And we’re off! What a tremendous school start-up. It was exciting to feel the great energy at Jennie Elliott these past few days. Thank you, families, for all of your support and cooperation to help the days run smoothly. As I visited classrooms and during our First Day Assembly, it was very apparent our students are ready to discover and learn! 

Meet the Teacher 

As messaged previously, our Meet the Teacher event will be Thursday, September 14th from 4:00-6:00pm.  Similar to last year, we will have two 30-minute opportunities for families to visit with their child’s teacher in the classroom and hear a little more from the teacher about classroom routines, upcoming events, curriculum plans, etc. There is no need to sign up - families can attend the time that works best for them. Families are also welcome to tour the school and there will be food trucks available should you wish to take advantage during the dinner hour! 

The schedule for classroom visits will be: 

New Curriculum Implementation 

As you may remember, last year we implemented new curriculum in Math and ELAL (English Language Arts and Literacy) in grades K-3, and Physical Education and Wellness in grades K-6. This year, we will be implementing new curriculum for Math and ELAL in grades 4-6 as well as Science in grades K-3. More to come about that from your teachers in their Weekly Messages throughout the year. 

Dismissal 

In addition to the pick-up instructions in the Information Handbook  sent on Monday, a reminder to families to please avoid calls about changes to your child’s dismissal and picking your child up after 3:25pm. Emergencies are of course expected, but we ask families to wait instead until the 3:41pm dismissal bell. This helps us to have our office staff available and attentive for a safe and smooth dismissal of our students. Thank you!  

How was your day? 

There is a lot of new information and routines your child is adjusting to at this time of the school year. A good night’s sleep and plenty of opportunities to rejuvenate after school are important to successful school days. Many parents also like to ask about how the school day went, and are often met with one-word answers like, “Fine.”, “Good.”, or “Great!”  Even on the most exciting days, kids come home tired and are not necessarily ready to review or recall the details of the day. Sometimes I feel the same! 

Some options you can choose from that might help you gather a bit more information could be: 

·       What are you looking forward to doing tomorrow at school? 

·       What did you do in Math today? PE? Music? 

·       What was your favorite part of your day? 

·       Did you get frustrated with anything at school today? 

·       Were you able to finish all of your work today? 

·       What are some of the names of kids in your class that you don’t normally hang out with? 

·       What are you learning this week that really interests you? 

·       Tell me one new thing you learned at school today and I'll tell you one thing I learned. 

·       (In relation to any work they brought home) What were the instructions that went with this, and what were you meant to learn from it? 

Upcoming Dates 

September 4 - Labour Day – no school 

September 14 - Picture Day – individual and class photos 

September 14 - Meet the Teacher event (4:00-6:00pm) 

September 19 - School Council Meeting (7:00pm @ Jennie Elliott) 

September 22 - Non-instructional Day – no school for students 

September 25 - Fun Lunch (more info to come from School Council) 

September 29 - Truth & Reconciliation Day (in lieu of Sept 30) - no school 

We have appreciated all of the introductions parents are making with us as we endeavour to put parent faces and names to students in our school. We look forward to meeting more families soon at the Meet The Teacher event. 

With much gratitude, 

Lucene Tahmazian 

Acting Principal | Jennie Elliott School