NORTH ELMSLEY PUBLIC SCHOOL

JANUARY 2013

NEWSLETTER

Principal: Mr. Paul Hannah / Office Administrator: Mrs. Jayanna Wood Phone: (613) 267-1371 Fax: 1-855-408-0860 209 Port Elmsley Rd. Perth, ON K7H 3C7

Principals Message
Welcome back and Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday. A long-standing tradition in our society is to mark the beginning of each new calendar year with a resolution for self-improvement. This tradition dates back to Roman Times when the mythical god, Janus, was placed at the beginning of the calendar (hence, January). With two faces, Janus could look back at past events and forward to the future, so he became the symbol for resolutions. For students who are pondering goals for this year, I would like to suggest that they consider a personal goal (i.e., character development) and a goal for improving academic performance. Parents can be instrumental in helping their children with this endeavour, and it would be interesting to compare/modify students goals with suggestions for improvement that will be included in teachers comments on the upcoming report cards due out in February. Good luck with this, and may the face of Janus that looks to the future smile upon you!

Sincerely, Paul Hannah

VIRTUE OF THE MONTH:

FAIRNESS is being open-minded, taking turns and trusting others.

Newsletter Electronically
The benefits to receiving the newsletter and calendar by email are reduce the amount of paper used by the school (environmentally friendly) and to ensure that you consistently receive a copy of the monthly newsletter, and only print off what is necessary. If you are interested in receiving the monthly newsletter electronically, please send a note with your email address into Mrs. Wood at the office.

Upcoming Events
Every Friday is Team Colour Day Hot Dog Days - $1 each Jan. 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th Pizza Days Jan. 8 , 15 Friday January 11 Thursday January 17 Friday January 18 Week of January 21 Tuesday January 22 Friday January 25
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Nutrition Program
A big thank you, to The Church of St. John The Evangelist in Smiths Falls for providing us with a $500 donation to our nutrition program. Also, to our parents for their donations each month. THANK YOU!

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(pre-ordered)

- Salad Day rescheduled to Tuesday Jan. 22nd - HPV & Men C Shot #2 for gr. 7 & 8s only - Cheerleading Practice 3:30 5:30 pm - Mini-Sub Day - February Hot Lunch Order Forms Due - Salad Day rescheduled from Fri. Jan. 11th - NEPS School Council Meeting 5:30 pm - PDCI Grade 8 Information Session 9:15 am - Munch & Lunch Day - NO Cheerleading Practice after school

Kindergarten Registration
Launch your Childs Success!! Register between January 28 and February 8 for kindergarten. Junior kindergarten students must be 4 years of age by December 31, 2013, Senior kindergarten students must be 5 years of age by December 31, 2013. Registration is accepted year round but you are encouraged to register between January 28 February 8 by calling the school; or visiting www.ucdsb.on.ca for more information.

Sunday January 27 Monday January 28

- Knights of Columbus Free Throw Competition - SFDCI grade 8 Information Session 9:30 am

Wednesday January 29 - PA Day No School

Cooler Weather NEPS Student Council Spirit Days

Wednesday January 23 Retro Day Now that the cooler weather is upon us, please make sure that your child comes prepared for outdoor recesses. Extra clothing can be removed, but additional clothing cannot be added if its not brought to school. This will enable all students to be comfortable and warm for a fun recess.

Grade 8 Transition to Grade 9 Meetings

Grade 8 students along with their parents/guardians are invited to transition to high school meetings. Held at NEPS for the following dates: PDCI Meeting Friday January 25
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Food For Thought Cookbooks Helping Feed Our Future!

Did you know that 31% of elementary school children dont each breakfast daily. The link between good nutrition and learning is well known. Children and youth who begin the day well-nourished are ready to learn and do better in school. Food for Thought Partnership has provided support to our school to run nutritious breakfast, snack and lunch program.

at 9:15 am
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SFDCI Meeting Monday January 28

9:30 am

Students First, Always! Blog

The Upper Canada District School Board has introduced a new blog, called Students First, Always! to keep you informed with accurate and important information in real time and what is happening in our schools. The blog address is www.studentsfirstalways.ca. As always, if you have any specific questions do not hesitate to call Mr. Hannah at the school.

As a celebration of our 10 years of supporting child and youth, they have produced a local Food For Thought Cookbook. It is filled with more than 400 delicious recipes submitted by students, volunteers, teachers, parents, and many others from our community, as well as, artwork drawn by area students. The cost of each cookbook is $15. $5 of each cookbook sold will go to our school nutrition program. Cookbooks are available for purchase from the office.

K-6 and 7-12 Transition Meetings

Meetings for sharing of information and for the community to provide input into plans for the transition of the Perth Family of Schools from K-8 and 9-12 models to K-6 and 7-12 models are scheduled as follows: Wednesday, February 6; Wednesday, February 20; and Wednesday, April 3, 2013. For all three meetings, the start time is 6:00 p.m. and the location is PDCI.

Swimming Lessons
Swimming lessons will be for grades 1-5 this year. The schedule booked at the Perth Pool is April 2 17, 2013, Tuesdays through Fridays only, no Mondays during this time frame for 10 lessons. Grades 1, 2 & 3 - 9:45 10:15 am, grades 4 & 5 10:20 10:50 am. Cost and permissions forms in March.

Student Safety
Please send notes to the office or call to let us know about early pick ups and absent children. Notes to teachers should be written in your childs agenda. Also, call before 3:00 pm if you intend to pick up your child(ren). In order to protect the safety of our children PLEASE park your vehicle in the designated areas (adjacent to the playground) and walk your child into the school. For afternoon pick ups, please make sure that Mrs. Wood knows that you have your child(ren). Parents of all Kindergarten students must remember that they MUST be at the bus stop for morning pick-up and afternoon drop-off. If you are not at the bus stop for your child the bus driver will not drop your child off. They must return your child/children to the school and we will call you to pick your child(ren) up.

Upcoming Sports
Senior Cheerleading team practices are in full swing again. Mrs. Kilpatrick is running practices on Thursday and Friday Jan. 17 and 18th at morning recess for Basketball Free Throw. In-School competitions will begin week of January 21st. The top scoring boy and girl from each age category will be chose to participate in Smiths Falls at the Knights of Columbus Basketball Free Throw Competition on Sunday January 27th. Watch for permissions forms.

Remembrance Day Poster Contest

Congratulations to Taylor Labelle who won 1 place for the Primary Colour Poster Contest from the Royal Canadian Legion Poems, Posters, and Essay Contest for Remembrance Day. Well Done Taylor!
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Pancake Breakfast
Our pancake breakfast was, once again, a huge success! The children were served quickly and efficiently, thanks to all of the parents who took time out of their busy day to cook, serve and clean up - we couldn't do it without you. Thanks to the families who donated syrup, plates, cutlery and pancake mix. Thanks to the staff who came in early to start cooking the 500 pancakes we needed. The combined effort of families, and community sponsors resulted in another positive experience for our NEPS family. Santa even paid us a visit! Thank you Santa for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by and see us!

Smith Falls Civitan Movie Night

Friday January 18, 2013 Smiths Falls Civitan Club, 12468 Highway 15 North Movie Feature Madagascar 3 Doors open at 6:00 pm and Movie starts at 7:00 pm

Christmas Concerts
Back in December, our school had two lovely evenings of Christmas concerts that were enjoyed by all who attended. Our kindergarten to grade 5 concert night featured great performances in classrooms and plenty of opportunity for folks to mingle in the hallway, enjoy refreshments and purchase tickets for a raffle of gift baskets and an i-pad. Our grades 6-8 concert performance by our bands, under the guidance of Mr. Wallace, provided an opportunity for our young musicians to showcase their impressive talents. Both evenings captured the essence of the Christmas spirit and we would like to thank everyone who helped make them possible and who joined us both evenings. The contents of the gift baskets were donated by families, sponsored by classrooms and presented by our School Council.

Free admission, cash canteen serving popcorn, hot dogs and drinks. Any questions please call 613-284-2042.

Ray-Ban Prescription Sunglasses

A pair of prescription Ray-Ban sunglasses and case were found in the main office mid-December. Please call Mrs. Wood at the office if you have lost a pair.