Another two weeks have flown by with so many opportunities and great learning moments. Our senior football team has wrapped up their season with a KASSAA silver. The winter sports season has begun for the secondary students and the intermediate volleyball teams are off to a tournament on Monday. Our business students went to Ottawa this week and our history and world issues classes are participating in the Holodomor National Awareness mobile classroom tour on November 29th.

This week, grade 10 students will be writing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test on Wednesday, and senior students needing to write will do so on Friday. Thanks to the work of Ms. DeRooy and classroom teachers, our students have had practice learning opportunities leading up to this week. This practice can also continue at home: the links to do so have been shared with students and are also found below.

A few sections down in this newsletter, you will find a message for students riding Kingston transit. Please review this material with your child(ren) if applicable. We have also shared a variety of events and information pieces from community partners. Please take a look!

Today, our school was buzzing. Our senior and junior boys basketball teams helped host and were part of a tournament, our school's work on the roof continued, and we hosted training for one hundred new teachers. As far as our own staff, we participated in learning relating to student achievement, assessment and evaluation, alternative report cards and the Math Achievement Action Plan for our grade 7s and 8s. This past week, you may be aware that students participated in spirit week. We kept the spirit going, with most staff showing up dressed like Mr. Sean Conboy (to his surprise), our amazing arts and technology department head - as you will see below.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Jen, Mike, & Kirsti

Some community members have reached out to the school to share concerns around student behaviour on Triboard school buses and Kingston Transit buses.

If your student uses one of these modes to get to and from school, please speak to them about behaviour expectations on the bus, and remind them that they are ambassadors of La Salle. We expect our students to be respectful of other passengers, drivers, and all community members, and we invite them to approach staff if they are experiencing or witnessing problematic behaviours.

Please note that both Triboard and Kingston Transit have systems for managing complaints.

Kingston Transit:

https://www.kingstontransit.ca/ride-with-us/#:~:text=Respectful%20behaviour%20is%20expected%20of,Transit%20property%2C%20including%20transit%20buses.

And the Tri-Board Page:

https://triboard.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/School-Bus-Rules-ALL.pdf

The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is a standardized test designed to “determine whether a student has the reading and writing skills required to meet the standards of the Ontario Curriculum across all subjects up to the end of Grade Nine.” Students complete the OSSLT in the Fall of their Grade 10 year and it is one of the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD).

All Grade 10 Students will write the OSSLT on Wednesday, November 27th, 2024, in the Great Hall at 8:15am.

Since the OSSLT is a graduation requirement, it is important that your student attend school on November 27th. If your student is unable to attend, they will be able to participate in the next administration of the test on a date to be determined which may or may not occur this school year due to cohort and other scheduling restrictions.

ONLINE Practice OSSLT & Resources:

All Grade 10's have had the opportunity to practice the test during a homeform period this month.

We recommend all students actively prepare for the test by accessing the ONLINE resources.

1. https://d1c1qqn86e6v14.cloudfront.net/#/en/student/osslt-assessment/sample/573
   
2. https://ldsb.elearningontario.ca/d2l/home/14180333

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Mrs. DeRooy at cookekj@limestone.on.ca.

Cell Phones: Class time is valued for academic learning. As a school, we continue to reinforce our cell phone policy (see the chart below). In grade 7/8 classes cell phones should be away in lockers. At the secondary level, classroom teachers are to set out clear expectations at the start of the term and be consistent throughout the semester. All classes are equipped with cell phone hotels as phones are to be away unless the teacher has asked for them to be pulled out for instructional and/or research purposes.

Washrooms: Congregating in washrooms is not allowed.Please let your child(ren) know that staff will continue their supervision roles by being in and out of washroom common spaces as required.

Vaping: Vaping is banned anywhere on or within 20 metres of school property. Students may be subject to disciplinary action and parents and guardians will be notified and public health may apply fines of $305. You might be wondering about vape detectors, as per the ministry release of the PPM 128 in May; we will provide updates as we receive further direction from the school board and ministry.

Human Rights: The Human Rights reporting tool poster as (see graphic) is posted in our halls and classrooms. When someone has experienced or witnessed rights violations, we encourage them to report to a trusted adult and/or complete the reporting tool by scanning the QR code. We will continue to ensure our school is a safe place to be for everyone. Slurs and epithets are not acceptable. Discrimination, bullying including verbal, social, physical or cyber as well as symbols of hate are in violation of the Human Rights code. If you or your child have questions or concerns please reach out to us.

Our school climate goal is to ensure a safe space that encourages respectful interactions.

In the age of digital technology and tools, and time-pressure in busy lives, students sometimes submit information that is not representative of their own thinking and growth by using the AI tools such as Grammarly, ChatGPT and many others. Staff will continue to educate students on classroom expectations for assessments. Student attendance and completion of formative work is crucial - it allows students to receive feedback, ask questions, advance their learning, and prevents them from feeling that they have 'run out of time' and 'need' to take a shortcut. If you or your child are ever unclear of the expectations please reach out. Below is one of the tools we use in the office to help educate as well as the board's current academic integrity chart.

Secondary Exams and other Final Culminating Assessment activities will be taking place from Thursday January 23 through Wednesday January 29, 2025 which will be reserved in case of conflicts or inclement weather on previous exam days. Students must be available for this entire period.

The exam schedule will be distributed on December 11th.

Beginning on November 25th, Ashley Nadon an Anishinaabemowin speaker from Long Lake 58 First Nation will be offering virtual Anishinaabemowin classes via Microsoft Teams. Classes will be held 3 times per week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This opportunity is available to self-identified Indigenous students who belong to the Anishinaabek Nation. If there is space after prioritizing Indigenous students whose heritage language is Anishinaabemowin, self-identified Indigenous students from other Nations will be welcomed to participate. Please note this programming is not in lieu of French due to Ashley's limited schedule. If you are interested in having your student participate, please let us know.

Math help is available everyday at lunch and after school on Wednesdays until 4PM in room 206 and they can contact Ms. Grewal at grewalsukhi@limestone.on.ca if they have any questions.

• Winter Break: Monday, December 23, 2024 to Friday, January 3, 2025
  
• Secondary Exam Days: Thursday, January 23, 2025 to Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
  

New members are always welcome to join us at each meeting. Our next school council meeting will be on Tuesday, February 25th at 6:30 pm online. If you would like to participate, please email our Principal, Jen Grasse, to obtain access to the virtual meeting invitation.

Elected council for the 2024/25 school year:

Chair: Marsha Valente

Secretary: Stephanie Gratto

PIC Representative: Members will rotate attendance at PIC meetings

Members at Large: Laura Doherty, Todd Lamothe, Kishore Kumar and Sonika Sathish

Much appreciation to this team for their volunteer time in supporting our school!

LOWER FEES?!

Reduce your family's school fees by participating in our FundScrip fundraiser. This year found fundraiser can be accessed at anytime - when you are purchasing gift cards anyways, you might as well purchase them with added benefits. Did you know that, 80% of the rebates earned are given to your family as school credit which can be applied to school trips, athletic fees, or other extra curriculars.

We invite you to learn about our program to reduce your family's school fees for athletic fees and school trips. For FREE MONEY view the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N-MHYP5Ttg and visit https://www.fundscrip.com/support-a-group and enter the invitation code: DYHCNP

Order La Salle clothing ANYTIME at https://lasalleintermediatesecondaryschool.entripyshops.com/

Looking for a list of mental health support resources that are available in the Kingston area? Please access the pdf file linked for you below. Questions? Feel free to reach out to us.

There are many community organizations, including The Maltby Centre, that offer a variety of resources to support students and families. The Maltby Centre (https://maltbycentre.ca/) provides mental health and autism services to children and youth, and works with clients in schools, homes, and other locations.

Other supports include:

• School Mental Health Ontario (*Added new SMH Resource Document below!)
• Youth Diversion
  
• Kids Help Phone

We continue to see many students who struggle to safely and respectively use social media. Please monitor your student's phone usage, especially at night. Many students admit to staying up quite late each night, and therefore coming to school quite tired. Thank you for your vigilance and helping your student get the most out of their day.

The Ministry of Education has approved the Limestone District School Board’s 2024 - 2025 School Year Calendar.

The following key dates have been approved:

• First Day of School: Wednesday, September 4, 2024
• Winter Break: December 23, 2024, to January 3, 2025
• March Break: March 10, 2025 to March 14, 2025
• Last Day of School: Thursday, June 26, 2025

The 2024-2025 school year consists of 195 days;

• Secondary - 177 instructional days, 7 PA Days and 10 exam days.
• Elementary - 187 instructional days and 7 PA Days.

Professional Activity Days - no classes for students:

• Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024
• Friday, Oct. 11, 2024
• Friday, Nov. 22, 2024
• Friday, Jan. 31, 2025
• Monday, Mar. 31, 2025
• Friday, May 30, 2025
• Friday, June 27, 2025

Intermediate email - lasis@limestone.on.ca

Secondary email - lasss@limestone.on.ca

Website: https://lasalle.limestone.on.ca/
Location: 773 Highway 15, Kingston, ON K7L 4V3, Canada
Phone: Intermediate 613-542-9733 Secondary 613-546-1737

Twitter: @LaSalle_LDSB