Thunder News Flash – October 17, 2020

Thank you so much to all of the families who brought in food during our food drive for the Poor Clares.  We collected over 1,200 items – well done everyone!  That means the students have earned the top reward, which is that they get to have a “free choice” activity in their classrooms.  Stay tuned for more information about the fun that will take place in the classrooms soon.

On Friday, October 23rd, all students are being encouraged to watch the Diaconal Ordination of Raffaele Salvino.  This ordination will take place at the hands of Archbishop Miller and will be live streamed from Holy Rosary Cathedral at 10:00am.  There is no school on Friday, so this would be a wonderful opportunity for the students to watch with their family members.  Please click here to watch a video to learn more about Raffaele Salvino.  To register to watch this live streamed event please click here.  

On Monday, October 19th your child will be bringing home their Interim Progress Report.  Like last year, this first communication of your child’s progress is focussed on learning behaviours – those things that can certainly affect their academic achievement.  As these learning behaviours are tied to their time in school, a separate template has been created for those students who are on the Temporary Transition Option which reflects their time online and the work they have completed at home.  If your children returned to school on October 13th, the Progress Report they receive will still be the revised template that reflects their time learning from home.

With the Fall weather, and the fact that it is much darker in the morning, it is getting harder to know whether parents are ready to leave the drop off lane as they move forward, or if their children are still in the car and they are simply pulling up as far as possible.  It would be very helpful if parents used the following procedure:

• please use your signal light to indicate that you are pulling over to the curb to let your children out of the car
• please use your other signal light to indicate that your children have exited your vehicle, and you are ready to exit through the gate onto Gardner Ave.  

This would be very helpful for those supervisors who are trying to direct traffic and move cars forward.  Also, when dropping children off in the morning, some parents are waiting in the line to watch their children enter their doorway, which is causing quite a back up of traffic.  Please know that when you drop your children off they are very well supervised as they move towards their entrance door, and they are doing a wonderful job at entering the school safely.

When you are picking your children up, this is just another reminder that parents must stay in their vehicle.  Please review with your children how to buckle their own seatbelt, as this is an important skill for them to know in case of an emergency.  If your children are still in a booster seat, which is a little more challenging, maybe an older sibling can help with this, or perhaps come a few minutes after dismissal time so that the line up of vehicles is not quite as long.  We are doing our best to move traffic along as quickly as possible, and to avoid causing traffic disruptions for our neighbours on Gardner Avenue and Townline Road.

The Hot Lunch order forms for November were sent home with the oldest child in each family on Thursday, October 15th, and they are due back on Thursday, October 22nd by 9:00am.  Please note that no late orders will be accepted.  Here are some reminders to ensure the forms are completed correctly:

• fill out the form completely, including your children’s names and grades
• add up the total for your order at the bottom of the form
• make sure that you sign the bottom of the form, to give us permission to debit your bank account for this charge – we must have this authorization

If you did not order Hot Lunch in October, but are now ordering for November, please note that you will be receiving an email from the office with the banking page that must be filled out so that we know which bank account to remove your Hot Lunch charge from.

Finally, you may have noticed that the cost of the food from Kami Sushi has increased from last month’s order.  This is because we requested that the food be packaged in containers other than styrofoam, and the additional cost reflects this change.  We hope you agree with us that the increased cost is worth it, as even this small action will help protect the world God created for us.

Mabel’s Labels is a new fundraiser for St. James & St. Ann’s School, and it will be ongoing throughout the year.  If you were disappointed because you thought you missed out on ordering those amazing labels for your child’s school items, don’t worry, you can order them anytime!  Just go to their website at https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/fundraising/support/ or by clicking here and choose St. James & St. Ann’s School from the list.  Then shop and your labels will ship directly to you, and the shipping is FREE!  St. James & St. Ann’s School earns a commission on every order.  Please support our school as every fundraising dollar we raise helps out.

There are two seats available on the Regional Education Committee (REC) for the 2020-2021 school year.  These seats are for parishioners of Sts. Joachim & Ann Parish.  Serving on the REC fulfills your Parent Participation commitment for the year, and is a wonderful way to be involved in the school.  If you are interested, please speak to your Parish priest as soon as possible.

Our October Work Bee will take place today, Saturday, October 17th from 9:00am to 2:00pm.  If you are scheduled to attend this Work Bee, please bring gloves for either inside or outside work.  It would also be appreciated if you can bring a rake, or a cordless or gas blower to clean up the leaves.  Finally, we have some bark mulch to put around the plants in the Parent Parking Lot along Gardner Ave.  If you are able to bring a wheelbarrow and some tools to make spreading the bark mulch easier that would be very helpful.  We certainly do appreciate all of your hard work for our school!

Just a reminder that Friday, October 23rd is the provincial Professional Development Day and there is no school for students.  

Just a reminder that parents are asked to complete a Daily Health Check of their children each morning before they come to school.  Please assess your child for the following symptoms:

• Fever
• Chills
• Cough or worsening of chronic cough
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of sense of smell or taste
• Diarrhea
• Nausea and vomiting

If your child has one of those symptoms, excluding fever, they should stay home for 24 hours from when the symptom started.  If the symptom improves, they may return to school when they feel well enough.  If the symptom persists or worsens, seek a health assessment.  If your child has two or more of the symptoms, or they have a fever, you should seek a health assessment for them.