Welcome to École Maple ES!

• Monday, September 2nd -Labour Day
• Tuesday, September 3rd - PA Day - Class Introduction Letters sent
• Wednesday, September 4th - First Day of School!

• Friday, September 6th - It's Red Friday!

We encourage you to wear RED and/or Majors wear on Fridays in support of our many military connections. A big welcome to our military families who are new to École Maple Elementary School this year!

Welcome to École Maple Elementary School for the 2024-2025 school year! We are so excited for an amazing school year filled with learning, wonder, and fun!

Please read through this newsletter carefully as it includes important information about school start-up and first day information!

Our educator staff have been busy setting up their spaces and planning for learning, our office administrator staff have been busy with new registrations over the summer and class lists, and our custodial staff has been busy with summer cleaning and repair and projects happening over the summer - a big shout-out to Ms. Kimberley, our head custodian, and Mr. Guitard and staff for keeping everyone on track!

Madame Louise and her family have been hard at work in taking care of our gardens so they grew all throughout the summer and are lush heading into the Fall!

So much has happened over the summer on our main school yard, with the addition of 2 new portables, as well as a play structure over by the gardens!

Welcome/Placement Letter to Families:

Every year we experience a significant amount of movement in and out of our community due to family moves and transfers. In September, the school organization may change once we have true numbers to work with, and as such teacher/grade/student placements may require rebalancing in the first few weeks of school. On Tuesday, September 3rd, you will receive an email from the school with a Welcome/Placement Letter.

This letter will include:

• your student's class placement
• information on how to prepare for Day 1
• how to provide medical information to the school (if applicable)
• school hours
• suggested school items
• arrival and/or dismissal meeting places for Day 1 (maps)

Friendly Reminders:

School property:

• is peanut-free/nut-free
• is scent-free
• welcomes service dogs only
• has accessible parking spots by permit only
• is reserved for staff and student use only between 9:00 am and 3:35 pm

School Supplies & Labelling:

Our school will provide the necessary supplies that you will need for learning. However, if you are looking for back-to-school suggestions from LDSB, here are a few things to think about bringing with you on the first day:

• Backpack

• Labelled water bottle

• Lunch bag with a peanut-free/nut-free lunch and snacks

• Personal pencil case to hold any supplies you may want to bring (pencils, erasers, scissors, ruler, pencil crayons, etc.)

• Indoor shoes (with non-marking soles) to be left at school

• Extra clothes (for our Kindergarten/primary kiddos)

To avoid your student's clothing ending up in the lost and found, please consider labelling items, such as indoor and outdoor clothing, indoor and outdoor shoes, containers, school supplies, etc. (see the link below to our school's fundraiser with Mabel's Labels).

First Day of School Welcome Committee!

School staff will be outside to greet students and families and help ensure that students find their meeting spot on the first day of school.

It's going to be a Majorly awesome year!

Mrs. Fox, Mme Tiiu, M. Derbyshire, and the entire Maple Team!

It has been an honour and a pleasure working at Ecole Maple Elementary School for the past number of years. I have enjoyed working with our students, watching them grow and learn, and achieving great heights both academically and as contributing members of the school population. Ecole Maple School Council has been a strong and dedicated group of parents working to make the school the best it can be. The council's work has been greatly appreciated. Our staff is inspiring, committed and second to none. What a privilege it has been to learn together and support one another over the years.

Thank you to the students, families, School Council, and staff for making my time at Ecole Maple truly wonderful. I have loved my time at Maple. It is a special place, and I leave with many amazing and heartwarming memories. I look forward to hearing about the successes of Ecole Maple students in the future.

Wishing everyone a wonderful year ahead! Once a Major, always a Major!

In collaboration with the City of Kingston and KFL&A, Ecole Maple is excited to offer an opportunity for families to access established meet up locations for their student (s) who are walking from the neighbourhood indicated on the meet up location map. Families may decide to walk with the group, or set up a network where this could be scheduled with other families in the neighbourhood. At the end of the school day, students can also access the meet up location at the Gazebo for their walk home. As indicated, there is the advantage of increased safety when traveling in numbers as well as an opportunity to make friends and build community.

All students have been placed into a tentative classroom organization. All classes and staffing are tentative until at least the second week of September. This means that the class and teacher your child starts out with on the first day of school may not be the same class/teacher in mid-September. Should there be a reorganization of staff and students, information will be shared with families. Classes and staff changes take place based on actual enrollment, which is sometimes different from the projected enrollment that staffing is based on in the spring. Student and family moves impact how many students are at Maple Elementary. We will do our best to minimize disruption to student learning and will take direction from the LDSB should changes be required. Changes may be needed if classes are too small or too large, based on Ministry of Education class size requirements, which are mandated from the province.

Currently, we are experiencing increased enrollment and registration. As such, we may start the year with some large classes. Once school starts, these class numbers will be reviewed by a central committee of the LDSB to determine what, if any, changes need to be made. Any reorganization will happen after the second week of school. Families are encouraged to speak to children about the potential for change. As adults, we have the opportunity to model healthy emotions and mindsets around change, helping students to work through the emotions that may arise as an important life skill.

Thanks to all Maple students and families, in advance, for your understanding and flexibility as we determine class sizes and placements.

Our school gardener, Madame Louise and the school garden club need your help! The Learning Garden is in need of some improvements. We would like to ask our school community for any expertise in landscaping to help us with improving the Learning Garden. If you could consult on this project regarding , please reach out to Madame Louise (adamlouise@limestone.on.ca).

Welcome to some new staff members:

• Alena Cawthorne - Grade 3/4 French Immersion
• Amelie Baradwa - Grade 4 French Immersion
• Chris Chanook - EFI Teacher
• Kelly-Ann Gilroy - Grade 3 French Immersion
• Nathan Bruder - Intensive Support Teacher
• Natasha Buchanan - Planning Time
• Rachel Jaynes - French Immersion Kindergarten Teacher
• Antoine Culbertson - Educational Assistant
• Ed Tonelli - Educational Assistant
• Tiffany Salter - ORCHID support for students
• Josie Turner - Grade 5 English

Welcome back to returning staff members:

• Mrs. Boynton, Mrs. Britton and Mrs. Tomalty who are rejoining us for our Yard/Class Supervisor team!

Our first meeting date with elections is on SEPTEMBER 24, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the LIBRARY. See the link above to express interest.

*Childcare will be provided.

*All are welcome!

Our school day schedule is as follows for primary and junior classes:

9:15-11:15 - 120 mins

11:15--11:55 - recess/nutrition

11:55 -1:35 - 100 mins

1:35-2:15 - recess/nutrition

2:15-3:35 - 80 mins

Our main office will be open Monday-Friday. If you need any assistance, please call (613-650-5478) between 8:30 am-4:00 pm, or email the school at maple@limestone.on.ca and we will get back to you!

ARRIVAL

• Our start time is 9:15 am and supervision begins at 9:00 am. Walkers and students being driven to school should try to arrive as close to 9:15 as possible.
• If you are driving your child to school, please consider parking a few blocks away and walking from there.
• Parking lots will be closed to parents.
• When students arrive, they will go directly to their class meeting spot at their assigned meeting place (see picture above). A smaller snapshot of the meeting spot will be shared with you on Friday when you receive your Welcome/Placement Letter.
• On the first day, educators will have a coloured sign with their last name and grade (see colours above).
• To avoid unnecessary congestion, parents should not proceed onto the yard unless absolutely necessary (i.e., very young child or child with special needs).
• Please do not congregate!
  
• Our staff will be on the yard to help. We will be wearing yellow or orange safety vests.
• Staff will assist students arriving by bus in getting to their assigned meeting spot. It helps if little ones have a label or tag indicating their first and last name and their teacher's name.
• Students will line up with classmates, greeted by their educators, and enter the building together.
• When the bell rings, staff will escort students into the building using a staggered entry to ensure stairs and hallways are not crowded.

DISMISSAL

• Parking lots will be closed to parents. Please consider parking a few blocks away and walk to meet your child.
• Staff will escort students out of the building using a staggered exit.
• Students taking the bus will go to their bus meeting spot and be supervised by EA staff.
• Classroom teachers will take walkers and students being picked up by parents to the morning meeting spot and will dismiss them from there when the bell rings at 3:35.
• Parents who must pick up their child, should come to the meeting spot and then leave the yard as quickly as possible. Due to our large numbers, at our site, we are asking parents not to congregate on the yard.
• Bus loading will be supervised by staff beginning with kindergarten students accompanied by ECEs or teachers.
• Students attending afterschool programs will be escorted by childcare providers to the designated meeting spot for the YMCA.

We are so excited to welcome our newest students to Ecole Maple Elementary School. For some this is a first child entering school life, others may have had older siblings who have been through this time of introduction, uncertainty and anticipation. We welcome you all!

ARRIVAL:

• Our start time is 9:15 am and supervision begins at 9:00 am. Walkers and students being driven to school should try to arrive as close to 9:15 as possible. Please make sure there is an adult wearing a yellow or orange vest before dropping off your student.
• On the first day, students will be greeted at Kindergarten gates. You will see staff names and classroom animals on signs that match with the communication you will receive from your teaching team on Tuesday. This is where you will be received each day if you don’t take the bus.
  
• Bus students will be walked by staff to Kindergarten gates.
• There will be staff welcoming students and helping them to class meeting spots.
• Parents on not permitted on the Kindergarten yard - positive and brief goodbyes are typically the most successful.
  

DISMISSAL:

• The end of day bell rings at 3:35 pm.
• On the first day of school, students will be ready to go a little bit earlier to familiarize themselves with the routine.
• Students will be walked by RECEs/ECEs to their buses for loading.
• Teachers will be dismissing students (walkers or pick ups) to their approved family members from their dismissal locations (see picture above).

• Little Tykes (or similar) houses
• Step 2 (or similar) climber playset/slide
• Large plastic toy animals/dinosaurs
• Trucks/cars
• Child size brooms
• Child size shovels
• Pots
• Pans
• PVC pipes cut in half
• Balls
• Bubbles
• Chalk
• Zip ties
• Bungee cords
• Sand pits
• Child sized picnic tables
• Child sized plastic chairs

Late Arrival:

If your child is late for school, please come to the front door and ring the bell to speak with a staff member. Parents will need to wait outside until staff arrive to sign your child in and welcome them inside school. We will make sure that young students get to their classrooms safely.

Early Dismissal:

If you are picking up your student early, please ring the bell on either front door to speak with someone in the main office. Early pick up should be avoided if at all possible, this is a busy time of day and there can be delays. Between 3:20-3:35, families picking up their student(s) will be asked to wait for the dismissal bell.

9:00-9:15 am - Arrival (Kindergarten Yard & Main Yard Supervised)

9:15-11:15 - 120 mins of learning

11:15-11:35 - Recess & Nutrition Breaks

• Primary students eating / Junior students outside
• Kindergarten Outside: Hanlan/Matheson, Toffolon/Sweet-Young, Scott/Bond, Trueman/Sauve-Leroux

11:35-11:55 - Recess & Nutrition Breaks

• Junior students eating / Primary students outside
• Kindergarten Outside: Turcotte/Prescott, McNaughton/Pottier, Hein/Melbourne, Hurteau

11:55-1:35 - 100 mins of learning

1:35-1:55 - Recess & Nutrition Breaks

• Primary students eating / Junior students outside
• Kindergarten Outside: Hanlan/Matheson, Toffolon/Sweet-Young, Scott/Bond, Trueman/Sauve-Leroux

1:55-2:15 - Recess & Nutrition Breaks

• Junior students eating / Primary students outside
• Kindergarten Outside: Turcotte/Prescott, McNaughton/Pottier, Hein/Melbourne, Hurteau

2:15-3:35 - 80 mins of learning

3:35 pm - Dismissal (if you arrive late, after 3:35 pm, your student(s) will be taken to the office to call home

The Limestone District School plays an important role in supporting students with

prevalent medical conditions to fully access school in a safe, accepting, and healthy

learning environment that supports well-being.

If your child has any significant health condition, such as Anaphylaxis, Asthma, Diabetes, and/or Epilepsy, other allergies, or requires medication to be administered and/or medical procedures to be conducted at school, it is imperative that we receive medical plans of care prior to the start of school. Staff need time to become familiar with the information in these plans and may require training from professionals prior to your student starting.

Forms can be found below or on the LDSB website. Please send completed forms to maple@limestone.on.ca or reach out with any questions you may have.

Thank you to those families who have already submitted this information.

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.

For next year:

Extended Absences: letter to office

Strive for 5: share information here

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