Our family update has accessibility features that allow you to select your language of choice for translations and also to enlarge fonts for better viewing!

We hope you were able to enjoy the Victoria Day long weekend with your families!

Wow!!! The Legend of the Blue Sapphire was amazing! Our daytime and evening shows had a great turnout. Staff and students worked for many months to audition, rehearse, create the sets, music, and so much more! We have some major talent at Ecole Maple ES! Thank you to our SAC for running the canteen before the performance and to our families for coming and showing your support!

This Tuesday is a hot lunch pizza day and is our second last School Advisory Council (SAC) Meeting. All are welcome at 6:30 pm in the library.

We are welcoming our littlest Majors on Wednesday evening for the Welcome to Kindergarten night. We cannot wait to meet you! This is an opportunity to see classrooms, participate in activities, and so much more! Plus, your incoming Kindergarten student will walk away with a special treat. Welcome to Limestone DSB!

On Thursday, our whole school will be participating in Celebration of Dance. This will be an opportunity for staff and students to move their bodies to many choreographed dances. At Ecole Maple, we regularly have dance parties, so we are exciting to show our moves!

On Friday, the Equity Club will be welcoming community member, Erika Schmutz. In 2008, she was the Bronze Medalist at the Beijing Paralympics for Canada's Wheelchair Rugby Team. We look forward to hearing her story and the efforts to bring about equity in sport, as well as discussing how we can participate in bringing forth change. Fun fact: Wheelchair Rugby was a sport created in Canada back in the 1970's and is now played world wide. This sport became the first Co-Ed Paralympic event. In 2008 Erika's team won the Bronze medal at the Paralympic games in Beijing- for the first time. Most recently Erika was co-captain in the first all Women's team Canada sent to represent at the Women's World Cup in Paris 2023 where the team won Bronze.

We have been busy working on our Track and Field running and jumping skills before school and during recesses. We are slowing down to perfect our skills and will be competing with other staff and students soon.

Ask your student about the Dodgeball competition that is happening now! Who's in the lead?

Between May 30th and June 6th, our Kindergarten classes will be going on a Community Walk. Starbucks, Food Basics, and Pet Valu...here we come and thank you for having us! More information will be coming from your student's teacher.

It is tick season - we have had several ticks on students and in our school yard! Please have your student check themselves for ticks at the end of each day. The KFL&A area has been named a high-risk region for Lyme disease. Read more here: https://globalnews.ca/news/9615479/kfla-region-high-risk-lyme-disease/ You can find more information on how to repel ticks on the City of Kingston website: https://www.cityofkingston.ca/resident/trees-nature/ticks-mosquitos

We remind families that the schoolyard is not accessible during the school day for community use, we have many classes that go outside for learning activities and sporting events, this helps us to better monitor our students on the playground during the school day. We have also closed off two of our spinners on the playground for safety reasons, please do not remove the caution tape until we have them fixed and ready for use again!

Thank you for your continued efforts to avoid picking up your student during recess/nutrition breaks (11:15-11:55 and 1:35-2:15), as well as at the end of the day (3:15-3:35).

Please email maple@limestone.on.ca or notify your student's teacher well in advance if they have an appointment during school hours. Please do not email teachers regarding a student's absence during school hours (i.e., 9:15-3:35).

Please continue to screen your students before school for any symptoms of illness. If you do not pass the screener, please stay home, rest, and get well! Masks help stop the spread of illnesses - they are encouraged but not mandatory.

Enjoy this week, Majors!

Mrs. Fox, Ms. Stephen, Mme Panet & The Major Team

On Monday, we met with our bus patrollers to discuss our buses. They shared success stories and some struggles they were still facing. We reviewed how to approach students kindly when to encourage safe riding, what to say, and when to chat with their driver. We let them know that school staff is always here for them if they want to connect about an issue and need some support and guidance.

After our meeting, we wrote a letter to our bus drivers to keep them looped in! Check out the letter here! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ddH_Sqrn_auif4sdlKJsXKIZtR-VkxXf/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103081322396054212505&rtpof=true&sd=true

These rockstar students have taken on a huge responsibility on our buses and we cannot thank them enough for all that they do to keep our buses safe!

Please note, expectations are the same on the bus as they are at school: positive behaviour and positive language! If there is a problem on the bus, try speaking with your student's driver first. Inappropriate bus behavior could lead to students being written up in a communication log and/or potentially bus suspension days and/or students requiring a different way to get to and from school.

The benefit allows families to receive up-front, direct payments up to $650 per year, per child, for two years (totalling up to $1300) for dental care services. Canada Revenue Agency will be processing the applications and payments for the benefit.

Families are eligible if they meet the following criteria:

• Age: child(ren) under 12
• Family income: adjusted net income of less than $90,000. Note: Applicants need to have filed income tax and currently receive the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for their child.
• Dental insurance: do not have access to private dental insurance. Note: Families who are already covered by Healthy Smiles Ontario will still be eligible for the interim Canada Dental Benefit if they incur out of pocket costs for dental care services for their child.
• Dental expenses: have, or will have, out of pocket dental care expenses.

Visit Canada.ca/Dental for more information.

KFPL has updated membership categories! Youth ages 14 and older may sign up for a library card independently (without caregiver signature). Students attending schools within the boundaries of Kingston and Frontenac County are eligible. KFPL invites secondary schools to contact Cheyenne Stewart, the Teen and New Adult Librarian. Cheyenne can arrange visits to the schools to sign students up for cards. Info for SMOREs/newsletters: Explore a world of books, video games, movies, and more. Teens 14 and older can now get a free Kingston Frontenac Public Library card on their own. Get started with a temporary card online at https://register.kfpl.ca/ come into any branch for a full membership. Learn more about getting a library card: https://www.kfpl.ca/gettingstarted/getting-a-library-card What can teens do with a card?

● Borrow books, comics, graphic novels, video games, music, movies and so much more

● Pick out what you want to borrow online, then have it sent to your nearest branch

● Download or stream eBooks and comics, digital magazines, movies and music

● Research and learn with online databases, courses and newspapers

● Reserve computer time in our branches

● Borrow passes to parks and museums in Kingston and Ottawa

● Enjoy activities and events just for teens

UPDATED Links for MS Teams Virtual Tutoring (beginning Jan. 9)

Limestone Tutoring Resources January 9 – March 30

Monday – Thursday 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

As part of the Ministry of Education Tutoring Grant, LDSB is extending an afterschool drop-in Virtual Tutoring Program through the winter months for Limestone students in Grades 1 to 10.

Grade 1 to 6 - Build literacy and/or math skills. 3 tutors per night. (20 min sessions)

Grade 7 to 10 - Math skills and support. 3 tutors per night. (30 min sessions)

Grade 7 to 10 – Homework help. 2 tutors per night. (30 min sessions)

· Student must be logged in to MS Teams using their Limestone account.

· Click on link for age group and subject support. (links below)

· Sessions are on a first-come, first-served model.

· Wait in virtual lobby until tutor invites student into the session.

For the links, visit:

https://www.limestone.on.ca/cms/One.aspx?portalId=352782&pageId=27481883

See below for Guidelines.

1. The student must be logged in to MS Teams using their Limestone account. The student’s camera and microphone should be on so that the student and tutor can communicate effectively.

2. The student should have the materials they need with them (e.g., students should have their homework assignment). The student should try to set up in an area in the home with minimal distractions for the tutoring

3. If a tutor is already working with a student, subsequent students will be placed in the lobby of the meeting and then be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis once the tutoring session for the previous student is completed. Tutoring sessions for Grades 1-6 will be about 20 minutes long and may be extended, if no other students are waiting. For Grades 7-10 sessions will start at 30 minutes and may be extended if no students are waiting.

4. No tutoring on PA Days or Holidays.

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, 9:00 am 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

Our school day schedule is as follows for primary and junior classes:

9:15-11:15 - 120 mins

11:15--11:55 - recess/nutrition

11:55 -1:35 - 100 mins

1:35-2:15 - recess/nutrition

2:15-3:35 - 80 mins