October Newsletter
Principal’s Message:
Welcome to October 2024, a new month of the school year. September was a success. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we reorganized some of the school. It is always such an inconvenience and it does bring some angst but it is always worth it in the long run. Our junior intermediate classes are much smaller, ultimately giving the classroom teacher more time with each student. Thank you to everyone who reassured their children that this change was good and something that can be worked through together.
Thank you too to everyone who was kind and supportive of the staff and me as we dealt with the change. It was all noticed and appreciated. We are all settled in and a great school year is unfolding.
Thank you for attending our annual open house. It was nice to see so many of you and for you to have the opportunity to see the spaces where your children work and learn each day.
We held our annual Terry Fox Run and Orange Shirt Day, two really important days with so many vital messages. Thank you for your support with them. We gathered lots of Tonnies and our yard was a sea of orange!
October brings cross country meets, picture day, pizza lunches, and bus evacuation safety day, to name just a few things. It also brings our annual Thanksgiving holiday, one of my favorites because it is a time to reflect on all that we have.
This brings me to thanking everyone who contributes to Brookside - providing layers of support as students learn – this includes our staff, School Council, bus drivers, and community partners and you - the parents and caregivers who do many small little each day that add up to a lot of success.
I will be spending Thanksgiving weekend with the other important people in my life, my family. My wish for you is that you will be surrounded by loved ones who appreciate you.
With Respect,
Angela Cowley
Principal
Brookside Public School
Umbrella Project – Gratitude
Last year we did a brief introduction to the Umbrella Project. It is a wonderful program
that helps everyone - staff, parents, caregivers and students develop important skills
to build our “umbrellas” so that we can handle “life’s rain”. It is a changing and unpredictable world, we all need skills, and especially children to be able to navigate it.
To learn more about the Umbrella Project in general visit: The Umbrella Project
This month’s skill focus is gratitude. Gratitude is the skill that helps us to recognize all the things we have, instead of focusing our energy on the things we do not have. Practicing gratitude is a great way to accomplish a positive focus and prime our brains for a happier outlook. It also helps us to show our appreciation and to return kindness given to us. Teaching children to be thankful for what they have, what others do for them and expressing these feelings is powerful and a positive coping strategy that can get them through many of life’s difficult days, strengthen their relationships and help to protect against anxiety and depression.
Mental Health Day
At schools across AMDSB, we recognize World Mental Health Day which exists as a platform to raise awareness about mental health and access to care worldwide. Consider how you can prioritize your own well-being today or the health of those around you. Visit www.amdsb.ca/SEL for ideas and activities at home.
October MHWB(Mental Health & Well Being)Caregiver Session
Avon Maitland District School Board and Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board, in
partnership with local community agencies, are pleased to facilitate conversations about mental health and well-being among caregivers and their children. This month, Dr. Richard Zayed, C.Psych from Zayed Psychological Services will be presenting on *What Do Children Need From Parents?”. Click HERE to register
School Council
Welcome back parents and students! Our next school council meeting will be held on October 8, 2024 at 6:30pm in the library. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with our school community and make a positive impact. Our “One Stop Shop” fundraiser is back this year; in addition to our local favorites from previous years we are excited to announce we are adding Pine River Cheese. The delivery date is being tentatively set for December 5th 2024 which gives you lots of time before the holiday season. The spring carnival is scheduled for June, please reach out to volunteer for this fun filled event. We continue to work towards our playground improvements and hope to have some installations happening soon.
Thank you,
School Council
Brookside Public School
Co Chairs: Annemarie Kraft and Miriah Drennan
Treasurer: Jessica Beyersbergen
Co Secretaries: Vicky Black and MacKenzie Deuschle
Fundraisers
Little Caesars Pizza and Fresh From the Farm - Fundraising has started!
Orders are due: Monday October 14th
Delivery: Little Caesars: Tuesday October 29th (Time: TBA) Delivery: Fresh from the Farm TBA
All orders and payments need to be made online @ www.schoolcashonline.com Please make arrangements to have orders picked up at the school as we do not have fridge or freezer storage for orders.
Donations
Thank you to the Anderson Company who donated brand new cooler bags for the snack program. They were filled with food items! Thank you, Anderson Company.
Calling All Three Year Olds
It is time to register for Kindergarten 2025/2026! This year, our Kindergarten “Calling All Three Year Olds” event is in-person at our school on November 4, 2025. Please contact the school to book an appointment and begin the registration process.
Student Absence Reporting
Just a friendly reminder to use the Safe Arrival School Messenger system or app. Also you can email to [email protected] to report an absence for your child or early departures for your child(ren). We are encouraging families to get comfortable with the School Messenger Safe Arrival Reporting system. If you need any assistance to help with the Safe Arrival System please contact Ms.Cook in the office at 519-529-7900.
School Messenger Information
SchoolMessenger is designed to automatically notify parents. SchoolMessenger will extend AMDSB’s existing community outreach efforts and emergency preparedness procedures, as well as inform parents of upcoming school events. Text YES to number 978338 to sign up to receive text messages from the school.
School Start and End times: Please make note that our first class starts at 8:45 and our end of day is 3:05. If driving and/or picking up children please try to schedule around these times.
Safe Arrival Program:
The Safe Arrival Program is for your child’s safety; we are required to check attendance and place safe arrival telephone calls at the beginning of the school day. Please assist us by reporting the student absence using the SchoolMessenger website or App. This option is available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. You may also call the school office. If the school is unaware of why a child is absent, calls will be made until a parent/guardian is contacted to verify the absence.
Attendance
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 can still call the school at this number if needed 519-529-7900
Press #1 to leave a message in the Safe Arrival Call Mailbox.
Please leave the students name, classroom teacher, reason for absence.
Written absence notes from parents delivered to the office by siblings are also acceptable.
Once attendance is taken by the classroom teacher, the Safe Arrival System will begin to call parents or emergency contact numbers for student absences not explained. It is vital for parents to provide us with home, work, and emergency contact telephone numbers. During the course of the year, if parents need to update this information for our records, please call or email the school.
Drop Off & Dismissal Procedures
Students can be dropped off no earlier than 8:40-8:45 am.
When dropping your child off in the morning, please pull up along the front of the school at the front door. Staff will be there to assist your child in exiting the vehicle. Please have children check into the office before heading to the classroom so the secretary knows they are in the school for attendance. For the safety of all of our children, please do not exit your vehicle while it is running.
Students will be dismissed from class at 3:05pm.
For safety reasons, parents who are picking up children at the end of the day before 3:05pm must report to the FRONT ENTRANCE (Door F) and ring the bell. It is now on the brick wall to the right of the door and wait for students to be dismissed from the office or dismissal Teacher.
If routine varies for your child, an email to [email protected] or phone call 519-529-7900 will ensure that your child is ready for pick up and does not board the bus.
Bus Safety and Evacuation Assembly
Our bus safety and evacuation assembly is on Monday October 28th.
We have already held ‘bus meetings’, one by one, with each bus, including students who ride that bus, staff from Montgomery’s Bus Lines, the principal and each bus driver. We made sure that students know three things:
- That the bus driver is trained well, is in charge, and needs to be treated like he/she is in charge
- That they need to sit in their assigned seats; all drivers have a seating plan and are asked to enforce it
- That they talk quietly to the students around them
Families are encouraged to take the time to review the rules of the bus with their children. As you can imagine the bus is a very busy place and your children’s safety is the drivers’ priority.
When students do not follow the rules it causes extra stress for the driver and sets the stage for an accident.
Emergency Drills
Each year we practice emergency preparedness drills. We have fire drills, inclement weather drills (tornado) and lockdown drills. We work through these drills together in a calm, safe manner.
Scent Safe Place
Due to significant health risks and reactions, Brookside Public School is a scent safe environment. All staff, students and visitors must avoid wearing scented products such as perfume, cologne, body spray, essential oils, etc. and should refrain from using scent-enhanced laundry products when attending or visiting the school. Please refrain from sending scented products to the school. Be respectful of our school community if asked to remove or refrain from using a scented product. Thank you for your attention to this concern as we strive to keep all in our community well at school.
Biking to School
Students who ride their bikes to school are reminded to wear their helmets, to put them on before they leave home and then to wear them for the duration of the bike ride to Brookside. Student safety is our number one priority.
Photo Day
Individual photos will be taken on Monday October 21,2024 Wear your brightest smile!
Retakes are currently scheduled to take place on Tuesday December 3, 2024.
Student Nutrition Program
Our food security program has always been an important part of our school day. As educators, we recognize that students learn best when they are fueled. We do our part by providing access to fresh, healthy foods. Growing bodies are hungrier some days than others, we all run late now and again and sometimes we just need something to crunch or munch on to help us to focus. We have had the support of our supplier and the Ontario Student Nutrition Program in providing healthy snack options. For example, fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese and crackers or a bagel. We are hoping that this will support our students who find themselves eating the contents of their lunch at first break or wake up a bit late with no time to grab breakfast or for those days when lunch is forgotten. If you would like to donate to support our Student Nutrition Program, monetary donations can be made through school cash online under “Food Donations” open till the end of the school year.
We Need Your Help!
Parents and Caregivers,
Do you have 30 minutes - 1 hour to help us each day, or 1 or more days per week?
We need your help with our student nourishment program with:
- Washing and cutting up fruits and vegetables
- Packaging fruits and vegetables
- Filling individual classroom containers with snacks
- Delivering snack containers to the classrooms
- Washing of bags/containers etc.
We have staff available to show interested parents and caregivers how it's been done previously should they be interested in helping out.
This would take approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour Monday through Friday between 8:45am to 10:30am.
Please call the school at 519 529 7900 if you are interested in helping. We will put you in touch with a staff member who will provide guidance. Thank you
Special Education Plan 2024/2025
Regulation 306, made under the authority of the Education Act, requires every school board to maintain a special education plan and that it shall be made available to the ministry for review and be publicly accessible.
One of the purposes of a school board's special education plan is to inform the Ministry of Education and the public about special education programs and services that are provided by a board in accordance with legislation and ministry policy on special education.
The AMDSB Special Education Plan is reviewed and revised every year. The plan also goes through a consultation process with school board staff prior to it being presented to the AMDSB Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC). SEAC, consisting of local associations and community representatives, then reviews and provides input into the plan. Once complete, SEAC makes a formal recommendation to the Board of Trustees to approve the plan for submission to the Ministry of Education. SEAC approval was completed on June 5, 2024.
In order to make the plan publicly accessible, AMDSB posts the yearly plan on the Board's website and makes a hard copy available to each school, to be held in the front office, for public request, viewing and feedback. The Special Education Plan can also be printed for distribution when requested. The Board’s website provides access to the report in accordance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Suggestions on how to make the website more accessible are encouraged. There is an opportunity for the public to provide ongoing feedback on the Special Education Plan through the comments form on the Board’s website.
LINK: amdsb.ca/apps/pages/special.ed
October Dates to Remember
Oct 1 - Junior Soccer @ GDCI, rain date is Thursday Oct 3
Oct 07- November Pizza/Milk Available on School Cash
Oct 08 - HPPH Gr 7 Immunizations
Oct 10 - Regional Cross Country at Huron Centennial School, rain date is Friday Oct 11
Oct 10 - World Mental Health Day
Oct 16 - District Cross Country, rain date October 17th
Oct 18 - Spirit Day- Cowboy and Camo Day!
Oct 18 - Take me Outside Day
Oct 21 - Picture Day with Edge Imaging
Oct 22 - Senior Soccer @ Clinton Public School, rain date Thursday Oct 24th
Oct 24 - November Pizza/Milk Closes on School Cash
Oct 25 - P.D. Day– No classes for students
Oct 28 - Bus Evacuation Safety Day
Oct 29 - Little Caesar Delivery Day
Oct 31 - Wear Black & Orange Day
Upcoming Dates to Remember!
November 4, 2024 - Calling All Three Year Olds!
November 14, 2024- Parent Guardian Interviews-PM TBD for times
November 15, 2024 - PA DAY (Parent Guardian Interviews)