September 2019
Dear Maple Grove Families,
We are thrilled to be starting a new school year at Maple Grove and are looking forward to welcoming our students to school on Tuesday, September 3rd. In our newsletter below, you will find important information that will support a successful first day of school. We will also continue to share newsletters with you at the start of each month so you will have an overview of upcoming events and important information. Please take a moment to review our School Calendar that is posted on our website for key dates throughout the year.
Looking forward to a terrific Tuesday!
Principal M. McKenzie Wells
Class Lists & First Day of School
New this year, the name of your child’s homeroom teacher for 2019-20 will be emailed to parents by Saturday, August 31st, along with a room or portable number. There will also be staff members with clipboards and class lists on the blacktop on the first day of school to help direct you to your child's teacher and their class line up, so it is not necessary to know in advance of Tuesday if there is a problem with the email.
This year, we had an overwhelming amount of written requests for consideration when building our classes. As a staff, we worked very hard to accommodate as many requests as we could, while keeping a balance within our classes between gender, social groupings, and academic ability. In the event that you or your child are not initially pleased with the class placement, we respectfully ask that you resist the temptation to call or e-mail school staff to request a change. We believe we have created classrooms where our students can be successful in building new friendships while building on past peer relationships. Our staff will not be considering any changes to our classrooms, however, we are committed to helping each student transition into a new grade. Class rosters for the 2019-20 school year will only be revised if we are forced to go through a September reorganization. This news would be communicated to all parents during the second week of school.
On the first day of school, all students in grades 1-8 will meet their teachers on the blacktop area behind the school. FDK Students will meet in the Kindergarten Pens. For Grades 1-6, Teacher names will be on signs at the area where the class will line up, or students will meet outside their Portable. Kindergarten students will meet their teachers in the Kindergarten play area at the front of the school. Grade 7 and 8 students will meet outside Door #5 and when the 9:10 bell goes off, the intermediate students will enter Door #5 and go to the Large Gym to meet their class and teacher and have an assembly.
New Staff at Maple Grove
Maple Grove would like to welcome the following Teachers to our Staff:
- FDK 4 - Mrs. Lamoureux
- Class 63 - Ms. Jovic
We would also like to welcome the following Long Term Occasional Teachers (LTO's):
- Class 32 - Ms. Wolfe
- Intermediate Music - Ms. Owen
- Class 62 - Ms. Hilario
- Class 81/SERT - Ms. Robertson
School Hours
9:00 Supervision Begins
9:10 Entry Bell
10:55-11:35 Nutrition Break #1
1:15-1:55 Nutrition Break #2
3:35 Dismissal
3:50 Supervision Ends
Parent Council Meeting
Our first School Council meeting is on Monday, October 7th at 7:00pm. Nomination Forms and Volunteer forms will be coming home in the first week of school, via email. Please consider volunteering your time with our many events and services at Maple Grove, and also consider being a part of our School Council as a parent representative.
Grade 7 Trip
Our Grade 7 Camp Muskoka Trip will run from September 18-20. If your child has not already registered and would like to attend, please complete the registration package and pay online as soon as possible. If your child will require any medication while on the trip, please contact our Vice-Principal Ms. Lukawecky at lukaweckyk@hdsb.ca.
Police Checks
Please remember that if you wish to volunteer in the school during the day, you must have a police check on file at the office. If you had one last year, then it is ok for you to volunteer this year as well, however, you will need to fill out an offence declaration sheet. These sheets will come home in the first days of school. If you are not sure if you already have a police check on file, please contact the office. When handing in a police check to the school for the first time, it must be from within the last six months. The police station is usually busy with these requests in September, and it can take a few weeks for the police check to arrive. You can also order your police check online. Thank you for adhering to this school expectation in the interest of student safety.
SchoolCashOnline
Please remember that all items purchased through the school (e.g., field trips, pizza lunch, etc) will be available online. Please ensure you are registered at https://hdsb.schoolcashonline.com/ before the school year begins. If you need assistance, please contact the office. Many times, there will not be forms sent home and registration and payment are done solely online.
Bikes, Scooters, Skateboards
We encourage our students to find active forms of transport to and from school. To aid in this, we have racks outdoors for bicycles, scooters and skateboards. Students will need a padlock or combination lock for their scooters and skateboards to lock them up in the racks outside once all of the racks are installed. These modes of transport will not be allowed in the school or portables. Segways/hoverboards are not allowed on school property. As with all personal items brought to school, the school is not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged items.
Days of Significance
- Sept. 9-10 Ashura (Islam)
- Sept. 29-30 Rosh Hashanah (Judaism)
Spirit Days
At Maple Grove we enjoy showing our school spirit through monthly spirit days. We encourage all staff and students to participate. Please visit our website to see the dates and themes of each Spirit Day!
Parking Lot
As with most schools, parking is at a premium at Maple Grove. Elementary schools are typically built with only enough parking for the staff. Of course, we always encourage other modes of transportation first; walking, bicycles, and using our bus service (if eligible). In addition, we will be asking all students who are walking to walk along the path at the back of the school rather than near the parking lot. If you are driving to school, we ask that you drop off on a side street or Oakville Trafalgar High School and walk your children to/from class, as there will be no room in the parking lot for parents to park. Thank you for helping keep our kids safe as they arrive and depart from school.
Student Medical Needs
The Ministry of Education released Policy Program Memorandum 161: Supporting Students with Prevalent Medical Conditions. School Boards across Ontario are expected to implement PPM 161 by September 2018. As a result, the HDSB has updated several Administrative Procedures to better support students who have Anaphylaxis, Asthma, Diabetes, Epilepsy and Seizure Disorders. With the revised HDSB procedures, students who have any of the listed prevalent medical conditions must have a Plan of Care in place. This Plan of Care must be co-created by the student, parent and school staff and must be accompanied by a physician’s signature. As well, all medications require a physician’s signature to be self-administered or administered by school staff (e.g., epipen, ventolin, benadryl etc.). Please keep the school up-to-date regarding any changes in your child's medical health.
Anaphylaxis Protocol
The intent of the Anaphylaxis Protocol is to create a safe learning and working environment for all persons with severe allergy conditions. We have students and staff who have life-threatening allergies to peanuts, tree nuts and peanut/nuts products, shellfish, legumes and sesame in our school. We request that our families refrain from sending any food with peanut or nut products to school.
Appointments for Students
As students and their families get back into the swing of school routines please be aware when making appointments/activities to try to schedule them outside school hours when possible. We do understand that this is sometimes unavoidable. We can have an unusually large number of students coming and going during our school day which causes constant interruptions in the classrooms. If you are unable to schedule outside school hours please note that we do have scheduled class breaks during our day. Signing out in between scheduled periods causes fewer disruptions to all of the students at school. Please visit our school website for our school hours and break times. If a student is being picked up, please let the teacher know in advance so that they are waiting at the office for you. This will eliminate the need to disrupt classes further. Thank you for helping us to provide less distractions in the learning environment for all of our students.
School Bus Transportation
Families can check school bus routes for their students on the Halton Bus Website, using their OEN number. Please be aware that Halton Student Transportation Services (HSTS) advises that a shortage of school bus drivers may impact school bus operations in the Burlington and Oakville areas this September. To address this shortage, we encourage you or anyone you know to think about applying to become a bus driver. Contact information can be found below.
HSTS is working with the local bus companies to try to minimize the impact on students. Parents are encouraged to sign up for delays and cancellation notifications on the HSTS website (haltonbus.ca) before school starts. School bus delays will be posted on the HSTS website starting the first day of school. It is anticipated that the bus driver shortage will predominantly impact the Oakville area and to a lesser extent, the Burlington area. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact the following bus companies about job requirements:
- First Student Canada, Burlington and Oakville - 905-335-7010
- Attridge Transportation Inc. - 905-333-4047