École Maple ES Family Update

Welcome back everyone!

This Monday marks Family Literacy Day, and we are also kicking off Literacy Week at Maple! We have lots of great things planned to celebrate this week, and continue to promote and support improving literacy and all the amazing benefits strong literacy skills offer for all!

With all the cold weather lately, we have had some questions come up:

Is it too cold to go outside?

We have been blasted with some cold artic air as of late, so we wanted to make sure we shared with you the KFL&A Guidelines for cold weather. Generally, the threshold for holding students inside for safety reasons is -25 degrees Celsius, or -28 degrees Celsius with the wind chill. We do feel it is important for students to get fresh air and time with friends outside, so we will also lean towards going outside. Please make sure you are preparing your students to play in the cold with appropriate outdoor wear. We do want to make sure everyone is geared up properly to participate outside safely, so if any students require additional outdoor gear (boots, hats, mitts, coats, etc.) we are always happy to help out here at the school. Please feel free to reach out to maple@limestone.on.ca if you need anything!

Is it too icy to be outside?

Our yard at Maple is vast, with lots of things to do in the spring, but with winter and the closing of outdoor equipment (when the ground freezes, injuries increase from falls from any structure), there are less options. There are many parts of the yard that remain accessible and safe for students to play around, but also some large icy patches that can develop due to varying weather conditions. We do our best to sand large areas of ice, as students seem to be attracted to them, but we cannot sand it all! Please talk to your students about selecting games and areas that are safe to play those games in. We always do our on yard duty to supervise and support our students stay active and have fun with friends in a safe manner.

Remember that Friday January 31st is PA DAY!

Enjoy the last week in January!

The Ecole Maple Team

School Calendar Link

The Limestone District School Board is seeking community members to join the Community Equity Advisory Committee (CEAC). This committee helps create a fair and inclusive environment for students, staff, and the community. Members should have a connection with the Board and bring diverse perspectives. Meetings are held quarterly. Interested? Learn more and apply here.

Leave a Book, Take a Book

Book donations are welcome during Maple's Literacy Week! Monday January 27th through Thursday January 30th, students are welcome to bring one book donation (or more!) to school. Donations will be sorted into categories and students will have an opportunity to visit the front foyer of the school Wednesday or Thursday. We will limit the taking to 1 book per student (if students wish to donate more than 1 book, that is welcome!). If a student does not bring a book to leave but their class is participating, they are (of course!) still welcome to take a book. Happy reading, Majors!

Maple Literacy Week!

Monday, January 27:

• Class and Retake Photos Day

• Handwork Club in the Makerspace @ 11:15-11:55

• Games Club in the Makerspace @ 1:35 -2:15

Tuesday, January 28:

• Wear Your Words Spirit Day!
• Mr. Hofer & Mr. Sergeant classes to Gould Lake @ 9:30 - 3:00
• Games Club in the Makerspace @ 1:35 -2:15
• Play Rehearsal in the Gym @ 1:35

Wednesday, January 29:

• Pizza Day Hot Lunch
• Mme Alena & Mr. Pratt classes to Gould Lake @ 9:30 - 3:00
• Leave a Book, Take a Book Day 1
• Games Club in the Makerspace @ 1:35 -2:15

Thursday, January 30:

• Mme Hegarty & Mme Bharadwa classes to Gould Lake @ 9:30 - 3:00
• Leave a Book, Take a Book Day 2
• Play Rehearsal in the Gym @ 11:15
• Games Club in the Makerspace @ 1:35 -2:15

Friday, January 31:

• PA Day - No school for students

We have lots of great things to look forward to at Maple!

• Feb. 11th - SAC Meeting @ 6:30
• Feb. 12th - Pizza Hot Lunch
• Feb. 14- Report Cards go home with students
• Feb. 17 - Family Day -No school for students
• Feb. 26th - Pizza Hot Lunch
• March 4th, 5th & 6th - JK/SK and Grade 2 Dental Screening
• March 10th -14th Spring Break
• March 18th - SAC Meeting @ 6:30
• March 26th -Pizza Hot Lunch

When you join SchoolMessenger, you will be able to:

• receive imporant information from LDSB
• join classrooms and extra-curricular groups
• report a student's absence (same day and in advance)

Reporting A Student's Absence:

The new student absence reporting system will let you use a mobile app, a website, or an interactive toll-free phone number to report an absence in advance. These options are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Future absences can be reported at any time.

If your student is marked absent and the absence hasn’t been reported in advance, our new SafeArrival system will attempt to reach the student’s priority contact by telephone to confirm the absence. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, school office staff will follow up.

Email: maple@limestone.on.ca
Website: www.maple.limestone.on.ca
Location: 529 St. Martha Street, Kingston, ON
Phone: 613-650-5478
Twitter: @Maple_LDSB