Centennial Connection June 23, 2024

Dear Centennial PS Families -

It is hard to believe that we are entering the last week of school for the 2023-2024 school year and what a year it has been! I want to take this opportunity to send a huge thank you to the students who have worked so hard throughout the year learning new concepts and developing their skills. Thank you to the parents, guardians and family members who have encouraged students and championed their learning, and for your support of the school. We are truly grateful for your partnership! A huge hats off to the Grade 6 students who will be leaving Centennial and starting middle school at Calvin next year! We hope that you will always carry a piece of Centennial in your heart. Don't forget the Grade 6 Celebration for Grade 6 students and their families on Tuesday June 25th at 4pm in the gym. A big shout out to the hard working staff at Centennial for their endless patience and innovation, and for celebrating student achievements and successes. Many thanks to the School Council for organizing and hosting events for families, and for raising funds for student experiences. The School Council year end barbecue last week was a terrific event! There is so so much to be grateful for!

At this time of year there are also some good byes to staff who are leaving Centennial for other schools and adventures. We say goodbye to teachers Ms VandenAssem, Ms Duncan, Ms Hetherington, Ms Joannette, Mr Blair, and Madame Cooney. We will miss you and we wish you so well at your new schools! We are not yet sure of all of the support staff for next year, so we say good bye and "hope you will be back soon" to Ms Jodie, Ms Rikki, Mr Chris, and Mr Sanchez. Thanks to all staff for your hard work! We welcome a number of new staff to Centennial as well. Staffing continues into the summer months with our full staffing compliment ready for September!

Staff for September include:

Kindergarten Educators: Mrs Lalonde, Mrs Sharpe, Ms Mennie, Ms Ghina, Mrs Farndon, Ms Aylesworth

Primary Staff (Grades 1-3): Mr Travers, Ms Murphy, Ms Funnell-Kononuk, Mr Tiffany, Mrs Beardall, Mrs Evans

Junior Staff (Grades 3/4 - 6): Ms Byers, Mr Cahill, Ms Girard, Mr Darwell, Ms Rosser

Support Staff: Ms Jackie, Ms Moscrop, Ms Faria, Ms Hashey, Ms Trish, Ms Talisse, Ms Hope, Mrs Burton

Planning, French, ESL, Intensive Support & Student Support Teachers: Ms Churchill, Ms Schukei, Ms Pollitt, Ms Wallis, Mr Zeltser, Madame Carierre, Ms McKinnon, Mrs Blackburn, Mrs Christian

June is Indigenous History month and Pride month and classes have been engaging in lots of learning and activities to celebrate both! We know that it is in celebrating diversity and embracing each of our unique qualities that we find strength!

This is a reminder that the LDSB calendar for the 2024-2025 school year is posted below. The first day of school is Wednesday September 4th.. Staff will be working on the PA Day, Tuesday September 3rd and families can expect to be contacted on that day about class placement. Educators will be reaching out to families by email or by phone on Tuesday September 3rd to share class placements. A reminder that changes to class placements are tentative as changes may be made during the 3rd week of school, if directed by the LDSB staffing committee. Changes to class placements will not be made in the first 2 weeks of school. The school office will be open August 26th to August 30th from 9am-3pm Monday -Thursday, and 9am-12noon on Friday.

Hot lunch has concluded for the school year so all students need to have snacks and lunches this week Monday - Thursday. Please don't forget a water bottle as well. Report cards will be sent home with students on Wednesday June 26th. We are looking forward to an amazing end to the school year with lots of activities and fun this week! Have a great rest of the weekend! See you tomorrow!

-Deborah Thompson, Principal & Centennial PS Staff

June is Natoinal Indigenous History Month, Pride Month, and Brain Injury Month

This week there are several classes taking local trips that are weather dependent - check School Day for more details!

June 24 - Kindergarten Celebration (PM)

June 24 - Byers & Rosser classes to Miller Museum & Splash Pad

June 25 - Kindergarten Celebration raindate

June 25 - City Park Trip for Beardall & Hetherington classes

June 25 - Grade 6 Celebration 4-5pm for Grade 6 students and families

June 26 - Report cards go home

June 27 - Joannette class to Lakeshore Pool

June 27 - Last day of school

June 28 - PA Day

Due to the prevalence of peanut and tree nut allergies, we do ask that all parents refrain from sending products that may contain nuts to school, even if there is not a specific nut allergy in your child's classroom. We appreciate your efforts and support to ensure that all of our students are safe at school. If your child has any allergies or medical conditions of which the school is not aware, please inform your child's teacher immediately, so that we can ensure that we have all of the information required to keep children safe at school. If in doubt about ingredients, please do not send to school. Thank you for your help to keep all students safe!

All school supplies that students need for their learning and work will be provided by Centennial Public School. Sometimes students prefer to have their own pencil case with pencils/markers, but it is not a requirement.

Students do need to come to school with:

- Indoor, non-marking athletic type of shoes

- Water bottle with child's name clearly marked (we have bottle filling stations, not fountains)

- Nut-free snacks and lunch

Please label all items!

Sometimes students want to bring items to school to show friends, or have things stored in backpacks that need to remain at home. This is just a reminder that students should not bring the following items to school:

- items of value (sentimental or monetary)

- any kind of weapon (for example, a Swiss Army knife)

- any kind of toy that could be a replica weapon (for example, a toy gun)

- electronics of any kind

- jewelry

- make-up

- anything scented

- anything with nuts (please ensure all lunches and snacks are nut-free)

- toys, stuffies, Pokemon cards

Thank you for keeping these items at home. Sometimes a quick check of a backpack can ensure that treasures do not come to school. Thank you for understanding that we are not responsible for lost, broken or stolen personal items.

School Day is an online platform that families can use for providing permission and payment for school events.

Each returning family has a School Day account that you would have used last year. The user name and password you used last year continues to be active for this year.

Families new to Centennial will receive a paper information sheet this week with a unique user name and password (which you can change). Please keep this information handy as we use School Day for various permission forms, school trips, consents and payments.

Returning families who are not sure of their School Day information can contact the school office and a new form can be sent home to you.

Please note that we are not able to accept verbal or written permission generally and that School Day is to be used. Cash and cheques cannot be accepted at the school due to safe money handling procedures and as such, the much more secure method of School Day is used.

This platform may be new to some families (and to us too!) and we are here to work through the process together. Don't hesitate to reach out to the office if you are experiencing any challenges.

Some students may bring a cell phone to school as a way to communicate with parents before the school day begins and after the school day ends. When students bring a cell phone to school they place it in the lockbox that each teacher (grade 3/4 to 6) has in their classroom and it remains locked for the day.

Should a student need to make contact with home throughout the day, they are welcome to let their teacher know and the school can either contact home or the student can use the phone in the main office.

We have devices at school such as ipads and chromebooks that are available for student learning, and as such, cell phones are not needed during the school day. At recess students play and have time for social interaction face to face.

Please see the link below for more information and to self identify, if you wish.

https://ldsb.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9U2iaUl9GIFILb0

Do you need a way to label your things that stay labelled? Do you need a way to show what's yours? Need a way to label your child's things so they don't get lost or mixed up? Support Centennial Public School Council by purchasing through the link. The school receives 20% of your purchase! All funds raised go to support School Council initiatives including student activities. Thank you!

http://www.oliverslabels.com/Centennial

Want to look spiffy and show off your pride in being a Centennial PS Comet? Check out all of the clothing and accessories available at the Centennial Public School e-store at: https://specialtytrophies.ca/centennialps/

Please use the Safe Arrival system to report your child's absence; do not call the school to report an absence. If you child is going to be absent from learning, please ensure you use the Safe Arrival system to report the absence. There is a new function in Safe Arrival if your child is going to be late.

How to report your absence:

1. Toll-free telephone

• Call 1-855-257-9349 toll-free to report an absence using the automated phone system.

2. School Messenger App

• Use your mobile device to download and install the free SchoolMessenger blue app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, the SchoolMessenger website portal, or from within the LDSB mobile app.
• The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.
• Select Attendance, then select Report an Absence and follow the prompts.

3. SchoolMessenger SafeArrival Website Portal

• Visit the SchoolMessenger website portal.
• The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.
• Select Attendance, then Report an Absence and follow the prompts.

Stay Up To Date! Please check the following regularly...

Centennial PS Twitter https://twitter.com/centennial_ldsb?lang=en

Centennial PS Website https://centennial.limestone.on.ca/

LDSB Website https://www.limestone.on.ca/

LDSB Twitter https://twitter.com/LimestoneDSB

LDSB Facebook https://tinyurl.com/wbhjtku

LDSB Instagram https://instagram.com/limestonedsb?igshid=1epyma6c0g5qd

"We treat others the way we want to be treated"

"Show Up! Stand Up! Never Give Up!"

Email: cente@limestone.on.ca
Website: https://centennial.limestone.on.ca
Location: 120 Norman Rogers Dr, Kingston, ON K7M 2R2
Phone: 613.546.5517
Twitter: @Centennial_LDSB