Principal’s Message

Happy New Year to each one of you.  I hope that everyone enjoyed some quality time with family and friends during the holiday season. 

We have experienced a lot of success so far this school year. Thank you for all that you contributed to make our first annual holiday dinner a success! We had more than enough money to secure a dinner for each student (we have $1390.00 saved towards next year’s dinner). The volunteers that helped serve and clean up were exceptional. The staff provided extra help and dessert. And to top it all off, the Huron County Dairy Producers and Dairy Farmers of Ontario a milk to every student to enjoy with their holiday meal. We are already looking forward to next year with the plan to have everyone eat together in the gym.  It will mean borrowing tables and possibly chairs, a lot of set up, but it will all be worth it.  

The staff and students at Brookside are looking forward to continued growth and accomplishments throughout the months ahead. 

Welcome to 2024!

Respectfully,

Angela Cowley

Principal

Brookside Public School

Responsibility

January’s character attribute focus is - responsibility.  A responsible person is someone that other people can rely on for support. They are willing to be accountable for their actions.  When things go wrong and they make a mistake, they take ownership of the mistakes instead of making excuses.  Responsible people keep their agreements. This character attribute is referenced often at school when we remind ourselves of the expectations of the school: to be where we are expected to be; to do what we are expected to do; and to keep our hands and feet to ourselves.   

Student Absences and Attendance

Attendance at school is vital to the development of skills and the learning continuum.  Each school day builds on a set of progressive skills and connections between teacher and student and attendance is a key component to identifying learning strengths and needs.

We kindly ask that you contact the school to report an absence due to illness, appointments, vacation or other events.  Long term absences should be communicated with the Principal.

Please Continue to use the new Safe Arrival System Reporting options below.

1. Use the SchoolMessenger (SafeArrival) website: go.schoolmessenger.ca. 

○ The first time you use the website: i. Select “Sign Up” to create your account. **Important: You must use the email address that you provided to the school in order to set up your account. ii. Select “Attendance” iii. Select “Report an Absence” Please continue to use the Safe Arrival System to report your attendance for your child.  

2. If you have not already done so download the App onto your personal device by going into your Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

○ Once you download the app:  

1. Tap Sign Up to create your account. **Important: You must use the email address that you provided to the school in order to set up your account. 
2. Select Attendance from the menu, and then iii. Select Report an Absence. 

○ Please do not adjust the notification settings in the app as it will impact the other messages you receive from the school via text and email. 

3. Call the toll-free number 1-844-518-5459 to report an absence using the automated phone system.

  These are really simple to use to report your student absent for the current day or future days ahead.   As for reporting a Weather Day; using a weather day will not be accepted if the school is open and buses are running.  If you do not feel comfortable sending due to weather conditions please use the Personal day option.  You may also email [email protected] but we are encouraging our families to use the School Messenger reporting system.

Your support in helping us with the efficiency of these calls, managing the safety of all students and maintaining accurate attendance records is greatly appreciated.

Volunteers

If you have a few hours a month, a few hours a week or just a day here and there that you could spare and spend with us, we would welcome your support.  Volunteers are always needed for our snack program, reading and math support, social development or just an extra set of hands in an art lesson.  Please contact the office or your child’s teacher if you are interested in volunteering.  Depending on the nature of the volunteer work, we ask that you complete the Vulnerable Sector Check; the paper work for this can be picked up at the office.

School Council

The next School Council meeting will take place February 7, 2024 beginning at 6:30 pm in the library. We welcome new members and visitors and encourage you to come and find out what the School Council is all about. 

We have had a lot of donations made towards our playground enrichment plan.  We would like to thank the following families and community members for their recent donations:

Edgars Feed and Seed-$10,000.00

Frayne Inc.-$200.00

Kraft Family-$500.00

Doug & Amy Miller-$2050.00

Calling All Three Year Olds

If you know families with three year old children who will be registering at Brookside for Junior Kindergarten in September 2024, and they missed our November Calling All Three Year Olds Event, please encourage them to contact the school office at 519 529 7900.

JR Girls and Boys Volleyball 

Our Brookside Bulldogs Volleyball teams headed to GDCI and showed great sportsmanship and teamwork representing our school.  Thank you goes out to Mrs.Young and Mrs.Johnston for coaching our teams.

Winter Rules

Below, you will find a list of some of the more important winter rules.  Please take the time to review these rules at home.  They are in place specifically for the safety of all of our students.

• Snow is to remain on the ground at all times.  It is not to be thrown or eaten.
• The equipment is off limits until further notice due to slip, trip and fall hazards caused by ice and other elements.
• Students are not to play on or around ice.  This includes intentionally sliding on the ice and other slippery surfaces.
• Please remember to wear weather appropriate clothing and appropriate footwear to avoid slips,trips and falls and keep warm while outside.

Holiday Show

Once again, this year’s holiday show was a huge success.  Both of our concert times were well attended and we received many positive comments.  Thanks to the students and staff for their efforts.  We would also like to thank the School Council and the community for making the Silent Auction a success.  We were able to raise around $2095.00 for our playground revitalization project.   Also a few of our Brookside Bulldogs (eager young philanthropists) raised $609.10 from their bake sale held that night to go towards the playground enrichment project. 

AMDSB Mental Health and Well-Being Awareness Week January 22-26,2024

During this week students, staff and caregivers are encouraged to learn more about mental health and well-being.   Please see the following resources below to help support conversations with your children.

How Do You Know if You Should Be Concerned

Noticing Mental Health Concerns For your Child

Coping Strategies for At Home Mental Health and Well Being

AMDSB-Community Mental Health and Well Being Supports

How to talk With your Child When You Feel Concerned

January Caregiver Lunch & Learn Flyer

January Caregiver Lunch & Learn

During the 2023-2024 school year, the Avon Maitland District School Board and Huron Perth Catholic District School Board are pleased to provide monthly lunch & learn sessions for caregivers and staff. Each month, community partners will facilitate a 30-minute, virtual session.

Sessions will provide practical strategies to address a variety of topics related to children’s mental health and well-being.

Title: Stress, Nutrition, Physical Activity & Sleep: Building Healthy Strategies Into Your Child’s Day

Date/Time: January 10, 2024

Inclement Weather Reminder

When buses are canceled due to weather, the school usually remains open for students and staff that are able to get to the school safely.  On days when the buses are canceled and the school remains open, please ensure that staff members are in the building when dropping off your children.  We will do our best to staff the building during these events, but the weather can certainly cause issues with the timely and safe arrival of staff. 

Supervision is not available outside of these times.

Students must be signed in and out at the office and contact with an adult must be made.

Students are not to be dropped off prior to 8:45 a.m. and need to be picked up by 3:05 p.m. 

School Bus Provider:Montgomery Bus Lines Phone: 519-357-9191

Bus Planner: https://hpsts.mybusplanner.ca/Alerts

BusPlanner® Delays APP: Indicates if the cancellation is AM or PM or All Day. As soon as a notification is posted to the BusPlanner® Website, it appears as a notification on the app. Please subscribe.  You also will want to have Notifications in your phone turned on for the APP so you can be alerted when there are delays and cancellations.

Radio: AM 920 CKNK

           FM 101.7 The One

           FM 94.5 The Bull

           Country FM 104.9

Stay Connected with Brookside Public School

Website: Brookside Public School

Calendar of Events: Brookside Event Calendar

Facebook: Brookside Public School

Instagram: BrooksidePS

Upcoming Dates:

January 24, 2024- Bell Let’s Talk Day-Wear Blue!

Feb 2, 2024- PA DAY!