Thunder News Flash – January 9, 2021

Does your child love attending St. James & St. Ann’s School?  Well, do we have a contest for you!  We are asking for student testimonials about St. James & St. Ann’s School, and every student who sends in an entry by email by clicking here will have their name placed into a draw for a $25 Indigo gift card!  Some of the entries will be selected to share on our website, some of the entries will be included in our Virtual School Tour Video which will be shared with prospective parents during our Virtual Open House, and some of the entries may even be displayed in our showcase window by the school office or around the school for Catholic Schools’ Week!  All students whose entries are selected for display will only be identified by their first name and last initial.  Students whose entries are chosen to be a part of the Virtual School Tour Video will have their voice only recorded reading their testimonial as part of this video.

Each entry must be in the student’s own words, must include the student’s full name and grade, and should answer one of the following questions in 100 words or less:

• Why should parents choose St. James & St. Ann’s School for their children?
• What makes St. James & St. Ann’s School a great Catholic school?
• What do you love the most about St. James & St. Ann’s School?
• OR What is your favourite memory of your time at St. James & St. Ann’s School?

All entries must be received at the school via email no later than 6:00pm on Tuesday, January 12th.  Good luck everyone!

At the beginning of the school year each student in the school was provided with two washable masks, and the Kindergarten students were then provided with an additional three washable masks to be worn as necessary.   There are a number of activities that are done at school which require the students to wear masks, including when they are in close contact with other students in their cohort, such as partner or group activities; when they are working with students in another cohort; when they are working closely with an itinerant teacher, etc.  After being used these masks are sent home to be washed and returned to the school as soon as possible, and yet many students do not have their washable masks available when they are needed. 

While we know that parents do not do laundry every night, it is important to know that these masks can be washed by hand, rather than in the washing machine.  Depending on which website you look at you can wash them with laundry detergent under warm or hot water, rubbing them vigorously, and then rinsing the soap out, or you can wet them, rub them with laundry detergent and then leave them to soak in warm or hot water for 20 minutes.  They can be dried in the dryer on the hot cycle to kill any germs you feel may still left on the mask, or they can air dry overnight.  

If you would rather wash the masks in the washing machine when you do laundry, please consider purchasing your child a few more washable masks that they can have for use at school.  These can be found at a number of local stores for less than $5/each.  While the school does have some disposable children’s masks available to be used when a student forgets their mask, we want to do our part and keep the landfills free of this additional garbage.

Do you know any new families who would like to apply to join our school community for the 2021-2022 school year?  If so, please let them know that we will be hosting a Virtual Open House on Wednesday, January 20th.  This will be a Zoom meeting that will take place starting at 6:30pm, and go until approximately 7:30pm.  This meeting will include a virtual tour of the school, some student testimonials, information about the application process, as well as a Q & A session.  Any interested parents should email the school office in January at office@stjameselementary.ca, or by clicking here, so that they can receive the link to the Zoom meeting.

Don’t forget about Mabel’s Labels, our new fundraiser for St. James & St. Ann’s School, which is ongoing throughout the year.  Maybe you have purchased some new uniform pieces, or maybe some new outerwear for your child recently.  Putting a label in these items will ensure they are returned to your child if they are left outside or lost within the school.  To order these labels, just go to their website at https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/fundraising/support/ or by clicking here and choose St. James & St. Ann’s School from the list.  Then shop and your labels will ship directly to you, and the shipping is FREE!  St. James & St. Ann’s School earns a commission on every order.  Please support our school as every fundraising dollar we raise helps out.

Our next Work Bee will take place at the school today, Saturday, January 9th from 9:00am – 2:00pm.  If you are able to, please bring gloves for inside or outside work, and small cordless gardening tools.  Also, just a reminder that parents should not bring children to the Work Bee, and family members must be at least 16 years of age for the hours to count towards Parent Participation.  We appreciate all your hard work!

If your child was absent from school during the month of December, and you did not sent a note to the office explaining their absence, an Absentee Note will be sent home with your child for you to complete on Monday, January 11th.  If your child does not give you this note, please check their backpack – they are bright pink so you cannot miss it!

We have been very fortunate so far that we haven’t had any concerns about the possibility of transmission of COVID-19 in our school.  This is due in large part to the fact that parents have been very diligent about not sending their children to school when they are sick, as well as picking up their children very quickly if they have begun to feel sick while at school.  We appreciate your attention to this very crucial part of our Health & Safety Plan, and continue to remind you that parents are asked to complete a Daily Health Check of their children each morning before they come to school.  Please assess your child for the following symptoms:

• Fever
• Chills
• Cough or worsening of chronic cough
• Shortness of breath
• Loss of sense of smell or taste
• Diarrhea
• Nausea and vomiting

If your child has one of those symptoms, excluding fever, they should stay home for 24 hours from when the symptom started.  If the symptom improves, they may return to school when they feel well enough.  If the symptom persists or worsens, seek a health assessment.  If your child has two or more of the symptoms, or they have a fever, you should seek a health assessment for them.