Monthly Archives: September 2022

…..it is on the way but running behind schedule folks……..

Hello Families,

Our Terry Fox event is tomorrow – Thursday, September 29^th. Our classes gather as a school community and we enjoy time outdoors, running and walking our beautiful property to support the Terry Fox Foundation. When Terry Fox was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at 18, the experience ignited in him a fierce determination to bring an end to the suffering cancer causes. His personal experience and research led him to the conclusion that more money was needed for cancer research. And so, on April 12, 1980, Terry dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean and proceeded to change the world.

We will collect Toonies for Terry in our classes, or you can donate online through SchoolCashOnline. We will accept donations for the next two weeks.

We have students and families in our own community affected by cancer. The Terry Fox Foundation is an incredible charity that makes a difference.

Thank you,

St. Anne School Staff

Hello Families,

Our meet the staff BBQ is Tuesday, September 27^th, beginning at 5:30.

Come out for a fresh Burger or Dog – Chip/Drink Combo for only $7.00. Tables will be set up for you to relax and eat.

Mr. Resendes and Mr. Noonan are handing out freezies (One per student while they last). Come and find us.

Spend some time on our blacktop for a game of 4 square. Check out our new outdoor classroom and creative playground. Jump in the GaGa ball pit for a quick round with your kids. And…ANCC is going us outside for some games.

Visit our library and the exciting Book Fair. You don’t want to miss the Book Fair!

Classrooms will be open from 6:00-7:00.

It has been a while, so we look forward to everyone being able to gather as a school community.

See you soon.

St. Anne School Staff

Hello Families,

We continue to work on staffing and class placements. Our meet the staff BBQ is Tuesday, September 27^th, beginning at 5:30.

Come out for a fresh Burger or Dog – Chip/Drink Combo for only $7.00. Tables will be set up for you to relax and eat.

Spend some time on our blacktop for a game of 4 square. Check out our new outdoor classroom and creative playground. Jump in the GaGa ball pit for a quick round with your kids.

Visit our library and the exciting Book Fair. You don’t want to miss the Book Fair!

Classrooms will be open from 6:00-7:00.

It has been a while, so we look forward to everyone being able to gather as a school community.

See you soon.

St. Anne School Staff

Hello Families,

We continue to work on staffing and class placements. Our meet the staff BBQ is Tuesday, September 27^th, beginning at 5:30.

Come out for a fresh Burger or Dog – Chip/Drink Combo for only $7.00. Tables will be set up for you to relax and eat.

Spend some time on our blacktop for a game of 4 square. Check out our new outdoor classroom and creative playground. Jump in the GaGa ball pit for a quick round with your kids.

Visit our library and the exciting Book Fair. You don’t want to miss the Book Fair!

Classrooms will be open from 6:00-7:00.

It has been a while, so we look forward to everyone being able to gather as a school community.

See you soon.

St. Anne School Staff

Hello Families,

There has been a recent increase in youth vaping in schools. Vaping, or e-cigarettes, are a banned substance in schools. The Smoke-free Ontario Act prohibits smoking tobacco and cannabis or use of an electronic cigarette (vape) in public places.

You must be 19 to purchase e-cigarettes and vaping supplies. Similar to tobacco products, it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes and vaping supplies to anyone under the age of 19.

Many youths believe vaping is a safe alternative to smoking. Vapes contain nicotine. Getting addicted to nicotine can make it harder for teenagers to focus and concentrate. E-cigarettes also contain chemicals that could cause cancer, and there are many reports of serious lung problems connected to vaping. Additionally, vaping can make teenagers more likely to start smoking regular cigarettes, or other drugs.

Here are some resources to help you talk about vaping with you children:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm_x4DUF6Qo

https://www.lung.org/getmedia/302f26c0-d4b1-451f-a05a-092a93183b6c/vape-conversation-guide.pdf

Vaping on school property is a safe school’s offence and subject to local by-laws and fines for staff, students, and guardians.    

Thank you,

St. Anne School Staff

Hello,

The St. Anne Thanksgiving food drive starts Friday, September 23!

Please send in non-perishable food items or personal hygiene products.

This year more than ever, families in our community need your help. Gas, inflation, and the cost of groceries etc. have created additional challenges. We hope to support as many people as we can with your generous donations.

We thank you in advance for supporting our community.

Thank you,

St. Anne School Staff

Hello Families,

Due to increased enrollment, we are fortunate to add a teacher and class to our school enrollment. As a result, please note that we have been provided direction from the School Board to reconfigure all class placements from grades 3 to 8.

The process for creating class placements is more complicated that what it may appear. The Ministry of Education sets class size compliance thresholds and we meet those by first looking at school level compliance and then at Board level compliance. The School Board reports to the Ministry on Board level compliance.

For the WCDSB to be in compliance, we have had to redistribute numbers within split classes and create some split classes in schools that previously met school level compliance.  But again, we must look at compliance as a whole Board and not as individual schools.

Our staff will be working diligently over the next few days to reconfigure our class placements. We are not in a position to take requests about placements.

We will not be moving students to the new classrooms until we have been able to hire a teacher for the additional class we are adding. We hope this will be soon, but HR will direct us. Many schools are in the same position and so a lot of work is happening across the region to place or hire additional staff.

In addition to this, we will be adding a portable for this staffing increase, and timelines can be lengthy. We may have a class temporarily in the library or gym.

We thank you for your patience and understanding. We follow Ministry policy, and School Board direction. Our staff, as always, will work hard to create balanced classrooms. Class sizes will be reduced, and this is a significant benefit to our kids. We will update you soon, if your child’s class placement is changing.

We ask for your patience as it will take some time to sort through all these changes, but we will provide updates.

Thank you,

St. Anne School Staff

Dear Parents and Families,

We want to share an important update about school buses. Due to the ongoing bus driver shortage and lingering impacts of the public board’s cyber attack on our shared bus planning software, some routes will need to be temporarily cancelled.

Most bus routes are operating normally. However, some routes are experiencing more frequent and prolonged delays (30 minutes or greater).

This temporary measure will be effective Monday, September 19, 2022 and will continue until Christmas, at which time our need for cancellations will be reviewed.

We understand the significant impact this decision will have on our students and their families and caregivers. Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR) does this only as a last resort. We hope that this proactive message will allow families and caregivers to better prepare for and react to the cancellation of bus routes.

Please note that delays have not been caused by our current bus drivers.  When they are late, it is because they are trying to support students on bus routes that have no driver, with the best of intentions.  They do not have to do this.  They are trying to help.  Please be kind to them!

What Happens If A School Bus Route is Cancelled?

Effective September 19, 2022

A school bus route will be cancelled when the driver shortage causes a route to be late by more than 30 minutes consistently. Affected students and families will be informed immediately of the cancellation period.  Cancellations are done on a week to week basis.

Supporting Student Learning

If a school bus route is cancelled, families are responsible for transporting their children to and from school each day.

Where this is not possible, students should access asynchronous learning materials posted by their classroom teacher on their Learning Management System (LMS), either D2L or Google Classroom. Additional activities can be found here: .

Families should contact their school to let them know if they are unable to get to school.  The school can also help families to sign out a Chromebook if necessary.

Stay Informed

Families will be informed the day prior to any cancellation. Cancellations will be posted on the STSWR website with an expected return date.

• Register for notifications on the STSWR parent portal
• Check the Bus Delays page on the STSWR website

The Bus Delays page will be updated with cancellation information each afternoon by 4:30 PM.

Questions?

Please contact Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR).