Morning Glory Public School

(705) 437-1537

Principal: Liz Davis

V-principal: Terry Cariglia-Bull www.morningglory.ps.yrdsb.ca

Bus Routes Hotline

1-877-330-3001 or

www.schoolbuscity.com September

S U N M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I S A T

1 2 3

4 5

Labour Day

6

First Day of School

7 8 9 10

11 12

Breakfast Club

starts

13 14 15 16

Covenant House

Int. Presentation

17

18 19

20 21 22

Mathletes

Book Fair Starts

23

School Dance

7-9:30pm

Gr.’s 4-8

24

25 26

Compliance Day

Safety Week

27

Grade 6, 7 & 8 trip

to Fairglen

28

FDK Apple Orchard

Int. 3-Pitch

Meet the Staff

BBQ

29

FDK Apple Orchard

Terry Fox Run

30

Book Fair Ends

Morning Glory Public School

(705) 437-1537

Principal: Liz Davis

V-principal: Terry Cariglia-Bull www.morningglory.ps.yrdsb.ca

Bus Routes Hotline

1-877-330-3001 or

www.schoolbuscity.com October

S U N M O N T U E W E D T H U F R I S A T

1

2 3 4 5 6

Area Cross Country

7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19

Regional Cross

Country at Bruce’s

Mill

8:30-3:30

20 21 22

23 24

Immunization’s

HEP B & HPV

25 26

Dental Screening

Author Visit

27

Skills Canada Visits

28

PA Day

Halloween Dance

7-9:30pm

29

30 31

Halloween

What’s the story Morning glory?

Morning Glory Public School

29478 Highway 48,

Pefferlaw Ontario, L0E 1N0

(705) 437-1537

www.morningglory.ps.yrdsb.ca

Principal: Ms. Elizabeth Davis Vice-Principal: Ms. Cariglia-Bull

Superintendent: Ms. Dianne Hawkins North Community Education Centre 130 Carlson Drive, Newmarket (905) 895-5155

Trustee: Mrs. Nancy Elgie 905-476-4184

School Calendar 1 - 3

School News 4– 9

IN THIS ISSUE

September’s Character

Trait Is

Respect

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Thanksgiving Day Monday, October 10, 2016 Christmas/Winter Break Monday, December 26, 2016 to Friday, January 6, 2017 Family Day Monday, February 20, 2017 Mid-Winter Break Monday, March 13 to Friday, March 17, 2017 Good Friday Friday, April 14, 2017 Easter Monday Monday, April 17, 2017 Victoria Day Monday, May 22, 2017

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY DAYS

Monday, September 26 Friday, October 28

Friday, November 25 Friday, January 20

Friday, February 3 Friday, June 2 Friday, June 30

September 6 First Day of Classes. Welcome Back!

September 16 Covenant House Before You Run Int. Presentation

September 19 Jericho Starts

September 22 Mathletes

September 22-30 Book Fair

September 23 Welcome Back School Dance 7-9:30 pm Gr.’s 4-8

September 26 Compliance Day

September 27 Grade 6, 7 & 8 trip to Fairglen

September 26-30 Safety Week

September 28 Intermediate 3-Pitch

September 28 Meet the Staff BBQ

September 28 Apple Orchard Trip for Ms. Stewart & Mrs. Croutch’s

September 29 Apple Orchard Trip for Mrs. Young’s Class

September 29 Terry Fox Run

October 6 Area Cross Country

October 19 Regional Cross Country at Bruce’s Mill 8:30-3:30

October 24 Immunization’s - HEP B Grade 7’s & HPV Grade 8 girls

October 26 Dental Screening - Grade’s JK, SK, 2, 4, 6 & 8

October 26 Ruth Ohi Author Visit’s - Grade’s JK-3

October 27 Skills Canada Visits

October 28 PA Day

October 28 Halloween Dance 7-9:30pm Grade’s 4-8

Page 4

School Council A reminder to all parents that School Council nomination forms will be distributed during the first week back. They are included in the ‘Information Packages’ being sent home during the first week of school. Being a member of the School Council is a great way to become involved in the school and community. If you are inter-ested, please complete the nomination form and return it to the school office by Friday, September 16 2016. You will receive a confirmation from the office of the receipt of your application. Elections, if necessary, will take place on the eve-ning of our first School Council meeting; Monday, October 3rd from 7-8:30 p.m.in the Library. Please join us!

Meet-the-Staff BBQ Our traditional evening ‘Meet the Staff BBQ’ will take place on Wednesday September 28th from 5-7 p.m. Please read agendas, newsletters and or flyers for additional information.

Agendas At the beginning of the school year we will be selling school agendas for grade 1-8 students. The agendas cost $5.00 each (non-profit item). Please send in the money to your child’s teacher as soon as possible. Agendas are a necessary tool for students to use in order to organize the school information shared by the teacher. Using an agenda helps your child to learn organizational skills (one of the learning skills on the report card). Agendas also teach students to be responsible for the school’s expectations (like homework).

Message From The Front Office Welcome back to all of our returning families and a special welcome to our new families! We look forward to continuing to get to know the students and families in our community. The staff are com-mitted to working together to ensure that each child and family is engaged in education, feels safe when they are here and takes pride in our school. We are committed to academic excellence and support the well-being of all students. As a school community we are working together to evolve and grow to meet the needs of learners in the 21st century. Each school in York Region has a School Im-provement Plan (SIP) in which we set goals to meet the needs of our students. Within our SIP we are currently focusing on how to enhance the students’ knowledge and understanding of skills through authentic problem solving; especially in the area of mathematics. We also work through an inquiry lens which means we encourage students to experiment with various methods before deciding on how to best approach a problem whether it is in math, science, literacy, music and so on. As important as all these things are; the essence

of a school is the energy and enthusiasm that children reveal when they feel safe, challenged and supported and it is the passion and compassion of caring adults (parents and staff) that provide this support. As we explore the theme "Who are we?" as a school community of learners this year, we encourage you to contact the office should you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to our continued partnership and thank you for sup-porting your child(ren) everyday! Liz Davis Terry Cariglia-Bull Dale Andrews Ashley Underwood Principal Vice Principal Office Team Office Team

Page 5

VISITORS/VOLUNTEERS All visitors/volunteers to the school MUST report to the main office upon their arrival, sign in and wear an identification badge. Signs are posted on all doors reminding visitors to report to the Office. Parents, volunteers, guests must all report to the office. Every adult is potentially a stranger to some children at school and every adult who enters the building MUST report to the office. Adults routinely bring, drop off or pick up their child(ren) from school. We would please ask parents/guardians, caregivers, etc. to drop off and wait for the students outside of the building. Unidentified adults in the building will draw attention and concern from students and staff. We thank you for your co-operation with this safety precaution.

HOME SAFETY PLAN A Home Safety Plan ensures that your child knows exactly what to do after school. You as a family have discussed expectations. Your child knows how and when to go home, and with whom to go home. If a student misses a bus, or a ride is overdue, they should report to the office. The school will contact parents to inform them of the situation and supervise the student until parents can make alternate arrangements to get them home safely. A Home Safety Plan ensures that the home and school work together for student safety. A student should never have to find his/her own way home or accept a ride with anyone not included in your Home Safety Plan.

STUDENT ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY We continue to try to reduce the number of students who arrive late or are absent from school. The value of being in attendance and punctual is a very important life skill, which we are endeavoring to teach our children.

INFORMATION, ACCESS AND PRIVACY Please note that school activities throughout the year may require the use of student information, including the student’s name, grade or age. While notices will be sent home for most events, parents are welcome to discuss any restric-tions they require, or share any questions with the school Principal. If the school is not contacted, we will assume that there are no restrictions.

SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM

Parents must inform the school’s office by note or phone (705) 437-1537 on the occasions when they know their child(ren) will be late or absent from school. The school has an answering machine for your convenience. Attendance is checked at 8:15 and 1:00. When students are absent for an unknown reason the following sequence of events will occur until the student’s whereabouts is finally confirmed by an adult:

Phone home number

Phone parent work number

Phone emergency number

If student is still unaccounted for and the school has not been able to contact a par-

ent/guardian, then the police will be notified.

CHANGES TO OUR BUS SCHEDULES Our office is a busy place and our team works hard to ensure students are safe and accounted for. As part of our safe arrival/departure plan, we would ask parents to ensure that any changes that need to be made to bussing arrangements because of a family circumstance, be called into the office by morning recess to ensure that all of the communication can happen in a timely manner and our students are safe and aware of their travel arrangements for the day. While we appreciate that in some exceptional circumstances, arrangements for student transportation may need to be changed during the course of the day, we cannot make changes for students who try to make social arrangements at school. These plans need to be made at home and students will not be permitted to contact parents from the office for these reasons.

BUS LOOP AND STUDENT DROP OFF Whether you are dropping your child off at school in the morning or picking them up at the end of the day please follow the rules of our parking lot. These are in place to ensure student safety. DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH THE BUS LOOP!!! Until all students are safely in the school the bus loop is a car-free zone. Parents drop their children off in the parking lot on the north west corner so students can cross using the crosswalk safely. In the mornings a few cars have been driving their children to our front doors and this is endangering the safety of the students arriving late and whose parents are following our drop off procedures. We strongly encourage you not to stop along the side of the highway, but take the extra two minutes to enter the parking lot in order to pick up and drop off your child.

HEALTH AND MEDICAL FORMS These forms are routinely sent home each year for parents of children who have severe or life threatening allergies or medi-cal conditions. Please return these forms as soon as possible and talk to your child’s teacher. This information will be on display for all staff to be made aware of when they are on yard or hall supervision. Staff will re-ceive training in the symptoms of an allergy attack and in the use of an epi-pen. Students with life threatening allergies are expected to carry an epi-pen in a pouch on their person at all times. Parents must make a second epi-pen available to be stored in the main office for emergency back up and to be taken on field trips.

STUDENT WELLNESS This is a concern for everyone. Parents must always make the decision to either keep their child(ren) at home or to send them to school depending on their physical condition and the risk of spreading the illness to others. The school expects students to be well enough to participate actively in all activities including recess breaks. Students too sick to go outside are too sick to be sent to school. A doctor’s note is required to support an indoor recess break.

NO PHYSICAL CONTACT RULE To decrease the probability of injuries at school, there is a No Physical Contact Rule that students must abide by during recess breaks. Your assistance in reinforcing this rule is greatly appreciated and will help reduce the number of bumps and bruises that result from rough play.

September 26th, 2016 Compliance Day Schools must be in compliance with Ministry of Education expecta-tions for class size on September 26th of this year. Therefore, it may be necessary to change your child’s placement in order to meet regulations. Grades 1-3 = 20 and grade 3/4 = 23. These numbers may also impact grades 4-8. If your child’s placement changes the school will contact you by phone. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Page 6

ALLERGY ALERT Morning Glory P.S. is an ALLERGEN SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENT be-cause we have many students who are at risk due to life threatening aller-gies. The main concerns for our school are BEE STINGS, PEANUTS/PEANUT PRODUCTS AND SCENTS. Parents are asked not to send peanuts, peanut butter or products that may contain nuts to school in their child(ren)’s lunches. If a child does bring these products, it will be sent home and replaced with an alternate snack. Your co-operation to provide a safe learning environment for everyone is greatly appreciated.

LUNCH The students eat in the classrooms and are supervised by school personnel and student lunch monitors. The students are then dismissed to play outside. The lunch monitors and School Assistants ensure safety by watching for inappropriate behaviours, nut products, choking on food, etc. Lunchroom rules and routines are posted in each room and students are expected to co-operate with these safety and health precautions.

BREAKFAST CLUB Last school year, the MGPS breakfast program served almost 100 stu-dents daily each morning during the winter months. If you are interested in volunteering to support this program, especially in the mornings (7:45—8:15am), please contact the school office.

School Information Packages All YRDSB schools are now sending home ‘Information Pack-ages” which contain items that need to be signed and re-turned to the school.

Student and Parent Guides for 2016-17 School Year Please watch for this guide that will be sent home in the Information Packages. The guide includes many important pieces of informa-tion that will assist you throughout the year

RECESS Students are expected to come to school dressed appropriately for the weather. Recess and lunch/recess breaks will be taken outside in desig-nated play areas that are supervised by staff and School Assistants. Inclement weather, such as rain, extreme cold or extreme heat may cause the school to shorten a recess or conduct an indoor recess. Stu-dents are expected to co-operate with all school staff to ensure that they play appropriately in the designated supervised areas. The School Assistants are paid to provide one hour of supervision per day. They supervise students eating lunch in the classrooms and at play on the school yard. The School Assistants are there to ensure safety. To do this, they will remind students of safe play rules and boundaries. They are willing to assist students on the yard but are not trained to resolve complex problems or social conflicts. Students are expected to co-operate with the School Assistants to maintain a safe environment for everyone. The School Assistants will usually advise students to separate themselves from a problem. Students who engage in serious unaccept-able behaviour or repeated unacceptable behaviour will be directed to the school STEPS room (Support Towards Effective Problem Solving). The School Assistants all carry hand held radios in the event of emergency and are easily identified by their brightly coloured vests.

.Keeping Lice in Check

As students return to school from a fun-filled summer vacation, now is the

time to ensure that your child(ren) do not have head lice. As you may be

aware, according to York Region District School Board policy, a student

with lice or nits must be removed from class and

may not return to class until the child’s hair has

been treated. Please take a moment to check your

child’s head on a regular basis. In order for the

school to facilitate classroom checks, we require

volunteers. If you would like to be trained to check

for lice, please contact the school. For further infor-

mation about Head Lice please contact York Region

Public Health Services.

Page 7

FIRE DRILLS Fire Drills will be conducted early and late in the school year while the weather is good. This is a drill that every person in the school must practice diligently to ensure safety. Students are expected to line up quickly and quietly when they hear the alarm. The teacher will give the signal to proceed along their escape route once they have closed classroom windows. Everyone must walk quietly in the event that their route is blocked by smoke or fire, someone would call to tell them to exit via their alternate route. (This is why they must practice walking the route quietly. In a real emergency, they must be able to hear instruc-tions). Students should be wearing in-door shoes at all times in the event a Fire Drill is undertaken. Parents are reminded to counsel their children about the potential seriousness of a False Alarm. The Fire Department has notified the school that a $300.00 fee will be assessed to the school if the alarm is the result of a malicious act. Parents should be aware that this cost would be passed on to the offending student and his/her parents.

ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION Procedures regarding the Administration of Medication at School require the parent/guardian to complete a form for the administration of oral medication or advisement of self-administration of oral medication available in the school office. Please return to the school ASAP. Medication is not allowed to travel with students on any bus. Parents/guardians must supply the medication in the original container and labeled with the following in-formation:

child’s name name of medication dosage

Each time medication is administered, the date, time, medication and dosage is recorded in the medical log kept in the office. No staff member is legally permitted to supply any medication to students unless the appropriate form has been completed.

Each month we will be focusing on a different Character Education trait. We will have a Character Education assembly at the end of each month.

Month Character Trait September Respect October Responsibility November Courage December Empathy January Optimism February Initiative March Honesty April Fairness May Integrity June Perseverance RESPECT is the character trait this month which links to our school and com-munity focus of respectful workplace and learning environment. Respect plays an important role in a school. We need to take a person’s feelings, needs and thoughts into consideration as we build relationships within the school commu-nity. It is important that this message of treating each other with respect is a similar message a student receives at home and at school in order for them to build positive relationships with staff and their peers. “We respect ourselves and treat others with courtesy, dignity, and posi-tive regard. We honour the rights of others. We respect their belongings, the environment and the world around us. What can members of our school communities do to support Respectful Workplaces and Learning Environments? Treat all people with dignity and respect. Serve as a model of respectful behaviour to others in your daily life. Report to the office im-mediately on entering a school building. Allow time for staff to respond to phone calls and email messages. Abide by parking lot/drop-off area rules. Voice complaints in a constructive manner, beginning directly with the person whose behaviour has offended.” (YRDSB)

Volunteers are always welcomed at Morning Glory PS. Returning volunteers (with a current PVSC on file at Morning Glory) are required to come into the school to complete a Volunteer Annual Offence Declaration before December 18

th.

If you are interested in volunteering, you must first obtain a Police Vulnerable Sec-tor Check (PVSC). This service is available through York Region Police for resi-dents of York Region with two pieces of government-issued identification. The identification must confirm your name, date of birth and address and one piece of government identification must include a photo. Applications for a PVSC may be processed at the Sutton police station every third Saturday of the month

Page 8

Learn by Play with your children

Do you…. Have children from 0 - 6 years old? Come and have fun! Meet new parents, have snack, and a have a great time be-ing together with your child! This is a great place to learn about how learning starts at birth, ideas about behaviour management, nutrition, building self esteem and how you are the most important teacher in your child’s life! *Crafts *Stories *Snack *New Friends *Songs When: Thursday and Friday mornings from Sept. 22 – Dec. 12 Time: 9:30 – 11:30 Where: Morning Glory Public School Transportation available For more information: Please call CAPC Lois Wright @ 905 – 989 – 1896 CAPC is sponsored by Public Health Canada

Personal Technology Devices In the 2016 –2017 school year, the staff members at MGPS are re-questing that all student personal technologies be left at home - MP3 players, game boys, cell phones, i-pods, etc. Should students bring these items to school, it must be understood that the school as-sumes no responsibility for them and they must be secured in lockers or back-packs. Their use is not permitted during recess or instructional periods. Our goal is to continue to expand our Healthy Schools focus this year to maximize

active physical participation and face to face socialization at school. Minimizing

the negative distractions is also a concern of many teachers and parents. Par-

ents and students can be assured that phone access is always available to stu-

dents at MGPS in the main office.

Good technology use:

accessing information, keeping notes, creating presentations, etc

Poor technology use:

Taking pictures or video without consent, posting content to the internet,

negative tweets, texts and pictures

Parents have a responsibility to inform themselves and monitor their child’s use of

technology. Please review YRDSB’s acceptable use policy found on the Board

website: http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/ and watch for information and presentations

that will be shared and taking place at MGPS.

SEARCH AND SEIZURE REMINDER TO PARENTS

“At the commencement of each school term or semester, school administrators shall ensure that all members of the school community are made aware of the right of the school administrators to search school property, such as lockers and desks, without notice to or permission of any person. School administrators shall also make the school community aware that police may from time to time be in-vited onto school premises to conduct a search. Those searches may be con-ducted without notice to or permission of any member of the school community other than the school principal. School administrators shall document the manner and date of the dissemination of the above information.” Police / Board Protocol 2006

Page 8

In an effort to provide a safe and respectful learning environment, the use of all aerosols and sprays have been banned at MGPS. If students are to use deodorants at school, the roll on variety is the best choice. All per-fumes are discouraged. We have staff members and many students who are adversely affected by sprays and perfumes. These chemicals have triggered se-vere asthmatic reactions and migraine headaches. This in turn has caused both staff and students to be absent from school due to the ill effects. Your respect-ful odorless efforts will be much appreciated

Dress Code at Morning Glory

“Appropriate Dress defines a stan-dard of dress that meets the school community’s expectations of mod-esty and decency and promotes a safe and respectful learning environ-ment. Compliance to the Appropri-

ate Dress Policy is of a mandatory nature (Extract from Procedure P635.0)” Although we still may have some warm summer days ahead, students must remember to dress appropriately for school each day. Please review the dress code at the front of the student agenda with your child.

Morning Glory Public School

Is A Scent Sensitive School