Monday, September 28th, 2020 (Day 1)

Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 (Day 2)

• Parent Council Virtual Meeting & Elections - 6:00 pm

Wednesday, September 30th, 2020 (Day 3)

• Orange Shirt Day (https://www.orangeshirtday.org/)

Thursday, October 1st, 2020 (Day 4)

Friday, October 2nd, 2020 (Day 5)

October 16th - IEPs Sent Home

October 26th - Picture Day (tentative)

November 17th - Picture Re-Takes (tentative)

November 20th - Progress Reports Sent Home

Holsgrove Families,

I am immensely proud of the efforts of our students and staff as we continue getting comfortable with our new routines and structures. I would like to thank our families as well, for their patience and support, particularly with our recent re-organization. Students that were moved are now nicely settled in to their new classrooms. Again, this is not something we were hoping to have to do, but it is the reality of the current situation facing our Board and the wider education system in Ontario.

Reminder, our first Parent Council meeting is this Tuesday at 6:00 pm. Please fill out the form at https://forms.gle/NUSMELL9fN7ioFvXA if you are interested in attending, and we will send you the link. No participation is necessary - anyone who has children at our school is welcome to simply attend and listen, if that is their preference.

For further updates on various topics, please read on below. Have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Aaron West

Principal

How to report a student absence using SafeArrival

There are three ways you can report your student’s absence in advance:

1. Using your mobile device, download and install the SchoolMessenger blue app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store or from School Messenger website or you can select it from within the LDSB mobile app. The first time you use the app, select Sign Up to create your account. Make sure you use the same email address your child’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system. Select Attendance, then Report an Absence.

2. Use the School Messenger website. The first time you use the website, 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. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.

3. Call 1-855-257-9349 toll-free to report an absence using the automated phone system.

***Please do not call the school directly to report your student's absence***

Please visit https://covid-19.ontario.ca/school-screening/ for the updated self-screening tool that should be used before sending kids to school each day. The symptoms for which students should kept home have been adjusted, so please use this tool when in doubt. There have been some changes to the return to school rules for symptomatic children, so I encourage you to take a good look at the visual below.

Orange Shirt Day is a day when we honour Indigenous children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada and learn more about the history of those schools. It began in 2013 because of residential school survivor Phyllis Jack Webstad discussing her experience when she arrived at a residential school. Upon arriving at the St Joseph’s Mission, Phyllis had her shiny new orange shirt taken away.

Orange Shirt Day has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually. The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. It also gives educators time to plan events that will include children, as we want to ensure that we are passing the story and learning on to the next generations.

Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools, and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation. Please visit https://www.orangeshirtday.org/ for more information

Dear Families,

This year marks the 40th Anniversary of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope. While our participation will look a little different this year, our commitment to Terry's memory and supporting Cancer research remains the same.

Each class will decide on their preferred way to participate (during their phys. ed time for example). The school population has been challenged to participate in 40 minutes of activity at any point during the week of September 28th and to raise $250. This year we are gratefully accepting Online Donations only, please do not send cash to school. Find our school donation page here: http://www.terryfox.ca/WJHolsgrovePSWestbrook. We will be accepting donations until Friday, October 2. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Collins at collinskd@limestone.on.ca.

Thank you for your support!

On September 29th at 6:00, we will hold our first Parent Council Meeting. This meeting will be held virtually, using Microsoft Teams (free to sign up).

To request a link for this meeting and/or to nominate yourself for a position on the Council, please fill out the form at https://forms.gle/UNx7DNzuJxwdzDUb6 before midnight on September 28th, 2020.

A description of each position can be found below, in our WJ Holsgrove Parent Council By-Laws.