James R. Henderson Public School Principal’s Message Welcome to Spring! After another long winter, we are all looking forward to the warmer temperatures and first sightings of robins, spring flowers poking through the ground and trees beginning to bud. Spring is also a time when we can get back to spending more time outdoors and can consider using a method of active transportation such as walking or cycling to get to school. As you know, we have been working hard to manage the flow of cars which bring children to school every day. Our most recent Intercept survey on January 15, showed that 100 cars brought children to school that day. That is a huge number! Although we know that some family schedules require children to be driven to school, our students should actually be either be walking or coming on a school bus. Spring is a great time to give some thought to your child walking or cycling to school. We currently have one Walking School Bus route operating. The Westpark-Conservatory PondAuden Park Walking Bus route runs on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays mornings and our other Walking School Bus routes will resume shortly. In addition to the three Walking School Bus routes which operated last fall, we also had one Cycling School Bus. Joining a Walking or Cycling School Bus is a wonderful way for your child to start their day with some physical activity and gives you the peace of mind that your child is getting to school under the supervision of a caring adult from our school community. For details about all routes, please go to http://jrhenderson.limestone.on.ca/School_Council/. If you would like to start a Walking or Cycling School Bus route in your neighbourhood, please email the school at [email protected] Our Walking/Cycling School Bus program was highlighted in a recent article in the Kingston Whig Standard. Please see http://www.thewhig.com/2015/02/23/programhits-the-ground-running to read the article. Many thanks to our “Bus Leaders" Theresa, Kaoru, Heather, Janet, Erika, Cam, Kate and Lorne. Thanks to Julia McKay, Whig Standard reporter/photographer, for the great article and photo. Through the work of our Active Transportation Committee, it was determined that our students’ ability to walk or cycle safely to school would be greatly improved with the addition of sidewalks on key streets. Representatives from the school and School Council presented this information to the City of Kingston last July and I am very pleased to report that our priority sidewalks are part of the City’s new four year Capital plan. Sometime over the next four years, you will see new sidewalks on • Ashley Cres - FROM the Chelsea Rd/Ashley Cres pathway TO Henderson Blvd • Fairfax Dr - FROM the end of existing sidewalk TO Henderson Blvd • Henderson Blvd – FROM Glen Cairn Terr TO Meadowcrest Rd We are very grateful for the continuing work of the Active Transportation Committee! Please email the school if you would like to join this group. Every year, School Council engages in a variety of fundraising activities which provides funds to enhance student learning in and outside the classroom. The staff is very grateful for this support and appreciate the participation of families in Hot Lunch, Magazine sales and Movie Night. This spring sees the return of a Henderson tradition- MAYFAIR is back! Mark May 21 from 5-7:30 pm on your calendar now! Your family will not want to miss this fun-filled event! Please see inside this newsletter for more details. As always, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, Mrs. Leggett or myself with any questions or concerns about your child at school. B. Moore Follow us on Twitter! J.R.Henderson now has a twitter account, and you can follow us at @JRHenPS_LDSB. Upcoming Events & Important Dates……. th *Thursday, April 9 – 7p.m. Health Futures Evening at Frontenac Secondary School th *Wednesday, April 15 – p.m. Sedore/Landis classes to Loyalist Gymnastics th *Thursday, April 16 Graduation Photos & Sibling Photos *Wednesday, April 22 – p.m. Sedore/Landis classes to Loyalist Gymnastics nd rd *Thursday, April 23 – 6:45 p.m. School Council Meeting *Tuesday, April 28th – Goddard/Hearn/Kimmerer to Gould Lake 2015/2016 Kindergarten Registration Registration for kindergarten has begun. Forms can be found on the Limestone District School board website www.limestone.on.ca or may be picked up at the school’s office. Once the forms are completed, please return them to the school’s office together with a copy of the child’s immunization record, health card (optional) and proof of citizenship (ie birth certificate). You will also need to provide documentation of your residential address (ie utility statement, driver’s license, etc.) Completed registration forms will be accepted at the school office during the hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) Lost and Found Survey regarding the Implementation of PPM 140 Incorporating Methods of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) into Programs for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by School Boards 2015 is open on the LDSB Website as of March 25, 2015. The link for the parent survey is: https://www.surve ymonkey.com/s/P PM140PARENTSU RVEY2015. This survey will be open until May 31, 2015. The Lost and Found bins at Henderson continue to overflow with an enormous number of shoes, boots, snowpants, sweatshirts, hats, mitts and gloves. All items will be displayed on tables by the gym from Apr 7- 15. Children seem to have trouble identifying their lost items so if you provide a brief description of the items you know your child is missing, we can help locate them. The agenda is a great place for that information. Any items remaining after April 15 will be donated to a local charity. Water, Water, Everywhere and a lot of Mud! Now that spring is FINALLY here, our yard has some very wet and muddy areas. It is very important that your child has a few extra pairs of socks and a change of pants at school. Splash pants and rubber boots are highly recommended as the water is the huge draw for students of all ages! RUNNING CLUB After this long winter, we are happy to announce plans are in place for the start of our spring Running Club. Running Club is the official warm-up to Track and Field season and is a great way for students to begin their training. Students from grades 3-8 are welcome to participate and Mme. McIsaac is looking for any parents who are interested in coaching or helping to supervise our athletes. Once we have a few volunteers, we will begin to put together a schedule for practices before school and after school, depending on the availability of coaches. We are hoping to begin training very soon as there are district road races planned for early May. Shortly after the road races, a number of staff members will be involved in coaching our Track and Field team. Please email [email protected] if you are interested in helping out with Running Club. SAFETY REMINDER!!!! We appreciate your efforts to use the front of our school as a STUDENT DROP OFF ZONE from 8:45am to 9:15am on school days. During this time you are permitted to stop for a maximum of 3 minutes and you must stay with your vehicle. When dropping your child off, please encourage your child to use the entrance by the gym to get to the Primary Yard or the sidewalks around the north and south parking lots. We ask that you do not park at the front of the school between 8:45 and 9:15. If you need to walk your child into the school yard, please use one of the approximately 180 parking spaces located within a 3 minute walk (250 metres) of a school yard entrance. Please refer to the map attached to this newsletter for parking locations close to the school. We have a team of parents that meet on a regular basis to discuss student transportation. If you would like to participate, please send an email to [email protected] . School Council Meeting: Your next School Council meeting will be on Thursday April 23th at 6:45 – meetings are held at the school and all parents, guardians and community members are welcome to attend. Child care is provided. If you have any questions about these meetings, please contact Carrie at [email protected]. We hope to see you there! JR HENDERSON MAYFAIR THURSDAY MAY 21st, 2015 5:00pm – 7:30pm BBQ, Games, Silent Auction and More!!!! Mayfair will be a fun-filled family event for the entire school community. All proceeds from this event will be used towards refurbishing our Library, which will be moved into the much larger space currently used for the Computer Lab, when it is dismantled this summer. The Mayfair Committee is hoping to raise significant funds at the Silent Auction and is looking for donations such as a product or a gift certificate from businesses operated by Henderson families. In recognition of your community support, your business name and business card will be displayed at the Silent Auction tables. In addition, to show our appreciation of your generosity, the name of your business will be included in our Mayfair thank you in the June edition of this newsletter. Please include with your donation: • 3 business cards or other business flyer/menu • Value of the donation If you would like to make a donation for the Mayfair Silent Auction, please contact Allyson Tonelli at [email protected] or call Allyson at 613-484-1863 in order to arrange drop off/pickup.
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