Parent Peek at the Week
November 15th, 2021
In case you missed it....
Feeling Buddies
Welcome Rocks
Remembrance Day
Important Dates
NOVEMBER - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AWARENESS MONTH
ALL WEEK: Classes will be completing the Student Travel Survey daily (see info below)
Monday, November 15th - Day 4
Tuesday, November 16th - Day 5
- Subway Hot Lunch Day
Wednesday, November 17th - Day 1
Thursday, November 18th - Day 2
- Boston Pizza Hot Lunch Day
Friday, November 19th - Day 3
- Cougar Courage awards
- Progress Reports are sent home
Upcoming days:
- November 21 - 27: Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week
- Now - November 26th: Under One Sun Ornament Fundraiser (see below)
- November 26th - PA Day
- November 29th - December 6th: Scholastic Book Fair
Initial Communications of Learning and Progress Reports
Staff have been working very hard over the last several weeks to write Initial Communications of Learning (Kindergarten) and Progress Reports (Grades 1 - 6) for your children. So much time, thought and detail has gone in to connecting with you around the successes they've seen as well as next steps for moving forward.
Initial Communications of Learning and Progress Reports will be available on Edsby by the end of the day this Friday, November 19th.
We look forward to celebrating your children with you and thinking about next learning steps!
Parent Teacher Interviews
Teachers and educators will be getting in touch to set up an interview with the parents/guardians of each child so that we can have a chance to touch base around learning successes, any challenges and next steps.
Interviews will take place between next week and the beginning of December. Please respond to your child(ren)'s teacher when they survey you about the best day/time/way to meet.
We look forward to chatting with you very soon!
Inclement Weather - version 2021/22!
- during inclement weather days, schools will remain open for students and staff
- Instruction will continue on inclement weather days. Teachers will deliver instruction to students who arrive in-person and provide appropriate, asynchronous learning activities that will be shared electronically (via email, posted on Edsby or Google Classroom) to those students who remain at home
- If an entire class is at home on an inclement weather day, then the teacher will again provide asynchronous learning activities for students during the day but may also introduce an opportunity to meet with students virtually where appropriate
Please note: If we have an inclement weather day (meaning busses are cancelled) on a hot lunch day, hot lunch will be cancelled. You will be issued a credit on your account within 3 days. You can also choose to contact Lunchboxorders.com and ask for a refund. Please make sure you send a lunch on inclement weather days!
If you have any questions, please let us know!
Student Travel Surveys
This week, Kawartha Heights will be supporting the Student Travel Survey!
Each class will be recording how the students traveled to school each day starting Monday Nov. 15th to Friday Nov. 19th.
Once Green UP has received the school-wide data for the week they will use it to compare to our school's designated travel mode data provided by Student Transportation Services of Central Ontario (STSCO). Our school will receive a report that can be shared with our community.. At least 8 other schools within our region are participating, which help's Green UP identify general school travel trends.
School Spirit Wear
Salvation Army Food and Toy Drive
Once again this year we'll be supporting families in need in our community by running the Salvation Army Food and Toy Drive. A huge thank you to Ms. Landry's Grade 5/6 class who will be leading this great initiative this year.
More information to come - but please consider thinking ahead about how you might donate. We appreciate any support you can offer!
Book Fair
Once again, we'll be having everything online. The Fair will run from November 29th - December 6th, so save the dates! And if you have any little ones to shop for this upcoming holiday......start planning now :)
Thanks for supporting our library!
Under One Sun Fundraising for School Council
Under One Sun is an organization based in Peterborough that helps support families in Haiti by selling artisan ornaments that they have created and sending a portion of the profit back to the families. Each ornament is hand hammered out of recycled tin. The painted varieties are done by hand, so each is unique and individual.
Kawartha Heights is excited to partner with Under One Sun again this year to sell ornaments to raise money for our school (40% of each ornament sold!), while also supporting families in Haiti.
This year we even have our very own custom Kawartha Heights ornament available (see below)!
All orders must be placed and paid for online using the following link:
https://u1sornaments.ca/products/kawartha-heights-public-school
See the attachment below for more info - get your orders in by November 26th!
From the KPR Board Office....
To All KPR Families,
Aaniin! Tawnshi! Atelihai! Greetings!
This warm welcome in Ojibwe, Michif and Inuktitut – the languages of area First Nation, Métis and Inuit peoples – comes to you during Indigenous Peoples Awareness Month.
In honour of this month, KPR has launched a year-long Passport to Reconciliation program encouraging staff and students to engage in weekly learning focused on Indigenous knowledge, culture, perspective and history. Students will learn directly from Indigenous voices, then share what they have learned with others. One way of sharing will be through social media, using the hashtag #ReconciliACTIONatKPR.
These activities are part of larger efforts to give authentic voice to Indigenous peoples, whose contributions have been missing from education for too long. Our efforts also include weekly virtual learning opportunities with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers; Leadership Councils for Indigenous students; and a weekly Virtual Gathering Space on Edsby for Indigenous staff, students and families. The virtual gatherings take place Mondays from 4-5 p.m. for Kindergarten-Grade 6 Indigenous students and families, and Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. for Grade 7-12 Indigenous students and families.
Throughout these efforts, our focus is on active learning, moving from “I don’t know” to “I need to find out.” We all have much to learn! Please visit here for details and resources and watch for updates on social media.
Schools also will recognize Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week November 21-27, to focus on year-round efforts promoting safe schools and positive learning environments. Please join us in learning more about bullying and its effects on student learning and well-being, and in wearing pink during Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. Resources are available on the Ministry of Education website and the Safe and Caring Schools section of our website.
You can read your school’s code conduct, which covers issues including bullying, on the school website. All KPR school websites are accessible from the Find a School section of kprschools.ca. Our central belief is that bullying is never acceptable, under any circumstances. I will discuss bullying further in next week’s update.
In the meantime, I wish everyone a happy, healthy end to your week.
Sincerely,
Rita Russo
Director of Education
KPR NEWS
Inclement Weather
As you may remember, KPR changed our inclement weather practices last year as part of pandemic management. At that time, we decided to close schools to students on inclement weather days.
This year, however, given increasing vaccination rates, ongoing pandemic prevention and provincial easing of cohort restrictions, we will return to our previous practices. This means that, on inclement weather days, schools will remain open for students and staff. We recognize, however, that many students will still not be able to attend school when buses are cancelled due to weather.
We encourage families to check the status of buses when weather and driving conditions are bad, before heading to school. You can check the Student Transportation Services of Central Ontario website at stsco.ca, or local radio and news media.
Status of Flags at Schools
You may have noticed that, throughout Veterans’ Week, our schools raised and then lowered their flags to honour and recognize Indigenous Veterans’ Day and Remembrance Day. We have had our flags lowered since spring to honour and grieve Indigenous children and victims, and to recognize the ongoing trauma, of the residential school system.
We adopted this position, in part, based on correspondence shared publicly last week from the Assembly of First Nations to the federal government, regarding treatment of flags for Veterans’ Week. This correspondence provides us with authentic Indigenous perspective to proceed in a good way. Going forward, flags will be raised and lowered in accordance with our regular protocols. We will continue to recognize, throughout the year, the devastating impact of residential schools and the importance of Indigenous culture, perspectives and voices in our schools.
PRO Grants
School Councils: have you applied for your provincial Parents Reaching Out grant? Details on the grant, which supports family engagement in learning, have been sent to schools and posted on our website.