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Principal’s Message: Welcome Back! Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year. A very warm welcome to our kindergartens, students that have transferred to Sacred Heart from other schools and all new parents and guardians. Hopefully everyone had a great summer and you’re ready for another school year. Each new school year brings new opportunity. I encourage all parents to seize the opportunity to get actively involved in their child’s education as this year commences. Helping children with homework, reading to them or listening to them read, helping out with school activities, or just simply asking them how their day went, reinforces the message that you’re always interested in them and their school work Just as I encourage teachers to establish and nurture positive relations with the home, I ask that parents do the same with staff. Together, we can offer your child a great year at school. Best wishes everyone for a very successful year! Frank Humber (Principal) Teaching Staff 2009-10 Mrs. Maxine Staples - Kindergarten Mrs. Gillian Grandy – Multi-age (Grade 1/2 ) Ms. Katherine Skanes - Grade 1 Mrs. Della Myers-Caines - Grade 2 Mrs. Chrissy Payne - Grade 3 Mrs. Barbara Butler - Grade 3 & VP Mrs. Dulcie Skinner- Grade 3 & Technology Mrs. Jennifer Bursey-Foo - Grade 4 Ms. Corylyn Dimmer– Grade 4 Mrs. Bernie Park - Grade 5 Ms. Jennifer Lowe – Grade 5 Mrs. Jill Rogers - Grade 6 Ms. Marie Louise Willett– Grade 6 Mrs. Joanne Humber – Non-cat. Special Education Mrs. Kara Pye – Non-cat. Special Education Mrs. Lisa Young – Physical Education (60%) Mr. David Tucker - Music (50% unit) Mrs. Beverley Allen– Guidance (40% unit) Mr. Frank Humber – Principal Support Staff Mrs. Tracey O’Neill – Secretary Mrs. Rose Temple – Student Assistant Mrs. Tracey Matthews – Student Assistant Mrs. Doris Bellows– Student Assistant Mr. Ray Murphy - Caretaker Mrs. Mary-Joe Perrett – Caretaker Mrs. Linda Sheppard, Mr. Tom Ropson – Cafeteria Enrolment 2009-10 Kindergarten - 28 Grade 1 - 22 Multi-age1/2 - 14 Grade 2 - 20 Grade 3 - 36 Grade 4 - 41 Grade 5 - 38 Grade 6 - 30 Total - 229
Curriculum Night We have scheduled Curriculum Night for Tuesday, September 22nd at 7:00 pm. This is a very important meeting and ALL parents are strongly encouraged to attend as information about curriculum outcomes, assessment measures, portfolios, teacher expectations, etc., will be presented. Office Hours Similar to teaching units, secretarial time is allocated to schools based on the number of students enrolled. If you need to contact the office, our secretary works from 8:15 - 12:00 and 1:00 - 3:45.
School
Fees The Provincial Government instituted a School Fees Grant so as to reduce the amount of money parents have to pay out to return their children to school. This grant covers student agendas, workbooks, student insurance, technology fees, extra photocopying, music recorders, etc. A few things should be noted about this program: 1) Students will be given one copy of materials needed. However, if that copy is lost or destroyed, it must be paid for. 2) The grant does not cover personal student materials (pencils, exercises, etc), field trips, or special local courses such as downhill (Grade 6) and cross-country skiing (Grade 4), Outdoor Education (Grade 5), swimming (Grade 5), or primary skating. Let’s Be Aware!Again this year we have students at our school with a severe, life-threatening allergy to products containing nuts. It is therefore necessary to ban all food products containing traces of nuts. Please cooperate fully with this request! We ask as well that students, staff and visitors not wear scented products to school as we have a number of asthmatics and people with a high sensitivity to strong scents. H1N1 Virus Please review the pamphlet that was sent home early this week regarding the containment of the H1N1 virus. Your school is committed to good practices; please protect yourself and others from influenza. Clean, Cover, and Contain Daily Schedule 8:05 a.m students enter school 8:15 a.m. (bell) homeroom period (all students should be in their rooms) 8:25 a.m. (bell) start of first instructional session (90 minutes) 9:55 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. - recess 10:10 (bell) start of second 90-minute instructional session 11:40 - 12:20 - LUNCH 12:20 (bell) start of 2 hour instructional session 2:20 (bell) - afternoon dismissal Important Note: Morning supervision of students begins at the arrival of the FIRST BUS at 8:00 a.m. Walking students or those dropped off by parents should not be here before that time as there is no supervision provided. Medication Policy Parents are reminded that the only medication that can be administered by school personnel is that which has been prescribed by a physician AND only after the proper paperwork has been completed and filed at the office. If your child has to receive prescription medication during the school day, please come to the school and personally make the proper arrangements. A reminder also that school personnel are prohibited from administering over-the-counter medication, nor are children permitted to have this kind of medication in their possession (e.g.. Halls or Vicks cough drops).
Volunteers are needed so that we can get our Breakfast Program up and running. If you can help out with this, or if know some other adult who can, please leave your name at the office .
Parking Lot Safety We have great concern about the safety of our students on our back parking lot. As in past years, we are asking everyone to bear in mind the following: 1. Please stay off the lot during drop-off in the morning and pick-up in the evening. Please park on either Allen’s Road or Curling Street rather than bring your vehicle on the lot. Be sure to avoid the intersection and parking on sidewalks. 2. If you are visiting the school and there are no remaining designated parking spaces on the lot, please use road parking. 3. A bus lane has been created for safety reasons. Please do not park on the upper or lower sides of the lot near the fences as this will interfere with the buses. “No Parking” signs have been erected in these areas. 4. Please do not block off the driveway of the homeowner next to the school lot on Allen’s Road. If you park there, it makes it very difficult for the bus drivers to make the turn on to the lot. 5. Please do not park on or too close to the crosswalks near the school. 6. PLEASE do not walk in between buses during pick-up of children in the afternoon. Thank you for your cooperation on this very important matter! Share Their Successes! If your child receives some kind of award or is involved in something significant outside the school, we’d love to share it with the rest of the school. Please call us or drop a line and we’ll make it part of our morning announcements.
Student Safety: W ith our children’s safety and best interests in mind, please take note of the following:1. If you make alternate arrangements for your child for after school, please write the teacher a note and inform him or her. We cannot simply take the word of a child that he or she has to go somewhere different. For example, children sometimes will tell a teacher that they have to take a different bus to a friend’s house. Unless the child has brought a note, teachers will not allow that child to do so.2. We need student information forms back as soon as possible.3. If your child is absent from school, a written note must be sent in when the child returns.4. The secretary will call the number you have provided when your child is absent from school. To help reduce the number of calls she has to make in the morning, please call the school in the morning providing a reason for your child’s absence.5. If your child arrives at school late, he or she will have to come to the office for a ‘late slip’ before being permitted to go to class.6. If you have to remove your child from school during the day, please drop by the office to pick up an ‘early dismissal slip’ to bring to your child’s teacher. 7. If you come to the school during the day to see your child, please come to the office first and let us know. If nobody is at the office, please identify yourself to the teacher on duty.8. It is advisable not to telephone the school and leave messages for your child. We cannot guarantee that your child will get the message in a timely fashion.Birthday Invitations Unless you are sending in invitations for all students in your child’s class, we ask that you distribute invitations from home. As you can appreciate, we want to avoid the circumstance where a child is hurt by being left off the party list. 2009-2010 Calendar September - school opens Sept. 8th October - Teacher Professional Development Days (Close-out) October 9th, , 22nd & 23rd Thanksgiving Holiday, October 12th November - school closed on the 11th December – school closes on Wed., Dec 23rd for Christmas Break and reopens Monday, Jan. 4th February – No planned school closure at this time March –No planned school closure at this time April – Easter Holidays (April 2nd – 12th). May - school closed May 24th June - school closes June 25th Vegetable Sale We will be holding our annual Thanksgiving Vegetable Sale again this year. The cost of each bag of vegetables will be determined soon and should arrive just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday! The proceeds from this sale will go towards School Council approved projects. An order form can be found at the end of this newsletter. Please promote this with other members of your family, friends, neighbours, etc.
Our public health nurse this year is Ms. Dianne Coleman. Her regular day to visit our school is Tuesday. If you have any questions or issues you’d like to speak to her about, please call the school and leave a message for her. She is providing parents with the usual September memos, attached to this newsletter. After School Program The YM/YWCA after-school program for children started again last week in our cafeteria under the supervision of Ms. Terri Baldwin. If you need to speak to someone about this offering, all calls have to go to the Y. Cafeteria
Again this year, the Humber Valley Employment Corporation will operate our cafeteria service. Mrs. Linda Sheppard was hired by the Corporation six years ago to set up a full-service contract providing both recess and lunch at our school.Our operator takes service suggestions under consideration and makes adjustments to the menu where possible. It must be remembered that the cafeteria must operate within restrictions placed on it by the School Board and the Department of Health, therefore all food items offered must fall within established guidelines. Western School District’s new Nutrition Policy is now in full effect and must be adhered to, both in the cafeteria as well as the decisions we make regarding the snacks and refreshments we can allow parents to send to school at times like Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc. More to follow on the implications of this policy soon. Also the operation has to be run at a profit, although minimal. Any inquiries regarding the service should be directed to Mrs. Sheppard by calling the school. Teachers are not involved in this service in any way. Please, no requests to charge items.
Grade Five
Road Trip The grade five classes a re headed to Killdevil Lodge in Lomond for outdoor education. This is an important, and fun, part of their curriculum. They will be at Killdevil on October 14th, 15th, and 16th. Keep watch for more information. Monthly Assemblies We try to hold a monthly assembly in our gymnasium to recognize special times of the year, to acknowledge and celebrate student achievement as well as many other special things. Parents and grandparents are always welcome to attend these functions. These assemblies are scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and usually on a Friday. These assemblies are ‘student-centered’ meaning we try to place students in the ‘spotlight’ at all times, including having students do all the announcing. In the past, the suggestion has been made that perhaps students should not be using the microphone, as it is sometimes difficult to hear him/her. We appreciate the feedback, but we trust you will understand our continued focus on placing the student at the center of these events. Our first “Welcome Assembly” will take place on Friday, September 18th, starting at 9:00 a.m. This gathering will be lead by Mme. Rogers’ grade 6 class. See you there. Student Agendas Other than in kindergarten, all of our students have been provided with a student agenda through the School Fees Grant. If used properly, this agenda is a very effective means of helping students organize their work and as a tool for daily home-school communication. Parents of our grade 1 - 6 students are asked to ..... a. ensure that students use these agendas on a daily basisb. check the agendas each night for assigned work and/or notes from the teacherc. sign the agenda when the homework is finished.Teachers will speak to this at the upcoming September meeting. Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra Mr. Tucker is arranging for our students to attend a concert at the Arts and Culture Centre at the end of the month. The concert is presented by the Newfoundland Symphony. This first concert in the Sinfonia Concerts Series will be an exciting way to start the new school year and we anticipate that your child will enjoy it immensely. The school will be charging a fee to offset the cost of the concert and transportation A permission slip for this outing will be sent home to you very soon. Cell Phones Students are not permitted to use cell phones in the school or on school property. The office phone is available to students who need to make a phone call. One of the major issues with cell phones is their ability to make both audio and video recordings, which violates the privacy of others who may not have consented to such recordings. Issues in student safety have been raised as well with students using cell phones to text each other, individuals outside of the school, and so on. We are sure you can appreciate that we want to keep our children safe from all of these potential hazards. If a staff member observes a student using a cell phone, in any manner, on school property, it will be confiscated and returned only to the student’s parent upon meeting with the Administration. Further to this, any device used to make audio or visual recordings of individuals within the school will also be confiscated.
Kindergarten: Jenna Boardman Olivia Gillingham Grade 1: Alexis Hutchings Grade 2: Brayden Wells Grade 3: Ethan Brake Grade 4: Gavin Cochrane Grade 6: Jeremy Francis, Sydney Allen, Jennette Murley, Joshua Snooks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Public Health
