Thunder News Flash – April 30, 2022

As we move from Public Health Orders to being “Health Aware”, here are some important reminders:

• complete a daily health check with your child – please click here to see the most up-to-date information regarding this
• monitor your children regularly for symptoms of illness – if they are sick, they should stay home.  Please click here for information about testing for COVID-19
• follow all of the provincial restrictions that are currently in place – please click here for the latest information
• follow all of the travel guidelines put in place federally – please click here for the latest information
• if you would like your child to wear a mask at school, please ensure they bring at least one mask with them to school each day
• seek reputable sources of information about COVID-19, such as the BCCDC, including how to protect yourself, your family and your community, and what to do if you suspect you have the virus by clicking here

As you are aware, our school has had two Shelter in Place events in the last few weeks, and we felt it was important to remind all parents how and why this takes place.  When there is some type of danger in the local community, the school will get a phone call, usually from the Abbotsford Police Department, telling us to go into “Shelter in Place”.  This means that all outside doors are locked, and all students, staff members and any other adults in the school are in locked rooms – the Gym, classrooms, the Office, etc.  We are asked to remain calm, although regular activities such as teaching can continue, and students should not leave the room they are in without permission, and only for emergencies.  “Shelter in Place” means that there is an external threat such as a dangerous animal near the school, a suspicious person, or in the case of what took place on April 4th, a bomb threat at a nearby location.  We remain in “Shelter in Place” until we are released from this by the Abbotsford Police Department.

On Monday, April 25th, the events that took place were very complicated due to the fact that we did not receive the message to go into “Shelter in Place” until after the 2:30pm bell.  That meant that students, staff and parents were outside the school, and needed to be brought into the school as soon as possible.  Parents who already had their children in their vehicles were asked to leave the pick up lane immediately.  While we know that parents are often in a hurry after school, and have places to go, we are required to do what the Abbotsford Police Department has asked us to do, and we often have very limited information about what is actually happening outside our building.  Thankfully, with the permission of our Police Liaison Officer, parents who had been brought into the school were able to take their children and leave the school after a relatively short period of time, and the entire event lasted less than 30 minutes.  

The students and staff really enjoyed watching the movie Inside Out on Friday, and on Monday, May 2nd, students are encouraged to come to school dressed in the colour of their favourite “emotion” from that movie.  While we hope that everyone’s favourite emotion is “joy”, we are referring to the characters that expressed the emotions.  For example, the “angry” character was quite funny, and so your child may choose to dress in red.  Not because they enjoy feeling angry, but because they liked the character’s portrayal of that emotion,  This is a dress down day, so the students can really be creative with what they wear, including their hair.  As always, what the students wear must be appropriate with no ripped/torn jeans, no short shorts, no inappropriate graphics or words on their clothes, and no spaghetti straps.

Please click here to read all about the Focus Week for St. James & St. Ann’s School that Neat Uniforms will be holding for families to purchase uniform pieces for next school year.

On Wednesday, May 18th St. James & St. Ann’s School will be holding our Ready, Set, Learn event, from 6:00 – 7:00pm.  This evening session is for parents whose children are 3 – 5 years of age, who have not yet started school, and of course the 3 – 5 year olds are welcome to join in the fun as well.  Please click here for more information.  If you are planning on attending this fun and interactive event, please click here to email the School Office so that we can plan accordingly.  We hope to see you there!

While we had a very successful re-registration of our existing students, and will be welcoming many new students to the school in September, there are still some spaces available for the 2022-2023 school year.  If you know of any families who are considering sending their children to St. James & St. Ann’s School, we have a few spaces available in Kindergarten and Grades 5 and 6.  The Application Package can be found on our school’s website or by clicking here. 

Our next early dismissal day for our monthly staff meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 4th.  As always, the students should bring a snack and lunch to school that day, and they will be dismissed at 12:55pm.

We are looking for some volunteers to help with Zumbathon:

Thursday, May 12; 1-2:30pm – Set-up in the Gym

Friday, May 13; 8:30am – 12:15pm – Various Event Tasks (there will also be time to Zumba!)

If you need some hours, or just want to help, please contact Nicola Humphreys by clicking here.  Thank you!!!

The Zumbathon is now just 2 WEEKS AWAY!  It is sure to be a fun and exciting day filled with school spirit.  There will be a free hotdog lunch and freezie after Zumba-ing, for all students, staff and families.  We hope that students are busy collecting pledges to raise money for outside learning and fun spaces for our school! 

All students who raise at least $125 are automatically entered into a draw for a Special Prize, to be announced next week!  Plus, all students earn 1 raffle prize ticket for every $10 they raise that they can put into draws for prizes such as Cineplex Movie Passes, Arts & Crafts, Lego, Electronics, Games and much, much more.  For a current list of prizes, click here. 

We want to thank Canadian Tire, Chalo FreshCo, Cineplex, Columbia Business Solutions, Pet Lovers, Superstore, the Laflamme Family, the Humphreys Family, the Rauch Family, Mrs. Sask and many more anonymous people and businesses for donating some awesome prizes and items for our event!

We encourage all students to ask for pledges in COVID-safe ways: by phone, video calling and emails, and encourage potential donors to donate online.  Please see the information package for more details.

DONORS CAN PLEDGE ONLINE USING THEIR CREDIT CARD BY CLICKING HERE.

Together we can raise $25,000 for outside learning and fun spaces for our school!