MESSAGE FROM PRINCIPAL SANDRA LAROSA

Monday, September 18, 2017

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

We have had an eventful second week of school! Thank you to all parents and families that attended the Welcome Back Pizza Night last Thursday. We had an excellent turn-out and, together with staff, it was a pleasure meeting and connecting with so many of you. I’d like to thank our Home and School and School Council Chairs, Julia Campbell and Hailey Eisen for organizing this event, as well as the many parent volunteers who assisted in this first Rolph RoadHome & School gathering of the year.

SCHOOL SAFETY

Thank you to the few parents who emailed me last weekend to advise of a danger resulting from careless activity on our school property Saturday evening. Someone had driven a terrain vehicle through our yard, damaging the wooden posts near the portable play-scape and our field. Upon grounds inspection, we also found that the gated lock was cut and the latch broken. We were able to get security out on Sunday and grounds crew were in early Monday morning before students arrived to school to repair the jagged area of the playground. If you see any inappropriate activity outside of school hours, please call the police to report this immediately or the TDSB Call Centre at 416-395-4620.

Earlier in the week, our front yard was levelled to provide a safer area for our kindergarten students. There are some sections, marked by caution tape, that still need to settle before children can resume play.This should be ready by mid-week.

LUNCH: In regards to our split lunch periods, I’m pleased to report that routines are being established and things are beginning to flow a lot more smoothly, thanks to parent and student feedback.It’s great to see improvementsin such a short period of time. Studentsare much more easily accounted for, the volume is at a safer level, and we are able to provide students with a more welcoming and less overwhelming eating experience.

If your child normally stays at school for lunch, please provide the school with written notice the morning of, should your child be making alternate arrangements for lunch. Please note that our teacher supervision begins at 12:25, so students going home for lunch should not be arriving back at school before 12:25. Students staying at school are not permitted to leave school property without the expressed written consent of parents. Please communicate this to your child(ren) so the expectation is clear and consistent with that of the school.

Concussion Guidelines: Throughout the week, all students will be presented with information about concussions, signs, and symptoms. These new, but mandatory, information sessions will bring attention to this type preventable injury and how is can be avoided during sporting events and physical activity. Mr. Bryson will lead these sessions for our kindergarten and primary classes and Mr. Whitaker will do the same for our Grade 4 and 5 classes. Grade 6s will receive this while at Sheldon this week. Please be sure to read the Concussion Guidelines for Parents and Caregiversinformation sheet that will be sent home this week.

JOIN US!

If you are interested in being part of our Safe & Caring Schools Committee, please email me at . We will meet monthly. Dates will follow.

***UPCOMING EVENTS AT ROLPH***

Mark Your Calendars!

  • Monday,September 18—Lice Screening
  • September 18-20—Grade 6s at Sheldon Outdoor Education Centre. Grade 6 parents will be notified by email of any updates and today upon safe arrival to Sheldon.
  • Monday, September 18—Home & School/School Council Welcome Back Packages go home with all students. Please collect them from your child’s backpack, sign and return forms by September 25.
  • Monday,September 25—School PHOTO Day 
  • Wednesday. September 27—Home School/School Council AGM @ 6:30 p.m. in the school Library. Childcare provided. I look forward to seeing many of you there! I’ll provide a school update and discuss priorities for this year, PLUS: Officers will be elected, the 2017-2018 budget will be approved, and we’ll discuss other important subjects pertaining to the school year.

If you have any questions for Home & School/School Council, please direct them to

  • Thursday,September 28—Terry Fox Run.2:00 to 3:20pm. We will run/walk as a school in honour of a true Canadian hero, Terry Fox. All staff and students are encouraged to wear red and white. Thank you to Ms. Plumb and Ms. Swan, our teacher organizing committee.

TOONIES FOR TERRY: We will be hosting a fundraising campaign within the school starting Tuesday of this week. This is a friendly competition between classes on floors oneand two to see who can fill their “jar” of toonies first and raise the most money for cancer research. We will be sending out a link for those families wishing to make a greater donation.

VOLUNTEERS: We are looking for 15 parent/caregiver volunteers to line the route for added safety during our Terry Fox walk/run from 2:00 to 3:20pm. The first 15 parents to email Hailey Eisen at will make up our volunteer team. If you are in this group, you will hear from Hailey directly with more details. Please respond by September 25 at the latest. Thank you in advance!

  • Friday, September 29—Orange Shirt Day. Students and staff across TDSB will be united by wearing orange to symbolize the harm that the Residential School System did to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children and to recognize that every child matters.
  • October 2 to 5—Sarah and Claire’s 10th Annual Food Drive.We’re hoping to live up to last year’s title of ‘Top School’!! Details to follow.
  • Wednesday. October 4—CURRICULUM NIGHT.This is a ParentsOnly evening. Come meet your child’s teacher(s) and learn about the specialized programming and learning expectations for this year. Teachers will highlight their long-range plans, curriculum expectations, assessment practices, and much more! We welcome all Kindergarten parents are to join us in the gym at 5:45pm for an important information session, followed by Grades 1 to 6 parents at 6:15pm. Class visits will follow these sessions. More information will be provided next week.
  • Friday, October 6—P.A. Day. No School for students.

OTHER NEWS:

Guestspeakerat BlythwoodPS: Blythwood Parent Council invites you to an evening with Dr. Greg Wells, author of The Ripple Effect and Superbodies.

Tuesday, October 3@ 7:15pm. Tickets @ the door $10.

Learn more at:

Message from Superintendent Girdhar-Hill and Trustee Gershon

It was great to have Superintendent Leila Girdhar-Hill visit our school and many classes on Tuesday afternoon. We were also pleased to have Trustee Gerri Gershon at our Welcome Back Pizza Night! A letter for parents from the Superintendent and Trustee will be going home this week.

Did you know?

The Toronto Public Library offers a free “Dial-a-Story” program at 416-395-5400. Children can listen to stories over the phone 24 hours a day and in fifteen languages. Please consider using this terrific resource. Encourage your child to listen to the storyteller’s oral fluency and expression, and to tell you all about the story (plot, setting, and characters, etc.).

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Sincerely,

Sandra Larosa