Monthly Archives: September 2023

CSAC: Catholic School Advisory Council meeting

Our first CSAC meeting for the 2023-24 school year will be held on:

• Monday October 2nd, 2023
• 6pm – 7:30pm
• in the school library

October 2 CSAC meeting agenda

All are welcome to attend! We hope to see you there.

St. John’s Meet the Teacher is TODAY!!

4:30pm – 6:00pm

Come and meet your child’s teacher in the classroom. This is an opportunity to see your child’s learning environment. Please note: this is NOT a parent teacher interview and teachers will not discuss individual concerns at this time. You will need to book a time to meet separately with the classroom teacher if you have individual concerns you would like to address.

Our amazing Admin Assistants, Ms. Sandha and Mrs. Mayer with be available to help with School Cash Online, introduce you to Lunch Box on School Cash Online (Pizza & Subway orders), sign up for NewsWire, and sign up for bus notifications.

Meet members from our Catholic School Advisory Council and see sample sizes for our school Spirit Wear orders which will be open until October 12th.

Tigrinya translation available with Segen

We hope to see many of our families today beginning at 4:30pm.

Hello Thunder Families!

Please see the information below from KidsAbility regarding the Partnering for Change program which will be active in schools across Waterloo Region again this year.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

During this school year, an Occupational Therapist (OT) from KidsAbility Centre for Child Development will once again be working with teachers and students in our school.

OTs are regulated health professionals who focus on improving activities of daily living. An OT will be in our school on a regular basis to support teachers in our classrooms, gym, and playground. This support is available to all classrooms.

OTs may visit your child’s classroom to observe. The OT may suggest universal (general) strategies to the classroom teachers that can be used by all students. This consultation and coaching might look at how to improve activities such as self-care skills (like dressing for recess), cutting with scissors, pencil grasp, printing, cursive writing, typing, ideas to help improve focus in the classroom (such as movement breaks), and participation in gym and on the playground.  Your teacher may share ideas from the OT for you to try at home. The type of OT universal support offered may vary and will depend on the needs of the classroom.

Some students may benefit from more support from the OT. This may include working with the OT one-on-one or in a group at school. If your child may benefit from this individual support, your teacher will contact you to provide more information. You may also contact the teacher at any time if you feel your child might benefit from the OT working with them.

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please contact your school Principal or your child’s teacher.

Translated letters have also been provided below:

Tigrinya

Spanish

Arabic

Punjabi

Vietnamese

French

Tuesday September 19th is Picture Day!

Families will receive a proof sheet with an online code to view the student’s images with lots of additional online ordering choices. Proofs will be sent to your school sorted by homeroom, approximately two weeks after photo day for distribution to the students.

All you need right now is your best smile!

Thunder Community,

Hello! Please ask a friend to help you translate this information. Thank You! 

ሰላም! በጃኻ ነዚ ሓበሬታ እዚ ንኽትትርጕሞ ኺሕግዘካ ንፈታዊኻ ሕተቶ ። የቐንየለይ!

Autumn is in the air!  Saturday September 23rd marks Autumnal Equinox, the official start of fall. We will be able to enjoy the fresh outdoor breeze and all the bright colours that will begin to surround us. The days are still hot but the nights are cooling off – perfect for a good night’s sleep so we can all learn throughout the day!

IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

We continue to have students bring nuts to school. PLEASE remind friends and families about the importance of the information below.

No NUTS Please (or Nut Substitutes)

All schools, including St. John’s, have students who could experience serious consequences if exposed to peanuts, nuts, or their by-products (e.g., peanut oil, peanut butter).  Depending on the child, the reaction could be life-threatening.  Merely smelling or touching a peanut product could cause an anaphylactic response or reaction resulting in a serious consequence.  For this reason, please do not send spreads to school made with nuts, the most popular being Nutella or peanut butter. We also request that you do not send peanut butter substitutes with your child(ren) or other look-a-like butter & substitutes. Because these products look and smell like real peanut butter, it puts our staff members in a difficult situation with determining whether a product could cause an anaphylactic reaction. Our policy (APH005) states that it is impossible to differentiate between these products and peanut butter; in fact, these products are almost identical in colour, consistency, smell and taste to peanut butter. Therefore, we request that parents not send their children to school with look-a-like peanut butter such as ‘WOWBUTTER’, ‘PEABUTTER’ and ‘SUNBUTTER’ in sandwiches.

Student Verification Forms: due Monday Sept. 18

Last week, student verification forms were sent home for parents to review. Please complete/update your child’s information as carefully and as quickly as possible and return the form to your child’s teacher in the envelope provided.  It is vitally important that we have up-to-date information on every child.

School Start-Up Forms: due Monday Sept. 18

All school start-up forms are processed through School Cash Online. There are several documents that require the input of information and there are a couple of read-only documents. Please log into your school cash online account to complete these forms for EACH child. You need to ensure that all forms, even the read-only ones, are put into your ‘cart’ prior to checkout and you should receive a ‘thank you’ message to know you have completed the forms successfully.

ALL back-to-school forms are due by Monday, September 18th.

If you require assistance with Tigrinya translation for the forms please make an appointment with Segen through the main office. Segen is available on Mondays 12pm – 4pm & Tuesdays 9am – 4pm.

Plan of Care Reminder (life-threatening conditions only)

If your child has one of the following life-threatening conditions (i.e., heart condition, asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes, epilepsy, a blood disorder) you should indicate this as part of your School Cash Online start-up forms. You will be contacted by the office if this is a new condition, and we will create a Plan of Care for your child. Parents of a child who has an anaphylactic condition, asthma, seizures, or diabetes are asked to be especially cautious in ensuring that school staff are aware of the student’s condition and provide all pertinent information should an emergency arise. We ask for two inhalers/epi-pens so that one is kept with the student and the second is kept at the office.

3 Pitch

Our Intermediate Boys’ & Girls’ 3-Pitch teams will competing Monday, September 18th in their tournament. Thank you to Coaches Mr. Sikto & Mrs. McLeod for volunteering during their lunch time to coach the teams! Have a great day and represent St. John’s well! Go Thunder Go!!!

Soccer

Our Junior co-ed soccer team will be competing Wednesday, September 20th in their tournament. Thank you to our Coaches Ms. Stephens & Mrs. Praught for volunteering during their lunch time to coach the teams! Go St. John’s! Most importantly – have fun!

School Picture Day 

SMILE! Our school picture day is scheduled for Tuesday, September 19th. Please make sure your child is on time for school today (and every day!).

Students will go outside for each recess and participate in gym on this day so please make sure they are dressed appropriately.

Bring your best smile!

FREE School Bags

We still have HUNDREDS of brand new school bags for students. If you would like a FREE school bag for your child please come to the main office during school hours.

We are grateful to Costco for this generous donation to our school community!

Bus Patrol Training 

Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region considers safety a top priority. Each September, training is provided for all bus patrollers. STSWR works in conjunction with Waterloo Region Police Services, City of Cambridge, City of Kitchener and City of Waterloo fire services, as well as St John Ambulance to emphasize the importance of making safety a top priority. This week, some of our students who ride the bus will be trained in bus evacuation procedures as well as how to be a bus patrol. This program is a wonderful leadership opportunity for our students.

Back to School ~ OPEN HOUSE

We invite you and your family to attend our St. John’s Open House on Tuesday, September 26th from 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm. Come into our school, take a tour of the building, see your child’s classroom, and meet the teachers! This is a quick drop in session for families. Please arrive before 5:30pm as teachers will be leaving the building at 6:00pm.

Terry Fox Run

This year, our school is proudly taking part in the annual Terry Fox School Walk to continue Terry’s dream of a world without cancer. Our Terry Fox Walk to raise awareness for cancer research will be held during the day of Friday, September 22nd. All students are encouraged to wear Red & White on this day!

This is why we are here!

Important Dates

September 26th – Open House 4:30pm – 6:00 pm

September 27th – Rowan’s Day…wear Purple today!

September 29th – Orange Shirt Day/ National Truth & Reconciliation day

October 2nd – Catholic School Advisory Council meeting at St. John’s CES

October 6th  – PA Day (no school for students)

October 9th – Thanksgiving (no school for students)

November 13th – PA Day (no school for students)

November 20th – Progress Reports go home

November 23rd – Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences (pm)

December 25th – Christmas Break Begins

January 8th – Back to School New Year 2024

January 19th – PA Day (no school for students)

February 15th – Term 1 Reports go home

February 19th – Family Day (no school for students)

March 8~15th – March Break (no school for students)

March 29th – Good Friday (no school for students)

April 1st – Easter Monday (no school for students)

April 19th – PA Day (no school for students)

May 20th – Victoria Day (no school for students)

May 31st – PA Day (no school for students)

June 25th- Term 2 Reports go home

June 27th- Last Day of School

June 28th – PA Day  (no school for students)

Hello Thunder Families!

What a great first week! It was wonderful to have the halls full of smiles and get ourselves back into routine. We look forward to having ALL of our Kindergarten students join us every day now too after their staggered entry last week.

This is why we are here!

We are so grateful to be part of a school team focused on developing the whole child — mind, body and spirit — through a commitment to high expectations, collaboration, and inclusivity for all. Students are at the heart of everything we do: they are the very reason we exist as a school system.

We have the privilege of educating our children in a Catholic school system; this is a truly awesome responsibility and one which we will not take for granted. We place great value on our three cornerstones of community– school, home, and church. As adults, we must teach, model, and live the Gospel values in all our actions. Students need to  experience and witness our faith, not only in Religion and Family Life classes, but in the day-to-day life of the school. Our Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations are central to all our conversations and planning at St. John’s.

Ontario Catholic School Graduate Expectations 

Each month, a different grade level will highlight one of the seven Catholic Graduate Expectations across the school community. Students provide examples of how we can emulate these qualities and live our lives like Jesus. We will continue to recognize and celebrate these qualities in our students through daily recognition of WWJD: What Would Jesus Do? at St. John’s Catholic Elementary School.

September: I am a collaborative contributor 

When we are team players, we know that ‘Together is Better’, and we will live our lives like Jesus.

Some of the guiding questions we will use this month are: 

• Am I a team player?
• Do I cooperate with others in all that I do?
• Do I value everyone’s work I respect and listen to others?
• Do I think of others before myself?
• Do I follow rules of fair play?
• Do I work hard in school so that I can build my community and make it a better place?

Source: https://iceont.ca/resources/ocsge/

Transferable Skill: Collaboration 

Transferable skills are the skills and attributes that students need in order to thrive in the modern world. Based on international research, the Ontario Ministry of Education has defined seven important categories of transferable skills – sometimes referred to as “competencies” – that will help students navigate the world of work and meet with success in the future.

During the month of September, we will focus on collaboration. Collaboration involves the interplay of the cognitive (thinking and reasoning), interpersonal, and intrapersonal competencies needed to work with others effectively and ethically. These skills deepen as they are applied, with increasing versatility, to co-construct knowledge, meaning, and content with others in diverse situations, both physical and virtual, that involve a variety of roles, groups, and perspectives.

Source: https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/transferable-skills/introduction

Fall Fire Drills

We will have our first drill this week.  The Ontario Fire Code mandates that total evacuation fire drills in schools shall be held three times in each of the fall and spring school terms. Everyone in the school needs to know how to get outside quickly and quietly, and the best way to learn is to practice. Fire drills help children and adults feel more comfortable with the noise, the activity and the process so everyone is able to respond in a calm, organized manner. Classroom teachers will prepare students for our drills in developmentally appropriate ways. It is important to practice fire drills at home, too.

REMINDERS: 

Medical Safety Reminders

Please update the Student Plan of Care if your child(ren) had one last year. Make the necessary changes and send it back to your child’s teacher.  Please note that the plan of care is for life-threatening conditions only.

School Bus Transportation

Information about your child’s bus route is available to students/parents on the student transportation website at www.stswr.ca . Students require an OEN to log in/create an account. Please follow the instructions for SUBSCRIPTIONS & INFORMATION FOR TRANSPORTATION

Parents/ guardians are responsible for checking this information online. Also, bus routes and stops change from year to year. It is very important that parents/guardians look for the most up to date transportation information online.

Please remember that all Kindergarten students must be met by a parent/guardian when transitioning from the bus.

Parking lots are for staff only

• The parking lots are for staff only.
• Thank you for respecting that staff need to have easy access to the school throughout the day.
• Please do not park in the school/ church lot unless you require a parking accommodation for accessibility.
• You are encouraged to park at Cherry Park OR walk to drop off/ pick up your child each day.
• Student safety is a significant priority. We cannot have moving traffic in the lots while students are arriving and departing school each day.
• The school parking lot will be blocked off during student arrival and dismissal times. Please plan accordingly.

Important Dates

September 19th – School Photo Day

September 22nd – Terry Fox day…wear Red & White today!

September 26th – Open House 4:30pm – 6:00 pm

September 27th – Rowan’s Day…wear Purple today!

September 29th – Orange Shirt Day/ National Truth & Reconciliation day

October 2nd – Catholic School Advisory Council meeting at St. John’s CES

October 6th  – PA Day (no school for students)

October 9th – Thanksgiving (no school for students)

November 13th – PA Day (no school for students)

November 20th – Progress Reports go home

November 23rd – Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences (pm)

December 25th – Christmas Break Begins

January 8th – Back to School New Year 2024

January 19th – PA Day (no school for students)

February 15th – Term 1 Reports go home

February 19th – Family Day (no school for students)

March 8~15th – March Break (no school for students)

March 29th – Good Friday (no school for students)

April 1st – Easter Monday (no school for students)

April 19th – PA Day (no school for students)

May 20th – Victoria Day (no school for students)

May 31st – PA Day (no school for students)

June 25th- Term 2 Reports go home

June 27th- Last Day of School

June 28th – PA Day  (no school for students)

We are excited to have our students back in the building this week, as we move past the long summer days and into a new and exciting academic year ahead!

Our school community will focus on building upon our sense of belonging and connection as the students return this week and throughout the year. We are dedicated to making our school culture one of mutual respect and inclusivity. As well, our staff will continue to prioritize high expectations on a daily basis to help each child reach their God given potential in all aspects of school life.

Each school year brings the opportunity to welcome new members, both students and staff, to our Thunder community. We are look forward to creating many new friendships this year.

We do have a new Vice Principal, Mr. Matt Figueiredo, joining our dedicated team of educators. Please see his introductory message below:

Hello St. John’s community!

I am honoured to be a part of this wonderful school for the 2023-24 school year. I had the pleasure of being an itinerant music teacher at St. John’s for 5 years in a row earlier in my tenure – I learned a lot working with seasoned teachers, new staff, passionate EAs, exciting ECEs, and more. I also remember the student body at St. John’s being vibrant and appreciative of the passion we exude in our learning environments. I have to imagine that has not changed a bit.

Throughout my career, I have learned the vital importance of active listening and fostering trust in our Catholic education system – we should always seek to understand and learn from one another. With your support and assistance, I look forward to helping our students achieve great things today and in the future.

All the best,

Mr. Figueiredo

Reminder, the first day of school for all Grade 1-8 students is Tuesday, September 5th.

Tuesday, September 5th is the first day of school for students in Grades 1-8. Students will be meeting their classroom teacher in their class lineups on the blacktop at 9:15 am at the back of the schoolyard. We kindly ask that parents and guardians stay outside the fenced in yard and do not wait with your child(ren) in the schoolyard. We have over 450 students and in order to keep all students safe we will have many staff that will greet you and support your children with where they need to go. All classes will be marked with a large pylon. We thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.

Kindergarten has a staggered entry. Please see the chart below. JK families: please follow the instructions provided by your child’s teacher on your Sept. 5th visit.

Yard Supervision

Staff members are in the schoolyard for yard duty beginning at 8:45 am. Please have your children arrive at the school after supervision begins in the morning.

Office Hours

The main office is open Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Our Admin Assistants are Ms. Ritu Sandha and Mrs. Stacey Mayer.

Student Verification Forms 

This week, student verification forms will be sent home for parents to review. Please complete/update your child’s information as carefully and as quickly as possible and return the form to your child’s teacher.  It is vitally important that we have up-to-date information on every child. Please return envelopes as well as we will reuse them for report cards.

School Start-Up Forms

All school start-up forms will be processed through School Cash Online. There are several documents that require the input of information and there are a couple of read-only documents. Please log into your school cash online account to complete these forms for EACH child. You need to ensure that all forms, even the read-only ones, are put into your ‘cart’ prior to checkout and you should receive a ‘thank you’ message to know you have completed the forms successfully. Please make sure you have completed all back-to-school forms by Monday, September 18th. This start-up information is very important, and we appreciate you taking the time to complete this as soon as possible   https://wcdsb.schoolcashonline.com/

Safe Arrival Program (Attendance)

Each school in Waterloo Catholic DSB has a safe arrival program to ensure that all students are accounted for each day. Parents/Guardians are required to notify the school as soon as possible if a student will be absent. An answering machine is available outside of school hours too.

Absent or Late: Please phone the school at 519-579-0890 and press 1 to leave a message providing:

• child’s name
• teacher’s name
• grade
• day(s) absent and reason for absence or late (*if ill a description of ALL the symptoms they are experiencing.)

It is a legal requirement for schools to verify the whereabouts of elementary children each morning and each afternoon. If the school does not know the reason for your child’s absence, a phone call will be made to you.  Please help us limit these calls by notifying us of your child’s absence.  The safe arrival program exists to ensure your child’s safety. If we cannot reach you we will call down the list of emergency contacts you have provided to the school. Thank you for calling us to report an absence before we need to call you/ your contacts.

* It is important for the parent/guardian to contact the school when their child will be late for class.  When arriving late for class, the student must buzz at the front door so office staff can allow entrance.  School staff will consider a student late for class in the morning should the student not enter the school with their class in the morning.  Having your child(ren) arrive on time is encouraged and appreciated.

Leaving Early: If your child needs to leave early one day please communicate this to your child’s teacher in their communication book, agenda, or by email before the school day begins. This helps the child and the teacher be prepared. When you arrive at the school you can buzz at the front office and we will call your child down for you. Please leave enough time if you have an appointment as our office can be busy depending on the time of day. Notifying your child’s teacher in writing will help the process. Thank you.

Plan of Care Reminder (life-threatening conditions only)

If your child has one of the following life-threatening conditions (i.e., heart condition, asthma, anaphylaxis, diabetes, epilepsy, a blood disorder) you should indicate this as part of your School Cash Online start-up forms. You will be contacted by the office if this is a new condition, and we will create a Plan of Care for your child. Parents of a child who has an anaphylactic condition, asthma, seizures, or diabetes are asked to be especially cautious in ensuring that school staff are aware of the student’s condition and provide all pertinent information should an emergency arise. We ask for two inhalers/epi-pens so that one is kept with the student and the second is kept at the office.

If your child had a Plan of Care last year, you will receive a copy on the first day of school. Please read this information carefully and alert us if any information changes throughout the year. If your child requires an inhaler, epi-pen, or other life-saving medication please ensure it arrives at the school with your child on the first day. If your child requires oral medication as part of a life-threatening condition we will require you to complete additional paperwork in order to administer this at school.

No NUTS Please (or Nut Substitutes)

All schools, including St. John’s, have students who could experience serious consequences if exposed to peanuts, nuts, or their by-products (e.g., peanut oil, peanut butter).  Depending on the child, the reaction could be life-threatening.  Merely smelling or touching a peanut product could cause an anaphylactic response or reaction resulting in a serious consequence.  For this reason, please do not send spreads to school made with nuts, the most popular being Nutella or peanut butter. We also request that you do not send peanut butter substitutes with your child(ren) or other look-a-like butter & substitutes. Because these products look and smell like real peanut butter, it puts our staff members in a difficult situation with determining whether a product could cause an anaphylactic reaction. Our policy (APH005) states that it is impossible to differentiate between these products and peanut butter; in fact, these products are almost identical in colour, consistency, smell and taste to peanut butter. Therefore, we request that parents not send their children to school with look-a-like peanut butter such as ‘WOWBUTTER’, ‘PEABUTTER’ and ‘SUNBUTTER’ in sandwiches.

Lunch Days Are Back this year

We are happy to share that we will be using the Lunchbox program at St. John’s for the 2023/2024 school year! Lunchbox by SchoolCash Online will be available later this month. Stay tuned for more information!

Save the Date: Back to School ~ OPEN HOUSE 

We invite you and your family to attend our St. John’s Open House on Tuesday, September 26th from 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm. Come into our school, take a tour of the building, see your child’s classroom, and meet the teachers!

Save the Date: School Picture Day 

SMILE! Our school picture day is scheduled for Tuesday, September 19th with Pegasus School Images.

CSAC: Catholic School Advisory Council

St. John’s Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC) is a group of volunteer parents, guardians, community members, teachers, and administrators committed to making our school a great place to learn and grow! The Council sees family involvement as one of its main priorities and is committed to welcoming parents into the Thunder community by increasing communication, removing barriers, and creating opportunities to get involved! Meetings are in person from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. and dates are posted on our school website calendar. The initial meeting of the 2023/2024 council will be held on Monday October 2nd, 2023  from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m in our Learning Commons.  If you would like to be a regularly participating member of the advisory council please complete the CSAC Member Form electronically that was posted in school cash online if you are interested in participating or nominating.

Waterloo Catholic District School Board Communication Guide 

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) has established communication guidelines for parents and staff.  Parents are requested to follow these steps to ensure prompt and efficient resolution to their questions or possible concerns.

Step #1: Parents should speak with the teacher/staff member.  Issue resolved.  If the issue is not resolved, proceed to Step #2.

Step #2: Speak with the principal.  If you have not spoken with the teacher/staff member directly, the principal will ask you to do so.  Should you not wish to do this, the principal will involve the teacher/staff member in a three-way discussion.  The principal may request, at any time in the process, that you put your concerns in writing.  The principal may involve, at any time in the process, others who may be helpful in resolving the issue.

Role of the Trustee: Parents may contact the trustee at any time.  The trustee will direct the parent to follow the process outlined above.

Role of the School Council:   The St. John’s Catholic School Advisory Council is NOT a forum to discuss parent-teacher/staff member-student issues.  If these matters are brought to any Catholic School Council member or any Council meeting, the concern will be referred immediately to the principal.

Dress Code

St. John’s community is one where we strive to nurture a respectful and inclusive environment.  Our school Spirit Day is every Thursday and we encourage everyone to show their school spirit by wearing a St. John’s school shirt or our school colours of purple & gold. We do not have school uniforms but the following guidelines will help parents and students when choosing clothing that will contribute to a positive school environment:

• Students need to be comfortable to learn
• Students may express their individuality while remaining respectful
• Students will exemplify inclusivity by avoiding clothing that promotes discrimination, hate, violence, illegal substances and/or profanity

*We ask that our younger students have a change of clothing in case of an accident. All students will need a pair of indoor shoes as well that can also be used for active participation in gym.

Cell Phones at School: Not Recommended 

 We are strongly requesting that cell phones & ear pods are NOT brought to school. Should a student NEED to bring a cell phone it should be turned off during the day and not easily accessible to the student. At no time will a student keep their cell phone in their desk. The only time cell phones are permitted to be used during the school day is with explicit teacher permission and direct supervision. We have Chromebook devices for instructional purposes so cell phones are not needed. We have phones in the office and all classrooms; any communication with students during the day should go through a teacher or the office. Should a student bring a cell phone and/or ear pods to school and they are using them without permission they will be directed to the office and a call home will follow, as well. Thank you for supporting our learning environments.

Students Transported To/From School by Bus:

We are a growing school and we have 4 large bus routes in addition to multiple special transportation arrangements for our school community. Our bus loading and unloading zone is off limits to all other vehicles during school drop-off and pick-up times to ensure student safety. The bus loading zone is supervised by school staff.

If you need to confirm your child’s bussing please login into your account at  www.stswr.ca

If you no longer wish your child(ren) to ride the bus, or you would like to begin riding again please fill out the form online: https://www.stswr.ca/policies/information-for-parents-students/do-not-ride/

As we begin the school year, we would like to remind all students eligible for bus transportation to/from school and their parents of the following:

• When traveling to school, students should be at their designated pick-up location five minutes before the scheduled arrival of the school bus.
• The student and family should develop a contingency plan should the child miss the school bus when traveling to school (e.g. return home; walk to a neighbor’s home; walk to school, etc.)
• When departing school, should any student miss their bus, that child should immediately go to the school staff for assistance and they should not walk home.
• Only students eligible to ride a school bus will be allowed to do so when riding to/from school.  Those who are not eligible to ride a bus will not be permitted.  If a child is not eligible and they wish to visit the home of a classmate, it will be the responsibility of the families to make alternate transportation arrangements.
• Transported students will only be allowed to ride their designated bus to/from school.  A pupil will not be permitted to ride another bus for which they are not eligible.
• There will be bus meetings for all students riding bus transportation early in the school year.  At the meeting, expectations will be reviewed.

#thisiswhywearehere 

The World Needs YOU to Make a Difference!

September 5th – First Day of School 2023/2024 (grade 1-8 students only)

September 19th – School Photo Day

September 22nd – Terry Fox day…wear Red & White today!

September 26th – Open House 4:30pm – 6:00 pm

September 27th – Rowan’s Day…wear Purple today!

September 29th – Orange Shirt Day/ National Truth & Reconciliation day

October 6th  – PA Day (no school for students)

October 9th – Thanksgiving (no school for students)

November 13th – PA Day (no school for students)

November 20th – Progress Reports go home

November 23rd – Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences (pm)

December 25th – Christmas Break Begins

January 8th – Back to School New Year 2024

January 19th – PA Day (no school for students)

February 15th – Term 1 Reports go home

February 19th – Family Day (no school for students)

March 8~15th – March Break (no school for students)

March 29th – Good Friday (no school for students)

April 1st – Easter Monday (no school for students)

April 19th – PA Day (no school for students)

May 20th – Victoria Day (no school for students)

May 31st – PA Day (no school for students)

June 25th- Term 2 Reports go home

June 27th- Last Day of School

June 28th – PA Day  (no school for students)

St. John’s Thunder Families…

Please share this message with other families. Classroom assignments for September 2023 are now public. ALL families were sent this information to the email address they provided to the school. If a family has not received this information they need to speak to the Main Office. We can only communicate via updated information shared from families.

Our current classroom assignments are listed below:

2023-24 Teaching Assignments

These teaching assignments are accurate as of September 1^st end of day. Our current reality is such that many new registrations and demits continue to occur on an hourly basis. We anticipate a number of changes to our classroom assignments over the next few weeks of school start up. This means our current classroom assignments across all grades are likely to change by the middle of September.

Thank you for your continued patience and flexibility. Should classroom assignment changes be required, we will make these changes with the best interests of ALL students involved. We will not entertain individual requests for classroom changes.

Thank you so much for respecting the professional decisions of the administrative team at St. John’s.

We hope you enjoy the last long weekend of the summer and we look forward to seeing everyone next week!

St. John’s Families…

We have HUNDREDS of brand new school bags for students. If you would like a FREE school bag for your child please come by the school today, Friday September 1st, before 4pm. We will continue to hand out school bags next week, as well.

We are very grateful to Costco for providing us with these bags for students.

Important Reminder: you do not need to purchase any school supplies for your child. We have everything they need to use in the classroom.

Please call the school if you have any other questions! We look forward to seeing you next week!