Monday Memo
Week of November 12th, 2018
In case you missed it.....
Cemetery Visit to support the Veterans
November 11th Cenotaph Service
School Remembrance Day Ceremony
Important Dates
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AWARENESS MONTH
Monday, November 12th - Day 3
- 1pm - Jennifer at PHHS for MD Team Meeting
- 3:45pm - Staff Meeting
- 6:30pm - School Council Meeting
Tuesday, November 13th - Day 4
- Several Grade 4/5 Teachers away for Indigenous Cultural Competency Training
- 9am - Jennifer and Steve meeting with Charlotte Filip
- 2pm - Lock down drill
Wednesday, November 14th - Day 5
- Lisa out all day at Math PD
- 8am - Technology Committee Meeting
Thursday, November 15th - Day 1
- Salad Day - sign up on the staff room board
- Jennifer out all day; Steve in charge
Friday, November 16th- Day 2
- Interview Schedules due to Jennifer
- am - Photo Retakes
- am - Mary out at OnSIS training
- 9am - Jennifer meeting with artist around school art project
- 1:30pm - Grade 5/6's to PHHS for Burn Demonstration
- 3:30pm - Support Staff Team Meeting
Upcoming
- November 19th - 23rd: Anti-Bullying and Prevention Week
- November 22nd - Optional Interview Night
- November 22nd - Fox Spirit Day
- November 23rd - PA Day (Math and Health/Safety)
- November 24th - Port Hope Santa Claus Parade
Important Information for the Week
Carr Family Fire
As many of you are aware, Tripp (Merna and Erinn) and Willow (Elise) Carr's family experienced a tragedy this past Friday with an extremely serious house fire. They are currently residing with family, but we would like to help them out. From now until Friday, we will be accepting cash and gift card donations in the office that we will give to them to support as they get their feet back on the ground. In addition, they are allowing us to also appeal to our school community for donations - this will be posted in the weekly Peek at the Week to parents. All donations will be accepted in the office - with many thanks.
Supervision Schedule
Just a reminder that the Supervision Schedule was changed and updated last week - new copies were provided to each staff member. Please ensure that you are following the new version dated November 8th. Also a reminder of being on time for duties - we're having calls on almost a daily basis of staff not being present for their duty at the assigned time, causing extra workload for the office to track people down, not to mention safety concerns for unsupervised students. It is critical that you be on time, in the right location, for all of your duties.
Confidentiality
I know that there are days that are frustrating and we need to be able to have the chance to talk about challenges and concerns. However, please remember that there are appropriate times and places to do this. We often have guests in our halls and staff room (OT's, student teachers, parents, family members or other Board staff). It is not appropriate to be venting about specific students and their challenges in public locations (this includes the staff room, hallways, main office, Den, etc.). I'm sure you can understand that if the conversation was about your child, you'd be devastated that this would be happening in a public way. In addition, while some need to vent, others come to the staff room, buddy benches, etc. to just breathe for a minute and not talk about challenges! Let's respect each other's breathing room and our student's right to confidentiality at all times. I appreciate your support in advance to ensure that these conversations are truly private.
Parent Communication
Great news - as of this morning we now have 315 families registered on Edsby - and growing! If you use other means of communication in addition to Edsby, could you please promote the school weekly newsletter for me as well? We have been losing readership since launching and there is so much valuable information for families to know. Your help in getting them directed to Edsby, our school website or Twitter would be greatly appreciated!
Trips and Adult Supervision
We have recently experienced lots of struggles finding volunteers for trips with valid police checks. In addition, parents are deciding (sometimes without telling us) that they won't be taking the bus! Yikes! Please make sure when planning a trip that you have an extra parent or two so that if you have someone back out, your class can still go. Please also make sure parents are aware on all permission forms that parents must go on the bus and are NEVER to be driving their car on a trip they are volunteering to supervise. We count on supervision ratios on the bus as well as on the trip - so driving is never an option. If you have any questions, please let me know.
Safety Plans
We have one new Safety Plan that is now in place for MWB. There are copies located in the purple binders in the office - please read through and sign when you have a minute.
Staff Morale Committee
Your amazing Staff Morale Committee has planned 3 events for November - First, our monthly salad day this Thursday. November 29th will be our monthly P4H Pizza lunch day. And last but not least....it's time for the Ganaraska Trail Great Cookie Exchange. Please see below!
Something to Think About......
Jennifer Sampson
Email: Jennifer_sampson@kprdsb.ca
Website: https://ganaraskatrail.kprdsb.ca
Location: 34 Percival Street, Port Hope, ON, Canada
Phone: (905)885-5631
Twitter: @ganaraska_trail