Meet the Teacher

Parents are invited to attend our Meet the Teacher Evening on Wednesday, September 11th 2013 at 6:30 pm. The agenda will be as follows:

Classroom presentations are intended to provide an opportunity for teachers to share their expectations of students and parents and to provide information about the year and the curriculum. They will not have time to address questions about individual students. Opportunities to discuss students will be at the conferences on September 25th and September 28th.                                 

Safe Arrival Needs Volunteers!

Safe Arrival is a parent-run service that makes sure all our kids get to school safely each day.  After teachers take attendance, Safe Arrival parents follow-up on any unexplained absences (absences the teachers do not know about). Parent volunteers donate 2 days of their time each month, and work out of the main office from 9:00 – 9:45 on the days they are scheduled.

The Safe Arrival program needs several more volunteers to ensure the smooth running of this service. Please consider putting your name forward. Training will be provided. Please contact the Safe Arrival Coordinator, Andrea Galbraith, at galbraith_andrea@yahoo.ca, if  you are able to help out, or if you would like more information about the volunteer role.

Supervision and Early Arrival at School

Before and after school, from 8:40 to 9:00 am and from 3:00 pm to 3:20 pm there is some supervision on the playground. This however is fairly minimal being just two teachers. It is preferable that students are dropped off between 8:50 and 9:00 am and then picked up between 3:00 and 3:15 pm.

Students are not allowed on the main and third floor of the school before the 8:55 am bell unless they are going to the library, or have an appointment with a staff member. If it is raining, students may come into the boys basement area or the lunch room and wait quietly for the bell.

Dress for the Weather

It is Ministry mandated and our belief that fresh air and exercise, a minimum of 30 minutes a day, are essential for good health. We therefore expect students to be active outside at lunch and recess. Please make sure your child has appropriate clothing and footwear for the expected weather conditions. In really inclement weather ,students are allowed to play quietly in the basement. Kindergarten students may be taken to the open area on the third floor and supervised there.

Kilometre Club

Maple Grove has had a parent-run kilometre club for several years. Students meet in the morning before school, to run around a designated route. Parents help by supervising and by keeping track of the number of kilometres each student runs. It is hoped that this will start soon, but we need parent volunteers to start this. Speak to Mrs. Sellars, Mrs. Zeitz or one of the PAC representatives if you can help with this. It is a great opportunity to encourage your child to exercise and to join in.

Band

We have a wonderful band program for Grades 6 and 7. Many students met with our new band teacher, Mr. Law, this week to express an interest in joining band. The band rental evening will be on Monday starting at 3:00 pm in the gym. It is not too late for students who did not sign up to join the bad. They can see Mrs. Sellars in the office.

Choir

I am delighted that Mrs. Garnett has agreed to start the choir again this year. We will have a meeting at recess on Thursday to determine how many students are interested in joining choir. We will then decide whether we will have a primary, intermediate or mixed choir. The choir will practice on Wednesday immediately after school in the lunch room. There will also be an opportunity for parents to sign up for choir in the office. We will need parents to volunteer to help with the organization of choir.

 PAC Meeting

There will be a PAC meeting on Thursday September 19th at 7:00 pm. Please plan to attend if you can. Important decisions are made regarding the way money is spent and we as administration, benefit greatly from parent input. Other PAC meeting dates are October 17th, November 21st and December 19th. Our Halloween Bingo evening will be on November 1st.

We will provide more information about PAC at a later date.

This Months Focus Virtues are Courtesy and Courage

Please talk to your child about the value of both courtesy and courage. We would like to think of courtesy as an outward manifestation of kindness and respect. Politeness smooths the way for us all.

Courage is the most important virtue in my opinion because it takes courage to be truthful, kind and compassionate especially when others are not. This month we will also celebrate courage with the Terry Fox run on September 20th. Information will be provided later regarding how donations can be made.

Upcoming dates: