October Newsletter
Principal’s News
It is hard to believe that the month of September has come and gone! It was wonderful to see so many families at our Meet the Teacher Evening! We were also very thankful to have a number of parents come out to our first School Council meeting! School fundraisers have begun! A huge thank you to the staff and parents who organize and execute these events as the funds raised enhance opportunities for students within our school. Opportunities for students to participate in clubs and sports outside of the classroom have started! I would like to take this opportunity to express a great deal of gratitude to the teachers who are making these extracurricular events possible. We already have several school excursions booked for the coming year which will complement the curriculum! While all these opportunities enhance the student experience, we realize that some families may struggle to fund these experiences. If you are having trouble with payments, please approach me or Karen in the office, I will be happy to work with you. I have found Laurelwoods to be an extremely generous and caring community. I have included a “pay it forward” button to cash online purchases. If you find yourself able you may click the donation button when you are paying for your child’s items online. Donations can be made online for denominations of $5, $10, $15 or $20.00. For families that are wishing to make larger donations please note charitable tax receipts are provided for donations of $20 or more. Donations received through the Upper Grand Learning Foundation will be utilized to provide resources within the schools and to assist with the costs of school activities. Each school operated by the UGDSB has a fund set up in its name and donors may direct their contribution to a specific school. For more information on this fund please visit Upper District School Board Learning Foundation. I have attached the Upper Grand Learning Foundation form for your convenience Upper Grand Learning Foundation Form
On Monday October 9th, many of our staff and students will be celebrating Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate family and reflect on our good fortunes. Many people celebrate by having a feast with family and friends. Whatever you choose to do on Monday, enjoy the long weekend and take time to reflect on all the positives in your life.
Lori Shilvock
Principal
IEP’s
Teachers are in the final stages of assessing, updating, and finalizing Term 1 IEP’s. Previously in September, there were Student-Parent/Guardian IEP Feedback forms sent home. The relevant information has been added into your child’s IEP if you returned that form. If your child has an IEP, you can watch for it to be sent home on October 17th. Please ensure you review it, sign the consultation form, and return it to the school. If you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s IEP, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child’s classroom teacher or Mrs. Rayfield for clarification.
Food Bank
The staff and students at LES have been busy collecting non-perishable donations for the Orangeville Food Bank. We will be collecting items until October 5th. On October 5th, volunteers from the Orangeville Food Bank will be coming to the school to collect the generous donations. They will weigh the items and let us know how many pounds of food we are donating. Stay tuned to hear our grand total. Students from Mrs. Matthews class have been busy collecting, sorting, and tallying points for each colour house team throughout the challenge. Keep up the good work LES! Thank you so much to our school community for supporting this challenge.
Terry Fox Run 2023
Students from K-8 participated and joined in the Marathon of Hope by participating in many different activities organized by Mrs. Jordan and herclass.Fun was had by all!More importantly, we raised over $443.00!Thank you for your cash and online donations.
Thanksgiving and P.A.Day
Laurelwoods Elementary School will be closed to students on Monday, October 9th for the Thanksgiving Holiday. OnFriday, October 27, 2023, there will be no school for students as it will be a P.A. day
Fond Farewell
The Board has reviewed our Educational Assistant allocation. As a result, Ms. LePage, Ms. Begley, and Ms. McFarlanehave been reassigned. Their last day with us was September 29th. We wish them all the best in their new schools.
Photo Day
The photographer from Edge Imaging will beat Laurelwoods the morning of Thursday,October 5th, 2023, to take photos of all our students.
Dates to Remember
October3rd Cross Country Meet
October 3rd Public Health Oral Health Screening (Grades JK/SK/2/4& 7)
October 4th Last day for Food Drive
October 5th Picture Day
October 5th World Teacher Day
October 9th Thanksgiving – no school
October 13th Backwards InsideOut Day
October 17th ECE Appreciation Day
October 27th P.A. Day –no school for students
October 31stSpirit Day
October 31stFall Dance –Grade 6,7 & 8’s
Parent Council Update
This year the Parent Council would like to hear from all the families of Laurelwoods to give us feedback on what we can do better for you. To have your opinion heard, please answer a short survey to guide us in the right direction. To ensure we are able to address all your concerns and comments, please have your survey completed by October 27th.
Click here for the survey: https://forms.gle/qTR8hyjoefCSzChJ6
To make it easier to be involved, we have set a consistent day for all Parent Council meetings this year. Meetings will be held on the first Thursday of the month, at 6:30pm in the school library. For those of you who wish to attend but are unable to attend in person may join by using the following link
Parent Council Meeting next meeting will be on November 2nd at 6:30pm at Laurelwoods and we would love to see you there!
This year we are introducing subcommittees to the Parent Council to achieve even more for the school. Parents are able to be on as many committees as they would like and are not required to attend Parent Council meetings to be on a committee. Dates for subcommittee meetings will be shared once they have been established.
Subcommittees:
Events/Community Building
Agricultural Involvement
Fundraising
Playground
As always, thank you for your continued support of the Parent Council. All money raised through our various fundraising initiatives goes directly back to the school for classroom/library supplies, scientist in the classroom, playground equipment, and much more.
Food & Friends Student Nutrition Program
Our student nutrition program provides free healthy food available to all students with bins in every classroom. We kicked off this year with a Thanksgiving meal and gift card raffle, donated by GSC Catering, at the Meet the Teacher night on September 28th. Together we were able to raise $400 for the program! Congratulations to our winners, Victor Paan who won the $100 gift card and Chris Knechtel who won the Thanksgiving dinner for four. Thank you to everyone who donated, your support goes directly to provide food for all Laurelwoods students.
For more information on the Food & Friends program please visit https://www.childrensfoundation.org/programs/food-friends to learn about this important organization.
October 31, 2023
Many families celebrate Halloween with costume dress up and/or black and orange. Halloween is a day that is not observed by all students or staff. With this, it is considered a choice to participate as are all spirit days. This year October 31st falls on a Tuesday. If students would like to wear costumes on October 31st, they are welcome to do so. Alternatively, children could wear black and orange or autumn colours.
If you are sending your child to school in a costume, please be mindful of the following.
Students must be able to get in and out of their costumes independently.
No weapons of any sort
No face masks.
No cultural appropriation (e.g., Cowboys and Indians, gypsies, Day of the Dead, darkening skin) etc. Do not use identities and cultures as costumes. This would include transphobic costumes (i.e., man dressed as a woman), body-shaming and objectifying costumes.
Costumes must be modest and in line with our dress code (e.g., no French Maid costumes)
Costumes that joke about situations that have caused harm (i.e., COVID pandemic) need to be avoided.
Categories: News • Newsletter