WAPS Newsletter September 2020
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September 2020 Newsletter Wheatley Area Public School Mr. S. Bacik, Principal Mrs. J. Dresser, Secretary Lambton Kent District School Board: http://www.lkdsb.net Wheatley Area Public School: http://wheatley.lkdsb.net Office Phone-519-825-4621 Office Fax-519-825-4622 Welcome Welcome back to our returning students and to our new Warriors! We are looking forward to an exciting 2020-2021 school year! We know that this year comes with exceptional challenges and we really appreciate your patience, support and flexibility as we enter this year during unprecedented times. We would like to welcome our new staff members: Ms. Wayvon our new prep teacher, Ms. Breault and Mrs. Marks our new EA’s and Ms. Dresser our new supervision support worker. Welcome to the Warrior family! School staff have been very busy preparing for the new school year. Our school looks great and we would like to thank the custodial staff for all their hard work making WAPS look so fantastic! Staff Directory Principal Mr. S. Bacik French/Prep Mr. P. Longpre Secretary Mrs. J. Dresser Prep Ms. A. Wayvon FDK Mrs. C. Jacobs Resource Mrs. T. Brown Grade SK/1 Mrs. M. Lyman ECE Ms. M. Sallmen Grade 1/2 Mrs. N. Edwards EA Miss K. Davidson Grade 3/4 Mr. A. Parent EA Ms. J. Breault Grade 4/5/6 Mrs. C. Hopper EA Mrs. M. Marks Grade 7/8 Ms. S. Warkentin Caretaker Mrs. S. Chapple Caretakers Mr. R. Sharpe & Mr. A. Seed Supervision Support Ms. L. Dresser Message to Elementary Parents September 3rd For updated information regarding COVID-19 safety measures at WAPS, please refer to the “Message to Elementary Parents September 3rd” document that was emailed to each family or found on our school website (www.wheatley.lkdsb.net), along the banner on the top of the page by clicking “Important Information for School Return.” Bell Times and Safe Arrival/Dismissal 8:15 a.m.: School Arrival/In-class Supervision 8:30 a.m.: School Start Time 10:30 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.: AM Nutrition Break and Recess (Staggered by cohorts) 12:50 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: PM Nutrition Break and Recess (Staggered by cohorts) 2:50 p.m.: Dismissal Page | 1 School Year Calendar Holidays Monday, October 12, 2020 THANKSGIVING Monday, December 21, 2020 WINTER HOLIDAY BREAK Monday, January 4, 2021 RETURN TO SCHOOL Monday, February 15, 2021 FAMILY DAY March 15-19, 2021 MARCH BREAK Friday, April 2, 2021 GOOD FRIDAY Monday, April 5, 2021 EASTER MONDAY Monday, May 24, 2021 VICTORIA DAY Professional Development Days Friday, November 20, 2020 Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Friday, June 4, 2021 Tuesday, June 29, 2021 Drop Off and Pick Up Students who walk to school or get dropped off must not arrive before 8:15 a.m. as they will not be allowed in the building until then and we cannot have students on the yard unsupervised in the morning or after the bell. Please remind your children to cross only at crosswalks or intersections. Please remember that students may not leave school for lunch. Public Health have changed their guidelines and students who leave school for an appointment may return school the same day. Please complete the Daily Screening Questionnaire for Parents/Guardians/Students Before returning to School. If driving a vehicle for before or after school pick-up/drop off, please use THE SOUTH SIDE PARKING LOT. For the safety of our bus students THE FRONT PARKING LOT WILL BE UNAVAILABLE. Parents are asked not to park in the bus pick up/drop off zone at the front entrance way of the school (this is a safety concern and it interferes with our bus loading). When leaving your car to pick up/drop off students, please park in the parking lot, turn off your vehicle, and take your keys. Please do not park your car in the round-about (Kiss and Drop) area at the side of the school. Also please remember that there are no school safety patrollers or municipal crossing guards. Parent/Guardian Access to WAPS To maintain cohorts and contact tracing, parents/guardians will not be allowed to enter schools at this time, except in case of emergency or a pre-arranged appointment time. Parents/guardians of students requiring extra support to help get to class once safely at school should contact the school administrator. Face to Face to Learn at Home (Remote Learning) Families wishing to transfer between face-to-face learning to Learn at Home or transfer from Learn at Home to face-to-face instruction must contact their principal according to the following timelines: • Fall date: Families notify school by October 22. Student begins new program type on November 16. • Winter date: Families notify school by January 12. Student begins new program type on February 3. • Spring date: Families notify school by March 30. Student begins new program type on April 20. Students moving between program delivery choice (i.e. face-to-face learning or Learn at Home) should anticipate changes in teacher(s). Page | 2 Communication: Home and School Communication Communication between home and school is key to your child’s success. If you ever have concerns or questions, please speak directly to your child’s teacher. If any concerns remain, please contact the school administrator as soon as possible. Do not think that you have to postpone concerns you have until Parent/Teacher interview time in November. Please contact us sooner rather than later. WAPS Newsletter In an effort to be more environmentally responsible, WAPS will be looking for ways to reduce the amount of paper used throughout the year. One way to support this is to decrease the number of school newsletters and forms printed on paper. The September and June issue of the school newsletter will be printed on paper and distributed to all students. All subsequent issues of the school newsletter will be available electronically through the school website http://wheatley.lkdsb.net or through School Messenger email. Emails and Phone Numbers It is essential that we are made aware of any contact information changes in case there is an emergency at school. It is extremely important that we have a current email for each family. As phone numbers and emails may change over the course of the year, please remember to let Mrs. Dresser know so that we can update our files. WAPS Facebook and Twitter Wheatley Area Public School is still on Facebook and Twitter. Follow us to receive updates about upcoming events, reminders, and photos of our students working hard at school. We can be found on Facebook under Wheatley Area Public School and on Twitter at @WAPSRules. WAPS Messenger In the past our school has used the “Remind App” to send out school wide communication messages. Now we will be using a school-base system called “Messenger”. This system does not require you to sign up to receive these messages. We simply require a current email for your family and messages will be sent to this email throughout the school year. Student Planners Some classrooms will be using school planners this year while other classrooms will only use electronic forms. There will be no cost for a planner this school year. If the planner is lost throughout the year, there will be a full replacement cost. Please review these planners with your son/daughter. School Cash On-Line We encourage all parents to sign up for School Cash Online to help eliminate the exchange and handling of money. School Cash Online is a convenient, web-based solution that gives parents/guardians the ability to pay for student items online. Further information about School Cash Online is available on our school website http://wheatley.lkdsb.net. If you require assistance signing up for School Cash On-Line, please visit Mrs. Dresser at the front office. Verification Forms, Appendix B and Canadian Anti-spam Legislation Forms All 3 of these forms will be sent home the second week of school. Please make any corrections to these forms and please ensure that there is an up to date email and return them to your homeroom teacher. This will ensure that we have accurate student information on file. Page | 3 Lunches and Snack Program Students are required to remain at a school for all lunch breaks. Please try to pack reusable containers and a garbage-less lunch, to help minimize garbage and recyclable items. The snack program will be up and running as soon as we get our supplies. Supplemental, healthy snacks will be available during the afternoon lunch for all students as prepared and served by our gracious volunteers. Snacks may look a little different during COVID-19, as special precautions will be needed. Nut Aware Please remember that WAPS is a NUT AWARE school. Students may not bring any nuts, peanut butter, or nut products (including Wow Butter) to school. Please make sure to read all labels before packing your child’s lunch. We have several children with severe allergies to a variety of nuts and it is important that we ensure their safety while they are at school. We appreciate your co-operation and support with this. Medication & Medical Emergency Plans Specific criteria must be met for staff to administer prescriptive medication when it cannot be administered from home. An “Authorization for the Administration of Medication” form (available from office), must be completed by the parent/guardian and physician, and then forwarded to the Principal for each school year. This includes the administration of occasional use mediations as well. Whenever the physician directs a modification of the prescribed medication the process is repeated.