April 2015 - Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School

Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School
Newsletter
#3
Paula Marinigh, Principal
Lorraine Whitby, Vice Principal
Bonnie Kelly,
Office Administrator
André Lavoie, Chief Custodian
Peter Gamwell, Superintendent of
Instruction
Mark Fisher, Trustee
Office Hours: 8:00 am – 4:00pm
ACES Telephone: (613) 825-8600
ACES Fax: (613) 825-6872
Websites: http://adrienneclarksones.ocdsb.ca
www.acescouncil.ca
24 hr. Student Absence Reporting
email: [email protected]
phone: (613) 825-8600 Ext. 300
April, 2015
Upcoming Events
Principal’s Message
April 3
Good Friday (school closed)
April 6
Easter Monday (school closed)
April 10
Talent Showcase assembly at 11:30 am
April 13
Parent Council Meeting - 7:00 p.m. – Library
April 16
Bright Wishes “An Evening of Wishes”
Parent Workshop with Marion Balla
April 24
Parent Letters re: placement considerations due
May 8
Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast
8:00 a.m. ACES Foyer
May 14
Kindergarten Info. Night for new students
7:00 p.m.
May 18
Victoria Day (School Closed)
May 25 – June 4
EQAO Testing
June 5
PD Day (no school for students)
June 11
ACES BBQ – 5:30 p.m.
June 23
Report Cards Issued
June 24
Grade 6 School Leaving Ceremony
June 25
Last day of classes
It has indeed been a cold winter however spring is around
the corner and schools across the district are beginning to
prepare for September. To avoid the disruption of
reorganizing classes in September, it is important that our
classes are based on accurate enrolment figures. If you are
contemplating a change in program (e.g. French to
English), or are moving from our area, please inform the
school office at the earliest possible date.
Please take a few minutes to review information pertaining
to new initiatives and student activities in this newsletter. I
encourage parents of students in grades 1-6 to ask them
about the special assembly they attended this week.
Best wishes for Naw Ruz, Easter and Passover!
The students continue to benefit from the generous
financial support of the ACES community. All students have
had opportunities to enjoy this year’s selection of Forest of
Reading books which were purchased with proceeds from
the Cake Raffle. The Lunch program proceeds have
recently supported Mathletes for grades 3-6 classes. This
energizing day of problem solving and fun was possible
with the help of a number of parent volunteers. Special
thanks goes to Lani Campbell for spearheading this
initiative. Soon we will have twelve Chrome Books for
student use. This donation from ACES School Council helps
us move towards our goal of having a variety of devices in
each classroom available to support learning. The
community response to the various fundraising activities of
School Council (lunch program, cake raffle, dances) has
been generous as has the donations to the various
charitable initiatives organized by the staff and students.
CLASS PLACEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER
Considerable care is taken to create balanced classes. Our
criteria for class placement include a balance of academic
strengths and needs, gender, work habits and social factors.
As in previous years, combined classes (splits) will be part
of our organization. Appreciating that the development of
classes is thoughtfully done by the staff, if you feel that we
need additional information to best place your child, please
put it in writing and address it to the principal no later than
April 24th. All input received by the deadline will be
carefully considered.
SAFETY PLAN for DROP-OFF and PICK-UP
Safety of our students is a top priority and we all play a part
in maintaining a safe environment at school. One area of
concern is traffic safety as our students arrive and depart
from school each day. Reducing the number of vehicles at
and around the school from 8:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and
3:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. is one of the easiest ways to support
safety.
We have been working with the City of Ottawa, the Ottawa
Police, and the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority to
improve our drop-off and pick-up practices. We use
brightly coloured cones on the road to help drivers
recognize the No Parking zones. Whether the cones are out
or not, the City of Ottawa signs are still in effect and Bylaw
Officers may issue tickets.
Adrienne Clarkson is located on a busy street with city
buses. The City of Ottawa has installed No Stopping signs in
front of the school in an attempt to maintain a safe flow of
traffic. Our School Resource Officer has visited the school a
number of times and expressed to several drivers that
making U-turns on Stoneway Drive is not a safe practice.
Therefore the City of Ottawa will be installing No U-Turn
signs to support safety.
With respect to the main parking lot, signage indicates it is
for staff use from 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. daily. There is a
One-Way traffic sign at the western entrance to our lot to
allow a safe flow of traffic to Children’s Village daycare.
There are also signs for No Parking near our entrance as it is
a fire route. The cones are a visual reminder to drivers that
children will be walking along the sidewalk into the school,
hence non-staff cars are prohibited in the main parking lot
from 8:15 p.m.
Some ideas to consider for supporting traffic safety at
Adrienne Clarkson:
 Encourage your child to walk to school with a
friend’s or a friend’s parent/guardian;



Park on a side street
Have your child use their designated bus seat;
Respect the City of Ottawa signs to avoid law
enforcement fines; and
Minimizing the number of vehicles continues to be the best
strategy to enhance traffic safety at school. However,
another element of our safety plan is to implement an
additional area for families called the DROP ZONE. We will
begin shortly with a trial period to determine its
effectiveness in reducing safety issues.
To be eligible to use the DROP ZONE, students must be
able to independently exit the vehicle. The driver
will remain in the vehicle and the student will remove their
own seat belt and retrieve their own back-pack. Once the
student is out of the vehicle, he/she will enter the school
yard with supervision. The proposed pilot will allow
DROP ZONE vehicles to enter the center driveway that
directly accesses Children’s Village and will exit
thru the driveway by the City of Ottawa park. Parking in the
City parking lot is prohibited as those spaces are designated
for the community center staff and their clients.
The pilot of the DROP ZONE will begin in May 2015 Please
stay tuned for further announcements.
PROTOCOL FOR CONCUSSIONS- NEW
In the coming weeks, ACES staff will be implementing a new
district procedure for responding to head injuries incurred
both at school and outside of school.
Parent responsibilities include:
-Completing consent forms for extra-curricular sports
-Notifying the school of any suspected or diagnosed
concussions
-Working in partnership with the school in support of a
Return to Learn/Return to Play strategy.
On this last point, please be aware that staff will use the
OCDSB concussion guidelines and phone parents to inform
them of any reported head injury. Should a concussion be
suspected, a form will be given to parents when they arrive
to pick up their child. Upon returning to school following
the requisite 24 hours of rest, parents will be invited to
discuss plans with the principal or vice-principal regarding
participation in learning and play. We will require that the
signed form is returned to the school.
EQAO PROVINCIAL ASSESSMENTS
Students in grades 3 and 6 will be participating in EQAO
assessments from Monday, May 25th to Thursday, June 4th,
2014. We would ask parents wherever possible, not to
schedule appointments during these days. A valuable
resource is the EQAO website (www.eqao.com). On the
website you will find questions and answers that have been
developed specifically for parents, as well as other useful
information regarding the assessment.
NO MORE BULLIES!
Students in grades 1-6 were privileged this week to have
the No More Bullies Tour stop at our school. The
presentation featuring Stuntman Stu, Peter Joynt and a
member of the Harlem Globetrotters reinforced key school
messages to empower students to deal with unkind and
hurtful behaviour.
OUR STUDENTS SHOW THEY CARE!
ACES TALENT SHOWCASE
To celebrate ACES talent and share our good fortune with
our community, all students will attend one of two
assemblies next week. We are asking for a canned good
donation for the Barrhaven Food Cupboard. Parents are
welcome to attend the assembly on Friday, April 10th at
11:30 a.m. in the gym. There will not be an evening
performance this year.
BRIGHT WISHES!
Two grade six EFI classes are taking part in an
Entrepreneurial project with the Learning Partnership.
Students are raising money for The Children’s Wish
Foundation and have created a business called ACES Bright
Wishes. They are planning a community event called “An
Evening of Wishes” on Thursday April 16th from 56:30pm and we would love if you could attend! Admission
is only $2 at the door.
The evening will highlight the great work that the Children’s
Wish Foundation does, as well as provide you with a way to
support families in our area. The “Evening of Wishes” will
feature a silent auction, bake sale and special presentations
from a “Wish” family.
How can you participate during school hours? From April 710th the Bright Wishes team will be selling stars during
nutrition break for the Star Wall. Each star is only $1.00.
Wish wands are also available for $2.00. All students who
participate in the Star Wall event will be entered to win
some great prizes in a draw on April 10th. Please feel free
to visit the student's website at bit.do/brightwishes for
more information about the project.
#spreadhappiness
Each year, ACES supports an orphanage in Kenya. This year
our funds will continue to go towards Jacob, in support of
his dream to pass exams to attend high school. In addition,
proceeds will go towards the purchase of a biogas unit so
the orphanage will have a clean supply of cooking fuel. For
$3.00, students can purchase a Swag Tag and for $5.00 they
will receive a bracelet in addition to the Swag Tag. Ms.
Christie and the grade 5 MFI classes thank you for your
support.
FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION EVENING
Parents of SK students new to our school, and all parents of
JK students, are invited to an information session on
Thursday, May 14th at 7 p.m. in the gym. The session will
provide a general orientation to the school and information
on our full day learning program. Please encourage any
friends or neighbours who are new to our school to attend.
SPRING REMINDERS
Parents and students are reminded that the use of
skateboards, in-line skates, and scooters are not permitted
on the school yard. For students who ride their bikes to
school, bike helmets are required and U style locks are
recommended.
COUNCIL CORNER
The ACES Council wants to thank all of the volunteers who
gave their time to support both Mathletes and the spring
dance last week. We enjoyed seeing all of the smiling faces
of the students participating in both events.
All parents & guardians are invited to join us for a workshop
with Marion Balla on April 16, 2015 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Her workshop is entitled 'Redirecting Children's Behaviour'
and she will offer strategies to re-channel challenging
behaviours toward life skills training and new options for
children to consider. Free childcare is available by emailing [email protected] to reserve a spot.
Mark your calendars for the annual ACES Council BBQ
which will be held on Thursday, June 11, 2015 from 5:30
p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Please consider volunteering at this
popular event!
PUBLIC HEALTH LINKS
Kids and Mental Health
www.haveTHATtalk.com
Get Out and Ride Safely
Snacking and Dental Health
ACES LUNCH PROGRAMS
Pizza Days:
April 10, 17, 24, May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, June 12, 19
Hot Dog Days:
April 1, May 6, June 3
Subway Days:
April 15, May 20, June 17