Sue Rosebush, the consultant hired by the Active and Safe Routes to School committee, has finished her report; just click here if you would like to read it. In her study of our neighbourhood and potential obstacles to more active routes to school, she found 14 areas that needed improvement. Her report, which will be submitted to the committee mid-June, contains 4 major recommendations, relating to a) the speed and volume of traffic on Youngman, Edinburgh, Harvard and Scottsdale Roads, b) a need for safe pedestrian crossing along major roads around the school, c) sidewalk design and maintenance, and d) parking infractions on the major roads (which create safety hazards for pedestrians and cyclists).

 

If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to pass them along to the office and they will be forwarded to Sue Rosebush. Thanks for your interest in keeping our kids active and safe!

If you would like to read the June Newsletter and Inserts, please click below.

 

June Newsletter

June Inserts 

Thanks to all our parent volunteers who helped out with today's Jump Rope for Heart event. We had students outside skipping all day long (since the thunderstorm passed us by, and the rain held off!), and lots of fun was had by all. Our donation total at the end of today was nearly $2500, and we still have 3 classes and quite a few straggler envelopes to count tomorrow. Way to go, Jean Little! Thanks for your generous support for this important cause!

This coming Tuesday (May 22) we will be holding our Jump Rope for Heart event. If the weather is good, we'll skip outside, otherwise we'll be in the gym. If your child collected money for the event, please remember to send it in on Tuesday so our parent volunteers can get it all counted and receipts issued. Thanks so much for your support for this important cause. Cross your fingers for sunshine (or at least no rain!).

A food order form was handed out today to all students for the year-end BBQ - coming up on June 7!! Please take a few moments to complete it and send it back with your child next week.

 

If, for some reason, you never see this form coming home, you can print a copy straight from our handy-dandy website!  Click here to open up a copy of the order form.

 

We appreciate all the donations of Canadian Tire money that is flowing in - if you have any kicking around at home that you'd like to donate, we'd be happy to use it! Same with any new items or services you'd like to donate for the silent auction or small items that could be used as prizes in the games. Thanks so much!!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the annual year-end Jean Little Barbeque. This is a great chance to come out as a community and celebrate another wonderful year, and to launch the summer (albeit a little early!). Please watch for the yellow flyer coming home with details and the form to sign up if you'd like to help out this year.

 

In addition to the always-popular basket raffle, we will be holding a silent auction at the Barbeque. If you are able to donate any items or services, please let the office know as soon as possible and we will pass that information along to the planning committee. Thanks!

 

Just a reminder, too, that we are collecting Canadian Tire money all this week to help purchase items for the Silent Auction. If you can help out by donating, you can send it in to your child's teacher. Thanks so much!

With our Safe and Active Routes to School initiative, the Golden Shoe Award is back at Jean Little! We are pleased to announce that the results are in from last week's survey on how our students get to and from school - and the winning class with the highest proportion of walkers/cyclists was Mrs. Hayes' Grade 1/2 class! Congratulations!

 

Keep on keeping active, Jean Little!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will not be holding our after-school skipping club practice tomorrow (Thursday, May 10) after school because the gym will be set up for the Open House performances. We will carry on with our schedule as usual next week - so our next practice will be at lunch hour on Thursday, May 17. Thanks!

 

 

For the duration of our Open House on Thursday, May 10, we will be treated to a number of performances in the gym by our talented Jean Little musicians. Here is the lineup:

 

7:00 - 7:20 pm   The Grade 8 Band and the Dragon Drummers

 

7:30 - 7:50 pm   The Grade 7 Band and the Primary Earth Choir

 

8:00 - 8:10 pm   The JLPS Choir

 

Hope you are able to catch a few performances!

During the month of May, please take some time to complete the parent survey about our school. This information helps us plan for the future and set goals for our school. Please go to the address below to give your input. Our students in grades 4 through 6 will be completing a survey here at school, as well, providing us with valuable information to help us make our school even better! Thanks so much!

 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/UGDSBPARENTS 

 

Just a reminder to all Jean Little students and parents that we will be holding our Open House on Thursday, May 10 from 7:00 pm until 8:30. Join us for some music performances in the gym, and have a walk around to see the wonderful science displays in each classroom. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Our whole school will be participating in a "greening up" of our back yard! All through the day on Thursday, May 10, classes will be taking turns heading out to help with the planting of over 100 trees. We're all very excited to be contributing to shady areas for future generations of Jean Little students, and happy to be involved in a good environmental project such as this one. Go Green Jean!

"Together We Educate:  Are You In or Are You Out?"  

 

Through a Parents Reaching Out grant, Ottawa Crescent Public School is bringing Chris d'Souza in as a guest speaker for parents, focusing on human rights, inclusion and discrimination in our education system. The workshop will be held at Ottawa Crescent PS on Tuesday, May 8 - the event is free, and childcare will be available (also free).

 

Chris D’Souza has taught at the elementary and secondary level and was the Equity and Diversity Officer for 5 years for Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School board. He is currently a Course Director in the Faculty of Education at York University and has conducted over 3000 Equity and Anti-Oppression workshops. He is the founder and chair of the Equity Summit Group, a collaborative of over 26 school board equity reps in Ontario. In November 2009 he was awarded a National Award for his leadership in Education by the Harmony Movement which promotes the eradication of discrimination globally and last month he was featured in Education today.  He is the author of two books, his most recent being a children’s storybook entitled, “Why Are All Taxi Driver’s…..?”.

(biographical information taken from www.blg.appleby.on.ca/unity 2011)  

 

If you'd like to take a look at the revised May Newsletter and Calendar (with the new Jump Rope for Heart date), please click below.

 

May Newsletter

May Calendar 

In case you didn't receive this information in your child's backpack, here is the update from Mr.Cutts.

 

The Grade 6 Camp trip is scheduled for May 7-9.

• please have all luggage in the library by 8:30 am Monday morning; 
• all medication for your children should be placed in a ziplock bag with name and instructions clearly written; 
• if you wish to contact the teachers in charge at the camp, please call the school office (not Camp Onandaga); 
• please do not send pillows or sleeping bags - all bedding is provided; 
• bus departure is at 9:00 am, and students will be returning Wednesday, May 9 at approximately 2:30. If you plan to pick your child up at that time rather than the usual dismissal time of 3:10, please let the office know that; 
• while at the camp, our school Code of Conduct is strictly enforced. Please remind your child of these expectations.

Thanks for your cooperation, 

Mr. Cutts 

The Grade 8 trip to la belle province will be here in no time, and there are a few important bits of information to impart.

 

1. Later this week, room assignments, bus lists and chaperone groups will be posted.

2. At a Grade 8 assembly on May 9, students will receive their itinerary, code of conduct, packing list and other instructions.

3. A number of students still need to bring in their pink Student Emergency Information forms - these are very important, so please complete and send in as soon as possible.

4. Final payments are still missing for some students; a second set of "amount owing" statements will be sent home this week. 

 

Merci!

 

Be sure to check back here on a regular basis for Quebec news. 

The Minutes of the April 16 meeting of School Council are now available. Just click here to see them online. They will be available in the School Council folder to the left of the screen, as well.

 

Our next Council meeting will be held on Monday, Mary 28, 2012 at 7:00 pm.

Unfortunately, there was a scheduling glitch and the Junior Track and Field event was organized for the same day as our Jump Rope for Heart day. Track and Field will still be held on May 18, while Jump Rope for Heart has been moved to May 22. If you received your newsletter and calendar electronically, please make note of that change on your copy. Thanks!

 

On the day of the Jump Rope event, we will need some volunteers to help with the donation-counting and receipt-writing. For those who had already offered to help on May 18, please check that you are still able to come on the new date and confirm with either Mrs. Fries or Mrs. Kirkconnell. For anyone else, if you are free that day and are looking for something to do, we'd love to put you to work!  You can let us know by indicating on the permission form that your child will be bringing home. Thanks so much!