The Bulldog Bulletin

Winston Churchill Public School - Sept 10, 2021

Dear Winston Families

It brings me great pleasure to welcome everyone back for another great year at WCPS. And also to welcome our new students and families into our Bulldog community. We are all excited to have students back in our classrooms and hallways - filling them with energy and enthusiasm for learning. We strive to challenge each student to grow in their academic abilities and to feel a sense of belonging in our school. We look forward with hope and optimism to the incredible year that lays ahead of us.

Public Health and the Ministry of Education continue to provide a lot of direction to schools about routines and protocols. We will continue to take our direction from the local health unit and from the LDSB to ensure a safe school year. We will update you as changes take place.

We wish all of our families who observed Rosh Hashanah this week a joyful and happy celebration - L'shanah Tovah!

Yours in Education,

Gemma Zelmanovits, Principal

Click here for Daily Covid Screening Tool

Class Placements and Staffing

Classes and staff changes take place based on actual enrolment, which is sometimes different from the projected enrollment that staffing is based on in the spring. Last minute student and family moves impact how many students are at Winston. Currently, our classes are slightly imbalanced as a result of many families relocating and not alerting us until class placement emails went out. These class numbers are being reviewed by a central committee of the LDSB to determine what changes need to be made, if any. If there is any change to your child's placement, we will contact you in advance of these changes. This is not an opportunity to request a change. We will do our best to minimize disruption to student learning and will take direction from the LDSB should changes be required.

Thank you for your continued collaboration and confidence in your school team to make the best school based decisions for your child's educational success this year.

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Completing your Child's Registration

Parents of any students who are new to Winston this year are reminded to bring in the required documents to complete their registrations and to come sign their child's application form if they have not already done so. Mrs Jesse will be happy to help you, Monday to Friday between 8 and 4.

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Introducing your school Team!

JK/SK - Kathy Mardicis (Teacher) and Aliesha Lees (ECE) (for Tonya Selle)

JK/SK - Emily Moorhead (Teacher) and Lauren Samas (ECE)

Grade 1 - Joan Young (for Jennifer Anderson)

Grade 1/2 - Kyla Jackson

Grade 2/3 - Dani Gencarelli

Grade 3 - Hayley Johnston

Grade 3/4 - Jessica Rochefort

Grade 4/5 - Sarah Boughen

Grade 5 - Tim Duncan

Grade 5/6 - Erin Koebel

Core French- Sofie Betas, Erika Vines

Planning Time - Sumi Nadarajah (for Stephanie Gladstone) and Laura Lamarche

Student Support Teacher - Laura Lamarche

SOAR - Ben Martin (Teacher) and Kristine Miller (EA)

English as a Second Language - Tim Ley

Student Support Counsellor - Shona Ribbel

Principal - Gemma Zelmanovits

Office Administrator - Kim Jesse

Head Custodian - Kelly Marshall

Evening Custodian - Zach Gauvreau

Educational Assistants - Shannon Williamson, Kelly Hawley, Darryl Weaver (for Reid Rowe Young), Adam Raymond, Lenora Griffin

Yard Supervisors - Rawan Sawan, Julia Heffern, Mara Stampatori

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The Winston School Schedule

Daily Schedule:

8:45 - 9:00 am – Supervision on yard

9:00 - 10:40 am – 100 minute Instructional block

10:40 - 11:20 am – Recess & Nutrition Break

11:20 - 1:00 pm – 100 minute Instructional block

1:00 - 1:50 pm – Recess & Nutrition Break

1:50 - 3:30 pm – 100 minute Instructional block

3:30 pm - Dismissal

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School Year Calendar

The Ministry of Education has approved the Limestone District School Board’s 2021-2022 School Year Calendar.

2021-2022 Elementary Calendar

Provincial Regulation 304: School Year Calendar requires the following school holidays:

Every Saturday and Sunday
Labour Day – Monday, September 6, 2021
Thanksgiving Day – Monday, October 11, 2021
14 consecutive days for December Break – December 20, 2021 to January 2, 2022
Family Day – Monday, February 21, 2022
5 consecutive days for March Break – March 14 to March 18, 2022 inclusive
Good Friday – Friday, April 15, 2022
Easter Monday – Monday, April 18, 2022
Victoria Day – Monday, May 23, 2022

Additionally, there are seven Professional Activity (PA) Days throughout the year.

Friday, September 3, 2021
Friday, October 1, 2021
Monday, November 1, 2021
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
Friday, April 29, 2022
Friday, June 3, 202
Thursday, June 30, 2022

Families, caregivers, students, staff, unions and federations, and community partners were invited to provide feedback on the calendar through an online survey. Both the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board and Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic District School Board will follow the same school-year calendar due to shared transportation.

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Safe Arrival - How to Report An Absence

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. If your child will be late, please report a full day absence and then we will sign them in when they arrive. You cannot indicate a half day absence.

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.