The 2022 2023 school year is well underway and it definitely started with a tremendous amount of change. Our projected student enrolment has bloomed into 58 new students, resulting in a flurry of hiring teachers and educational assistants, and welcoming many new international students from Ukraine, Nigeria, the Philippines as well as transfers from as far away as British Columbia and Newfoundland. Students have also returned from homeschools and remote learning and I would like to extend a very heartfelt welcome to all of our new students and their families. We celebrate all of you becoming part of our school community and look forward to building strong relationships where your child will thrive at Stonybrook Middle School.

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our new Vice Principal, Ms. Jaime Siska. She brings with her a tremendous amount of administrative experience having been a principal in the Independent School system in Winnipeg for almost 10 years. We are looking forward to providing strong, healthy and compassionate leadership. We recognize that these past 2 years have impacted your child and are committed to ensuring that, in partnership with the families, your child succeeds academically, socially and emotionally.

This week marks our Interim Reporting to Parents. This is our way of reaching out to parents at the midway point of the first term to connect and share how your child is doing at school. You might receive either a phone call or an email, and encourage you to actively participate in these conversations. Please make sure that your email and phone number are current in Parent Portal.

What has become clear through our Strong Connections is that many of our students will require additional literacy and / or numeracy basic skill practice to succeed at school. There are many reasons for this, but our goal is to work together to ensure every child feels confident in these areas. As such, we have designated literacy and numeracy periods at the beginning of each day to break down literacy and numeracy skills that will focus on reading fluency, comprehension, writing, and representation. In numeracy those skills will be basic math facts, 2D & 3D shapes (geometry) and number sense. These skills are foundational to understanding grade level work.. Our goal is that in partnership with you, the parents and caregivers, we will shift student competencies and academic performance. But we can't do it without your support.

Reading with your child is one of the most important indicators of student confidence and success with literacy, and it's no surprise that if the parents and caregivers convey the importance of everyday math with positive mindsets, then children become engaged with numeracy skills. When children hear 'I was terrible at math' or 'I hate reading', then that mindset is often seen at school as well. We encourage you to be mindful of the words and attitudes you share about school, teachers and subject areas. We want our students to love learning, to grow as committed young people to care about one another and be responsible citizens of this place we inhabit.

On behalf of our Administrative & Student Care Team, our Teachers, EAs and the rest of our support staff, thank you for all you do to support us in our efforts to provide challenging, appropriate, meaningful and engaging learning opportunities for you child.

We look forward to working together!

Warm It Up Food

$2.00

Soup (available flavours: chicken, beef)

$2.00

Michelina's Pasta (available flavours: lasagna with meat sauce, macaroni and cheese, macaroni and beef, fettucine alfredo)

$3.00

Pizza Pops: Pepperoni

$2.00

Snacks

Malkist Crackers $.50

Granola Bars $1.00

Goldfish Crackers $.50

Chips $1.00

Gum $2.00

Fruit by the Foot $.50

Ice Cream Sandwiches $1.00

Frozen Yogurt COMING SOON

Drinks

Gatorade (orange, fruit punch, grape) $3.00

Sparkling Ice (Cherry Limeade, Pineapple Coconut, Black Raspberry, Classic Lemonade) $2.50

Canned drinks $2.00

Daily school attendance is important for all students. Students who attend school regularly are more engaged in learning, have a greater sense of belonging to the community and are more likely to obtain a high school diploma. If good attendance habits are not developed in the early years, by middle years and high school, absenteeism becomes greater, academic achievement is lower, and the likelihood of school dropout increases.

Attending school every day should be the goal because even missing two days a month, a student misses the equivalent of one month of school a year. A student with 90% attendance will miss four weeks of school per year, and students who miss 15 days of school per year will miss a year of school before their senior year. See Manitoba Education Attendance Facts.

Attendance Requirements
Under the Manitoba Public Schools Act, a child must attend school regularly from age seven until 18. Regular attendance is defined as missing five days or less for the entire school year. Students who miss 10 percent or more of the school year (approx. 15 days in total), including excused and unexcused absences, are considered chronically absent.

Absence Due to Sickness
Children who are sick should not attend school. Public health officials strongly urge anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms, such as a cough, fever, runny nose, sore throat, headache, or any of the symptoms listed in the COVID-19 screening tool, to isolate.

Absence Due to Extreme Weather
If concerned about child safety during periods of extreme weather, parents/caregivers may, at their discretion, choose to keep their children at home.

School Notification
If your child is away from school for any reason, please ensure your child’s school is notified in a timely manner as per standard absence procedures. Please call the school directly or report your child’s absence through the HSD Parent Portal.