Centennial Connection Nov. 20, 2022
An update for families from Centennial Public School
Dear Centennial Families -
In the communication that went out to families by Director of Education, Krishna Burra, last week. he outlined that support staff represented by CUPE had announced a full withdrawal of services, effective Monday, November 21st, should an agreement between CUPE and the government not be reached. We continue to be hopeful for a mutually agreeable and fair outcome. In preparation for a move to virtual learning, students who were in at school on Friday and indicated they needed a device, were sent home with one. If the school is closed to students on Monday November 21st, parents/guardians who indicated they need a device can come to the school between 9am and 12noon to pick up a chromebook. All loaned devices need to be returned in good working order, with a charger and with all labels and stickers on the device please. If you have not yet connected with the classroom teacher to indicate your technology needs, please do so and we can get a chromebook ready.
As IT staff are primarily CUPE members, there will be delays in service. You can reach out to the ITS Virtual Support Desk phone 613-417-3559 or email learningathome@limestone.on.ca.
Progress Reports went home on Friday with all students who were at school. For those picking up a device on Monday, you can pick up the Progress Report also, otherwise we will send it home when we all return to school. Teachers have reported on learning skills, and how students are progressing in each subject area. Please go over the report with your child, and celebrate the successes and discuss goals for improvement for the remainder of term 1. If you would like to speak with any of your child’s teachers, please email them directly.
This past week students in Mr Caldwell's Grade 5/6 began their week of "Beyond Classrooms" where they will spend a whole week at City Hall. Check out some photos below. We are grateful to all staff and city organizers for making this happen! We also enjoyed the first snow this week and students made beautiful snow creations on the yard!
The next School Council meeting will take place on Monday November 28th at 6pm in the gym. All parents/guardians are welcome. Should schools still be closed at that time, we will communicate an updated plan for meeting.
A reminder that the next PA Day is Friday November 25th. There is no school for students that day. Staff will be learning together with staff from Winston Churchill, Polson Park and Lord Strathcona as all of the JK-6 schools in our "Family of Schools" will be collaborating and developing greater skills in Structured Literacy. The theme for our day is "We Are All Teachers Of Reading".
We hope all families are having a wonderful, snowy weekend!
-Deborah Thompson & the Centennial PS Staff
Upcoming Dates
Upcoming Dates:
- November 21 - 25 - Bullying Awareness & Prevention Week
Thursday November 24th - Pink Shirt Day
Friday November 25th - PA Day (no school for students)
Monday December 12th - Photo Retake Day
NOVEMBER
November is Indigenous Education Month and Hindu Heritage Month
Grade 5/6 students at City Hall this week
Bullying Awareness & Prevention Week
From November 20 - 25th, the Limestone District School Board is marking Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. It is a week to promote awareness and understanding of bullying and its impacts.
We begin with today, Sunday, November 20th, which is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. This day is marked internationally as the day to honour the memory of transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-gender violence.
Throughout the week there will be morning announcements on the subject of bullying prevention. Teachers will be discussing this in their classrooms all week.
Thursday, November 24th is the Limestone District School Board’s Pink Shirt Day. We invite all students to wear pink that day to demonstrate kindness and that we all need to do our part to stand up against bullying.
First snowfall of the season meant lots of fun at recess!
Entering Absences
Please do not call the school phone number to report an absence as you will be directed to the app or the 1-855 number. Students whose parents/guardians do not report their absence will receive automated calls from the Safe Arrival system until there is a response about the absence.
While we would like to call each family directly when a child is marked absent, the automated system allows for many calls to be made simultaneously which is an important step in ensuring student safety. Thank you for using Safe Arrival to report a child's absence. This can be done for multiple days and in advance. Please see more detailed information below about how to use the Safe Arrival system. Students who will be late need to be marked absent and then we will sign them in when they arrive at school.
The next School Council meeting will take place on Monday November 28th at 6pm in the gym at Centennial PS. All parents/guardians welcome!
Virtual Tutoring Opportunities
The links for the afterschool virtual tutoring have been updated.
UPDATED Links for MS Teams Virtual Tutoring (beginning November 14)
Virtual tutoring for LDSB students in Grade 1-10 is available through MS Teams from 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from October 11 until December 15, 2022.
Tutoring will not be available on PA Days or holidays.
**Students must be logged in their Limestone Microsoft account to participate**
Grade 1-3 Literacy
Grade 4-6
Grade 7-10 Homework Help
More Structured Literacy bulletin boards at Centennial PS
Loved capturing the smiles of these learners at Centennial
When is fundraising arriving?
Sign up for Triboard notices
Indigenous Self Identification
Please see the link below for more information and to self identify, if you wish.
Tutoring Supports Available
LDSB will be offering virtual learning support for students in Grades 1-10 this Fall. Virtual literacy support will be available to students in Grades 1-3 and virtual Homework Help will be offered to Grade 4-10 students. After-school drop-in sessions will be offered through MS Teams to students in specific grades from Monday to Thursday each week until December 2022. Please continue to check your school website and the LDSB website for more details and information about this program.
In addition, TVO continues to provide curriculum-based, free digital learning resources for all Ontarians this year. This brochure provides an overview of TVO’s Digital Learning Resources (2022). Included in the resources available are:
Mathify Online Math Tutoring for Grades 4-12 https://www.tvomathify.com/students
- Free 1:1 online math tutoring support with Ontario Certified Teachers. Available Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 9:00 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays, 3:00 to 9:00 pm. Students/families can sign up, select a tutor and start immediately
TVO Learn https://tvolearn.com/
- Over 2,100 curriculum-aligned, grade and subject-specific learning activities from Kindergarten to Grade 8 (including for the new Science and Technology curriculum
- Grade 9 to 12 searchable high school content for over 140 secondary school courses
Students, Illness & Masking
Olivers Labels
Do you need a way to label your things that stay labelled? Do you need a way to show what's yours? Need a way to label your child's things so they don't get lost or mixed up? Support Centennial Public School Council by purchasing through the link. The school receives 20% of your purchase! All funds raised go to support School Council initiatives including student activities. Thank you!
E-Store
Safe Arrival - How Do I Report An Absence?
How to report your absence:
1. Toll-free telephone
- Call 1-855-257-9349 toll-free to report an absence using the automated phone system.
2. School Messenger App
- Use your mobile device to download and install the free SchoolMessenger blue app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, the SchoolMessenger website portal, or from within the LDSB mobile app.
- The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.
- Select Attendance, then select Report an Absence and follow the prompts.
- Visit the SchoolMessenger website portal.
- The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.
- Select Attendance, then Report an Absence and follow the prompts.
Stay Up To Date!
Stay Up To Date! Please check the following regularly...
Centennial PS Twitter https://twitter.com/centennial_ldsb?lang=en
Centennial PS Website https://centennial.limestone.on.ca/
LDSB Website https://www.limestone.on.ca/
LDSB Twitter https://twitter.com/LimestoneDSB
LDSB Facebook https://tinyurl.com/wbhjtku
LDSB Instagram https://instagram.com/limestonedsb?igshid=1epyma6c0g5qd
Centennial Public School
Email: cente@limestone.on.ca
Website: https://centennial.limestone.on.ca
Location: 120 Norman Rogers Dr, Kingston, ON K7M 2R2
Phone: 613.546.5517
Twitter: @Centennial_LDSB