowed to walk through our hallways or bring your child to their classroom. We are also asking Parents/Guardians not to come into our foyer to wait for your children before 2:55 unless you are taking them early. This is a very busy area and we appreciate your co-operation.
Following these simple requests is allowing your children to become more independent and safe during the morning and afternoon routines Thank you very much
Telephone Messages
Once again, we have a steady increase in the number of phone calls asking us to notify a child of a change in the lunch or dismissal routine. Please let your child know procedures before they come to school in the morning. Mrs. Case has been advised to send messages to classroom teachers via conference email and not interrupt the curriculum instructional daywith continued PA messages.We will do our best but cannot guarantee that all messages will be delivered in a timely manner. We appreciate your support and cooperation in this area.
Scholastic Book Fair
We are excited to inform you that we will be holding our Fall Scholastic book fair the week of November 27th to the 30th. This event is great for Christmas gifts, engaging books and it helps our school to have a functional library. If there are any parents that could spare sometime during that week to volunteer please let the office know as soon as you can.
Friday Pizza Day
Friday Pizza Dayis enjoyable as we serve pizza and milk to students who want to order for a cost of $3. We are required to call our numbers into the pizza store by Thursday lunch time. Therefore all orders must be passed inby Thursday morning. Thank you for understanding.
School Lunch Association
Please adhere to the SLA return date for menus. The constant change in numbers by late envelopes or online ordersare making it difficult for the association to order supplies, keep class listsupdated with schools and to ensure that shortages in lunches are avoided at each school. Don’t forget that all of this can be done on line if that helps.
Medical ALERT
Please take note that we have a number of students who have life threatening allergies in our school and parents are requested not to send seafood, Kiwi,nuts, tree nuts or peanut butter. Contact with these foods may result in a severe allergic reaction requiring immediate medical attention. We ask all students and their families to be very conscious of these products when packing snacks and/or lunches. If there are certain other allergies that your children have and they are not noted please contact us at school or by email.
1st Term Report Cards and Professional Development Day
The first term of the 2017 - 2018school year officially ends on Friday, November 24th. Reports cards will be distributed on Tuesday, November 28thand Parent Teacher conferences will take place on Thursday, November 30th. Please note: Students will be dismissed at 11:30 on November 30th.
There will be no school for students on Friday, December 1st due to a professional Development Day for teachers.
OPTIS Interview Scheduler
Once again we will utilize OPTIS for booking parent conferences.The site will open on Tuesday, November 28 at 3:00 for parents to book a conference time with your child’s teacher. We will be sending home information to all parents which will guide you through the easy process of setting up an OPTIS account. Once the site opens 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. For anyone who does not have access to a computer to set up an account please call the school at 368 -0710 and Mrs. Case will set a time for you.
Synervoice ~ Home School Communication
The SYNERVOICE Communication system is a valuable system in delivering messages and notifications to parents in a timely and efficient manner. This service is particularly helpful for situations such as unscheduled school closures due to weather. To assist with this process, it is essential that we have accurate and updated information regarding home contact and emergency numbers. Please notify the office immediately if you change address or telephone or cell numbers. Thank you for your cooperation.
Recycling
Each Friday recycling will take place at Mary Queen of the World School. Even a small bag of recyclable items each week makes a big difference. (We do not recycle milk cartons, magazines or newspaper.) Our recycling team has purchased gift cards that are drawn for every second week for a primary and elementary child. We thank you for your continued support with our Recycling program.
Lost and Found
We keep a Lost & Found container on the main floor and outside the gymnasium in our school. We invite children and parents to check periodically for items that may be missing. As well it is wise to label as many school items as possible. Names or initials should go on sneakers, book bags, lunch bags, jackets, caps, pencil cases and other supplies.
Outside Play at Lunch
Thank you parents for your support with student outdoor lunchtime play. It is wonderful to see all of our children dressed warmly to go outside to play especially as the weather is turning colder. The children thoroughly enjoy playtime when they are dressed appropriately and it is so much healthier to have our lunch play period in thefresh air!!
Christmas Concert
Date
Please mark Thursday, December 14that 7:00 on your calendar for our ElementaryChristmas Concert. We are certain to have a performance that will surely put you in the festive spirit. All students in grade4-6 will participate in this concert in the school gymnasium.This year they will be participating in the Christmas Musical Santa, You’ve Got Mail. We will be having a matinee performance but the time is not set and once it becomes available we will let everyone know.
School Parking Lot
As you all know we have a lot of students that travel through or around our parking lot in the morning, lunch and afternoon. Please be alert when parking and travelling through our parking lot at these times especially as Winter will soon be here. You will see numerous pylons placed around the parking lot to give you a visual of a no drive or park zone. We hope you will continue to obey these zones and even if possible backing up into your parking spot will allow you more of a visual of the children traveling to and from school. Thank you very much in obeying and understanding the rules of our parking lot. Together we can keep our children safe!
Parking Lot Safety
Please SLOW DOWN and drive with CAUTION as there are many children being dropped off or picked up by parents. In the afternoon we are suggesting that you use the church parking lot and not the parking stalls in the drive around area. You cannot back up in this area until all the children have boarded the buses and buses are directed to leave the school grounds. We ask foryour support and cooperation for the safety of all with this matter.
In the morning, we are asking that you please take advantage of our Kiss and Ride Lane instead of stopping and letting your children out to walk across traffic or at the beginning of the Kiss and Ride Lane. You can certainly park and walk them across the parking yourself if you wish but if they are not accompanied by an adult please use the Kiss and Ride Lane. Thanks again to our parent volunteers that are doing a fabulous job in the mornings. We are still looking for another few volunteers so if you have any free time please contact the office.
Bussing Expectations
As we start our third month of school, bussing expectations should be well versed and followed by our student population. Unfortunately, the expectation of how to act and ride the bus is an everyday reminder in order to keep all our students safe. Please remind your children to respect the rules of the bus especially sitting on their seats properly, hands/feet to yourself, inside voice and most of all showing respect for everyone on board the bus. These reminders go a very long way in keeping all our students happy and safe.
Just a little reminder that Kindergarten parents/guardians should be outside on the stop waiting for your child to either get on or off the bus. The bus driver will not allow one of our kindergarten students to leave the bus unless they can see you. Thank you so much for your cooperation.
Dates to Remember:
November 7th: Picture re-takes
November 9th:Remembrance Day Assembly10:45am
November 10th and 13th: Remembrance Day Holiday/District Holiday
November 27-30th: Scholastic Book Fair
November 28th: Report Cards go home for 1st term and Optis opens at 3:00
November 30th: 1st Term Parent Interviews Dismissal at 11:30am for students
December1st:Teacher Professional Development Day: NO School for Students
December 14th:Elementary Christmas Musical 7:00pm
December 15th: Choir will be singing at the Botanical Gardens
December 21st: Final 50/50 Draw