As you may be aware, contract negotiations between the Canadian Union of Public Employees – Ontario (CUPE) and the Ontario government have yet to produce an agreement.

While we encourage both sides to come to a fair agreement, we do understand that the breakdown in talks could lead to a strike by CUPE as early as Friday, November 4.

As a result, the school board is currently planning for a switch to remote learning for our students, should that become necessary.

We are currently identifying students who do not have home access to the necessary technology and would therefore require a device provided by the school.

Please complete this quick survey (https://lf.wcdsb.ca/forms/APC052-05F) to help us prepare for distribution of devices to families who require this assistance.

Please complete this form as soon as possible.

Thank you in advance for your patience as we work to ensure our students have the resources they need to continue learning during this uncertain time.

Halloween is around the corner

October 31st (Halloween) is a day that many, but not all, children look forward to in Waterloo Region. In order to respect all cultural perspectives on this day we are inviting students and families to select from the following three options:

• dress in every day school appropriate attire for the entire school day
• dress in orange and black school appropriate attire for the entire school day
• dress in a school appropriate Halloween costume for the morning on Monday October 31st at school.

While we want students to have fun, please use the following guidelines when choosing an appropriate costume for school. If your child is not comfortable wearing a costume they are welcome to wear black and orange for the day.

If possible, send your child to school in a spare/used/older costume in the event it becomes damaged. Students should be wearing the costume over their regular clothes as we will only be wearing costumes for the morning ONLY; many children are not comfortable being in a costume all day long. Please send a change of clothes for your child if necessary.

Your child will be attending class, participating in physical education, going outside for recess breaks, and eating their snacks / lunch in their costume – they need to be able to move comfortably.

• All costumes should be school appropriate.
• Costumes need to be culturally relevant and appropriate. It is not acceptable to dress up as a person from another cultural background for Halloween
• Do not send any props (e.g. pitch forks, brooms, shovels, wands, etc.)
• No fake blood, fake wounds, or scary/ gory costumes will be allowed.

If costumes are inappropriate, the student will be asked to change or will be sent home.

The only mask your child can wear is a usual COVID face covering. Please do not add any makeup to your child’s face while they are at school.

Please do not send in any treats to be shared with peers. This is consistent with our policy of not sharing any food while at school. Students will have plenty of opportunity to collect treats in the community on Halloween. Thank you to everyone for ensuring that school continues to be a positive and safe space for all members of our community. Let’s continue to do the right thing even when it isn’t the popular or preferred thing.

Your understanding and cooperation are genuinely appreciated.

ሃሎዊን ኣብ ዙርያ ዅርናዕ እዩ ዚርከብ

31 ጥቅምቲ (ሃሎዊን) ብዙሓት ቈልዑ ኣብ ኣውራጃ ዋተርሉ ብሃንቀውታ ዚጽበዩላ መዓልቲ እኳ እንተ ዀነት ኵሎም ግና ኣይኰኑን። ንዅሉ ባህላዊ ኣረኣእያታት ኣብዛ መዓልቲ እዚኣ ንምኽባር ተማሃሮን ስድራ ቤታትን ካብዚ ዝስዕብ ሰለስተ ኣማራጺታት ክመርጹ ንዕድሞም ኣሎና –

ኣብ ነፍሲ ወከፍ መዓልቲ ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ግቡእ ክዳውንቲ ተኸዲንካ
ኣብ ምሉእ መዓልቲ ቤት ትምህርቲ ግቡእ ክዳን ኣራንሺን ጸሊም ቤት ትምህርትን ተኸዲንካ
ሰኑይ 31 ጥቅምቲ ንግሆ ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ግቡእ ክዳን ሃሎዊን ተኸዲኖም ነበሩ።
ተመሃሮ ኺዘናግዑ ንደሊ እኳ እንተ ዀንና ንቤት ትምህርቲ ዚኸውን ግቡእ ክዳን ክትመርጽ ከለኻ በጃኻ ነዚ ዚስዕብ መምርሒታት ተጠቐመሉ ። ውሉድካ ኽዳን ኪኽደን እንተ ዘይደልዩ ኣብታ መዓልቲ እቲኣ ጸሊምን ኣራንሺን ኪኽደኑ ይኽእሉ እዮም።

ዚከኣል እንተ ዀይኑ ውሉድካ እንተ ተጐዲኡ ዝተረፈ/እተጠቕመሉ/ዝኣረገ ኽዳን ጌርካ ናብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ስደዶ። ተመሃሮ ነቲ ስሩዕ ክዳውንቶም ኪኽደኑ ኣለዎም ፣ ከመይሲ ንግሆ ጥራይ ኢና ኽዳውንቲ እንኽደን ዘለና ፣ ብዙሓት ቈልዑ ምሉእ መዓልቲ ኽዳውንቲ ምኽዳን ኣይከብዶምን እዩ ። ኣድላዪ እንተ ዀይኑ በጃኻ ንውሉድካ ኽዳውንቲ ለዊጥካሉ ።

ውሉድካ ኣብ ክፍሉ ኺመሃር ኣካላዊ ትምህርቲ ኺመሃር ዕረፍቲ ንኺረኽቡ ናብ ደገ ኺወጹ ከምኡውን ጠዓሞት ወይ ምሳሕ ኣብ ክዳውንቶም ኪበልዑ እዮም ።

ኵሉ ኽዳውንቲ ግቡእ ቤት ትምህርቲ ኪኸውን ኣለዎ።
ክዳውንቲ ብባህሊ ኣገዳስን ግቡእን ኪኸውን ኣለዎ። ኣብ ሃሎዊን ካብ ካልእ ባህሊ እተኣኻኸበ ሰብ ጌርካ ኽትክደን ቅቡል ኣይኰነን
ዝዀነ ይኹን ናውቲ ኣይትልኣኽ (ንኣብነት ቃንጥሻ መዀስተር ባዴላ ታት ወዘተ)።
ናይ ሓሶት ደም ናይ ሓሶት ቍስሊ ወይ ዘፍርህ/ ዘፍርህ ክዳውንቲ ኣይክፍቀድን ኢዩ።
ክዳውንቲ ዘይግቡእ እንተ ዀይኑ እቲ ተመሃራይ ኪቕየር ወይ ናብ ቤቱ ኺምለስ ይሕተት።

ውሉድካ ኺኽደኖ ዚኽእል ማስኬራ ኮቪድ ገጹ ጥራይ እዩ ። ውሉድካ ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ኸሎ ኣብ ገጹ ዝዀነ ይኹን ቅብኣ ኣይትውስኸሉ።

ንመዛኑኻ ዜካፍሎም ዝዀነ ይኹን ምግቢ ኣይትልኣኽ ። እዚ ምስ ፖሊሲና ዚሰማማዕ እዩ

Dear St. John’s Families,

We have extended our winter clothing drive!

We still have many winter items that we would like to donate back to the community to ensure all our students are well prepared for Canadian winters. Items we have include: coats, boots, hats, and sweaters.

Please come by the school at the following times to collect items for your children:

• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Thursday October 27th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Friday October 28th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Monday October 31st
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Tuesday November 1st

You are encouraged to bring a bag to bring home items for all of your children. After November 1st, we will donate any leftover items to community agencies that support families in need.

Thank you for spreading the news to all families within our community.

Tigrinya translation

ኣብ ሓጋይ ዚኽደን ክዳውንቲ እናሰፍሐ ኸደ

ነቲ ኣብ ቈራሪ ወርሓት እንኽደኖ ኽዳውንቲ ኣስፍሖ!

ኵሎም ተማሃሮና ንቘራሪ ወርሓት ካናዳ ብግቡእ ምእንቲ ኽዳለዉ ነቲ ማሕበረሰብ ክንውፍዮ እንደሊ ብዙሕ ኣብ ቈራሪ ወርሓት ዝዳሎ ነገራት ኣሎና። ገለ ኻብኡ ቐምሽ ሳእኒ ቆብዕ ከምኡውን ስረታት ኪጥቀስ ይኽእል እዩ።

ንደቅኻ ዚኸውን ነገራት ንምእካብ በጃኻ ኣብ ቲቤት ትምህርቲ መጻእኩም፦

8 45am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ሓሙስ 27 ጥቅምቲ
8 45am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ዓርቢ 28 ጥቅምቲ
8 45am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ሰኑይ 31 ጥቅምቲ
8 45am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ሰሉስ 1 ሕዳር
ንዅሎም ደቅኻ ኣቕሑ ሒዝካሎም ምእንቲ ኽትከይድ ቦርሳ ሒዝካ ምምጻእ ካባኻ ተተባቢዕካ ኢኻ። ድሕሪ 1 ሕዳር ንእተሸገሩ ስድራ ቤታት ንዚድግፋ ማሕበረሰብ ዚውፍያ ትካላት ዝተረፈ ነገራት ክንውፍየን ኢና ።

ነዚ ዜና እዚ ኣብ ማሕበረሰብና ንዘለዉ ዅሎም ስድራ ቤታት ስለ ዝነገርኩምልና አመስግነኩም ።

NO SCHOOL MONDAY OCTOBER 24th: PD Day!

Happy Sunday St. John’s Families!

Please remember Monday October 24th is a PD day. There is NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS!

Enjoy the beautiful weather today with your family, and an extra day at home on Monday!

Dear St. John’s Families,

The weather is turning colder by the day, and we want to make sure all our students have warm outdoor clothing to wear at school. We have many winter items that we would like to donate back to the community to ensure all our students are well prepared for Canadian winters. Items we have include: coats, boots, hats, and sweaters.

Please come by the school at the following times to collect items for your children:

• 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Tuesday October 18th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Wednesday October 19th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Thursday October 20th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Friday October 21st

We will hand out these items until the end of this week. You are encouraged to bring a bag to bring home items for all of your children. After this time, we will donate any leftover items to community agencies that support families in need.

Thank you for spreading the news to all families within our community.

Tigrinya translation

ኵነታት ኣየር እናቐዘፈ ይኸይድ ስለ ዘሎ ኵሎም ተመሃሮና ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ዚኽደንዎ ምዉቕ ክዳውንቲ ኣብ ግዳም ከም ዚኽደኑ ኽንገብር ንደሊ ኢና። ኵሎም ተማሃሮና ንቘራሪ ወርሓት ካናዳ ብግቡእ ምእንቲ ኽዳለዉ ነቲ ማሕበረሰብ ክንውፍዮ እንደሊ ብዙሕ ነገራት ኣሎና። ገለ ኻብኡ ቐምሽ ሳእኒ ቆብዕ ከምኡውን ስረታት ኪጥቀስ ይኽእል እዩ።
ንደቅኻ ዚኸውን ነገራት ንምእካብ በጃኻ ኣብ ቲቤት ትምህርቲ መጻእኩም፦

ሰሉስ 18 ጥቅምቲ ሰዓት 3 45 ምሸት – 4 15 ድ. ቐ.
8 45 am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ረቡዕ 19 ጥቅምቲ
8 45 am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ሓሙስ 20 ጥቅምቲ
8 45 am – 9 15 am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ዓርቢ 21 ጥቅምቲ
ነዚ ነገራት እዚ ኽሳዕ መወዳእታ እዛ ሰሙን እዚኣ ኽንህባ ኢና። ንዅሎም ደቅኻ ኣቕሑ ሒዝካሎም ምእንቲ ኽትከይድ ቦርሳ ሒዝካ ምምጻእ ካባኻ ተተባቢዕካ ኢኻ። ድሕሪኡ ንእተሸገሩ ስድራ ቤታት ንዚድግፋ ማሕበራዊ ትካላት ዝተረፈ ነገራት ክንውፍየን ኢና ።

ነዚ ዜና እዚ ኣብ ማሕበረሰብና ንዘለዉ ዅሎም ስድራ ቤታት ስለ ዝነገርኩምልና አመስግነኩም ።

Halloween is around the corner

October 31st (Halloween) is a day that many, but not all, children look forward to in Waterloo Region. In order to respect all cultural perspectives on this day we are inviting students and families to select from the following three options:

• dress in every day school appropriate attire for the entire school day
• dress in orange and black school appropriate attire for the entire school day
• dress in a school appropriate Halloween costume for the morning on Monday October 31st at school.

While we want students to have fun, please use the following guidelines when choosing an appropriate costume for school. If your child is not comfortable wearing a costume they are welcome to wear black and orange for the day.

If possible, send your child to school in a spare/used/older costume in the event it becomes damaged. Students should be wearing the costume over their regular clothes as we will only be wearing costumes for the morning ONLY; many children are not comfortable being in a costume all day long. Please send a change of clothes for your child if necessary.

Your child will be attending class, participating in physical education, going outside for recess breaks, and eating their snacks / lunch in their costume – they need to be able to move comfortably.

• All costumes should be school appropriate.
• Costumes need to be culturally relevant and appropriate. It is not acceptable to dress up as a person from another cultural background for Halloween
• Do not send any props (e.g. pitch forks, brooms, shovels, wands, etc.)
• No fake blood, fake wounds, or scary/ gory costumes will be allowed.

If costumes are inappropriate, the student will be asked to change or will be sent home.

The only mask your child can wear is a usual COVID face covering. Please do not add any makeup to your child’s face while they are at school.

Please do not send in any treats to be shared with peers. This is consistent with our policy of not sharing any food while at school. Students will have plenty of opportunity to collect treats in the community on Halloween. Thank you to everyone for ensuring that school continues to be a positive and safe space for all members of our community. Let’s continue to do the right thing even when it isn’t the popular or preferred thing.

Your understanding and cooperation are genuinely appreciated.

We need your help!

Late Arrivals

Thank you so much for your efforts to have your child arrive to school on time each day. Late arrivals are highly disruptive to the classroom environment so we greatly appreciate every effort to have your child at the school by 9:10am each day to ensure a smooth start for all learners. Research shows that developing positive school attendance habits contributes to greater student achievement.

IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION:

• all students who arrive to school after the 9:15am bell must report to the main doors of the school to be signed in
• teachers submit attendance electronically and cannot change this once it is submitted; therefore, we make all changes through the main office to provide an accurate account of each student’s attendance
• regardless of grade, or where the classroom is located, if a student is late to school they should enter through the main doors of the school where the morning supervisor will sign the student in and notify the teacher the student is coming to class late

PLEASE do everything possible to have your child arrive at school on time each day. We do appreciate that emergencies arise and there will be times that your child will be late due to unforeseen circumstances. In these instances, please have them dropped off at the main doors of the school. Thanks so much for your understanding and help to keep all our students safe upon arrival.

Parking Lots & Late Arrivals

We need your help to ease congestion at the beginning and the end of the day. The parking lot is not solely the school’s property, and therefore, we cannot shut down the parking lot. There are a lot of parents who are dropping off and picking up their children and we are thrilled that you are able to do this! However, we do need your help to make some of these procedures safer for your kids.

Please take notice of the following important reminders:

• Parking lots are for staff only. This is not meant to inconvenience you but rather to ensure the safety of all our students, including your own children, throughout the entire school day.
• Wherever possible, please have your child walk to and from school.
• Please make sure that you are NOT parking in the school/ church parking spaces. This area is very busy and staff have the right to leave safely at the end of the day. Your children should also not be walking between moving vehicles.
• PLEASE park safely in neighbouring areas around the school according to posted By-Law signs.  You may have to walk a little further, but THIS IS SAFER.
• Please respect City of Kitchener bylaws when parking on side streets.
• Do not drive through the parking areas to wait for and/ or pick up your children. This creates a very unsafe environment for many students.
• Please be extremely careful when walking in the bus loading zone at any time during drop off or pick up. This role modelling is very important for our children.

We appreciate your cooperation as we navigate challenges around the most efficient and safe arrival and dismissal procedures at school. These requests come with one purpose: to keep YOUR children safe. Thank you so much for doing your part to begin and end the day in a positive manner for both staff and students.

We need your help!

Dear St. John’s families,

Please see the attached memo from the Facilities Department of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board.

St. John – Ventilation Report Memo

Dear St. John’s Families,

The weather is turning colder by the day, and we want to make sure all our students have warm outdoor clothing to wear at school. We have many winter items that we would like to donate back to the community to ensure all our students are well prepared for Canadian winters. Items we have include: coats, boots, hats, and sweaters.

Please come by the school at the following times to collect items for your children:

• 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Tuesday October 18th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Wednesday October 19th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Thursday October 20th
• 8:45am – 9:15am OR 3:45pm – 4:15pm on Friday October 21st

We will hand out these items until the end of this week. You are encouraged to bring a bag to bring home items for all of your children. After this time, we will donate any leftover items to community agencies that support families in need.

Thank you for spreading the news to all families within our community.

Tigrinya translation

ኵነታት ኣየር እናቐዘፈ ይኸይድ ስለ ዘሎ ኵሎም ተመሃሮና ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ዚኽደንዎ ምዉቕ ክዳውንቲ ኣብ ግዳም ከም ዚኽደኑ ኽንገብር ንደሊ ኢና። ኵሎም ተማሃሮና ንቘራሪ ወርሓት ካናዳ ብግቡእ ምእንቲ ኽዳለዉ ነቲ ማሕበረሰብ ክንውፍዮ እንደሊ ብዙሕ ነገራት ኣሎና። ገለ ኻብኡ ቐምሽ ሳእኒ ቆብዕ ከምኡውን ስረታት ኪጥቀስ ይኽእል እዩ።
ንደቅኻ ዚኸውን ነገራት ንምእካብ በጃኻ ኣብ ቲቤት ትምህርቲ መጻእኩም፦

ሰሉስ 18 ጥቅምቲ ሰዓት 3 45 ምሸት – 4 15 ድ. ቐ.
8 45 am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ረቡዕ 19 ጥቅምቲ
8 45 am – 9 15am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ሓሙስ 20 ጥቅምቲ
8 45 am – 9 15 am OR 3 45 pm – 4 15 ምሸት ዓርቢ 21 ጥቅምቲ
ነዚ ነገራት እዚ ኽሳዕ መወዳእታ እዛ ሰሙን እዚኣ ኽንህባ ኢና። ንዅሎም ደቅኻ ኣቕሑ ሒዝካሎም ምእንቲ ኽትከይድ ቦርሳ ሒዝካ ምምጻእ ካባኻ ተተባቢዕካ ኢኻ። ድሕሪኡ ንእተሸገሩ ስድራ ቤታት ንዚድግፋ ማሕበራዊ ትካላት ዝተረፈ ነገራት ክንውፍየን ኢና ።

ነዚ ዜና እዚ ኣብ ማሕበረሰብና ንዘለዉ ዅሎም ስድራ ቤታት ስለ ዝነገርኩምልና አመስግነኩም ።

Dear St. John’s families,

Please see the attached information regarding OT service in schools this year. We are very excited about the new Partnering for Change (P4C) program in conjunction with KidsAbility. The information is available in a variety of languages.

Ot in Schools English

OT in Schools Tirgrinya

OT in Schools Arabic

OT in Schools Vietnamese

OT in Schools Spanish

Happy Thanksgiving to all our St. John’s Families!

We wish all our St. John’s families a blessed Thanksgiving. Remember: Monday October 10th is an extra day with family at home.

There is NO SCHOOL on Monday October 10th.

Hurricane Fiona – Eastern Canada Recovery Efforts