APRIL: Sikh Heritage Month & Autism Acceptance Month

Monday, April 29th Day 1

• Pesach (Passover) continues until April 30th=Happy Passover to all who celebrate!

• School Climate Surveys continue this week grades 4-6.

• Staff vs. Student Basketball Game (Boys) at 10:50am)

• Board Game Club for grade 5/6 students with permission 3:45 pm Last Day Celebration!

Tuesday, April 30th Day 2

• Running Club Practice at 8:30 am.

• Student council meeting at 10:50 am

• lip Sync sign challenge sign up due -auditions will be scheduled beginning on Thursday, May 2nd.

Wednesday, May 1st Day 3

MAY -Asian (Southeast) Heritage Month, Jewish Heritage Month, Speech & Hearing Month Apraxia & CF Awareness Month

• LCVI Road Race -Go Panthers!

• Music Club at 1:20 in the Gym

• Polson SAC meeting at 6 pm virtual & in person-see info below.

Thursday, May 2nd Day 4

• Grade 6 Grad Photos

• NO Running Club to recover from Road Race on Wednesday

• Start to Finish Program cancelled this week

Friday, May 3rd Day 5

• Holy Friday (Eastern Orthodox)

• Polson Pride Friday

• Jacques and Carew to Baby Grand Theatre (1pm start time)

Looking Ahead:

May 4th International Firefighters' Day recognizes the work and sacrifice of firefighters across the globe in keeping their communities safe and to remember those firefighters who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

May 5th Easter Sunday (Eastern Orthodox)-Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

May 6th -Holocaust Remembrance Day

May 6th -10th Mental Health Week & LDSB Education Week

May 7th World Asthma Day

May 7th Celebration of Dance

May 8th - Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Basketball Tournament

May 9th Welcome to Kindergarten event (4:00 - 6pm) for families who have registered!

May 10th- Polson Park , track and field day! Grade 3 to 6

We are excited to introduce a new lunch program for the remainder of the school year. Lunchbox provides lunches from a variety of restaurants. We will begin with Little Ceasar's and Pita Pit to start but we can adjust these options for September based on feedback from families in June. Lunchbox has been successful at a variety of schools throughout LDSB and we hope to provide a smooth transition. Our first order will be May 8th from Little Ceasar's Pizza. Once you have set up an account, you can order weekly, monthly or for the remainder of the year. Orders will continue to support our school with a small portion of each sale coming back to Polson. The website is very user friendly and it should only take a couple of minutes to set up an account and put your first order in. Click here to make an account and put your first order in.

We consulted with Parent Council at our last SAC meeting on April 10th about changing our school hours from 9:10-3:40 to 9:15 - 3:35 pm. SAC supported proceeding with the request to the Board who has final approval. We have also consulted with student council, staff, the YMCA, and Triboard as a part of the process of consultation. This proposed changes do not affect the 300 instructional minutes in the school day, but would allow us to resolve some supervision challenges and late bus issues by shortening the morning break from 50 minutes to 40 minutes. The afternoon break is already 40 minutes. This change would not incur any new costs for transportation or changes to current bus departure or arrival times. We welcome your input. Please contact the school by phone or email with any questions or concerns. Submissio.n to they board is due by May 3, 2024

May 24th is Administrative Professionals Day. Thank you to our office administration team, Marie Campbell & Lisa Shaw, for the many ways they support staff students and families at Polson!

Thank you to all our staff and parent volunteers who helped with our Book Fair & a special shout out to Mme Underhill for organizing. Funds raised will go towards Scholastic Books and Classroom resources for our school.

Best wishes to Robin Ball who will be moving to a new position at LCVI this week. She has been an amazing member of our caretaking team and an important part of our Polson school community. Staff & students will miss her dearly!

Spring is here, and we are looking forward to warmer weather and, hopefully, day for the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8th! Students are working hard on academics in class and participating in fantastic opportunities beyond the classroom as well. Junior basketball and running club are off to a great start and many classes have participated in special workshops, presentations and class trips that expose them to a wide range of experiences and learning. We even had two family events last week-Polson Family Art Night and K-3 Family Math & Literacy Night. Thank you to all Polson staff who volunteer to organize these enriching activities for students and families and to Polson parents and caregivers for your support & engagement in your child's experiences at our school! Special Thanks to Polson SAC for the pizza for our Math/Literacy Event and for the art based workshops and kits they provided with PRO Grant funding!

Eid marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of dawn to sunset fasting. This day is celebrated by Muslims with feasts, gifts, and prayers. Eid Al-Fitr falls on the sighting of the crescent moon at the end of the month of Ramadan. Happy Eid to all who celebrate!

People around the world to put on a pink shirt and stand in solidarity with the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to continue fighting for equality and acceptance."

Parking is not permitted in designated areas of our school. Please do not drop off in school bus zones, accessible parking spots, or in the parking lot near the portables of our school. School safety is a team effort. Please note that you may be ticketed for parking or stopping in areas that restrict parking in our community. Please consider parking in designated areas in the neighbourhood and taking a short walk to drop your child off or pick them up!

We've been learning about the solar eclipse and how to protect our eyes and watch safely. Professor Robert Knobel, from the Department of Physics at Queen's University, deliveried Eclipse Workshops to many of our students. Kindergarten students have alrady received their eclipse glasses and the rest of our students in grades 1-6 will take them home on April 6th. Make sure to take good care of them until you need them on April 8th. Thank you to Queen's University for supplying protective glasses to LDSB students!

Polson Park Public School is currently participating in Manie Musicale! Manie Musicale is an annual competition of songs modelled after the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament in the U.S. Students fill out brackets to try to predict which of sixteen songs will win the "championship”. Then, once the tournament starts, students vote for their favourite songs to see who wins. Throughout the tournament, the students are exposed to French music and culture from around the world, and are encouraged to explore la Francophonie and apply their in-class learning outside of school. Teachers are collaborating to create activities to support using the songs in class as a linguistic and cultural teaching tool. The “champion” of the competition will be revealed on Wednesday, April 10th.

We appreciate the funding that students have received for field trips, busing, outdoor equipment, classroom enhancements and more. We hope you join us virtually or in person at our next SAC meeting! Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 6th at 6pm -in-person & virtual. Stay tuned for agenda and virtual link.

Thank you for making sure our students are safe by observing traffic rules and parking restrictions during arrival and dismissal times. If you drive, please be patient, watchful and alert!

A few reminders:

• Please do not park on the grass near portables or in no-parking zones!
• The parking lots have limited space; please do not linger and keep watchful for student who may be near parking areas at dismissal.
• Please remember that accessibility spots are for families with permits only.
• The area in front of the school is a Bus Zone. No parking, idling, or drop-offs are permitted.
• Yard supervision begins at 8:55 am. The school day begins at 9:10 am.

It's a very busy time in the morning, and we want to make sure students arrive safely and are accounted for correctly in attendance. Students arriving during morning supervision should be dropped off on the school yard. Students arriving late, should report to the main office. If you are dropping off a younger student after the bell, please report to the main office. Please do not proceed into the school building beyond the main office unless an office administrator has directed you to do so and you have followed the visitor protocol of signing in and receiving a visitor tag. Thank you for following our visitor protocols!

Parents and caregivers should meet students at dismissal (3:40 pm) at their designated dismissal location on the yard. Please do not request early pick-ups at the main office unless you have an emergency or a scheduled appointment. Thank you for communicating appointments in advance.

Yard Supervision begins at 8:55 am.

9:10-10:50 - 100 mins

10:50--11:40 - recess/nutrition

11:40 -1:20 - 100 mins

1:20-2:00 - recess/nutrition

2:00-3:40 - 100 mins

3:40-Dismissal

Email: polso@limestone.on.ca
Website: https://polsonpark.limestone.on.ca/
Location: 165 Robert Wallace Drive, Kingston, ON K7M 1Y3, Canada
Phone: 613-542-5926
Twitter: @PolsonPark_LDSB

Our office administrator is Marie Campbell and assistant office administrator, Lisa Shaw are happy to help you. If you need any assistance, please call 613-542-5926 between 8:00 am-4:00 pm or email the school at polso@limestone.on.ca and we will get back to you!