Thunder News Flash – May 8-12

St. James & St. Ann’s School’s Parent Fundraising Association (PFA) will be having its first ever Pub Night on Friday, June 2nd.  It will be held at Finnegan’s Pub & Grill in Abbotsford.  Invite your family and friends for a fun-filled evening.  We hope to see you all there!

St. John Brebeuf is running a toy drive in the month of May in support of the Prison Ministry, and we would like to help by collecting toys as well.  These toys are used by children who are visiting their mom or dad for an hour or two in prison, or if they are having a weekend visit.  The ages of the children are from 2 – 10 years old, and toys may be new or gently used.  In particular it would be wonderful if we could collect colouring books, crayons, dolls, trucks, toy tools or toy kitchen items, books, balls, sandbox toys, children’s DVDs and bubbles.  We will be collecting these toys from May 1st to May 18th, and they may be dropped off in the large collection box by the office.  We thank you in advance for your generosity.

The Walkathon Permission Slips are due tomorrow, Monday, May 8th.  As of Friday there were still many families who had not returned these signed permission slips to the school.  Please make sure that they are returned tomorrow.

There will be one final student-led Mass at St. Ann’s Parish for this school year.  This will take place on Sunday, June 11th at the 10:00am Mass.  We are looking for students to help with greeting, handing out the bulletins, bringing up the gifts, etc.  If there are any families who think their children might like to play one of these roles, please contact Kellie Ouimet by clicking here.

The next Work Bee will take place on Saturday, May 13th from 9:00am – 2:00pm.  If you are signed up to attend this Work Bee we will see you then, but if you are not signed up and would like to attend, please be at the school at 9:00am and remember to sign in.  Please bring work gloves and small gardening tools as we hope the weather will allow some outside work to be done.

We will be having our annual Neat Uniforms Fitting Day on Friday, June 2nd from 2:00 – 7:00pm.  This is a great opportunity to come and have your child try on any new uniform pieces that they will need for next year, and then place your order for the 2017-2018 school year.  Neat Uniforms is requesting the help of three parents to assist them from 1:30 – 4:00pm, as this is the busiest time.  They are hoping that they can have the help of parents who have some knowledge about our school uniform, and they will pay you $15/hour in Neat Uniforms gift certificates to use to help purchase your child’s uniform.  If you are interested in this opportunity, please send Mrs. Sask an email by clicking here.

On Tuesday, May 16th St. James & St. Ann’s School will be hosting a Ready, Set, Learn event in the Kindergarten classroom from 1:00 – 2:20pm.  This early literacy and numeracy event is for 3 and 4 year olds, or 5 year olds who have not yet entered Kindergarten.  Come and learn how you can support your child with early literacy and numeracy skills, and help your child develop a love of letters and numbers.  You certainly won’t be disappointed!

A newly revised edition of the Parent Handbook will be put on the website in the next few weeks.  Some revisions of particular importance for you to look at are a section on water testing at the school which is now required annually by the Ministry of Education, as well as some new procedures for students who must take medicine at school.  Please check the website regularly for this, as well as all of the other information that is there for you.

Confirmation will be celebrated at St. James Parish this year on Wednesday, May 10th.  Please note that there will be a rehearsal on Tuesday, May 9th at St. James Parish at 6:30pm.  It is very important for all of the students as well as their sponsors to attend this rehearsal.

We are happy to announce the following teacher placements for the 2017-2018 school year:

• Kindergarten – Miss Brenda Macedo
• Grade 1 – Mrs. Tara Gaudet
• Grade 2 – Mrs. Laura Hunger
• Grade 3 – Mrs. Marie Doyle
• Grade 4 – Mrs. Jane Filiatrault
• Grade 5 – Mrs. Rita Wakely
• Grade 6 – Mrs. Agnes Krammer
• Grade 7 – Mrs. Christy Dos Santos
• French – Mrs. Trish Stobbe
• PE/IT – Mr. Chris van der Pauw
• Learning Resources Coordinator – Miss Sheena Lewis
• Learning Assistance – Ms. Joanne Samuel
• Learning Assistance – Mrs. Christy White

We are very excited about the placements for next year, and know that the changes that have been made will be wonderful for our school.  However, you will notice that we do not have a Music teacher yet for next year as Mrs. Gaudet has moved to Grade 1, and so we are actively searching for her replacement.

The WALKATHON is now just 5 DAYS AWAY and we hope that everyone has their calendars marked for FRIDAY, MAY 12TH.  It is always a fun and exciting day filled with school spirit.  

• SO FAR WE HAVE RAISED: At our final pep rally on April 28th, we unveiled that so far students have raised $6,644.  This is almost $19,000 short of our goal.  Last year we raised over $25,000 with well over 80% of school families collecting pledges and raising money.  As a community, let’s do this again!
• EARLY BIRD COLLECTION DAY:  In keeping with the “Give Without Getting” philosophy of our school, every student who brings in their Walkathon pledge sheet and money raised on Tuesday, May 9th will have helped someone in need through NightShift Street Ministries.  Instead of an Early Bird bonus prize this year, students will have helped NightShift feed all those in need who come through their doors one Friday in May.
• WALKATHON PRIZES:  Every student who raises money for the Walkathon this year, receives a prize.  There are Ring Pops, Trolls’ Loot Bags and Cineplex gift cards as well as great class prizes.  All classes that raise over $2,000 will get a movie on the big screen and treats.  All classes that raise over $4,000 will get a surprise party end of the year field trip.  More information on prizes can be found in your Walkathon package.
• We hope everyone is busy collecting Walkathon pledges.  If EVERY student raises just $125, we can reach our goal of $25,000 easily!
• Don’t forget that pledges can also be made through our school website or by using the Walkathon Pledge Sheet.