Thunder News Flash – February 13-17

We will be hosting a New Parents’ Information Session on Wednesday, February 15th from 6:45pm – 7:30pm in the Library at St. James & St. Ann’s School.  Please note that this date was changed due to the snow last week.  This will be an opportunity for new families who are interested in enrolling their children at St. James & St. Ann’s School for the 2017-2018 school year to come and learn all about the school, the application process and have a guided tour of the school.  If you are aware of any families who are interested in having their children attend our school for 2017-2018, please encourage them to attend this meeting.

St. John Brebeuf High School’s Open House is Thursday, February 16th from 6-8pm (2747 Townline Road, Abbotsford).  This is a chance for prospective families to tour the school and see what St. John Brebeuf has to offer its students.  Spend your evening exploring the campus, talking with students and staff, and see what quality education within a Catholic setting looks like at the high school level.  For more information visit http://www.stjohnbrebeuf.ca or call 604-855-0571.

Please note that your Income Tax Receipts for the 2016 calendar year will be available for pick up at the school office beginning on Tuesday, February 14th.  These Income Tax Receipts represent the portion of your paid tuition that is used to pay for the religious instruction offered by our school.    If you have not picked up your Income Tax Receipt by the end of February, your receipt will be mailed to you.  Any receipts for donations such as for the Walkathon will be sent to you directly by St. Ann’s Parish.

Just a reminder that this week we are having two hot lunch days!  On Tuesday we will be having our hot lunch from Kami Sushi, and on Thursday hot lunch will be hot dogs.  Please note that the hot lunch forms that went out before our snow days must be completed and handed in with payment on Tuesday, February 14th by 2:30pm at the latest.

We will be returning to school from our unexpected closure and the Family Day weekend on Tuesday, February 14th.  Below please find our Valentine’s Day expectations, and activities that will be happening:

• Valentine’s Day is a day where students traditionally like to bring cards to share with their classmates.  This is just a reminder that if your child is bringing Valentine’s Day cards to school, our expectation is that your child will bring a card for each member of their class.  While we do not encourage students to bring treats to school, we know that many children enjoy attaching a small treat to their Valentine’s Day cards.  Please take into consideration students in your child’s class who have food allergies, and provide an alternate treat for that child.
• Many students did not get a chance to purchase their candygrams, so we will open up sales one final time at recess on February 14th.  This is just a reminder that they will be sold for 50 cents each.  In the spirit of our “Give Without Getting” philosophy, students will only be able to purchase candygrams for others and not themselves, and they will be delivered later in the day on February 14th to help us celebrate Valentine’s Day.  Let’s see how much money we can raise for Chalice by giving our friends a nice Valentine’s Day message and a sweet treat!
• This will also be a colour day to help us celebrate Valentine’s Day.  Students are encouraged to dress in red, pink or white to show their school spirit.  This is a full dress down day, so students are not required to wear any part of their school uniform.  However, students must ensure that their clothes are appropriate – no torn jeans or short shorts, no spaghetti straps, and t-shirts or tops mush be appropriate (if there is a logo, picture or saying on the t-shirt it must be acceptable, with no bathroom humour, etc.)  As always the appropriateness of any child’s clothing will be determined at the discretion of the teachers and administration.  
• Sock hops will take place in the gym at recess for the primary students and at lunch for the intermediate students.  Participation in the sock hops is optional, and we hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Across the country, February 22nd is a day set aside to focus on anti-bullying awareness.  Students are encouraged to exchange their uniform shirt for a pink shirt to support this very important day.  Many stores sell pink t-shirts for a reasonable price, but if you don’t want to buy one why not borrow one from a family member, friend or neighbour.  If you still can’t find a pink shirt to wear, wear a pink sticker or pink ribbon on your uniform shirt to show your support!

With the school closures last week due to the snow and road conditions, and the Catholic Educators’ Conference, we missed our opportunity to celebrate Catholic Schools’ Week which was scheduled for February 5th – 11th.  Our schools are just too important not to celebrate them, so we will focus our attention on Catholic schools on Wednesday, February 15th. We will celebrate with the following:

• There will be a Jeans Day on Wednesday, February 15th to support the charities that the John Paul II Centre funds.  This will be a jeans dress down day, and as always students must ensure that their clothes are appropriate.  Please see the information above regarding Valentine’s Day for an explanation of what we deem inappropriate for students to wear.  To participate in this dress down day, students must bring a minimum donation of $2, although larger donations will gladly be accepted.
• We will start our day with a special assembly, focusing our attention on the history of Catholic schools in British Columbia, and what makes our schools so special.  We will be joined by Christine Robbins, a triathlete who participated in the Paralympic Games in Brazil in September.  She will share her experiences with us, and talk about being a Catholic athlete.  This assembly will begin at 8:45am in the gym, and we hope to see many parents there to celebrate with us.

This year the re-registration process will be a little bit different – this year we will be sending home the Re-Registration Packages with the oldest child in each family on Friday, March 3rd.  The Re-Registration package will contain a letter that explains the major changes and how to complete the package.  Then, parents will bring the completed Re-Registration Packages to the school on Wednesday, March 8th for the Re-Registration Meeting/AGM.  The meeting will begin at 6:30pm, and only those families that attend this meeting will receive the discounted registration fee.  More detailed information about this evening and the incentives for attending the meeting will be coming soon.  For now, please “save the date” and mark on your calendars Wednesday, March 8th starting at 6:30pm for the Re-Registration Meeting/AGM.  Please note that completed Re-Registration Packages must be returned by Friday, March 10th at the latest to hold your child’s space for the 2017-2018 school year.

Thank you very much to Paul Charbonneau who spent the day at the school and parish on Thursday, February 9th organizing and participating in the clearing of the snow from the sidewalks, and parking lots.  Due to this hard work, it is not necessary for parents to come to the school on Monday, February 13th to shovel the snow.  This was a huge job and we are very grateful for the effort!

Presented by:

Dear St. James and St. Ann’s Families:

• Come and see ‘Pete’s Dragon’ on our big 16×9 screen!!  Friday, February 24th, 2017.
• Doors and concession open at 6pm and the movie starts at 6:30pm.
• Please take a look at the Movie Night Information Package coming home this week in your child’s backpack.  This will tell you all you need to know.
• We are looking for Movie Night Sponsors.  If you or your business are interested, please take a look at the Sponsorship page in the Movie Night Information Package.
• Enter to win the VIP Movie Night Package, more information is in the Movie Night Information Package.

Hope to see you there!

The Parent Fundraising Association