Jack Stuart School provides a summary of updates for the new school year including changes to registration forms, the Safe Arrivals absence reporting program, school fees, the school council, student assessment procedures, a new student information system, and policies around remaining at school for lunch, video surveillance, and a closed campus. The document also lists important dates for the 2010-2011 school year and notes about special events funds.

1. JACK STUART SCHOOL
Phone #: 672
672-0880 Voice Message #: 672-0898
September 2, 2010 Issue #2
Remaining at School During Lunch Break
hool
Registration Forms
While it is not uncommon for schools in the province to
As we are required to have new registration
quired
charge fees if children
forms completed and on file each year, we sent home
remain at school over the
a form with each student today. Please complete
lunch break, this has not
the form and return it to the school as
been the case at Jack
soon as possible. Thanks.
Stuart School. We allow
students to remain at
SAFE Arrivals Program school to eat their lunch.
A practice at Jack Stuart School is to have parents However, this is to be
contact the school by 8:30 in the morning if their child considered a privilege
will be absent from school. We encourage the use of our and consequently there are
Safe Arrivals voice messaging system for any calls some conditions. Students who are uncooperative or do
before 8:15 a.m. (672-0898). If a student is absent and
0898). not meet the expectations for behavior while eating their
we have not received a call from the lunch, may have the privilege suspended for a period of
parent, we make every attempt to contact time, and if necessary, revoked for the remainder of the
ary,
parents to verify an absence. school year.
We ask your cooperation in calling
k In some cases students do not arrive at school with a
the office if a child is going to be lunch and one is delivered to the school some time in the
absent so that secretarial time is not morning. We realize that circumstances sometimes
taken up trying to contact parents to verify student present themselves making this necessary however it is
absence. far less disruptive if students staying at the school for
lunch, bring their lunch with them when they come
School Fees to school in the morning.
You will soon be receiving an invoice for instructional We would ask that in instances when students have not
materials fees. Cheques should be made payable to Jack been able to bring their lunch with them in the morning,
Stuart School. If at all possible, we ask that your fees be
. the lunches be left at the school office so that an entire
paid by the end of September. The bulk of these fees
. class is not interrupted by
are turned over to the Battle River Regional Office and
ver delivery of the lunch to the
become part of the centralized textbook fund from which room. Please be advised that
schools are allocated textual materials. Should you we provide 20 minutes of
require special arrangements for payment, please don’t supervised time for students to
hesitate to contact the school office as soon as possible. eat their lunch. In the past there
Band fees include a fee for the Beginner Band Clinic. were a few instances where
Participation is mandatory. Those not attending will not parents did not bring lunch to
be reimbursed. the school until it was time for all students to put their
lunch away and go outside for the remainder of the noon
School Council break. Lunches being delivered to the school must
arrive prior to 12 noon. If you are unable to provide
prov
Jack Stuart School has a lunch to the school with enough time for your child
enjoyed a supportive and to eat the lunch before they are expected to go
effective school council. outside, we ask that you please take your child home
Meetings have traditionally for lunch.
been held once a month
however there may be some
months when the council decides that it does not Video Surveillance
have to meet. If you are interested in taking part we
would certainly appreciate your involvement. The
ould The school has surveillance cameras for the purpose
school council has a very important advisory role to of providing additional security. The surveillance
play in the functioning of the school. Look to our equipment is in operation 24 hours a day,
future newsletters for details on meeting dates and every day.
council member contact information.

2. SOME CHANGES FOR 2010-2011 Student Assessment
by Mrs. Sommer A new Student Assessment Procedure for BRSD also
comes into effect this year. This will mean some major
We really do live in a world of change. Here are a few of
changes in the way we grade and in how we report
those changes that will affect how we operate at Jack
student progress to parents. All report cards will look
Stuart this year.
different and the changes in Grades 4-6 will be
Healthy School Communities and Workplaces considerable. We are planning
This procedure came into effect as of the beginning of some parent information nights
the school year. In addition to healthy eating it also around this change as well.
addresses the mental and physical well being of students
Please be patient!
and staff. Parent Council is taking an active role in
Please be patient with us as we
helping us implement some of the guidelines. Stay tuned get reorganized and work
for parent information nights.
through the glitches of
Fundraiser implementing all these changes.
In keeping with the Healthy School Communities Rest assured that high quality
Procedure, we will no longer be running our chocolate teaching and learning will continue as before.
fundraiser. There will indeed be a fundraiser and we are
Meet the Staff
looking at various options to replace the previous one
Since we are expecting to host a number of parent
which generated about $4000 each year for a variety of information evenings, we will not be holding a specific
fieldtrips and other activities.
night for our traditional Meet the Staff. Should you have
New Student Information System (Maplewood) any questions or concerns about your child, please do
A new system is being used in BRSD for all student not hesitate to contact the school.
information. A change was necessary to make our
system compatible with the new provincial program.
Besides basic demographic info and fees, the program
will also be used for:
• Classroom attendance
• Teacher marks program
• Generating Report Cards
• Parent access to individual student marks online (at
some point down the road)
Responding to the Needs of Closed Campus
Students With Severe Allergies Jack Stuart School is a closed campus. We request all
An anaphylactic reaction is an visitors report upon arrival to the school office.
allergic reaction so severe that it is Further, the school grounds are not available for public
life threatening. While we cannot use during school hours.
guarantee an allergen-free school Students may only leave the school grounds during the
environment, we recognize the school day if:
dangers faced by students and staff
Students are going to their own home during the
with severe or anaphylactic reactions (allergies) to
foods, and take reasonable measures to ensure a safe noon break, or
Students have the permission of the school
environment for students and staff. We believe the
responsibility for communicating information about administration to leave the school grounds, or
Students are picked up at the school by a parent.
children with severe or anaphylactic reactions to foods
rests with parents, and that the school has a supportive
role to play in helping parents of students with severe
allergies avoid exposure to allergens while the child is at
school.
In classrooms where there are students who have
anaphylactic allergies, the teacher will inform the
students and the parents of the nature of the allergies and
provide parents with information with regard to the
classroom protocol for managing risk of accidental
exposure to the allergen.

3. Student Assigned Entrance/Exit
On the first day of school, students will receive
instructions from their homeroom teacher as to which
entrance/exit they will use during the school year. To
avoid congestion at any one point we
assign each grade to a particular
entrance. The expectation is
that students use the
assigned entrance/exit upon
arrival to and departure Important Dates – 2010-2011 (Continued from
2011
from the school. th
August 30 newsletter)
Note from Mr. Walsh Please note: Last newsletter indicated that October 8th
would be a day-in-lieu with no students attending. That
lieu
We just wanted to let is incorrect. We do have regular classes on October 8th.
you know that you can
now follow Jack Stuart January 3 Classes Resume
School on Twitter. We January 18 Staff Meeting – Noon Dismissal
will keep you up to January 31 Day-In-Lieu of PD Day – No School
Lieu
date with all that is February 15 Staff Meeting – Noon Dismissal
happening in and February 21 Family Day – No School
around Jack Stuart. March 10 & 11 Teachers’ Convention – No School
March 15 Staff Meeting – Noon Dismissal
Look for the “follow March 18 Report Cards
us” button on our web March 22 Student Led Conferences
page or just follow March 25 Day In Lieu of Interviews - No School
@jstuartschool March 28 Spring Break Begins
April 4 Classes Resume
April 11-15 Music Festival
April 22 Good Friday – No School
April 25 Easter Monday – No School
April 26 School-based PD – No School
based
** NOTE – There will not be a Staff Meeting in April
May 17 Staff Meeting – Noon Dismissal
May 23 Victoria Day – No School
May 27 City Track Meet (tentative)
June 1-3 Ranch Camp
June 21 Staff Meeting – Noon Dismissal
June 24 Grade 6 Farewell
June 28 Last Kindergarten Day
June 28 Awards Assembly – Last
Instructional Day
June 29 Last Operational Day
Special Events ** Next Newsletter September 16, 2010
xt
Occasionally when money is collected for special
events such as field trips and swimming, the
amount collected slightly exceeds the actual cost.
For example, we may for convenience collect $2.00
per person w hen the actual cost works out to $1.80
per person. Although this doesn’t amount to much
money over the year, our auditors require that we
inform you that these “excess” funds are deposited
into our account for other school purchases (eg.
new skating helmets).