From the Principal’s Office….

School Goal: Students will use tools and representations to demonstrate a flexible understanding of numbers and problem solving.

East Williams Memorial

Principal: S. Young Phone:519-232-4505

Administrative Assistant: A. Porter Fax: 519-232-4497

Superintendent: R. Kuiper http://www.tvdsb.ca/EastWilliams.cfm@EastWilliams

ATTENDANCE LINE: 1-844-305-3756

September 2019 Newsletter

Welcome to the 2019-2020 school year!

I hope everyone enjoyed a fun filled summer and made some wonderful memories! I am so happy to see the

faces of our returning students and it is always a pleasure to hear their stories about their summer vacations.

The one thing about September which always amazes me is how quickly we get right into another action packed

year filled with excitement, friendships and renewed energy. What a wonderful place!

We are welcoming a couple of new staff to our team this year. Mrs. Scott in grade 2/3 and Mrs. Eglin in grade

4/5 are both going to bring great things to our school. East Williams is a fantastic school and we look forward to

working together with parents and staff to create a positive, supportive and co-operative learning environment

to support all of our students. All of the staff have been busy over the summer preparing for the arrival of your

children and planning for another very special and busy year of learning. The teachers have been busy in their

classrooms and Mr. Winegarden, our custodian, has been hard at work for the last two months making our

school shine for all of us. All of our students will enjoy a great year because of their hard work.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new students and families to East Williams. I know you will enjoy

being part of this fabulous and dynamic community. The staff and I look forward to meeting all of our parents

and guardians at our upcoming ‘Meet our Families’ evening on Tuesday, September 24, 2019, from 5:30 to 7:00.

At this time your child will be able to introduce you to their teacher and provide you with a tour through their

new classroom. As you know, this is a very busy evening and this event is a visit with your child’s teacher, not

an interview.

Please take the time to read the important information in this newsletter and check out our updated school web-

site @ www.tvdsb.ca/eastwilliams . Refer the website throughout the school year as it outlines many of the rou-

tines, procedures and event information. Be sure to check out the information from our Home and School Asso-

ciation and School Council and consider participating in one or both of these important parent groups.

We will be continuing the routines this year of reducing paper and streamline communications by sending out

newsletters and information electronically. Please take some time to read through this newsletter, sign up for

the parent portal, and complete any other information that comes home in the next few days. This is your oppor-

tunity to make sure there are no errors in our information. Thank you for your support in keeping our records

correct.

I look forward to another fabulous year as your Principal.

Let the learning begin!

Mrs. Young

Ms. VanderVelden K1/K2 Kindergarten

Ms. Day Early Childhood Educator

Ms.Hickmott K2 Kindergarten/ Grade 1

Mrs. McTeer Grade 1/2

Ms. Scott Grade 2/3

Mrs. Dykstra Grade 3

Mrs. Millar/ Ms. Eglin Grade 4/5

Mr. Cherneski Grade 5/6

Mrs. VanGinneken Grade 7

Mrs. Palubiski Grade 8

Ms. Wrightman French/Primary Prep

Mrs. Adams Library/Grade 3

Mrs. Millar Music

Mrs. Snyder Learning Support Teacher

Mrs. Jones Educational Assistant

Mr. Winegarden Charge Custodian

Mrs. Porter Administrative Assistant

Mrs. Young Principal

SCHOOL ROUTINES All students will enter the school at

8:50am via the Primary or Intermediate

doors. Supervision on the yard begins at

8:40am. Please do not arrive before 8:40

am or wait at the front of the building.

All students, including “walkers” will be

dismissed at 3:20pm and will exit the

school via the Primary or Front doors.

BUS ROUTINES Please ensure that you have made arrangements to receive your child/children at their bus stop in the

event that you will not be home. The Thames Valley District School Board mandates that students get

on and off at the same location each day and there are not variations in this schedule except in emer-

gency situations.

Information regarding student bus stops and transportation information can be found at

www.mybigyellowbus.ca or in the Parent Portal.

The BusPlanner Delays app is available for both iPhone and Android devices and is free. Instructions for Students/

Parents/Guardians:

1. Download the free app to your device.

2. When asked for an access code, enter MBYB.

3. Select “For My Child’s Transportation”.

4. Select the school(s) from the list.

5. Select the bus run numbers (AVAILABLE IN THE PARENT PORTAL) – make sure you add both AM and PM

bus run numbers, especially if your student has different bus assignments in the morning and afternoon.

BICYCLES

There is a bike rack at the side of the

school for students to park their bicycles.

It is suggested that students lock their

bicycle as the school cannot be responsi-

ble for loss or damage. Students are re-

quired to wear a helmet when riding a

bicycle, and are expected to walk the bi-

cycle on school property.

Page 3

CELEBRATION ASSEMBLIES Each month we celebrate students that are demon-strating outstanding behaviour in their skills to learn. The Learning skills that are important for stu-dents to develop are responsibility, initiative, collab-oration, self-regulation, independent work and or-ganization. Join us the last Friday of each month at 9:15 am for our Celebration Assembly to see fantastic students being awarded as well as some presentations from classes. If there is a PA day on the Friday it will be the Thursday.

NUT, Dairy AND LATEX

ALLERGY ALERT!

Although no environment can be totally nut, dairy or latex free, we ask that students refrain from bringing nut and latex (i.e. balloons) products to our school due to the number of students who have anaphylactic reactions. This includes Wow Butter.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in making East Williams safe for all our students.

GO EAGLES!

Sign up for the Parent Portal to access student information eg. Report cards,

attendance records, medical forms etc. See instructions attached.

Complete Computer Use form and Parent Consent forms on line

Print and submit any student contact changes to the school for Mrs. Porter to

update our emergency system

Sign up for School Messenger for attendance purposes

Sign up for School Cash on line (all field trips, events are to be paid on line).

See Instructions attached.

Return to school: On-going Field Trip form (all students)

Athletic Participation form (Gr. 4 to 8)

Please pay on line or send in a $4.00 donation for your

students school planner if your teacher has sent one

home

Any changes to contact information changes

Hello East Williams Families! Throughout the 2019-2020, the East Williams Home & School will be working towards provid-ing assistance for the snack program, playground equipment, extra funding to the class-rooms, as well as other needs that may arise throughout the school year. We'd love to see you out at our first meeting, stay tuned for more information. If you would like to assist with fundraisers your help would be greatly appreciated. We're always looking for new ideas for fundraisers, we welcome all suggestions. If you have any questions about Home & School, we'll be at the Meet the Teacher Night on Tuesday, September 24 and will be available to talk with you then. Looking forward to another great year at a great school! Your Home & School

2019-2020 Home & School Association Executive

President - Tonya Nichol Vice President - Carlene Hinds

Treasurer - Krista Munn (as well as hot lunch) Secretary – Carla Hastie

Principal- Susanne Young

HOT LUNCHES

Our hot lunch program will continue again this year. Papers will be sent home with your

children. Please remember that we will no longer be able to keep lunches if your child is

absent from school. Thank you for your continued support of this program.

MEET THE TEACHER

As always the Home and School are proud to be a part of the annual Meet the Teacher Night on Tues-

day, September 24th from 5:30 – 7:00. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

We are excited to be back at work this year, and welcome new members to council - please join us at our

first meeting on October 7th @ 6:00pm in Room 124. Please pick up a nomination form or complete a

form that will be sent home electronically.

It is a wonderful opportunity to meet with other parents, provide vital input into programs and guest

speaker presentations as well as provide support on the school growth plan, code of conduct, program-

ming and achievement assessments.

The Thames Valley District School Boards’ new provider of student accident insurance.

Flyers to be sent home with each student.

Please see this link for more information. https://insuremykids.com/

How can I engage in two-way communication with my child’s educator?

You can reach out to the educator through the following methods:

Replying to a message from the educator in the SchoolMessenger app

E-mail – find the educator’s email address on the ‘Contact Us’ page on the school’s website

Telephone - call to the school - 519-232-4505

Parent/Guardian interviews/conferences

Dear Parents and School Community,

One of the children at our school has a compromised im-

mune system as a result of treatment for a serious medical

condition. We request that you please let the office know

immediately if your child breaks out with chickenpox or

measles. Please let us know when the spots appeared.

As always we ask that you help protect the health of our

school community by keeping your child home from school

when they are unwell with any contagious illness.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Sincerely, Mrs. Young

Please remember to

leave your cologne &

perfumes at home.

MEDICATION Prescription Medication cannot legally be administered without your written consent

including the physician’s signature, and a new ‘Individual Plan of Care’ form is required for

each school year.

Schools are required to have a signed form on record for any student who requires any form of

medication to be administered at school, including epi-pens. The form is available, upon request,

from the office and completion by the physician is the responsibility of the parent.

If your child has Asthma and carries an inhaler that they may use, you will also need to

have medical information on file with the school. Notify your child’s teacher or the office if

you do not receive the ‘Individual Asthma Management Plan’ form.

All forms are required so that staff are informed of symptoms and triggers for your child, as well as

the medical plan if they exhibit symptoms. Send back all medical forms as soon as you can to

make sure that East Williams staff are all aware of your child’s needs.

In order to cut down on the spread of germs and lice we are asking each stu-dent to have their own set of head-phones (that go over your child’s ears rather than earbud type) that your child can have at school. Please make sure to have these headphones are labelled with your child’s name and in a clear Ziploc, labelled bag.

In addition a number of students like to use a computer mouse rather than the trackpad. Send in a mouse labelled with their name if your child would like to use a mouse when their class uses chromebook,.

Thank you so much for your continued support for your child’s learning.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Looking for any parent volunteers to

help with coaching and other pro-

grams over the 2019-2020

School Year.

Baseball Cross

Country

Volleyball Soccer

Basketball Track & Field

Snack Program Reading Program

We have Planners again!

This planner is an excellent organization and communication tool. We hope that you will take advantage of the planner to keep up to date and on track.

They will be used to: • recording daily homework

• recording test and assignment dates

• listing important events or activities

• general reminders

Teachers and parents can also make use of the planner as a means of direct communi-cation. A short note or comment can be easily written in the planner to keep you in-formed on the progress of your child and/or address concerns or issues.

In order to supplement the cost of purchasing planners for everyone we would like families

to consider donating $4 for their child’s planner.

Please sign up for School Cash Online for payment.

Terry Fox Walk/Run Event “Toonie for Terry”

As a fundraiser for cancer research, we will be hold-ing our Terry Fox Run/Walk event on September 25th. All students will be running/walking a course around our school and township field for an hour. We are hoping that students will collect pledges for can-cer research from family and friends the week leading up to the walk. Students who are unable to collect pledges are asked to bring in a “Toonie for Terry” the day of the walk. A letter with a pledge sheet at-tached will be going home with all students after our Terry Fox Kick-off assembly which will be held on September 12th.

CROSS COUNTRY SEASON

Students from grades 4 to 8, are you interested

in joining the Cross Country Team this fall? If

so, practices will begin very soon. Practices

will be scheduled during Running Club. Cross

Country meets will be held during the month of

September and the Regional and Final Meet

will be in October. Interested students will re-

ceive a permission form to be signed and re-

turned to the school as soon as dates for the

various meets have been finalized.

RUNNING CLUB

Running Club has been a tradition at East Williams for the past 16 years. Over the past 16 years, we

have been tracking our total kilometres and we have run just under 45 000 km!! Congratulations to all the

students over the years who have come out and participated in running club.

Once again, Running club will be offered to students from grades 3 to 8 in the fall and again in the spring.

Students will be invited to come out and run during the second activity break. For students interested in

being on the East Williams Cross Country Team this fall, training will occur during running club.

Permission forms will be coming home with interested students in the next week.

Page 8