Thunder News Flash – October 24-28

Waste-free Wednesday on October 19th was a great success throughout the school, and we will continue on with this throughout the school year.  Let’s think of creative ways that we can reduce the amount of garbage that we produce on other days as well, such as always using reusable containers for our lunches and drinks, using both sides of a piece of paper, or using no paper at all!  We can really make a difference and clean up our planet one small act at a time.

Once again our Lost and Found is overflowing with items that must belong to someone.  Please stop by and take a look to see if any of these items belong to your child.  Items not claimed by the end of the day on Tuesday, October 25th will be donated to charity.

If you arrive at the school early in the morning, or late in the afternoon, the front door of the school is latched and you must ring the buzzer to be let into the school.  We would ask that if the door is latched, please make sure that the door closes tightly behind you whether you are coming into the school or leaving the school.  Many times the door is propped open, and this can be disconcerting for people who are working at the school early in the morning, or late into the evening, as we don’t always know how long the door has been left this way.  We would like to avoid having unwanted guests in the school, whether they are of the two-legged or four-legged variety!

The Thunderwear order has been placed, and we are hopeful that our items will arrive at the school by mid-November.  Our first Thunderwear Thursday will take place on Wednesday, November 23rd due to the Parent/Teacher Interviews taking place on November 24th.  So, it will be a Thunderwear Almost Thursday!

The picture retakes will occur on Thursday, October 27th.  Students who are having a retake should be dressed in their full school uniform.  It is often difficult for the students, especially the younger ones, to know whether they are having a retake or not.  Please help us by letting the teacher know or writing a note in your child’s agenda so that your child will be sent at the appropriate time to have their picture taken.

As you are aware, with the full implementation of the Redesigned Curriculum in British Columbia, our Superintendent’s Office has given the Catholic schools permission to experiment throughout the course of this school year when it comes to Communicating Student Learning to parents.  At St. James & St. Ann’s School we are embarking on creating a new template for reporting and are making several key changes.  If you would like to be involved in an open discussion regarding important topics such as assessment, how we communicate learning to parents, letter grades and much more, please join in the conversation by attending a meeting on Wednesday, November 2nd starting at 6:30pm in the school gym.  You won’t want to miss this! 

Congratulations to Mrs. Christy White and her family as they welcome a new addition – Lincoln Matthew White was born on October 18th.  He weighed a very healthy 9 pounds 3 ounces, and he and mom are both doing well.  We are looking forward to his first visit to the school!

On Friday, October 28th the staff will be participating in a professional development day, and parents have already been made aware of this day.  As you know the Catholic schools were given permission to add one additional pro-d day to our school calendar this year to focus on the new curriculum, and we have decided that this day will occur on Monday, November 28th.  Please note that there will be no school for students on both Friday, October 28th and Monday, November 28th.

The PFA would like to send a special ‘Thank you’ to Fresh Slice Pizza (Whatcom Location) for donating pizza for our recent Movie Night, and Starbucks for donating coffee.  Also, a ‘Thank you’ to all of the staff who gave selflessly of their time to help make this fundraiser a success for our school.  Lastly, a very special ‘Thank you’ to all of the families who came out in the wind and the rain, with a possibility of a power outage, to enjoy ‘Finding Dory’.  We look forward to seeing all of you, and hopefully even more of you, at our Spring Movie Night.