Thunder News Flash – September 6, 2025

Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends of our School Community,

We are so excited to welcome you and your children back to another school year at St. James and St. Ann’s School. As we begin this new academic journey together, we give thanks to God for the gift of learning, friendship, and faith that we share as a school community.

This year, we look forward to nurturing not only the minds of our students, but also their hearts and spirits, guiding them to grow in knowledge, kindness, and love for Christ. With your continued support and partnership, we are confident that this will be a year filled with joy, discovery, and blessings.

This is the third year of our  theme, “Living, Celebrating, and Proclaiming our Faith,” encapsulating our shared journey of faith and learning. We are thrilled to emphasize “Proclaiming” our faith this year, as it reminds us to share the Good News with others, with both our words and our actions. 

Let us keep one another in prayer as we embark on this new school year, trusting that with God at the center of all we do, it will be a year of growth and grace for every child.

Welcome back, and may God bless our school family!

To kick off the school year in the spirit of togetherness and faith, we will be hosting a Back-to-School BBQ in conjunction with our Meet the Teacher Night on Thursday, September 18th, 2025. 

The BBQ will be scheduled from 5:00-6:45.  Hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and a drink will be available free of charge for all families!  At 6:00pm, we would like all parents to proceed to their child’s class for Meet the Teacher Night.  Children may stay on the playground and will be supervised by our EA team.  Meet the Teacher Night will be composed of  3 sessions of 15 minutes each to accommodate families with multiple siblings.

To organize supervision for the children and make the ordering of food easier, we would like you to RSVP through the link below.   RSVP today!

https://forms.gle/2GLkZchnJx14RzXn6

This event is an excellent opportunity to connect with fellow parents and meet our dedicated staff and REC members.  We look forward to seeing you and your families there, as we embark on a new school year filled with faith, celebration, and living out the values that define our Catholic school community!

At St. James and St. Ann’s we strive to provide a safe learning environment for all students. Due to some of our pupils suffering with life threatening nut allergies, we would like to remind parents that we are a Nut Free School. An allergic reaction (anaphylactic shock) can occur through ingestion of nut products, cross contamination and breathing nut dust in the air. Since this condition can be life threatening, we are asking all members of the school community for their help in minimizing the risk to these children by:

• Avoiding giving children nuts or nut products in their packed lunches
• Instructing your child not to share food with other classmates

Thank you in advance for making the class environment a safe and healthy place for the students. By working together, we can make a difference for our children! We look forward to a great school year.

The safety of our students at St. James and St. Ann’s School is our highest priority.  As such, we would like to remind parents to follow the pickup/drop off procedures as outlined in the Parent Handbook. 

If you are dropping off your children in the morning, please ensure that they are able to get out of the car independently, so that cars can move smoothly and efficiently through this area. If your children need assistance getting out of the car, please park in the parent parking lot.

When picking up students at the end of the day, please remind your child that you will be using the pick up lane and that they need to keep watch for your car. Students will be dismissed at 2:30 and students who are being picked up in the Pick Up Lane will be instructed to wait in the designated area. If your child is not in the waiting area when you pull up to the front of the line in the designated pick up area, parents will be asked to continue to drive through the lane and to either park in the parking lot or to drive around the block to re-enter the pickup lane. Please do not stop and/or leave your car in the pick up lane. We would like traffic in this lane to move efficiently for the benefit of everyone.

If there is a delay in the pick up / drop off lane – please remember there is to be absolutely no passing vehicles in the pick up / drop off lane. We need to work together to ensure that all our children are safe!

School uniforms can  promote a sense of school unity and school spirit. Like members of a sports team, students who wear uniforms feel like they are part of one group and therefore tend to perform better and care more about their school.  It is important that students come to school dressed in their proper school uniform each day.  This includes gym strip for Grades 2-7.  Students should have gym strip and running shoes at school in a gym bag and be ready to change for gym classes.

Throughout the coming months, school staff will be paying particular attention to school uniforms.  We will be checking student uniforms, and sending home a note to inform parents if students are not wearing the proper uniform.  Please help your children wear their proper uniform with pride for our school.  Thank you!

Our school uniform policy is outlined in the St. James and St. Ann’s parent handbook.   

https://www.stjameselementary.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2025-26-School-Uniform-Policy-1.pdf

A gentle reminder that School Photos will take place this Monday, September 8th, 2025.  Ensure your child is wearing a proper uniform and looking their very best! 

The September Work Bee will take place at the school next Saturday, Sept 13th, from 9am-2pm.  You may want to bring gloves for outside work. It would also be greatly appreciated if you could bring any small gardening tools, particularly a rake.  Please also bring a lunch for the mid-day break.  Thank you once again for all of your hard work to keep our school well maintained and beautiful!  

All remaining Work Bee dates for this year have been uploaded to the School Calendar. 

The Parent Rosary Group meets every Wednesday morning from 8:30am – 9:00am in the school library. All are welcome, small children and babies are also invited. No previous experience is necessary. If you have an intention request that you would like to share with the group, please email: hschriefers98@gmail.com.

St. James and St. Ann’s school offers a variety of fun sports and events. The dates of upcoming practices include:

Cross Country 

• Monday, Sept. 8 – 2:40 – 3:30pm
• Tuesday, Sept. 9 – 2:40 – 3:30pm
• Thursday, Sept. 11 – 2:40 – 3:30pm

St. Ann’s Church will be hosting a Hispanic Party on September 20th.  All are welcome to attend.  See the attached flyer for details.

https://www.stjameselementary.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Hispanic-Party-Details-.jpg