Monthly Archives: January 2023

Kindergarten Registration NOW OPEN!

The online registration portal for Kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school is now open!

• Children born in 2019 are eligible for Year 1 of The Kindergarten Program (Junior Kindergarten)
• Children born in 2018 are eligible for Year 2 of The Kindergarten Program (Senior Kindergarten).
• *Children currently enrolled in Year 1 (JK) do not need to register for Year 2 (SK).

Register ONLINE!

For more information please visit: The Kindergarten Program-WCDSB

Welcome-to-Kindergarten-Immunization-Records-Information-for-Parents-2023

Mark your Calendars!

February 17th ~ Term 1 Report Card Distribution

February 20th ~ Family Day

February 22nd ~  Ash Wednesday

March 13th ~ Week of March Break

March 31st ~ P.A. Day

April 7th ~ Good Friday

April 10th ~ Easter Monday

April 21st ~ P.A. Day

May 1st ~ Catholic Education Week

May 22nd ~ Victoria Day

June 2nd ~ P.A. Day

June 27th ~ Term 2 Report Card Distribution

June 29th ~ Last Day of School 2022/2023

All Student transportation is cancelled, and all schools are open

• Due to the current road conditions, ALL SCHOOL BUSES, TAXIS, AND SPECIAL EDUCATION ROUTES operated by the Waterloo Catholic District School Board and Waterloo Region District School Board are cancelled.
• All Public and Catholic Schools are OPEN.
• All Extended Day Childcare Programs are OPEN.
• St. Louis online, daytime, and evening classes are open at all locations.”

ኵሉ መጓዓዝያ ተመሃሮ ተሰረዘ ኵሉ ኣብያተ-ትምህርቲ ድማ ተኸፍተ
ብምኽንያት እዚ ሕጂ ዘሎ ዅነታት መገድታት ብቦርድ ኣውራጃ ካቶሊክ ዋተርሉ ከምኡውን ብቦርድ ኣውራጃ ኣውራጃ ዋተርሉ ዚንቀሳቐስ ኵሉ ናይ ቤት ትምህርቲ ኣውቶቡሳት ታክሲከምኡውን ፍሉይ ትምህርቲ ዚግበረሉ መገድታት ተሰረዘ ።
ኵሉ ህዝባዊ ኣብያተ – ትምህርትን ካቶሊክን ክፉት እዩ ።
ኵሉ እቲ ንንውሕ ዝበለ መዓልቲ ዚግበር ክንክን ቈልዑ ኽፉት እዩ ።
ኣብ ኵሉ ቦታታት ብኢንተርነትን ብመዓልትን ምሸትን ኣብ ሰይንት ሉዊስ ትምህርቲ ይወሃብ እዩ።”
ንደቅኻ ናብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ብማኪና ትወስዶም እንተ ዄንካ ሰዓት 3 45 ድ. ቐ.

Due to the bus cancellations today, pizza will not be delivered to St. John’s. Please send a lunch with your child today if they are attending school.

Pizza will be delivered to school on Friday January 27th.

ሎሚ ፒሳ የልቦን

ሎሚ እታ ኣውቶቡስ ስለ እተሰረተት ፒሳ ናብ ሰይንት ጆን ኣይከይድን እዩ ። ሎሚ ምስ ውሉድካ ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ እንተ ተማሂሮም በጃኻ ምሳሕ ስደደሉ ።

ፒሳ ዓርቢ 27 ጥሪ ናብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ኺውሃብ እዩ።

Wednesday January 25th

Due to deteriorating weather conditions, all St. Louis Adult Learning and Continuing Education programs scheduled for this evening are cancelled.

Additionally, all Community Use of Schools permits are cancelled as are all tutoring programs and athletic events.

The girls’ volleyball game at St. John’s has been postponed.

St. John’s Thunder Community,

While students had a shorter week due to the PD day on Friday, it was still another busy week full of energy throughout the school. Congratulations to our athletic teams as they continue their league play this week.

In other great news, our school website calendar is working. You can view school wide events from our main page, you can view ‘CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS‘ of upcoming events.

Please do not ENTER School Parking Lot 

A reminder that our school parking lot is closed to parents and visitors during pick up & drop off every day. If you must drop off or pick up your child with a vehicle please park on the side streets or at Cherry Park and walk to the school. The parking lot is available only for staff parking, bus/taxi drop-offs, and shared with St. John’s church. We would love to have the help of parent volunteers to keep the parking lot closed during pick up and drop off times. Thank you for helping to ensure the safety of all of our students.

Winter Weather

As is often the case in Southern Ontario, the weather is very unpredictable. Looking ahead it does look like we have some more snow in the forecast! Please ensure that your children are dressed appropriately for the weather. Our students LOVE playing in the snow when we have it and you can help them enjoy it more by making sure they have extra clothing to stay warm including boots, snow pants, scarves, mittens, and hats. It would be helpful for students to keep an extra pair of dry mittens and socks in their backpacks as well. As per our Board’s policy, when the temperature is between -20°C and -27°C students will not be outside longer than 15 minutes.  When temperatures are colder than -27°C, students remain inside.

How are you feeling?  

Anyone who is feeling sick or has any symptoms of illness, including those not listed in this screening tool, should stay home. It is also strongly encouraged that all individuals wear a mask in indoor public settings. Thank you in advance for your continued supportive efforts in keeping sick children at home to help stop the spread of viruses. We kindly remind parents that we are still using the Ontario School Screening.  https://www.ontario.ca/school-screening/

Other Information: 

NEW Multi-Year Strategic Plan

Our WCDSB 2022-2025 Strategic Plan has been released and it is #WCDSBAwesome!! Our 186-year tradition of being Heart of the Community — providing Quality, Inclusive, Faith-Based education for all — continues! #WCDSBAwaken https://www.wcdsb.ca/mysp/

WCDSB French Immersion Lottery

Parents and Guardians with students in SK ~ it is time to consider whether the French Immersion program is of interest to your family! French Immersion is an optional program that starts in Grade 1. Application is done through a lottery which IS OPEN NOW and closes February 5th.

*Please note: French Immersion is NOT offered at St. John’s but rather other neighbouring Catholic Elementary schools.

Please click here for more information on our WCDSB website.

French Immersion Information

WCDSB Grade 7 students: Do you want to have an incredible international experience with other students from around the region? Would you like to learn Spanish, travel to Spain, and make new friends? We are once again offering students who are currently in Grade 7 the opportunity to be a part of the 2023-24 Grade 8 Spanish Exchange. If you would like to learn more, plan to come to one of our Information Sessions on February 1^st or 2^nd. Please see the attached letters for more information.

Date: Thursday, February 2, 2023
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Location: Resurrection CSS, 455 University Avenue West, Kitchener
Room: Lecture Hall, room 100

Gr 8 Spanish Exchange Parent Letter 2023-24

Kens intro letter with QR codes_WCDSB 2023-24

Reminders Again: 

Kindergarten Registration NOW OPEN!

The online registration portal for Kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school is now open!

• Children born in 2019 are eligible for Year 1 of The Kindergarten Program (Junior Kindergarten)
• Children born in 2018 are eligible for Year 2 of The Kindergarten Program (Senior Kindergarten). *Children currently enrolled in Year 1 (JK) do not need to register for Year 2 (SK).

Register ONLINE!

For more information please visit: The Kindergarten Program-WCDSB

Mark your Calendars!

February 17th ~ Term 1 Report Card Distribution

February 20th ~ Family Day

February 22nd ~  Ash Wednesday

March 13th ~ Week of March Break

March 31st ~ P.A. Day

April 7th ~ Good Friday

April 10th ~ Easter Monday

April 21st ~ P.A. Day

May 1st ~ Catholic Education Week

May 22nd ~ Victoria Day

June 2nd ~ P.A. Day

June 27th ~ Term 2 Report Card Distribution

June 29th ~ Last Day of School 2022/2023

No School Friday January 20th

This is a Professional Activity day for elementary teachers to work on Term 1 Report Cards. There is no school for students. Please note the Main Office will be closed, as well. Our Admin Assistants are involved in training. The front door and the phones will not be answered but you are welcome to leave a message which will be returned on Monday January 23rd when the school is open again.

Have a great weekend!

ዓርቢ 20 ጥሪ ቤት ትምህርቲ የልቦን

እዛ መዓልቲ እዚኣ መባእታዊ መምህራን ኣብ ናይ 1 ሪፖርት ካርድታት ዝሰርሑላ መዓልቲ ኢያ ። ንተመሃሮ ዚኸውን ቤት ትምህርቲ የልቦን ። እቲ ቐንዲ ቤት ጽሕፈት እውን ከም ዚዕጾ ኣስተብህል ። ሓጋዚታት ኣመሓዳሪና ኣብ ስልጠና ይካፈሉ እዮም ። እቲ ማዕጾን ተሌፎንን ኣይኪምለስን እዩ እንተዀነ ግን ሰኑይ 23 ጥሪ እቲ ቤት ትምህርቲ ምስ ተኸፍተ ዚምለስ መልእኽቲ ኽትገድፍ ትኽእል ኢኻ።

ኣብ ቀዳመ-ሰናብቲ ባህ ዜብል ግዜ ኣሕልፍ!

We hope the holiday and the new year offered everyone the gift of time with family and friends. We are excited to see everyone this week! A reminder that we do spend time outside for learning and recess multiple times each day. We keep an eye on temperature and wind, and we love it when the sun shines. Please remember to send your children with warm layers, winter boots, extra gloves and extra socks (these can get quite wet).

We also kindly remind parents that we are still using the Ontario School Screening.  https://www.ontario.ca/school-screening/

Anyone who is feeling sick or has any symptoms of illness, including those not listed in this screening tool, should stay home. It is also strongly encouraged that all individuals wear a mask in indoor public settings. Thank you in advance for your continued supportive efforts in keeping sick children at home to help stop the spread of viruses.

We continue to pray for good health for all our families for 2023! 

A look ahead to this week: 

Monday

• Welcome Back! Please remember to ensure you pack indoor shoes & reusable water bottle. 
• Intermediate Homework Club at Lunch ~ did you know your Grade 7 or 8 child has access to a FREE homework club at lunch every day?

Tuesday

• Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectation: via Morning Announcements
• Intermediate (Grade 7 & 8) Homework Club at Lunch

Wednesday

• Intermediate (Grade 7 & 8) Homework Club at Lunch

Thursday

• Thunder Thursday! ~ wear your St. John’s Spirit Wear.
• Pizza Day ~ orders must be placed in advance. Contact the main office for information
• Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectation: via Morning Announcements
• Intermediate (Grade 7 & 8) Homework Club at Lunch

Friday

• Intermediate (Grade 7 & 8) Homework Club at Lunch

Other Information: 

Staffing Updates

The St. John’s community has been blessed to have Ms. Diane Miehm share her gifts and talents with us for many years. As parents of Kindergarten children, you know first-hand of her genuine love for teaching and wonderful creativity with our earliest learners. Her classroom has always been a dynamic space where children could explore, create, imagine, and grow academically and socially. After 32 years in education, Ms. Miehm has announced her retirement. Thank you, Ms. Miehm, for all you have contributed to education. We have been blessed to have you as a teacher in our community and you will be missed. Congratulations on your retirement!

Mrs. Rebecca Forbes has been working alongside Ms. Miehm as an Early Childhood Educator since September. We wish her all the best as she begins her maternity leave. We are so grateful to have had Mrs. Forbes join us this fall and share her passion for early childhood education. We will miss her and wish her all the best.

We welcome Ms. Maria Sousa-Rovers as the new Kindergarten teacher (until March Break), and Ms. Nicole Nantel as the Early Childhood Educator who will be covering in this classroom. We look forward to working with both of you at St. John’s!

Ms. Rebecca Rossiter has been with us since September 2022 as our Child & Youth Care Worker. She has moved to St. Margaret CES in Cambridge. We have appreciated all her support and hard work with our students and wish her all the best! Ms. Chastity MacWhirter will be joining us in this role and will be a very welcome addition to St. John’s.

Ms. Shannon Patte has been supporting our Multilingual Learners at St. John’s this year. Due to the overwhelming number of newcomer registrants across Waterloo Catholic, Ms. Patte has been moved to a number of new schools. We have been so appreciative of her kind and compassionate support at St. John’s and wish her all the best!

Mr. Marek Rogalski will be returning to his Grade 6 classroom in the new year. We are thrilled to have him back!

Mrs. Daryl Pardy is returning to her Grade 5 classroom. Welcome back Mrs. Pardy!

We also have Ms. Charity Konrath, Mr. Johnson Baby and Ms. Archi Chhabra working with us in the new year as Educational Assistants. Welcome to St. John’s!

Volunteers Welcome!

We are very excited to welcome volunteers back into our schools this year. There are a variety of opportunities depending on the time you have available. In particular, we are looking for the following help during the school day:

• Pizza day on Thursdays 11:30am – 1:00pm
• washing N4L bins on Friday afternoons 3:00pm – 3:45pm
• Strong Start reading program for early learners (flexible days/ times)
• student clubs at lunch in the Learning Commons (e.g., board games, reading club, robotics, etc.) Monday – Friday 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Volunteering at the school is a great way to build relationships within our community. All volunteers working with children will need to complete a school screening package and a police record check.

There are also opportunities to join our Catholic School Advisory Council as a community or parish representative. This commitment includes attendance at our meetings which take place from 6pm – 7:30pm. There are three remaining meetings for this school year.

Please contact the school at 519-579-0890 for more details about any of these volunteer opportunities.

Kindergarten Registration NOW OPEN!

The online registration portal for Kindergarten registration for the 2023-2024 school is now open!

• Children born in 2019 are eligible for Year 1 of The Kindergarten Program (Junior Kindergarten)
• Children born in 2018 are eligible for Year 2 of The Kindergarten Program (Senior Kindergarten).

*Children currently enrolled in Year 1 (JK) do not need to register for Year 2 (SK).

Register ONLINE!

For more information please visit: The Kindergarten Program-WCDSB

January 20th ~ P.A. Day (no school for students)

February 17th ~ Term 1 Report Card & Term 2 IEP Distribution

February 20th ~ Family Day (no school)

February 22nd ~ Ash Wednesday

March 13^th – 17^th ~ Week of March Break (no school)

March 31st ~ P.A. Day (no school for students)

April 7th ~ Good Friday (no school)

April 10th ~ Easter Monday (no school)

April 21st ~ P.A. Day (no school for students)

May 1^st – 5^th ~ Catholic Education Week

May 22nd ~ Victoria Day (no school)

June 2nd ~ P.A. Day (no school for students)

June 27th ~ Term 2 Report Card Distribution

June 29th ~ Last Day of School 2022/2023