Transcript Slide 1

Jack Donohue Public School
101 Penrith Street, Kanata, Ontario, K2W 1H4
613-271-9776, fax 613-271-7331
jackdonohueps.ocdsb.ca
Message from the Principal & Vice Principal
Principal
Cindy Alce
Vice-principal
Mary Jane
Johnson
Office
Administrator
Kelly Mills
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the 2013- 2014 school year. This is an exciting time of
the year for students and staff as we begin school. We are fortunate to have Mrs. Mary Jane Johnson
returning as Vice Principal.
Office Assistant
Lise Bishop
Stacey Hearne
As Principal of Jack Donohue P.S., I expect students to give their best effort at all times. Students will be
expected and encouraged to behave responsibly, follow school rules, be courteous to staff and fellow students
and to develop a positive attitude towards learning. They will also be expected to be respectful to themselves,
others and to our environment.
Chief Custodian
Perry Brown
Superintendent
Olga Grigoriev
The staff are experienced, caring professionals who work diligently to ensure our students achieve success.
There are many new and returning staff this year, for a complete staff list please visit our school website at
www.jackdonohueps.ocdsb.ca .
School Hours
9:15 – 3:45
Attendance
Mailbox
613-271-9910,
Press 1
Office Hours
8:30 – 4:30
As a staff, we are committed to communicating on an ongoing basis with parents and guardians to ensure a
collaborative approach to learning. If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding your child’s
programming, your first step is to contact your child’s teacher. Each student in grades 1 through 8 will receive
a student agenda. This is an excellent way to communicate with your child’s teachers as well as an effective
method for your child to organize their time and homework expectations. I highly encourage you to review the
agenda on a daily basis with your child. There is also valuable information for parents and guardians located at
the beginning of the agenda.
Please note that, on occasion, bus delays are inevitable. We ask you as parents and guardians to ensure that
your child is at the bus stop on time for pick up 5 minutes before the actual pick up time. As well, please be on
time to meet your child for drop off. Kindergarten students must have an adult meet them at the bus stop or the
bus driver will not permit the child to get off the bus. The bus driver will bring your child back to school. Please
help us keep our students safe. During bus drop offs and pick ups, we ask parents and guardians not to enter
the school’s parking lots or bus zones. We request that all pick ups and drop offs occur on Halton Terrace.
New this year, we will have one school bus accessing the most eastern section of the ‘Kiss & Ride’ section.
Orange pilons will be placed indicating this area. Please do not use this area for drop offs/pick ups.
In order to maximize nutritional breaks, primary and junior students will eat then play for both morning and
afternoon periods. To allow primary and junior students access to the field, the intermediate students will be
eating at 1:50 p.m.. Primary students will access the field on Day 2 and 4 and junior students will access the
field on Days 1, 3 and 5.
As well, we ask you to remind your children that when the bells rings at 3:45 p.m., students are expected to
leave the school grounds as we have no supervision. Another reminder, is that please do not bring your dogs
onto school property.
As of this week, our student enrollment is 878 students. Actual enrollment numbers will be reported to the
Board in the middle of this month. I am committed to keeping all parents and guardians informed as soon as
we learn of any organizational changes.
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School Council will be having a election on September 17. The elections/meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. We will be
sending out a form for people to fill out if they are interested in a council position. The next school council meeting will be held on
Tuesday, October 1 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. I encourage all parents/guardians to get involved in school council.
I also encourage all parents and guardians to participate in our Meet the Teacher evening on Wednesday, September 25 beginning at
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Staff will be in their classrooms from 4:30 to 5:30 and then will be going outside to join families for a school BBQ and
family fun event.
Our school improvement plan will focus on the skill of Writing; specifically encouraging student voice. We are introducing Digital
Citizenship and invite students in grades 4 through 8 to Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD) to school. You will hear directly from your
child’s homeroom teacher if they are participating. More information will be shared in the November newsletter regarding our School
Improvement Plan for Student Achievement.
Due to an increase in students with allegeries and our continued focus of promoting healthy eating, we ask parents and guardians not
to send in cakes, donuts and cupcakes for their child’s birthday celebration. If you wish to send in something, please consider healthy
snacks such as fruits, vegetables and dip, cheese and crackers or non edible items such as pencils, erasers etc. Please ensure that
you connect to your child’s homeroom teacher directly prior to sending in items.
We are seeing many students bringing in mini hockey sticks to play with during recess. We are noticing a trend that students are
bringing regular hockey sticks that have been cut or mini sticks with enlarged blades. Please ensure that if your child brings a mini
hockey stick to school that it is plastic with no modifications. As well, we encourage the use of face masks for students playing in goal.
Boomerang Lunches were introduced as a trial in June. We are an Eco School and focus on being Stewarts for the Environment. We
would like to implement the concept of Boomerang Lunches on a full scale this year. Additional information will be provided as we
launch this initiative.
In closing, I am committed to working closely with parents, guardians and our community members to ensure a successful school year.
I will be communicating by newsletters to all parents and guardians every second month. In an effort to conserve, the first newsletter is
on paper, and all other newsletters will be posted on our school website [email protected] We will send out an
automatic phone message when new newsletters are posted. We will also be updating our school website on an ongoing basis, so I
encourage you to check regularly.
If you have concerns, comments or ideas that you would like to share, please contact me.
Respectfully,
Ms. Cindy Alce
Medications in the Office
Visiting the School
If your child requires any oral medication administered
during school hours, the school must obtain a signed
request on Form OCDSB 286 from the parent and
supervising physician. These forms are available at the
Office. All medication must be kept in our Office area to
be administered by the principal’s designate. All students
requiring Epi-pens should contact the Office immediately,
in order to arrange to have the appropriate paperwork
completed.
In order to ensure your children’s safety, we would ask that
all parents and visitors check in with the Office when
entering the building. We would also ask that you not enter
the school yard or the hallways.
Please remember that if you know you are going to be
picking up your child early or for an appointment, you
should write a note in the agenda so the teacher can have
your child at the Office for you.
Forms Sent Home
You will have noticed a lot of forms have been sent home this past week. It is very important to have them all returned
and completely filled out with student name on every page. Here is a check list of all the forms you should have received:
-Media Permission Form
Return
-Internet Permission Form
to
-Emergency Closing Form
Office
-Student Verification Form (coming shortly)
Please try and send them all back as quickly as possible. It is extremely important that we have all the up-to-date
information, phone numbers, emergency contacts, etc. Please take a few minutes to make sure all these forms are
correct and returned promptly to the Office. Please notify us with changes throughout the year.
Meet the Teacher
September 25– 4:30-6:30 p.m.
School Council will be organizing a Fall Carnival along
with a BBQ during the Meet the Teacher evening.
Students will have the opportunity to introduce their
parents to their teachers, who will be in their rooms from
4:30 to 5:30 p.m. From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., staff and
families will have an opportunity to mingle outside,
participate in a variety of activities and enjoy the BBQ.
Additional details will be sent home.
Picture Day
September 27th
Students away due to Carp Fair
events, pictures will be Sept 30th.
Re-takes November 5
Milk Program
School Council will be offering the Milk Program
again this year. Forms will be sent home shortly.
Milk will be served daily at the second nutrition
break.
PIZZA ORDER FORMS
School Council will also be coordinating Pizza Day
once a week. Forms will be coming home shortly.
School Supply Lists
A common voluntary school supplies list was provided to
families in June. If you require a list, please let the office
know.
Celebrating our Multilingual School Community
Extended Day program begins Sept. 3.
We offer before and after school
programs. For additional information
about the Early Learning Program,
please contact: [email protected]
Yard Supervision/Drop and Go
Yard Supervision begins at 9:00. Please do not send
your children before this time as there is no
supervision. Students meeting a teacher for a planned
activity that begins before this time are welcome on
school property and will be supervised by the teacher in
charge of the activity.
Students should arrive between 9:00 and 9:10 in order
to prepare for the 9:15 entry. During any kind of extreme
weather all students will be invited into the
school/portables at 9:00 and will be supervised.
Students arriving after 9:15 must come to the Office to
sign in and obtain a late slip for their teacher.
One of the most wonderful things about Jack
Donohue are the many languages that our students
speak! Over 47 different languages are spoken by
the students at our school! We are able to translate
documents into many of those languages or request
a translator to accompany families for important
events like interviews or meet the teacher. Please
contact the office if you would like more information
about these services.
Empty Seats Requests
Application Forms for Access to Empty Seats
on School Bus Vehicles are available in the office. The
deadline for receipt of these forms is September 20.
Please note that all applications will be reviewed and,
where possible, seats will be allocated around October
18th.
Important Dates
Sept 17
Parents are asked to drop students off and pick students
up in the designated area on Halton Terrace. Please do
not drop your child off in our parking lot. Together we
can keep your children safe.
We ask for your cooperation to please stay out of
the school yard and hallways for security and safety
reasons unless you have signed in at the office and
obtained a visitor’s badge. It is important for the
students to learn to recognize all staff at the school and
to feel safe in the school yard. Please note that there
are no pets allowed on School Board property.
Sept 20
Sept 25
Sept 27
Sept 30
Oct 1
Oct 11
Oct 14
Oct 18
Nov 5
School Council social/election
6:30-9:00 pm
Deadline for Empty Seat Forms
Meet the Teacher 4:30 – 6:30pm
Picture Day
Picture Day (away due to Carp Fair)
School Council Meeting 7:00-9:00 pm
Elementary PA Day – no school
Thanksgiving – no school
Grade 7 Hep B Immunization Clinic
Grade 8 Girls HPV Immunization Clinic
Picture Re-Take Day
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