Colonel John Stuart ElementarySeptember 2016 Newsletter

Dates to Remember

September 15 Stand Up against bulling DaySeptember 15 PTO meeting @ 6:30 pm in breakfast roomSeptember 22 Curriculum night/ice-cream social @ 6:30-7:30 pmSeptember 26 Bus evacuation-rain date Oct 14September 29 Picture daySeptember 30 PD day-no classesOctober 03 Breakfast program begins @ 8:10-8:25 amOctober 03 Milk program beginsOctober 03-07 Grade 3 NS assessment in reading/writingOctober 03-07 Grade 4 NS assessment in mathematicsOctober 03-07 Grade 6 NS assessment in readingOctober & May Grade 2 NS assessment in mathematics October 10 Thanksgiving-no classes

Welcome to a new school year! We are confident 2016-2017 will be an exciting year!

Principal - Sherrial Maloney Vice Principal – Tanya Borden Admin Assistant – Rae Ann PentonCaretaker - John Harris /John Taoum

Primary – Debbie McGrathPrimary-Jennifer Brayton Grade 1 – Tanya Borden/Amber Carmichael Grade 1/2 – Cathy NaugleGrade 2/3 –Rosemary Roberts/Amber CarmichaelGrade 3 – Mavis AkasikeGrade 4 – Natalie Kerr/Laura MackintoshGrade 5/6-Shelby TruemanGrade 6 – Laura Dunn

Resource – Cheryl HighmoreEarly Literacy –Rosemary RobertsLearning Center – Karen DumayLibrary – Chantelle McIsaac-KilfoilFrench – Krista MoreashGym – Brad CrossleyBand – Amanda MarksMusic –Layla Rodgerson/Robert WilhelmEPA – Joanne ColsonEPA – Carol RaynerEPA-Kyle YoungEPA – Tammy Durdle-MalcolmEPA-Sue HoulihanEPA-Carrie Bennett

Registration FormsWe will be sending home registration forms containing information about your child that we have on file. Please review the form carefully making any necessary changes or omissions, sign the back page and send back to the classroom teacher. This information is imperative to ensure we have all contact numbers on file should we need to contact you in case of an emergency. Please update as well medical and allergy information.

Safety ConcernsThe safety of our students is a major concern of everyone here at Colonel John. We work hard to ensure that students are properly supervised during school hours. We have hired Lunch Monitors to supervise students during the lunch hour.Teachers are not on duty before 8:10 a.m. nor are they on duty after school.

It is therefore essential that NO students arrive at school before 8:10, or remain on the playgrounds after school. The school is not responsible for supervising the school yard after school hours. Parents need to be aware that younger siblings waiting on the playground for older brothers or sisters are not supervised by school staff nor are they the responsibility of the school staff and they need to be supervised by a parent or guardian.

Grade 2 NS assessment in mathematicsThe Minister’s Action Plan called for the development and implementation of common classroom-based mathematics assessment in grade 2.  The Grade 2 Classroom –Based Common Mathematic Assessments will be administered to all grade two students in the 2016-2017 school year.  The assessments will be administered by classroom teachers in October 2016 followed by a spring administration in May 2017.

Stand Up Against Bullying Day

Thursday, September 15th is “Stand Up Against Bullying Day”. Staff and students are invited to wear pink shirts on this day.

Life Threatening AllergiesPlease note that we are a nut free school. Please do not send in food with nuts or may contain traces of nuts. We thank you for checking labels carefully.

Curriculum EveningYou are invited to meet your child’s teacher in their classrooms on Thursday, Sept 22nd.

Teachers will give you information about their programs. Parents and students (families) can go to the classrooms to meet their child’s teachers. At approximately 7:10 families can head to the front of the building for vanilla ice-cream and sprinkles. Hope to see you on September 22nd! To be environmentally friendly, please bring your own bowl and spoon. Also, please advise the office if

your child has a milk allergy.

Safe ArrivalIf your child will not be attending school or will be late, it is imperative that you call the school’s safe arrival line 902-464-5204. A message may be left on the answering machine. If your child becomes ill during the day, we will call you or the person designated by you. For this reason, it is important that we have up-to-date telephone numbers on record. ALL students that arrive late or leave mid-day must

check in with the office.

Breakfast ProgramColonel John Stuart Elementary has one of the oldest Breakfast Programs in the city. The program is operated by volunteers. The program will begin on Monday, October 03 from 8:10 – 8:25. Students return to their classrooms at 8:25 am. All students are welcome!

Substitute Lunch MonitorsWe are looking for lunch monitors! If you are interested in working one hour per day, please see the office for details.

VisitorsThe front door will be locked during school hours. There is a video intercom located in the corner of the main door, please ring it to be let in. This is for the safety of your children. You MUST check into the office after entering the school. It is important that we know who is in the school at all times. We ask that you sign in, speak to the secretary as to why you are here or who you are here to see and put

on a visitor/volunteer badge before proceeding into the building.

Parking Lot SafetyPlease be patient as there are many vehicles using our driveway at any given time. Make sure when dropping off children you do not park or stop longer than it takes to drop off your child. Do not stop across from the walkway going to the 3-6 doors to drop off children. Please stop at the drop off/no parking

sign only to let students out and continue on in order that cars behind you do not go around you. Please use the lane on the right and children exit on the passenger side of your vehicle. The upper area is used for buses only. If you are visiting the school please remember to park your car in the designated areas.

ElectronicsPlease note that students are not permitted to bring electronic devices to school as they are expensive and the school will not be responsible for broken or lost electronics. Such electronics might include but is not limited to, ipods, cell phones, cameras, MP3 players, DS systems etc. If an electronic item is brought to school, the teacher will take it and it can be picked up by the student at the end of the day.

Lice or a Contagious IllnessIf your child has lice or a contagious illness, please call the office at 902-464-5200, keep him/her home and have your child treated before they return to school.

Medic Alert BraceletsPlease note that the Canadian Medical Alert Foundation provides medic alert bracelets to any student who has an identified medical condition. Call the office for the information or visit this website http://nochildwithout.ca

School Zone Speed LimitsTo help make school zones safer, the speed limit has been reduced to 30 km/h in

areas where the approaching limit is 50 km/h, when children are present. This change is effective September 1, 2012. If the speed limit in an area approaching a school zone is higher than 50 km/h, the school zone speed limit will remain 50 km/h.

Signage in the areas affected have not all been updated as of yet. For more information, please visit http://gov.ns.ca/tran/roadsafety/schoolzonesafety.asp .

Criminal Record CheckTo volunteer you need to have a criminal record check and a child abuse check. If there are any grade 6 parents who have done their Criminal Record Check and Child Abuse Check this year and would like to reuse them again next year, you

can pick them up at the office and bring them to your child’s junior high school. These checks need to be renewed every three years. If you still have younger children at Col John Stuart, I can keep a copy and give you the original.

IWK Parenting ProgramsThe Community Health Teams are a joint partnership between the IWK and the Nova Scotia Health Authority. As well as many other health and wellness programs that can benefit families in your schools. 

We are offering the following FREE parenting programs in your community: Incredible Years Parenting Program - 12 week program for parents of 6-12 year olds

(School Aged) and 3-6 year olds (Pre-school) My Child is Anxious. Should I worry? 2 week program Parenting your Teenager: Walking the Middle Path – 1-Day Work Shop

DARTMOUTH ALL-CITY MUSIC!Are you starting grade 4?  Do you want to learn to play the violin or cello?  Please visit http://dacm.hrsb.ns.ca for more info and to register.   Lessons are FREE and rentals are cheap!!!  Hurry before it’s too late!

Lockdown Hold & Secure

We will be conducting a lockdown drill in the month of September. The safety and security of our students and staff are a top priority for Colonel John Stuart and the Halifax Regional School Board. We have been implementing a number of measures as part of a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring our school remains a safe place for our students to learn.

One of the procedures our school will be employing is a lockdown drill. During a lockdown drill, classroom doors are secured and the students remain inside the room until instructed by the teacher to resume their activities. All exterior doors are locked and no one is permitted to enter or leave the building. Students are isolated within the school when circumstances make it safer to stay in the classroom rather than evacuate. Just as we prepare our students to properly respond to a fire drill, they also need to be aware of the proper response during a lockdown drill. These drills should be treated with the same level of importance as fire drills. Please be assured that staff at our school will spend time discussing the importance of this procedure with students prior to running a drill. We will also take time after the drill to remind them that it was only a practice and there was no danger.

Please take the time to speak with your son/daughter about this procedure and reinforce its importance. We practice these drills to ensure our school remains a safe place for teaching and learning. Please contact the school if you have any questions about lockdown drills. Thank you for your attention to this matter.