Welcome back to another wonderful school year. With the new school year upon us, there are a few items we would like to share with you prior to our first day of school on September 4th.
NEW HALF DAY DISMISSAL TIMES
When we have a half day, students will be dismissed at 12:00 unless otherwise stated. Please make note that September 4th, December 21st, March 15th, May 17th, June 14th, and June 27th, students are dismissed at 12 noon.
SCHOOL GROUNDS CLEAN UP
Get a jump start on your hours this summer!
The school grounds, both inside and out, will be needing sprucing up before school re-opens on Tuesday.
Join us on Saturday, September 1st from 9:00 until completion.
Lunch will be provided!
Please contact Marc Fournier at mf4@telus.net if you would like to help out.
Please bring your own gloves. All other tools will be provided.
Many hands make light work 🙂
WELCOME BACK PANCAKE BREAKFAST
This is a tradition we have each year. We believe that creating a strong community of families is important to the overall well being and education of your child(ren). With this in mind, we wanted to do something special to bring our families together to start the year. From 9am – 10am we invite you and your family to enjoy a pancake breakfast hosted by the K of C in our parish hall. Immediately after breakfast student will head to class and get ready for the Flag Raising Ceremony (Parents are welcome to attend – it will be at our flag pole). Kindergarten will have their own schedule for the day.
The pancake breakfast is also a perfect time to welcome the new families into our school community. One of the strengths and draws of St. Bernadette’s is our sense of family. If you are a new family please stop by the PEC to acquire more information about our school.
PLAYGROUND SUPERVISION
We are still needing parents for the School Ground Supervision Task Group in the mornings 8:30-9:00 if you are available please contact Camille via email; participation@stbernadette.ca
AFTERNOON BIBLE STUDY
Everyone is welcome to attend Wednesday afternoon bible study sessions. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about our Catholic faith and how we can apply it practically in our lives. We watch and discuss seminar series’ from professional theologians such as Jeff Cavins. Join us Wednesday’s 1:00-2:15pm beginning Sept. 12 in the Parish Centre, Room C. School parents – we are always out in time to pick up the kids. For more information or if you have questions, please call Brendan at 778-322-2721.
PARKING LOT DROP OFF AND PICK UP
We had lines painted in the parking lot a couple of years ago to increase child safety. The design is also provides students with more activities during recess and to provide better safety measures during school hours. The solid yellow line running parallel to the school field and playground is not to be crossed by any vehicle from 7am (the start of Stingers Club) to 6pm (the end of Stingers Club). This is to ensure proper safety for our students.
We ask that you familiarize yourself with the drop off and pick up routines in the parent handbook. (If you don’t have a handbook you can download one off our website).
We will continue to close the alleyway beside the church hall. Although this provides a service for parents who want to quickly drop off their child and go, there are too many safety breaches and concerns. The vast majority of our parking lot incidents occurred when the alleyway was open. We also noticed that most safety breaches occur between the time of 8:50 and 9:05am. Please make arrangements to drop off your child(ren) early to avoid parking lot frustrations.
SCHOOL CALENDAR
Our Calendar is now updated for the 2018-2019 school year. The school exclusively uses google calendar and events are added and changed throughout the year. Please check the calendar regularly. It is best practice to add the calendar to your own google calendar so that you can see the updates as they happen (there is a + symbol at the bottom of the calendar for you to click to add). You can find our calendar under our “School Life” tab on our website.
STINGERS CLUB
The hours are from 7am – 8:30am and 3pm – 6pm school days (Wednesdays are 2:15pm – 6pm). For the half days during the school year (excluding the 1st and last days of school), we offer the Stingers Club after school on those days.
On the first day of school, Stingers Club will be open in the morning, but closed after school.
The stingers club is open to all students. It offers fun activities and learning opportunities beyond the classroom. If you would like more information, please contact the office or download a form from our website.
NUT AWARE SCHOOL
St. Bernadette’s is a nut aware school. St. Bernadette’s is committed to not allowing any nuts and nut products on the school premises. We ask everyone to remember that no nuts of any kind are permitted in the school, due to severe food allergies. Individual classes may have other dietary restrictions based on the students in that class. If this is the case for your classroom, you will be notified.
WASTE FREE LUNCH
St. Bernadette’s promotes a waste free lunch. Students will pack in and pack out their lunches. This helps with the composting measures and allow parents to monitor their child’s nutrition at school.
MEET THE TEACHER/ PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT
Please mark your calendars for Thursday September 13th Meet the Teacher/Parent Information Night. The evening begins at 6:30 in the parish hall. The school will be relaying some very important information in regards to the upcoming school year and parent participation. After the short gathering, parents will then proceed to their child’s class to meet the teacher. Teachers will share information for the year ahead. It is really important that you attend this evening and 1 hour of parent participation will be given to every family who attends.
This is one of two mandatory nights for families so please make arrangements to attend (the other night is the AGM/Parent Support Night in January).
2018-2019 TEACHER ASSIGNMENTS
Below you will find the teaching assignments for this school year:
Kindergarten – Mrs. Schollen
Grade 1 – Mrs. Misiti, Mrs. Hillard
Grade 2 – Ms. De Sousa
Grade 3 – Ms. Misiti, Mrs. Fraser
Grade 4 –Mrs. Stuart
Grade 5 – Mrs. Bourassa
Grade 6 – Mrs. Peck
Grade 7 – Mrs. Kosman
Music – Ms. Heaman
French – Mrs. Fraser
Learning Resource – Mrs. Bennett
Physical Education – Ms. Heaman
2018-2019 PEC
Here is your 2018-2019 Parish Education Committee Members:
Angela Lew – Chairperson
Catherine Lan – Vice-Chairperson/Fundraising
Camille Evangelista – Secretary/Parent Participation
Cheryl Chiang – Treasurer
Paul Lylyk – Communications/Fundraising
Marc Fournier – Maintenance
Cristina Ricafort – Parish Liaison Rep/Communications
Fr. Paul – Pastor
Michael van der Pauw – Principal
Boni Kosman – Vice-Principal
Mary Peck – Teacher Representative
PEC Contact Information
For general PEC inquiries – pec@stbernadette.ca
Parent Participation – participation@stbernadette.ca
Treasurer – treasurer@stbernadette.ca
Fundraising – fundraising@stbernadette.ca
Communications – communications@stbernadette.ca
Maintenance – mf4@telus.net
