October 2023 Newsletter
Principal’s Message:
Welcome to the month of October. I am finding it hard to believe that we have already completed one month of the 2023-2024 school year, are you?
October brings the Thanksgiving holiday, one of my favorites. It is a time for us to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for.
Thank you so much for your support with the reorganization. It went as smoothly as possible. While it is something all schools try to avoid, some years it is inevitable. In the long run it has its benefits. Thank you again. We are now fully settled in and a great school year has begun.
Thank you for attending our annual open house. It was nice to get to meet some of you, to realize the connections that I have to some, and to share the good things that are happening in each classroom.
Thank you to everyone who contributes to Brookside - supporting your students as they learn – this includes our staff, School Council, bus drivers, and community partners and you - the parents and caregivers who do little things each day that lead to the overall big picture of success.
I will be spending Thanksgiving weekend with the other important people in my life, my family. I hope that you will be doing the same, surrounded by those who you appreciate and those who are grateful for you.
With respect,
Angela Cowley
Principal
Brookside Public School
Our Character Attribute for October – Empathy
October’s character attribute focus is empathy. When we practice empathy, we strive to sense and appreciate the emotions of others. We demonstrate appreciation of, and concerns for, their feelings. We try to understand issues from their perspectives even though we may not agree with them personally.
School Council
Our School Council has dedicated great time and effort to raise funds so that our students are provided with a wide variety of extended technological, academic and well being opportunities. We are always looking for new members. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday October 11th at 7:00pm in the Brookside Library. We will be making a plan for the year for fundraising, parent involvement and submitting a plan on how to spend any funds raised. Brookside School Council is committed to engage in fundraising to enrich our outdoor learning and play spaces and to provide additional resources and technology for all students.
Chair: Miriah Drennan
Co Chair: Annemarie Kraft
Treasurer: Jessica Beyersbergen
Secretary: Natalie Miltenburg
Little Caesars Pizza and Fresh from the Farm - Fundraising has started!
Orders are due: Tuesday October 3,2023
Delivery: Little Caesars: Wednesday October 25th, 2023 (Time: TBA) Delivery:Fresh from the Farm TBA
All Orders and Payments need to be made online @www.schoolcashonline.com and orders must be picked up at the school on the date of delivery.
Donations
Hard to believe we are already a month into the School Year! We have had some exciting things happen over the past month. The school purchased new sand toys at the beginning of the school year. The Parent Council purchased and installed new deck boxes for the sand toys at each sandbox. We received 3 large donations towards our playground fundraiser at the end of September. A BIG Thank You to the Lucknow Kinettes for donating $2500 and from Hurontel for donating $5000. We also received $1215.00 in memory of Barry McDonagh. The Anderson Company donated 31 backpacks with some supplies as well. If you're looking to join the parent council please come out to one of our meetings. Don't have time to join the parent council but want to still be involved? We have committees that you can sign up for, please contact Miriah Drennan for more information.
Thank You,
Parent Council
Student Absence Reporting
Just a friendly reminder to use the Safe Arrival School Messenger app or please email to [email protected] to report an absence for your child. If you need any assistance to help with the app please contact Ms.Cook in the office at 519-529-7900.
Bus Safety and Evacuation Assembly
Our bus safety and evacuation assembly is on Monday October 16, 2023.
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.
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 Friday October 13th,2023 Wear your brightest smile!
Retakes are currently scheduled to take place on Monday December 4,2023
Cross Country and Soccer - Intramural and intra-school sports are back and in full swing. These would not be possible without our staff volunteering their lunch breaks to coach our teams. We appreciate this and the opportunity for our students to be on a team, travel and represent Brookside at regional events. Mrs.Luiting is taking our cross country team to Huron Centennial on Tuesday October 3rd, 2023. Our junior and senior soccer teams are busy as well and they have tournaments at the end of the month. Thank you to Mrs. Cook, Mrs. Fairbairn, Miss Young and Mrs. Johnston for being excellent soccer coaches.
Student Nutrition Program
Our breakfast, snack and lunch supplement 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
October Dates to Remember
Oct. 3 – Regional Cross Country at Huron Centennial School
Oct 9- Thanksgiving-No Classes
Oct. 5 - Rain Date for Regional Cross Country
Oct. 10 - World Mental Health Day
Oct. 11- District Cross Country
Oct. 13- Rain date for District Cross Country
Oct 13- School Photo Day
Oct. 17- Junior Soccer @ GDCI
Oct 16 - Bus Evacuation
Oct. 19- Junior Soccer weather date @ GDCI
Oct. 19- November Milk and Pizza Close
Oct. 20- P.D. Day –No classes for students
Oct. 24- Senior Soccer @ Clinton Public School
Oct. 26- Senior Soccer rain date
Oct 25 - Little Caesar Delivery Day
Oct.27- Spirit Day! Cowboy and Camo Day!
Oct. 31- Wear Black & Orange Day
Upcoming Dates to Remember!
November 6,2023-Calling All Three Year Olds!
November 16- Gr 7 Immunizations HPPH
November 17-PA DAY-Parent Guardian Interviews