April 19th – Weekly

Posted April 19, 2024

Hello Harris Mill Families, 

Please read the important reminders below and have a great weekend!

#1 Every Day Counts! Student Support Week 2: We are continuing to share information to help families support their child’s attendance at school. Below are some tips you can try that involve the routines and the environment at home.

  • Practice consistent bedtime and morning routines with your child. 
  • Parents can model the same routine at home, as it helps students stick to the routine of coming to school each day.
  • Having a set schedule for sleep and nutrition is key to a good morning and feeling good about coming to school.
  • Preparing for school at night so that the morning is less hectic can be helpful.  Organizing clothing, packing backpacks and including favourite foods can be reassuring.
  • Putting out clothes and making lunch the night before can help get your child out the door in the morning.
  • If your child does refuse to attend school, try having no screens/devices during the time when they are at home. Make staying home as boring as possible! Shutting down the home Internet can be helpful if this is a draw for your child to stay at home.
  • Creating an environment conducive for improved sleep hygiene (e.g. dark room, quiet, sound machine, light in morning, consistent bed and wake times).
  • Ensuring at least 30 minutes of screen-free time before bed and removing all electronics from bedrooms before bed can be helpful. 
  • Limiting screen time before bed is key to winding-down and getting a great night’s sleep!

Remember, every day counts. Together, we can make a positive impact on students’ education, well-being and future.For more information, please visit the UGDSB website: https://www.ugdsb.ca/parents/student-attendance-at-school-tips-and-strategies-for-families/

#2 April 26th Dance-A-Thon: Wow!! The display case in the front entrance of the school has filled up with incredible Dance-a-thon Raffle prizes!  Thank you SO much to the families who have generously donated all these brand new toys and crafts.  There’s buckets of fun and even a lovely new scooter up for grabs!

If you still have items you’d like to donate, it’s not too late to send them in, we can always take more!  More prizes mean more students will get to take a prize home 😃

Pledge forms and envelopes have hopefully made their way home with your child by now, so they can start collecting $ from neighbours and grandparents perhaps?

Cash = Tickets

Tickets = Prizes

Every student gets one free ticket, then for every $5 raised, one ticket will be issued.

Teachers also have some awesome prize experiences and are currently handing out tickets to students who show kind and caring behaviour in the school. Kindness matters!

Please return Pledge Forms and money by Tuesday, April 23rd. Thank you for your support.  All proceeds go to Harris Mill. 

#3 Harris Mill Spring Concert will be held Wednesday May 8th in the afternoon: Stay tuned for more information coming soon. 

#4 Mark your calendars! The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Harris Mill! Our school’s Scholastic Book Fair will take place on Monday May 6th to Friday May 10th. Your investment in your reader helps our whole school. All purchases earn Scholastic Dollars that can be redeemed for books and educational resources for our school’s classrooms and library. The countdown is on! Stay tuned for more information. https://www2.scholastic.ca/bookfairs/parents-and-families/ See you at the Fair!

#5 YEARBOOKS ARE NOW AVAILABLE: Purchasing this year’s yearbook couldn’t be easier! Yearbooks can be purchased online using SchoolCashOnline from April 8th to May 3rd. Each yearbook is only $25. NOTE: School Council has decided to kindly purchase every Grade 5 Student a yearbook as a Harris Mill keepsake. Thank you School Council!

#6 Looking for Pots and Pans! The Kindergarten team is looking for donations of old car tires and pots and pans to enhance our outdoor classroom. If you have anything you would like to donate, please drop them off at the office. We would be grateful!

#7 UGDSB April Communications Newsletter: The April Communications Newsletter is out! This is the monthly public-facing newsletter from the communications department, so please feel free to share with your communities. In this month’s issue we have information about:

  • Every Day Counts! Student attendance 
  • Student career fairs
  • Mental health literacy for students
  • And more!

Download the newsletter here: https://www.ugdsb.ca/community/communications/communications-newsletter/ 

#8 Parent Digital Resources – Support Literacy Skills with Reading Rocks!: Every week we will try to share a resource that parents/families can access to support their child(ren)’s development and learning. This week’s information is about Reading Rocks! This in-person program sponsored by the UGDSB can help students in developing their literacy skills.  Click the link to read more. https://www.ugdsb.ca/harrismill/2024/04/18/reading-rocks/ 

#9 TICK SEASON IS HERE: The memo attached here and links from Public Health may be helpful as we head back into tick season.

Blacklegged Tick and Lyme Disease

https://wdgpublichealth.ca/your-community/ticks-lyme-disease

#10 A Guide to Harris Mill Food Orders: To help make things easier, please refer to this quick chart to help with food orders. It will be updated as needed. 

Type of Food How to order Available Days
The Lunch Lady www.lunchlady.ca

Note:   Orders must be placed/cancelled by 7am on the day of delivery. 

 Mondays – 2nd Break
Purple Pig Pizza  Orders are now finalized for the remainder of the year.  Wednesdays– 2nd break from April 3rd through June 19th
Booster Juice www.boostyourlunch.com

Note: Navigate to the Elementary tab along the top, pick Harris Mill PS, enter your students name and then select their teacher.  Orders must be placed/cancelled by Wednesdays the same week at 8pm

 Fridays – 1st Break
Subway/Pita Pit Fridays  School Cash Online to order

Note: Place your order by Sunday at noon each week, or order in advance for several weeks at a time.

 Fridays – 2nd Break

 

#11 Please Call The School: To ensure that all of our students are safe every morning we kindly ask that all parents call the school office (519-856-0309) to let us know if their child will be absent or late. When the office does not have confirmation of where the child is then we must call all available numbers until we have confirmation that the child is safe. Thank you for helping us out with this!  

#12 Morning Drop Off: Just a reminder that students should not be dropped off at the school before 8:15 as there is no supervision happening before this time. Also an ongoing reminder that parents are asked to stay on the edge of the tarmac close to the yellow posts when dropping off their grade 1-5 child(ren) before school starts. If parents are dropping their child off late (Kindergarten to Gr.5) Please go to the front office doors and connect with the Office staff. Thank you for your help with this to ensure all our students are safe.

#13 Wanting to Volunteer at Harris Mill?: We really appreciate and value all our parent and guardian volunteers who give up some of their time to help us out, whether that be in the school or on a field trip. To get started volunteering this year there are a couple of actions to take. 

  1. Anyone who is new to the volunteer role at Harris Mill must first contact Ms. Evans, our Office Coordinator, for full information on how to submit a vulnerable sector check. 
  2. Those volunteers who have already submitted a vulnerable sector check to the school previously must also see Ms. Evans to complete a quick annual offence declaration. Please note: Following the UGDSB Policy 205: School Volunteers, your vulnerable sector check remains valid for 5 years, as long as you sign a yearly Volunteer Agreement with Annual Offence Declaration.

#14 ACCESSIBILITY & EQUITY: There may be times throughout the year when we ask parents to send in money to cover the cost of field trips, pizza, special events, etc. We understand that for some families, these funds may cause financial hardship. We never want a child to miss out due to financial hardship. If you are ever in this situation, please contact the school, and we will arrange to have the school cover the cost.

#15 DOGS ON SCHOOL PROPERTY: We kindly ask that all families who walk their dogs to the school refrain from taking their dog into busy areas around the school (ie Kindergarten drop off and pick up areas, the back tarmac and sidewalk of the school area during drop off and pick up times). We have many students who for various reasons are uncomfortable around dogs and to help these students transition easier to and from school we ask that all dogs be kept well away from these areas around the school. Thank you for your help and understanding. 

Harris Mill Important Upcoming Dates:

Friday April 26th – Harris Mill Dance-A-Thon

Monday May 6th to Friday May 10th – School Book Fair

Wednesday May 8th – Spring Concert (1:30 pm Start)

Categories: News • Newsletter