Last week an interesting discussion took place in Mrs. Grandy’s class between Mrs. Grandy, an inquisitive boy, and a reflective little girl. From the perspective of the little boy, Mrs. Grandy was doing stuff on the SmartBoard that could not have been important because they didn’t need to write it down in notebooks. Mrs. Grandy explained that just because no writing was involved did not mean it was not important. The little guy was not buying into this train of thought. As the lively discussion continued between Mrs. Grandy and the little fellow, a voice from the back of the room chimed into the discussion. The little girl said to her grade 1 classmate,

With that simple statement, our grade 1 class heard one of the most important messages about what schools are trying to do: Give students the skills and knowledge to become lifelong learners, a little bit of "stuff" at a time.

With the school year coming to a close, I would like to thank everyone connected to our school community for helping make 2010 – 2011 a successful year. I look forward to working with you again next year.

Frank Humber

Principal

It’s going to take some time, but we are working on transforming our primary student play area into a safer, cleaner environment. Our vision is to remove the mud and partial sod on the back of the building and replace it with material that provides better drainage and is safer for the students. The project involves excavation work, the purchase and placement of the proper material on the grounds, construction of some picnic tables, and the placement of a simple outdoor classroom. We do not plan to purchase fixed structures for the playground, but will invest in outdoor equipment with which children can play. Our budget for this project is between $7500 – $9000. So far, we have received grants totalling $4000 to help with this project. The biggest cost is the excavation and placement of the proper drainage stone. If you or someone you know can offer some assistance with respect to this project, please let the school administration know.

Please be advised if you have a child entering school in September 2011, he/she should be registered at the school. Please come by the school office to register your child if you have yet to do so.

We have received our teacher allocation for next year. The following reflects our staffing plan to date. The number of students per class is based on projections and is subject to students transferring to or from our school.

Allocations for administration, music, physical education, and guidance will remain the same as this current year. Teacher allocations for student support services at our school were decreased.

Students will be continuing the Grade 5 swimming program during the first three weeks of June.

This is a required component in the Grades 5 Physical Education program.

Sacred Heart will be without the services of Mrs. Dulcie Skinner or Mrs. Sherry Decker as we head into the 2011 – 2012 school year. We would like to thank Dulcie and Sherry for their positive contributions to our school.

We would also like to thank Ms. Susan Freake for her dedication to teaching and learning at Sacred Heart Elementary.

Parents are advised there is an extensive process based on numerous educational considerations that we follow in assigning students to classrooms for September. Our vice-principal, Mrs. Butler, meets with all classroom teachers, special education teachers and our guidance counselor in the month of June. Based on these discussions, children are then assigned to classes considering the following:

~ a balance between boys and girls

~ student ability

~ behavioural concerns

~ positive student combinations

~ student leadership qualities.

We trust all parents understand that decisions about assignments are not taken lightly and the organization of classes for instruction rests with the school administration. With that said, if you have information you feel is important in the assignment of your child, you are welcome to contact the school administration to discuss same. However, parents should not assume their child(ren) will be placed in the class of their preference.

Thank you to parent Bill Skeard who continues to help us with our recycling program. We appreciate the donations of recyclables from many of you.

We’d like to extend thanks to Mrs. Bernadette Park and Madame Marie Louise Willett for coordinating this very worthwhile program.

Parents are reminded to adhere to parking lot signage when dropping off or picking up students. In particular, it is important to not enter the parking lot during the morning drop-off period or afternoon pick – up period. As well, please avoid parking on sidewalks; this creates a hazard for the many students that walk home after school.

If your child’s teacher has some concerns related to the final report, you will be notified well in advance of the distribution of reports. If asked to attend a meeting with your child’s teacher, please make every effort to do so.

It seems there are more elementary students out and about lately and it has been noticed by patrolling RNC officers that students are not wearing helmets as required.

The RNC would like to remind all students it is a law in Corner Brook and that the wearing of helmets is mandatory when riding a bicycle, scooter or skateboard. Also, skateboards are not permitted to be used on city streets or roads.

The ultimate goal is safety and we would not want to see someone ruin their summer by becoming injured when it could have been prevented.

We would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to the group of Brownies and their parents who volunteered their time to do a general cleanup of the school yard.

We’ve had a number of people express an interest in having their children included in the after-school child care program here at Sacred Heart. This program is run by the local YM/YWCA and all enquiries about this must go to the YM/YWCA.

Arianna Sheppard

Alyssa Wells

Benjamin King

Brandon Hollett

Cayden Woods

Chelsey Walker

Cole Callahan

Nathan Layden

Leland Campbell

Lilly Stone

Courtney Bellows

Emily Porter

Evan McHugh

Hannah Bellows

Caitlin Garcia

Zerek Anderson

Kendra Allen

Kylie Osmond

Marissa McKenzie

Steven Dawe

Alexa Bond

Kevin Dobbin

Katelyn Howell

Chloe Brake

Colby Howell

Ashton Woods

Diago Payne

Jasmine Gough

Jennifer Pye

Kamryn Barnes

Kennedi Boland

Kylie Gillingham

Noah Mollon

Rebecca Myles

Billy Perrett

Brianna Power

Nicholas McGrath

Destiny Hussey

Christopher LeRoy

Cody Davis

Demitria Taylor

Denzel Gabriel

Faith Rose

Jada Martin

Jordan Duffney-Hann

Joshua Penney

Liam Taylor

Marcel O’Keefe

Olivia Porter

Owen Dennis

Riley Byrne

Taylor Butt

Teagan Hemsley

Violet Cummings