Elmdale School

It has been a great start to the year at Elmdale. We are so excited that everyone is back for another year of learning. This month had many highlights, including Meet Your Teacher, Strong Connections, Terry Fox Run, Orange Shirt Day and so much more. Thank you to all of our Elmdale families for supporting the learning in your home by sending your children to school well-rested and ready to learn.

School is most effective when we work in partnership with our student families and we are glad to be in this together with you. This newsletter contains a few reminders and information about upcoming events and activities. Please read it thoroughly to stay up to date with your child's learning. If you ever have any questions, please contact your child's teacher first, so that they can give you up to date information about what is happening in your child's class.

Another great resource is SeeSaw. Elmdale teachers (and students!) post learning, pictures from the classrooms and share information using SeeSaw. If you haven't already done so, in order to be connected to SeeSaw, first you need to go to your Parent Portal account and ensure that the Respectful Use of Technology Agreement (RUTA) permission is given. Once you have done that, contact your child's teacher to get connected to their SeeSaw account.

Mr. Vince Hiebert

Principal: Elmdale School

Email: vhiebert@hsd.ca

Instagram: elmdalehsd

We have some routines and policies in place to help the day run smoothly and to ensure the safety of all students and staff. Please read through these carefully:

• In the morning, please DO NOT drop your child off in the bus loop. Please park in the family parking lot and walk your child across the bus loop to the playground. Parent vehicles should not be stopped in the bus loop between 8:00 and 9:00am. If someone else is dropping off your child, please inform them of this expectation.
• We are also asking that all good-byes happen at the fence during morning drop-off time. Parents should not be bringing their children to the doors or waiting with them on the playground.
• ALL guests must report to the office - please do not visit your children on the playground or visit their classroom during the school day. If you have a question or concern that need addressing in person, please come to the office or contact your child's teacher to make an appointment.
• Lately we have noticed an increase in calls to the office after 3:00, and especially after 3:30 informing us of a change to a child's end of day pick-up plan. Please try to keep the end of day plan for your child as consistent as possible.
  

Thank you to all Elmdale Students for participating in our annual Terry Fox Run. We raised $1236.10 to go towards cancer research. Way to go Elmdale!

Thank you for participating in the PAC Rocco's Pizza Fundraiser. Pizzas will be ready for pick up in the Elmdale School Parking Lot on October 6 from 4:00 to 5:30pm. It is very important that all orders are picked up during this time as we do not have freezer space to store the pizzas.

Reminder that you are responsible to pick up all pizzas that you and your child sold and make sure they are delivered to the friends and family members who ordered them from you.

Thanks.

Interested in a volunteer opportunity? Our Elmdale PAC organizes pizza lunch for students two Thursdays each month. We are looking for parents who would be interested in helping count money and sort the pizzas. If you have time on Thursday mornings or are interested in more information, please contact elmdaleparentcouncil@gmail.com.

October 6 will be pepperoni pizza, and October 20 will be cheese pizza. Orders and payment ($2 a slice) are taken on each pizza day.

Our Elmdale Parent Advisory Council is always looking for new members to join. They meet monthly, on the second Thursday of the month at 6:30pm in the Elmdale School Library. Meetings are usually around one hour long. Our PAC is a valuable voice for our school community and our meetings provide parents with the chance to have their voice heard and for the school to share ideas and questions with a representation of our school community. If you are interested in joining, or simply checking out a meeting, feel free to join us at our next meeting on October 13 at 6:30 in the School Library or by contacting elmdaleparentcouncil@gmail.com for more info.

Our new Outdoor Classroom is finally ready to go! A huge thank you to our PAC as well as the following families and businesses who donated to our Sponsor a Stump campaign to make this dream a reality:

Ben R Auto

Adventure RV

Steinbach Credit Union

Steinbach Hatchery & Feed

Rowell Agustin

Clearview Co-op

Brio Insurance

Funk's Toyota

Kevin & Melissa Presland

Stacey & Marian Hiebert

Art Peters

John Duerksen Architecture

Little Baking Company

If you are interested in sponsoring future playground improvements, please contact Mr. Hiebert at vhiebert@hsd.ca or our PAC at elmdaleparentcouncil@gmail.com.

School Assemblies are an important part of buidling school spirit and school community at Elmdale. Parents and grandparents are invited to join us for assemblies. Our assemblies take place most Friday's at 9:15 in the school gym. If you're interested in attending, please arrive between 9:00 and 9:10, sign in at the office, and then head to the gym.

Upcoming Assembly Dates are:

• October 14
• October 28
• November 4
• November 10 (Remembrance Day)
• November 25

If your child is absent from school OR something has changed in the usual end of day routine for your child, please make sure you notify the school office (elmdale@hsd.ca or 204-326-3325) in addition to the classroom teacher. If a teacher is away from the school for a day, or unable to check their email or SeeSaw notices, it is important that the office be aware of this as well.

We ask that all arrangements be made in advance as much as possible. Changes in end of day routines can be confusing for children, especially if the teacher is relaying a message from home that is different than what the parent had told the child.

It has come to our attention that unsafe behaviour is happening at some of our urban bus stops. Parents are reminded that HSD does not offer supervision at bus stops, so it is up to parents to supervise their children and ensure they are acting in a safe way when going to the bus stop, while waiting for the bus, and when returning home at the end of the day. Inappropriate bus stop behaviour may result in loss of bus privileges for a time.

Please read over THIS document for further information.

If you haven't already done so, please go to your Parent Portal account to update permissions and verify information on file for your child.

All children also require updated Walking Field Trip permission as well as Respectful Use of Technology acknowledgement. If you haven't already done so this fall, please go to your Parent Portal account to update this information.

Picture Day is coming!

Monday, October 17 - Grade 3 & 4, KP.

Tuesday, October 18 - Grade 1 & 2, KD & KK.

Every few years it is important to take a look at school policies and update them. We have updated our Code of Conduct. Please Click Here to familiarize yourself with it. In general our Code of Conduct is based on the belief that every student is unique, special, and an important part of our school community. We believe that building into positive behaviours plays a large role in preventing negative behaviours. Being proactive with behaviour issues, and keeping communication lines open can prevent many behaviour problems from escalating. However when the need arises, behaviour issues will be dealt with according to our Code of Conduct and Positive Behaviour Program. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Hiebert at vhiebert@hsd.ca

It is also important to highlight our Protocol for Addressing Concerns. It is inevitable that a concern or question will arise about something happening in the classroom, on the playground, or at school in general.

Generally speaking, a parent should start with the person most directly involved with the concern. For example, if you have a concern with something that took place in the classroom, you would speak first to the classroom teacher.

Understanding the line of communication in Manitoba schools is essential in working to resolve a concern in a school community. This line of communication should be followed in this order:

1. Classroom Teacher

2. Principal

3. Superintendent

4. School Board

Normally at the end of October we have our Annual Costume Parade. Students dress up after pm recess and students can show off their cool and unique costumes. We encourage you to send a school-appropriate costume (no scary or gross costumes and no weapons). Students will put these on after the last recess and we will show these off in a COVID-friendly way.

Click HERE for this month's Nutrition Bits and Bites Newsletter from Southern Health.

"Soup's On" provides daily school lunches to families in need. It can be started and stopped as needed. Contact our Learning Support Teacher Ms. Tara Klassen (tklassen@hsd.ca) to register your child.

Please check our website for information about school bus routes in HSD.
If your address has changed, please call transportation at 204-320-2347 to make sure that your children are riding the correct bus to and from school.

Elmdale's eNewsletter

Publisher: Mr. Hiebert

Email: elmdale@hsd.ca
Website: http://elmdale.hsd.ca/
Location: 160 Elmdale Street, Steinbach, MB, Canada
Phone: 204-326-3325
Twitter: @elmdalehsd