October 14th, 2016

Dear families,

Thank you to our families for their generosity with our food drive and our Terry Fox run! We appreciate your support.

Please remember that several of our students have allergies and some are life threatening. We are asking that you refrain from sending in birthday treats. We need to do our best to keep all students safe.

We are asking parents if you need to withdraw your child from school for 5 days or longer, please contact the school and arrange to complete the necessary forms.

Andrea Michelutti, Principal

Move-a-thon – October 31

On October 31, all of the students will be participating in our annual move-a-thon. Pledge envelopes were sent home last Wednesday. We are hoping to raise a minimum of $12,000 for this event. If we raise enough money, this will be our only fundraising activity for the year. If every student raised $15, the school’s total would be over $13,000.

The money this year will be to purchase document cameras and projectors for all classrooms, science kits, French Immersion materials, kindergarten outdoor learning materials, and items to replenish the technology already at Jean Steckle. Our biggest expense this year is to purchase additional math manipulatives and tools to help our students improve their math fluency.

All forms need to be returned. If your family would like to donate on-line, they may do so at www.pledge.me. If you would like to make a donation to the school and receive a tax receipt, please visit https://www.wrdsb.ca/wefi/ and allocate the donation to Jean Steckle P.S.

On the day of the event, the Glow store will be open for students to purchase items. The cost of the items range from $2 to $5.

Halloween – October 31

Students may wear their costumes to school on October 31. We remind families that masks and toy weapons are not allowed at school. We also encourage accessories to be left at home as they are often forgotten at school.

Fewer Distractions = More Learning:

We would like to ask for your assistance in helping us implement our “fewer Distractions = More Learning” policy at Jean Steckle P.S. In the interest of making the best possible learning environment for all of our students, we are asking parents to respect our policy of dropping off or picking up students at the office. Please refrain from walking them to class or picking them up from class. We feel that this is the best policy to promote learning for all students and makes for the most efficient transition into learning for our late arrivers. We are experiencing a large volume of students being late, please remember that students are expected to be at their entry doors at 8:30 a.m. to ensure they are able to enter the school with their classmates. Thank you for your joint effort in creating the best learning environment for all of our students.

91.5 The Beat School Tour

This fall The Beat Breakfast School Tour will be broadcasting live from schools across Waterloo Region. If our school is selected, Carlos, Dave and Laura from The Beat will be outside welcoming students and the school will receive $500 to purchase items for our school. Please fill out the ballot http://www.915thebeat.com/contest/15584/enterContest and we will use the money to support our music programs.

Go Purple – October 19

Family and Children Services of Waterloo Region are partnering with school boards to Go Purple to break the silence that surrounds child abuse and neglect. In Waterloo Region, staff and students are encouraged to wear something purple to raise awareness that we all have a role in keeping all children safe.

Upcoming dates:

October 19 – We Day in Toronto

October 20 – Steckle Farm – K1, K3

October 21 – Skating – 1E, 1F; Steckle Farm – K6, K8

October 26 – Steckle Farm – K2, K7

October 28 – Picture Day; Skating – 1E, 1F; Steckle Farm – K4, K5

October 31 – Move-a-thon fundraiser

November 4 – Random Act of Kindness Day; Skating – 1E, 1F

November 8 – Grade 7 and Grade 8 HPV

November 11 – Remembrance Day Service (11:10 a.m.)

November 14 – Progress Reports will be sent home (Grade 1 to Grade 8)

November 28 – Kindergarten Vision Screening

November 30 – Dental Screening – Kindergarten and Grade 2