September 5, 2008.

September 5, 2008
(To view a PDF version of this newsletter, please click here)

Dear Parents,

A warm ‘Welcome Back’ to all of our Laura Secord families and a special welcome to all the new families that are joining us! I am excited about being able to introduce you to our new Vice- Principal, Christine Rock. Christine comes to us from Queen Elizabeth Annex where she was the vice-principal. She will be teaching 30% of the time as well. This means that in fact she is only an administrator 70% of the time. Her teaching time will be all day Tuesday as well working with the French Resource teacher a few periods a week. We are looking forward to working with you and your children. It is important for students to start off the school year by being punctual and ready to learn.

Just a few housekeeping notes for this first week:
A newsletter from the school will be sent out every third Thursday. You will recognize it because it will always be on purple (orchid) 81/2 X 14 paper.
We promote good nutrition in the school and encourage students to bring good nutritious snacks and lunches. Kindergartens are on a separate schedule and you should have received all that information in a letter sent home in June.
School Fees are $25.00 per student at the grade 1-7 levels and $12.50 for Kindergarten. There are no family rates. Please make individual cheques for each child addressed to Laura Secord Elementary School.
Student planners for grades 3 to 7 are $8.00. Please make out a separate cheque addressed to Laura Secord Elementary School.
Starting this Friday and every Friday students will be dismissed at 12:00 pm.
Please make sure that you call the school at 604-713-4996 if your child is going to be absent.
Parking is very limited around the school, therefore, please read the parking signs carefully as there will be officers patrolling the area during the first weeks of school.
Setting school routines - important changes
It is important to set school routines from the beginning of the year. We are working on making sure that our school is a safe and healthy environment. Supervision by staff begins at 8:25 in the morning and ends fifteen minutes after the 3:00 p.m. bell. Please do not leave your children in the playground unsupervised before 8:25 a.m.
Students are to stay outside until the bell rings in the morning. They also have been instructed to stay outside during the recess and lunch. It is important for children to have time to run and play in the fresh air. The Ministry of Education mandates 30 minutes of physical activity per day and these time periods help to meet this goal. We will be having special rainy day activities in various locations in the school to accommodate student needs on days where it is raining heavily.
The following is a list of staff members for 2008-09.
DIV GRADE TEACHER ROOM
1 7 Ms. Lesley Chambers 201
2 7 Mr. Phil Green 202
3F 7 Ms. Shelley Deacon 210
4F 7 Ms. Nancy Hawkins 206
5F 6 Mr. Vital Peeters 205
6F 6 Mr. Jean Paul Carrier 174
7 6 Mr. Tom Craik 204
8 5/6 Mr. Brian Breslin 203
9F 5 Mr. Rénald Sans 207
10 4/5 Mrs. Zoi Brown/Ms. Jacy Tilston208
11 4/5 Mrs. Viviana Verhage 209
12 4/5 Mrs. Farzana Kassam 173
13F 4/5 MrFrançois Grenier 069
14F 4 Ms. Patricia Calvo 002
15F 3 Ms. Nadine Marier 176 16F 3 Ms. Susanna Vose 177
17 3 Mrs. Amy Wou 175
18 2/3 Ms. Julie Luciani 107
19F 2 Ms. Linda Cauchon 070
20F 2 Ms. Megan Gelb 066
21 2 Mrs. Sharon Kent 109
22 1/2 Ms. Christy Gibbens 108
23 1 Mrs. Vicky Liakouras 110
24F 1 Mrs. Melania Ross 068
25F 1 Ms. Elizabeth Simpson 067
26 KH/1 Ms Bradleigh Christensen 102
27K Ms. Deborah Hay 104 28F/29FK Ms. Lisa Benckhuysen/ 101
LIBRARY Mrs. Lauren Smith 63
LAC/EMs. Sheri Duckles 009 ELC/LAC/ESL Mrs. Bernice Robinson 213
PRIMARY ESL Mrs. Mary Rickson 001
PRIMARY ESL Mr. Mike Goshko 024
MUSIC PREPMs. Barb McDougall 002A
FRENCH LAC Mrs. Monique Hunter 167 MUSIC PREP Ms. Lisa Benckhuysen 002A
AREA COUNSELLOR Mrs. Linda Hall-Stevenson 168
YOUTH & FAMILY WORKER Ms. Joanne Therrien
SECRETARY Mrs. Shelley McCollum CLERK TYPIST Ms. Wanda Chu FIRST NATIONS WORKER Ms. Amanda White 018
SEA (SSSW) Ms. Elizabeth Dollaga,, Ms. Rosemary Perry, Ms. Rebecca Applegarth, Mr. Jeff Wall, Ms. Manny Reddy, Ms. Leah Hayton, Ms. Anne-Marie Lynch 105B
LUNCH PROGRAM Mrs. Kelly Rakhra, Ms. Amy Chen
SUPERVISION AIDES Ms. Mary Kelly, Mrs. Franca Del-Linz,, Ms. Gery Wentworth, Ms. Rhonda Lindgren, Ms. Sandra Krakoczki
NURSE Ms. Holly Torry ENGINEER/CUSTODIAN Mr. Ju Chen, Mr. K.K. Tong, Mr. Martin Taylor
SPEECH/LANG PATHOLOGIST Ms. Heba Ghobrial