CALVIN PARK UPDATE

Dear Calvin Park Parents and Guardians,

We continue to be impressed with the way that our students are adapting to the new routines and safety procedures that we have put in place. It was exciting to be learning together this week and we look forward to the weeks to come!

Our daily messaging to our students has been focused on wearing a mask, frequent hand washing/sanitizing, and maintaining social distancing when not wearing a mask outside, during school hours and also when they are in the community. Thank you for continuing to reinforce these procedures with your student. In addition, thank you for continuing to screen your child each morning and for keeping them home when symptoms are present. Also, a reminder that parents/guardians are not allowed to enter the school at this time without an appointment. This is to limit outside contacts for our students. If you need to drop off something for your child or pick up your child early, please call the school office or send a note with your child. We will meet you outside in the front of the school. It is very important that we continue to work together in a collective effort to prevent community spread in order to keep our schools open.

This week, we will have some changes in school organization. We are very excited to announce that Ms. Rae McDonald, one of our Grade 8 teachers, will be starting a new position as the Equity and Arts Consultant, at the Board Office. Although we will miss Ms. McDonald, we know her expertise and experience will now impact schools throughout our Board! We are pleased to welcome Ms. Lynn Mitchell to 8L1 starting Thursday, September 24.

In addition, there will be changes in our school classroom organization this week. Most families should have received a message from our Director, Krishna Burra, explaining the process and reasons for reorganization. At Calvin Park, our reorganization will impact our Core Program Classrooms. Due to student numbers, we will be reorganizing our 6 Core Program classes into 5 classes. As is indicated in the communication from the Board, due to the complexity of reorganization, we will not be able to accommodate requests for changes to your child's classroom at this time. Letters will be sent home on Tuesday, September 22 to inform families if your child is affected. Students will start in their new classrooms on Thursday, September 24.

We know that both of these changes may be unsettling for our students and families, however, we will work together to help support our students through this period of transition. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this process.

Finally, an update on the bus loop construction. Thank you for your cooperation during this time of construction around LCVI/Calvin Park. We appreciate that this has caused changes in drop-off and pick-up locations. We are in the final stages of construction and the anticipated date of opening is September 28. When it is done, the bus loop will help reduce traffic congestion and will positively impact student safety during bus times.

Thank you, please take care of each other and stay well,

Mrs. Elizabeth Suriyuth, Principal suriyuthe@limestone.on.ca

Ms. Wilma Pettingill, Vice-Principal pettingillw@limestone.on.ca

Monday, September 21

Happy Monday!

Tuesday, September 22

Wednesday, September 23

Thursday, September 24

New classroom placements begin
LDSB Virtual Elementary School begins
Calvin Colours Spirit Day - wear blue/red or your School Clothing (info about purchasing school clothing will be shared soon)

Friday, September 25

PA DAY - No school for students. Staff will be learning more about equity and inclusion issues and high impact instructional strategies. We will also be establishing our goals for our School Learning Plan for this year.

UPCOMING DATES

September 28-30 Terry Fox Events (Bring in your coins or donate on-line - more info will be coming soon)

September 30 Rowan's Law Day

September 30 Orange Shirt Day

Potential Increase in Bus Delays/Cancellations

Tri-Board Student Transportation has indicated there will likely be more bus delays and cancellations this year due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transportation to and from school is not guaranteed. Families should have a backup plan to transport their student(s) to school, and to arrange child care where required, if their bus is cancelled for any reason and they cannot transport their student to school.

Families should ensure they are signed up to receive direct notifications, either by email, or Tri-Board’s app. Delays and cancellations are also posted to Tri-Board’s Twitter account.

· Subscribe by email to specific bus routes

· Instructions on how to download the BusPlanner Delays App

· Follow TriBoard on Twitter

School Council

It's that time of year! School Council elections for Executive Positions are coming up very soon! This year, meetings will take place online in order to comply with health and safety measures. Although School Council will look different this year, you can still have a voice in the Calvin Park community! See below for a brief description of the responsibilities and duties of each executive position:

CHAIR - chief administrator of Parent Council - creates meeting agendas, liaisons between parents, school, administration and staff. Coordinates and supports volunteers, publishes newsletters, chairs Council meetings, keeps in touch with all coordinators.

VICE CHAIR - Duties of Chair could be split with Vice-Chair if deemed appropriate by Council. Vice Chair chairs any Council meeting that the Chair is unable to attend. The Vice Chair will also take meeting notes in the event that the Secretary is not available. If Co-Chairs are elected than the two parties will share the duties.

TREASURER - duties include handling all council money, produces financial statements/reports and presents these at monthly meetings.

SECRETARY - duties include attendance at Council meetings, recording minutes at monthly meetings and distribution to appropriate parties, maintains records as necessary.

And while we don't vote on the following position, MEMBERS AT LARGE play a very important role. Every parent/guardian is welcome to attend any and all Parent Council Meetings throughout the year!

MEMBERS AT LARGE - along with the executive, Parent Council relies on the parent community to come to meetings and have a say in issues that affect our students. We need parent representation to vote on how our fundraising efforts are allocated and to volunteer at various events and initiatives throughout the school year.

More information about elections and the nomination process will be shared this week. Everyone is welcome!

SAFE ARRIVAL - REPORTING A STUDENT ABSENCE

There are three options to use to report a student absence:

call the automated attendance phone line at 1-855-257-9349 **Always enter "lates" as a full day even if the child will only be absent for half a day. It will adjust automatically once the student arrives.
use the SchoolMessenger App on your phone.
use the SchoolMessenger website portal.

For more information on how to report an absence please click on the link below.

SCHOOLMESSENGER

Our school uses a broadcasting tool called SchoolMessenger to communicate important school information with families via text, email or phone message. We will also use it for sharing Weekly Updates to Families.

It is important that parents/guardians ensure schools have the most up-to-date contact information at the beginning of the school year. If your contact information changes during the school year, parents/guardians are asked to contact the school with the updated information.

More information about SchoolMessenger can be found by clicking the button below.

School Entry and Dismissal

Only students who are arriving on school buses should enter and exit through the main doors. Students who walk to school, ride their bike, get a drive or take the city bus, should use the doors on either end of the school. Students should not enter the school until after 8:00 (unless they are on an early school bus) and should go directly to their assigned desk in their classroom.

BORROWED IPADS AND CHROMEBOOKS

Please return all borrowed Chromebooks and iPads (and power cords!) to the school as soon as possible. There is a box for Calvin Park devices just inside the school doors. Please label the device, place it in a bag, and remember to include the power cord as well!

If your child is participating in remote learning, students who already have a device from last year may keep them to use for online learning. A reminder that school Chromebooks are to be used for learning activities and are not for personal use.