Nelles June Newsletter
District School Board of Niagara—Achieving Success Together!
June 24, 2009 Page 1
The following students have been recognized for consistently demonstrating the virtue of RESPONSIBILITY throughout the month of JUNE. Alyssa T. Rob S. Laura K. Taylor T. Colton S. Ethan B. Alyssa S. Michael G. Kimberly V. Andrew C. Colin A. Bailey G. Ava C. Liam B. Angus P. Mackenzie C. Skyler G. Mike C.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Thank you for another wonderful year at Nelles. Special thanks goes out to the Nelles Staff who make the effort to go that extra mile for our students. A huge thank you goes out to our School Council this year. Many exciting new initiatives took place and it was great to see so many new faces on Council. Margaret McIntosh, our chair, deserves extra credit for her many hours spent attending to all the details of Council activities. Finally, thank you Nelles Community, for supporting your children and all the programs here at Nelles. The school organization for next year is outlined below. Because there can be many changes over the course of the summer months, class lists will be posted on Tues. Sept. 8 at 8:15 am. Be assured that staff considers what is the best learning environment for your child when making up the classes. Kindergarten students will receive a letter at the end of August notifying them of their class and teacher and their schedule for staggered entry. As always, the end of the year brings some good-byes. We say farewell to Mrs. Orosz, Mrs. Fast, Mrs. DeKlerk and Mrs. Spencer. We wish them all the best and thank them for their important work at Nelles. We welcome back Mrs. Raymond who will return to Grade 2, Mrs. Romany who will share the 2/3 with Mrs. Ferriera and Mrs. Pettigrew. Mrs. Langdon will teach Grade 1 in the morning. We welcome Mrs. Hall from Park School who will teach that Grade 1 class in the afternoon. Some of our kindergarten students will be bussed in September. The bus runs in the morning which means that all bus students will attend the AM classes. Families will be contacted in August by Niagara Student Transportation Services as to their pick up and drop off times and location. Because there will be a bus unloading each morning, it is imperative that the bus drop off zone in front of the school remain clear. In September, parents are asked to drop off children in the Kiss and Ride Area opposite the dumpster and winding around that curve. Better yet, students are encouraged to walk or ride to school which will cut down on the congestion in the parking lot and be better for the environment. For transportation information please visit their website www.nsts.ca or call 905 346-0290. Vandalism is common in our school yard each weekend. If you notice signs of vandalism, please call in confidence either of the following emergency numbers: 905-685-0249, 1-800-263-3658. Have a safe and happy summer! See you again on Sept. 8, 2009.
NELLES ORGANIZATION—SEPTEMBER 2009
Principal Secretary Caretaker /Cleaners AM Kindergarten AM/PM Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 2/3 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 French Music Learning Resource Librarian Lunch Supervisors Mrs. Slade Mrs. Pettigrew Mrs. Cormier, Mrs. Walters, Mrs. Soldo Ms. Dickson Mrs. Kusyj Mrs. Courson Mrs. Langdon/Mrs. Hall (new) Mrs. Raymond Mrs. Ferriera/Mrs. Romany Mrs. Neufeld Mrs. Nawrocki Miss Schroeder Mr. Hodgson Mme Inneo Mrs. Doherty Mrs. Wasilewicz Ms . Dickson Mrs. Dunda, Mr. & Mrs. Rutledge
Save your Boston Pizza Receipts over the summer and deposit them in the box in the office in the fall. Nelles gets 5% of total receipts.
Annual Report for the 2008/09 School Year Dear Nelles Community, Nelles School Council enjoyed a successful year. Many new members came on board and with the guidance of our more experienced members, many exciting events and initiatives took place. Class representative emails was a new idea that helped increase communication. Thank you to Amanda Abernot for this great idea and thanks to all our reps for their time and effort. Watch for Class Rep emails again next year for school and council events, activities and volunteer opportunities and check out the Nelles Website. Monthly Lunch Program was another new addition this year. It allowed volunteers to work from home, provided more variety for students and saved parents packing lunches once a week. We are investigating menu options for next year and welcome suggestions. Much focus was spent on informing families of the different ways they could be involved and volunteer, as well as finding more ways for parents to volunteer from home as this was a concern for many working and stay at home parents. We will be implementing more of these opportunities next year. We tried a new Fundraiser this year: FundScrip – a program that allows you to purchase gift cards online and a percentage of your purchase comes back to Nelles. $900 has been raised since February. FundScrip is available throughout the summer and you can still sign up at www.fundscrip.com. Other events that took place included the Noel Bazaar with the addition of a live auction, Concession Stands, Cake Raffles, Movie Night, Family Skates, M&M Meat Days, the Garage Sale and the Fun Fair. Funds raised provided a variety of enrichments to learning, to the school and to our community spirit, with highlights including the annual $10 per child subsidy for class trips, Grade 1-6 Math Workbooks, Grade 6 celebration, Carousel Players, Lunch Club recess play equipment and our Welcome Back and Student Appreciation BBQs. The playground achieved improvements both in terms of safety and aesthetics with the removal of the stonework and hill around the rubber surface and four benches were installed on concrete bases to allow for comfortable seating. Thank you to all who completed our School Council Questionnaire. It helped us make decisions for next year. We are pleased to announce that our budget is reduced to under $10,000 ($9910) to reflect current economic times. A sincere thank you to all the wonderful Nelles parents for all that you have done to support our school, council, students and staff. Thank you to all the parents who contributed their valuable time to the many events at our school; we would never be able to accomplish all these great things without your dedication, effort and enthusiasm. It was an absolute pleasure getting to know you each and every one of you. I wish to express my gratitude to my fellow Council members and Mrs. Slade for all your assistance and support during my education of Nelles and the Council experience. It was very rewarding to work with this fabulous team of dedicated parent volunteers representing Nelles School Council. Margaret McIntosh Chair, School Council
Thank you to our School Council for the terrific Student Appreciation BBQ held on June 22. Students had a great time and enjoyed the burgers and dogs. Special thanks to all the parent volunteers who helped out that day. We couldn’t do it without you!
CONGRATULATIONS to the 3 Pitch Team who won the Tournament! Team members were: Liam D . Rob S. Nik B. Laura K. Nicole W. Andrea W. Brady C. Ryan Q. Ben H. Shannon C. Lauren H. Tinelle P.
Alternate: Liam P. Scorekeeper: Matt L. Coaches: Mrs. Nawrocki, Ms. Schroeder
Birthday Book News!!
Wow!! Can you believe this, we have reached our 1,000 book goal. With the enthusiasm of the Grade 6 grads and June Birthdays, parents and staff we have a total of 1,060 Birthday Books to end this year at Nelles!! A HUGE HOORAY FOR EVERYONE! Thank you so much for making a special goal come true.
BIG BIRTHDAY WISHES go to:
May Mrs. Pettigrew (staff) June Lauren H Grade 5 Andrew Q Grade 4 Mimi D Grade 3 Craig C Grade 3 Logan R Grade 2 Tyler R SK Angus P SK Mrs. Courson (staff) Mrs. Ferreira’s Grade 2/3 class Mrs. Slade (staff) Jay Prouty (Ms. Dickson’s son) July Cole A August Courtney G Grade 6 Grads Jesse V Michael S Maddie R Kaitlin V Tyler T Emma S Liam D Rob S Laura K Rebecca T Dr Kim Karry 1– Counting Colours 2—The Name of the Tree
Amazing Musical Instruments Cookbook for Boys 1—Haunted Canada #2 Alex and the Ironic Gentleman Magic Treehouse: Moonlight A Goodbye Kiss Hero Named Howie Tough Boris for Carter Trussler 1– Haunted Canada #3 3—Haunted Candad #2 The Black Book of Colours Rude Ramsay
Brandon S Grade 5 Kaitlin N Grade 3 2—Practical Guide to Monsters Gabriele V Grade 2 Jenna McB SK Tara S SK Abbyann C JK 2—The Unexplained 4—Haunted Canada
Polar World 2 Fairy School Undercover Big Book of Poetry Cookies Week Tynyrannosaurus Birds
Grade 2
Marley
Amy Prouty (Ms. Dickson’s daughter) Bashful Bob
SK
One Brown Bunny
Mrs. Spencer
(staff)
Search for the Vile Things
The Book without Words Airborn (&donated 13 books) Snoring Beauty A Day with Papa 1—Oh, The Good Things you can Do That Are Good Loose Leashes 1—Hope is An Open Heart 2—Ark Angel You Can Be Anything (& 5 other books!) Dear Canada: Orphan at My Door (& 5 other books!) 11 Birthdays (volunteer) Transformed
Cassidy S Models don’t Eat Chocolate Ryan Q Guardians : War of Ember Thomas G Tales of Beedle the Bard Matthew P Mythological Creastures 2—Duck for President Ian A The Missing Piece Ashley G 1—Boo 2—Polar Express Kenna R Seekers (& 2 other books!) Emily R Just Shocking (& 25 other books!)
Happy Reading Nelles and Have a Great Summer
Mrs. Reakes & Mrs. Dunda
GRADE 6 AWARD WINNERS On June 19th, our grade 6 students celebrated their years at Nelles. Awards were presented to the following students: Athletic Spirit Academic Leadership Citizenship Music Valedictorian Laura K. Brady C. Maddie R., Rob S. Kenna R. Ryan Q. Becca T. Kaitlin V. Matt P. Congratulations to all!!
We salute Mrs. Dunda and Mrs. Reakes for their efforts with the Birthday Book Program. As a result, we celebrated 1000 books added to our Nelles Library since January 2004. Check out the new tree in the playground, donated by Landcare Niagara and watch for the photo and article in the paper.
IMPORTANT DATES FOR SEPTEMBER Aug. 31 Sept. 8 Sept. 15 Sept. 23 Sept. 30 School Office opens Back to school Magazine Campaign Kick Photo Day School Council Meeting Thank you also the grade 6 class who are donating mulch for the front garden and bulbs to be planted in the fall. Thank you to Sarah Koot and her dad who worked in our front garden on Monday, weeding and adding new plants.
It has been brought to our attention that there are a number of errors in the Yearbook. We apologize for this and hope to get it right next year. Sorry!
Balanced School Day Information - Effective September 2009 Students Grades 1-6 8:45 8:50 9:40 10:30 10:45 11:10 12:00 12:50 1:10 1:40 2:30 Entry Period 1 Period 2 Nutrition Break (15 minutes indoor) Fitness Break (25 minutes outdoor) Period 3 Period 4 Nutrition Break (20 minutes indoor) Fitness Break (students go home for lunch during this break) Period 5 Period 6
Some tips for packing snacks and lunches for BSD: It is recommended to have either a two compartment lunch bag, or put a cardboard divider in your existing lunch bag so that your child eats everything above the cardboard in the first break and then lifts the card and eats the rest at the second break. You may have more options for the types of snacks you consider now that your children will be sitting inside to eat their snacks, i.e. yogurt, apple sauce, fruit cups Each child has different eating habits and appetites. Plan ahead with your child to see which of the following options suit them best: Example One Break One Break Two Snacks & Drink Lunch & Drink Example Two ½ of Lunch & Snack & Drink ½ of Lunch & Snack & Drink
Some suggestions for first break snacks include: -Oatmeal raisin muffin, banana, milk -Mini pitas with grated cheese, apple, water -Celery Sticks with cheese spread, raisins, juice
-Raisin bread, cheese, juice -Yogurt cup, apple, water -Dry cereal, peach, yogurt
Some suggestions for second break lunch include: -Chicken wrap, celery & dip, applesauce, chocolate milk -Cheese tortilla with salsa dip, grapes, crackers, water -Chicken fingers & plum sauce, bread sticks, cucumbers, juice -2 mini pitas with egg salad, carrots & dip, milk pudding, water -Chili, whole wheat roll, pear, milk -Tuna wrap, cauliflower and dip, peach, milk