Selby Public School
March 2019 Newsletter
Website: https://selbyps.limestone.on.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/selbyschool (@selbyschool)
News & Notes
Dear Families,
It's been another great month at Selby PS as we head towards a well-earned March Break. Despite the unusual number of bus cancellations and even a school closure day, our learning continued to roll. Term 1 Report Cards have now been sent home, and for the last few months of school we will continue focusing on providing rich, real and relevant learning opportunities for our students, while (as our missions statement says) empowering students to make a positive difference and to become the best version of themselves.
In February, we enjoyed Winter Play Day, Boys and Girls basketball, skating at the Strathcona Paper Centre, Dress Fancy Day, and more! Our Grade 5/6 class spent an entire week at the L&A Museum, immersed in experiential learning about our community and its history. Continue reading for pictures!
As we continue to receive some questions about our new online tools, I have left some important information/instructions below. Please don't hesitate to call the office if you are still having difficulty using any of them.
SAFE ARRIVAL (Attendance)
This system allows for parents to communicate student absences in a variety of ways. Once the school has your child registered and they attend school, your contact information will be live in our system. By downloading the School Messenger App (blue one) for your smart phone, you will be able to inform the school of absences electronically either the day of, or in advance. You can also do this by logging in on a computer, at https://go.schoolmessenger.ca . There is also a toll-free phone number to call if you would prefer (1-855-257-9349). Please note, there is no longer a need to call the school directly to report student absences.
SCHOOL MESSENGER (Receive messages from the school or classroom)
This is the same app as above and is used to send notices out to parents. You can choose to receive them by text, email, or phone. Some teaching staff may use this as a communication tool as well for their classrooms - they will send you a code to enter so you can join the class group. Please note, we MUST have an email on file for you to receive these messages. Contact Donna at the office if you have one you'd like to add.
SCHOOL DAY (Online permission forms & payments)
This is a system that you can register for using a unique code provided by the school for each student. All permission forms for trips and events will be created in this program and sent out electronically. This is where payments and ordering for events and products will be done. When a product or event is available to you, there will be an email notification sent to you. Payments are done through Credit Card, EFT or Debit. Soon, hot lunches and milk orders will all be done using this site. Let us know if you are having any trouble signing up. The website is at https://www.school-day.com/ .
Thank you again for your ongoing support, and have a marvelous March!
Sincerely,
Aaron West
Principal
Donna Gallagher
Office Administrator
Important Upcoming Dates
*NOTE: SEE WEBSITE CALENDAR FOR CONTINUOUS UPDATES* at https://selbyps.limestone.on.ca/calendar/school_calendar
Winter Play Day!
Skating at the Strathcona Paper Centre
Grade 5/6 "BEYOND CLASSROOMS" Program - L&A Museum
Girls and Boys Basketball
PARENT MATH LENDING LIBRARY NOW AVAILABLE!
National Cupcake Day Fundraiser
The Grade 2/3 and 3/4 Cupcake Fundraiser was a huge success, raising over $769 for the local SPCA! Great job Mrs. Richards' and Mr. Hill's classes!
LIMESTONE DSB - STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE
Dear Families,
The first year of the new Limestone District School Board Strategic Plan is now complete, and we are pleased to share our continuing journey with you.
After more than one year of review, reports and consultation, the Board introduced three key pillars β Wellness, Innovation and Collaboration β to help guide our work over the next five years, and to address the unique and changing needs of all of our students and school communities. Since we approved our new plan in 2017, it has been enthusiastically embraced by our school communities. Every day, we see just how our schools are putting Wellness first; turning Innovation into action; and being committed to Collaboration. Itβs been an exciting first year.
Each pillar has been assigned specific goals and areas of focus and respective action plans (Strategic Action Plan Evaluation Framework: 2017-2022) on how we will measure our success. One year into the five-year plan, we are pleased to report that the majority of our actions and initiatives are on target in supporting student achievement and well-being. You can view the year-end report for the 2017-2018 school year on our website portal. There, you will also see many stories of Wellness, Innovation and Collaboration.
We are also pleased to share a short video, One-Year Retrospective β Wellness, Innovation & Collaboration (2017-2018), that highlights the work of staff and students in helping us achieve our vision where, together, we embrace and foster engaging and innovative learning everyone achieves success and well-being.
We hope you will take a few minutes to review our first-year video, reports and stories. This is important work and we are grateful to you, and our students, staff, partners and the public for helping us to strengthen, nurture and enhance student achievement, and student and staff well-being.
Thank you for your ongoing support as we work to ensure everyone sees themselves in Limestone.
Sincerely,
Debra Rantz
Director of Education
KINGSTON FRONTENACS
As a thank you for our support this season, the Kingston Frontenacs are offering Selby Public School a 10$ ticket for anyone interested in coming out to their final game of the year! Here is the online purchase link.
This special offer is available to anyone who is part of the school or would like to take part as long as they include Selby Public School in the customer notes at the end of the transaction.
Selby School Improvement Plan - 2018/2019
MAKERSPACE - WE WANT YOUR HELP!
We have now begun hosting clubs in our Maker Space (STEAM Studio). These have very much enjoyed by students so far! We would really appreciate community volunteers sharing their expertise with students! If YOU or someone you know (Grandparent, neighbour, community member) would like to come in ONCE A WEEK for an hour from 1:00 - 2:00, for ONE MONTH (see schedule below) please let Donna know, and someone will get in touch with you! You will need a CPIC. We would love to have your help!! Thank you to those who have helped out so far with all of our Makerspace clubs!
The clubs will run (tentatively) as follows...
March - Carpentry club and Science Experiments club
April - Arts - sculpting, drawing, painting club, photography club
May - Music Making club
June - Sewing club
Dates and clubs will depend on the offers of help we receive. Thank you so much!
JOIN PARENT COUNCIL FOR 2018/2019
Chair: Norah Brien
Treasurer: Corinna Geenavasen
Secretary: n/a
As you can see, we are still looking for someone to fill the position of secretary, which involves taking minutes during meetings, preparing them for distribution, and sharing with the Council after each meeting. Please let us know if you would be interested in filling this position.
Babysitting is provided at meetings. While the Council very much needs members who can volunteer at events and help out with fund-raising, anyone is welcome to attend meetings, even if it's just to listen or provide your ideas & opinions. We hope to see you soon!