Summer is an exciting time of growth. Gardens are planted with much anticipation of the growth that will come. Farmers plant seeds in fields with the hope that crops will grow healthy and strong. We rely on this growth for our very existence!

Over the past few weeks, much to our delight, we have also seen growth in our student numbers at school! We welcome the new students and families to our community! I can't help but wonder if we will see continued growth throughout the summer and into the fall. If so, we are ready to grow!

Thanks to the parents for helping your children to learn and grow this year! We see you as you support your children in so many ways. I am sure there are many ways that go unseen as well. Sometimes parents have great personal challenges that make parenting difficult. Yet, despite these challenges, there is still growth to be found.

Our staff have worked diligently to grow positive relationships with your kids. These relationships are a joy to observe and they make an enormous difference in the classroom environment. Thanks to our wonderful staff for the many ways you support and promote growth and learning for our students.

At this point, we are all ready for summer. It is time to rejuvenate and "fill the tank" again. Our hope is that growth continues even while we are away for the summer, just like the plants grow when we are not around. It will be exciting to see the growth that happens for your kids during the summer. Have a wonderful time with your family this summer. See you in the fall!

Dale Martens

We have partnered with Lifetouch to create a wonderful book of memories for the 2022-23 school year. Thanks to Mr. Johnson who has been working on the year book throughout the year. The plan is to have parents order their copies in June, Lifetouch publishes the books in summer and then deliver the printed books in September.

The process of ordering the books is very simple. Click on the link; https://ybpay.lifetouch.ca/Order/SelectJob, enter the yearbook code (14956223), enter the necessary info, pay online and you are done. We will forward these orders to Lifetouch and our office will call you once your yearbooks are in. The cost per yearbook is $20.00.

We hope this special book of memories will be a keepsake for many years to come.

June 5: ADMIN DAY - No Classes

June 6 -16: Grade 2 Swimming Lessons @ Grunthal Pool

June 6: Community Health Clinic in Hut 1

June 8: Run, Jump & Throw Day

June 14: 3/4 split classes to Tourond Creek Discovery Center

June 15: 1BO & 1GR to Assiniboine Park Zoo

June 15: Kindergarten orientation event at 6:30 pm

June 16: Library closes - all books should be returned

June 19: Indigenous Education Session #4

June 20: Community Health Clinic in Hut 1

June 20 & 21: Kindergarten field trips to Morning Sound Farm

June 21: National Indigenous People's Day

June 22: Grade 2 field trip to Mennonite Heritage Village

June 23: Grade 4 Fun Day at the Grunthal Pool/Park

June 27: Grade 4 Farewell at 1:30 pm (parents of grade 4 students invited to attend)

June 29: School Picnic Activity Day (staff and students only)

June 29: Last day of classes for students

June 30: ADMIN DAY - No Classes

June 30: Report cards posted on Parent Portal at 4 pm

Are you planning a move over the summer? Please let the South Oaks office and the Hanover transportation team know of the move as soon as possible as it makes for easier planning. Transportation can be contacted at 204-320-2347 and the South Oaks office can be reached at 204-434-6165.

The final student report cards will be posted on the Parent Portal on Friday, June 30th in the late afternoon. We encourage you to sign up for your Parent Portal account if you haven't already done so. The report cards will include your child's class placement for 2023-24.

For your children's school supplies next year, we will once again have teachers purchase quality supplies in bulk during the summer. This helps all students to have high quality supplies at school for the whole year and promotes equity in the classroom.

So, how does this work? The school will charge a $50.00 fee for school supplies to your parent portal account at the end of August. The deadline for paying the fee is the day school begins, on September 6. This gives each family sufficient time to pay at their convenience. Parents can pay online anytime or at the office with cash or cheque during office hours.

For the start of school, parents please send a backpack, indoor/outdoor shoes, lunch kit and box of Kleenex. Grade 1-4 students also need headphones of their own. We take care of all other school supplies.

Please call our office at 204-434-6165 if you have any questions, anytime.

June is an exciting month for our grade four students as they anticipate moving over to Green Valley next year. The students will visit the school in the morning on June 28 with their teachers, but they will have their first chance to visit with their parents. See below for more information.

Grade 5 Orientation at Green Valley School:

All grade 4 students and their parents are invited to Green Valley School on Wednesday, June 14th to attend the Grade 5 orientation evening. The event takes place in the GVS gym and students and parents will have an opportunity to meet the grade 5 teachers, see the classrooms, see various parts of the school and interact with high school volunteers. We feel this orientation is a valuable event in preparing students for their transition to GVS and encourage all grade 4 students and their parents to attend. More details to come from GVS.

Please call GVS at 204-434-6415 or email their school counsellor, Cam Gerbrandt, at cagerbrandt@hsd.ca for more details if needed.

All 2023-24 Kindergarten students will participate in a "staggered entry" process, to provide a gradual start to the year. Our office will be in touch with further details about when your child should come to the school during these first few days.

Also, for any parents who are wondering what days of the cycle your child will attend school, the following information should be helpful;

Students in KDR - odd days of the cycle (1, 3, 5)

Students in KG1 - odd days of the cycle (1, 3, 5)

Students in KJL - even days of the cycle (2, 4, 6)

To see a calendar with the days of the cycle, please visit our South Oaks website and click on the big "Calendar" button on the main page. This will make it easy for you to determine your child's schedule.

Please let us know if you have any questions. More details about the staggered entry days will hopefully be coming by the end of the week. Thanks!

Dear Parents,

Its hard to believe that the school year is almost done. This year has flown by so quickly. This year, the PAC at South Oaks School has been busy with projects that we hoped would enrich students experience at school.

With our fundraising money from last year, we were able to deliver the promised “playground enhancements”. The mud kitchen was completed in the fall of 2022. The kitchen is stocked with real kitchen dishes to allow for creative play. The wooden playhouses were completed just recently. There are three of them, and the students at GVS who built them added little personal touches like naming each house after a different owl, and even including encouraging quotes. A special thank you to Mr. Dwayne Penner and his Tech Ed students at GVS for completing these projects for us. It was a great opportunity for us to work together on a project and it’s something the students can take pride in for years to come.

This year, we decided to use funds raised from our pizza fundraiser to enrich the students experience at school. We did this by funding the hayrides for Winter Fun Day and we also provided the cookies and sprinkles for the cookie decorating event. The PAC also sponsored the t-shirts for the “Summer Camp” spring concert musical. The PAC will also be involved in making hotdogs for the last day of school.

You may wonder what the PAC does besides fundraising? While we are involved in fundraising in school, there are other things that we do. It’s a great opportunity for parents to become involved in their child’s school. I’ve learned a lot about the educational process since becoming involved. There is a lot of careful planning and consideration that goes into planning a school year. You may have heard about the cuts in the educational budget that were announced this year. What you may not know, is how this will affect our school. South Oaks School is set to lose 4 teaching positions for next school year, one of the schools hit the hardest in HSD. While we’re not entirely sure what this will look like for next year, this will be something that effects our kids. There will be programs that are affected by these cuts, such as swimming lessons for grade 2 students, less help for students with additional needs, fewer course options and larger classroom sizes. We all know the effects the pandemic had on our kids learning, we don’t want there to be less available for our kids, especially those who are struggling. While our school has been good at making it work with what they have to work with, these budget cuts are going to effect our kids. So what can you do to make a difference? You can contact our elected officials and let them know that our kids deserve schools that are fairly funded. Please take the time to send an email to any and all of the following:

minedu@leg.gov.mb.ca - Minister of Education, Wayne Ewasko
Premier@leg.gov.mb.ca - Premier, Heather Stefanson
Dennis.Smook@leg.gov.mb.ca - MLA for La Verendrye, Dennis Smook
minjus@leg.gov.mb.ca - MLA for Steinbach, Kelvin Goertzen

If we work together as parents to make our voices heard, I feel like we can make a difference in our schools. Please feel free to contact any or our PAC members with any questions, comments or concerns about what is happening at South Oaks School. Our contact information can be found under the “Parent Council Info” tab on the website.

We are also looking to fill at least one position on our PAC, so if this interests you, please reach out to any of our members.

Thanks,

Teresa Wiens

South Oaks School PAC President

In an effort to update children who may have missed immunizations in early childhood or at school, Steinbach Public Health will be offering Child Health Clinics in the evenings this summer in addition to daytime appointments. The evening appointments will only be available at the Public Health office at 365 Reimer Ave in Steinbach.

You may direct questions and concerns to Yvonne Hiebert, Public Health Nurse, at 204-346-7013. Should you wish to book an appointment please call 204-346-6145.

This program has been cancelled due to a shortage of swimming instructors. We are very sorry to have to cancel this opportunity for our students.

The Hanover Parent and Child Community Program (HPCCP) invites parents and their preschool children to attend free parent-child programming! This program is provided to promote school readiness. Children will have the opportunity to play, learn, create, sing, and develop skills to prepare them for kindergarten. Parents will be able to visit with other parents and participate in activities with their children. Programming is free and snacks will be provided! Families can attend once or twice a week or drop by when they are able. HPCCP is being offered in Kleefeld School Tuesday and Wednesday mornings 9-11:30 and Thursday afternoons 1-3:30. No appointment is necessary.