THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY

Dalewood French Immersion Public School

D I S T R I C T S C H O O L B O A R D O F N I A G A R A January, 2019

A great big thank you goes out to all our Dalewood families! Over the month of December, our Student Coun-

cil ran several fundraising initiatives to help those less fortunate during the holiday season. At our Winter

Concert, we collected two large bins of non-perishable food items for Community Care. Students in grades 1-

8 were able to participate in a Recycle Gift Boutique. The Student Council was able to purchase over 45 bun-

nies to distribute at McMaster hospital. Our Me To We club raised over $200.00 selling hot chocolate which

was donated to education initiatives in Sierra Leon. Once again, we were overwhelmed by all of your generos-

ity.

WELCOME TO MADAME LINDSAY

We are pleased to welcome Madame Lindsay, our new principal, to Dalewood. She comes to us from

the Hamilton-Wentworth school board and is thrilled to be working in St. Catharines which is her

home community. Madame is bilingual and is excited to be at a French immersion school working

with your children.

We bid farewell to Mme Tye who has moved to becoming the principal at Willian E. Brown school in

Wainfleet. We wish her all the best.

WELCOME TO MADAME LEWANDOWSKI

Madame Lewandowski is returning to Dalewood. She previously taught grade 1 and has be on a ma-

ternity leave. We are looking forward to having her as part of our staff starting in January. Sadly,

this means that Monsieur Pellerin is not going to be with us any longer. He has done a fabulous job

with our grade 4 class and we know that we will see him again as he returns to supply work.

Bonjour Dalewood families! As mentioned above, I am thrilled to become part of the Dalewood team. I look forward to getting to know your child as well as you over the months to come. There are so many exciting things happening at Dalewood. I hope that you will follow our journey on Twitter: @DalewoodDragons Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything. Merci! Mme. Lindsay

A MESSAGE FROM MADAME LINDSAY

FRENCH IMMERSION

PARENT INFORMATION EVENING

On Wednesday, January 9, Dale-wood hosted a parent information evening for those families interest-ed in having their senior kindergar-ten children enroll in the French Immersion program in September of 2019. The presentation took place in the Learning Commons from 6:00—7:00 pm.

CLUB REX WAS HERE AGAIN

On Wednesday January 9th, grade 1&2 students participated in a Club Rex assembly and were given the opportunity to enroll in Club Rex during the winter months. If you need a registration form, please contact the office.

DALEWOOD GOES TO SEE THE ICE DOGS—TONIGHT!

On Friday, January 11, Dalewood are invited to attend the Ice Dogs game in the evening. There is a pre-skate before the game from 5—5:50pm and our Choir will be sing-ing O Canada. Be sure to purchase your tickets through School Cash Online by Saturday January 5. More information about the actual evening will be coming.

CHARACTER EDUCATION

ASSEMBLIES

Our December Character education Assemblies happened on Friday, January 11 in the morning.

The January Assembly will take place on Friday January 25th.

P.D. DAY ON JAN. 18, 2019

Just a reminder to parents that

January 18 is a Professional Develop-ment day for teachers and there is no school that day.

SCHOOL MESSENGER—SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM

The Safe arrival program begins at Dalewood on Monday, January 21. More information is contained in this newsletter and was sent home today.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

The next School Council Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 22nd at 6:30 pm in the Learning Commons. All parents/guardians are encouraged to attend. We offer child care at these meetings.

CLUB REX RETURNS!

Once again, Dalewood will be hosting Club Rex during the second nutrition and fitness break. Grade 1 and 2 stu-dents will participate in an assembly and then be given the opportunity to participate in a weekly club in February. Thank you goes to Mme Gaspich for organizing this for everyone.

LEGO ROBOTICS

Our junior and intermediate students will have the opportunity to participate in our Lego Robotics during the month of January and February thanks to Mme Netherway and Mme Dritsakos.

BALLS ON THE ROOF

Due to the cold temperatures, we are unable to retrieve the balls on the roof in the winter.

PARKING AT DALEWOOD

Due to the snow in the winter, we are unable to put out our pylons in front of the school. Please respect our request for you to refrain from parking in front

of the school during school hours. It is a no parking/stopping zone. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

INTERMEDAITE BASKET-BALL

Girls and boys intermediate bas-ketball seasons begin in January.

January 15th—Boys 4pm, Girls 5pm @ Jeanne Sauve

January 17th— Girls 4pm, 5pm Boys @ Grapeview

January 23rd—Boys 4pm, Girls 5pm @ Dalewood

January 24th—Boys @

Dalewood

January 28th—Girls 4pm, Boys 5pm @ Power Glen

School Travel Planning Com-

mittee WINTER COAT

DRIVE

Did you outgrow last year’s win-

ter coat? Did you get new snow

pants over the break? Time to

clear out your closet? Please

bring coats and snow pants of any

size to Dalewood from January

27th to February 1st. All dona-

tions will be given to Community

Care St. Catharines. Let’s help

the children and caregivers in our

community to bundle up and stay

warm on their walk to school!!!

Page 2 Dalewood French Immersion Public School

Happy New Year—Check out what’s happening at Dalewood

At District School Board of Niagara, one of our greatest priorities is ensuring that all our students arrive

safely at school each day. To enhance our existing absence-checking procedure, we are introducing a

new, more efficient student absence reporting system called SafeArrival. This new system will reduce

the time it takes to verify student attendance, make it easy for you to report your child’s absence and easy

for staff to respond to unexplained student absences.

With SafeArrival, you are asked to report your child’s absence in advance using any of these 3 conven-

ient methods:

• Using your mobile device, download and install the SchoolMessenger app from the Apple App Store

or the Google Play Store (or from the links at https://go.schoolmessenger.ca). The first time you use

the app, select Sign Up to create your account. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.

• Use the SafeArrival website, at https://go.schoolmessenger.ca. The first time you use the website, se-

lect Sign Up to create your account. Select Attendance then Report an Absence.

Call the toll-free number 1-866-606-5567 to report an absence using the automated phone system.

These options are available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. Future absences can be reported at any time.

The SafeArrival app will have a number of benefits for both parents and staff. It is quick, convenient and

will allow you to report daily absences as well as schedule future absences for your children for medical

appointments and other important events in your lives. Using SafeArrival, you will be able to update your

contact information easily, should it change. SafeArrival will also reduce the amount of staff time dedicat-

ed to tracking student absences, allowing them to spend more time supporting students.

In addition, we will use the SchoolMessenger Communicate automated notification system to contact

parents whose child is absent when the absence was not reported in advance. The automated notification

system will attempt to contact parents at multiple contact points until a reason is submitted for the ab-

sence. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, office staff will follow up.

If you report your child’s absence in advance using the SafeArrival toll-free number, website or mobile

app, you will NOT receive these notifications.

If you have not provided us with an email address, you may do so by contacting the school secretary by

calling 905-934-3325 prior to Monday, January 21, 2019. After that date, you will be able to set up your

account by visiting the Safe Arrival site via the link which will be available on our school website.

Starting Monday, January 21, 2019, please report absences in advance using SafeArrival instead of send-

ing notes or calling/emailing the school.

Starting Monday, January 21, 2019, staff will begin using the SafeArrival notifications to let you know if

your student is absent (when you haven’t reported the absence in advance).

If you have children attending other schools, please continue to report absences using the existing proce-

dures for those schools.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation as we implement this new system.

SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM STARTING IN JANUARY

Dalewood French Immersion Public School Page 3

IS THE DSBN ACADEMY A GOOD FIT FOR YOUR CHILD?

The DSBN Academy is a Grade 6 to Grade 12 public school designed to support

and empower students to be the first in their family to graduate from college or

university.

The faculty and student body are committed to excellence and the belief that, with hard work, they can

achieve their dreams. Come learn how our unique program prepares students to succeed at college and uni-

versity and how your child can benefit from the opportunities offered at DSBN Academy. All families are invit-

ed to attend a parent information session in your community. Please see below for dates, times and locations.

Parent Information Sessions:

DSBN Academy recruits and enrolls students from all 12 municipalities within the Niagara Region. Eligible applicants must meet the

following requirements, both at the time of application as well as at enrollment:

• Student must be entering Grades 6, 7 or 8 in September, 2019.

• Student would be the first in their family to graduate from a college or university program. If a sibling of the student has attended

a post-secondary institution but the parent(s)/guardian(s) have not, the student is still considered a First Generation Student.

• Student must be achieving current grade level expectations or just below.

• Student has demonstrated the potential for achieving "good" or "excellent" learning skills, particularly initiative, independent

work and responsibility.

• Student must be willing to attend a school location that may be out of his/her community.

• Student understands that there is a mandatory after-school program which includes enrichment opportunities and academic sup-

ports.

• Families must understand that it is a single track pathway beginning in grade 9 (Academic Level Only).

• Families understand that there is a parent engagement requirement of 15 hours each year.

Applicants must submit a completed application

by February 12th, 2019

WHERE TIME

Tuesday January 15th,

2019

DSBN ACADEMY – St Catharines

OPEN HOUSE

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

The French Immersion program (offered at French Immersion sites) is open to all students in Senior Kinder-garten. If you want your child to develop a high proficiency and fluency in Canada’s two official languages, French Immersion has a great deal to offer.

Features of the French Immersion program:

- Development of French language skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing from grades one to twelve;

- Designed to be a second language program for children whose first language is NOT French;

- Current enrolment of over 2,000 elementary students;

- Certificate of French Immersion Studies awarded upon successful completion of the elementary and second-ary Immersion program;

- Promoting understanding of different cultures;

- Providing additional opportunities for employment using French as the working language;

- An increased ability to communicate and interact with confidence in French.

Registration will open January 7th, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. and will close February 19th, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. For more information about French Immersion in the District School Board of Niagara visit www.dsbn.org/fi or speak to your school principal.

St. Catharines (North) & Niagara-on-the-Lake

Dalewood Public School (Grade 1 entry)

Dalewood Parent Information Night:

Wednesday, January 9 ,2019 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Grade 1 French Immersion Classroom Visits (upon request):

FRENCH IMMERSION FOR 2018 - 2019

Free Dental Screening Coming to Your School

A Public Health registered dental hygienist is scheduled to visit your school Wednesday, January 16th and Thursday, January 17th to provide dental screening to students in grades 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 as required under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.

During this time the registered dental hygienist will perform a quick visual inspection of each child’s teeth to determine his/her dental needs. Parents will be contacted if their child requires immediate dental care. The Healthy Smiles Ontario program may financially assist children who do not have access to required dental care.

Please contact the Public Health dental program if:

* You wish to exclude your child from dental screening

* Your child is not in one of the targeted grades and you would like him/her to participate

In addition to dental screening, ELKP students have an opportunity to receive an optional free fluoride varnish applica-tion if they have returned a signed consent form.

Call the Dental Health Line at 905-688-8248 or 1-888-505-6074 ext. 7399 or email dental@niagararegion.ca.

FRENCH IMMERSION For 2019 - 2020

Free Dental Screening

Free Dental Screening Coming to Your School

A Public Health registered dental hygienist is scheduled to visit your school Wednesday, Janu-ary 16th and Thursday, January 17th to provide dental screening to students in grades 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 as required under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.

During this time the registered dental hygienist will perform a quick visual inspection of each child’s teeth to determine his/her dental needs. Parents will be contacted if their child requires immediate dental care. The Healthy Smiles Ontario program may financially assist children who do not have access to required dental care.

Please contact the Public Health dental program if:

* You wish to exclude your child from dental screening

* Your child is not in one of the targeted grades and you would like him/her to participate

In addition to dental screening, ELKP students have an opportunity to receive an optional free fluoride varnish application if they have returned a signed consent form.

Call the Dental Health Line at 905-688-8248 or 1-888-505-6074 ext. 7399 or email den-tal@niagararegion.ca.

Did you outgrow last year’s winter coat?

Did you get new snow pants over the break?

Time to clear out your closet?

Please bring coats and snow pants

of any size to Dalewood

from January 27th to February 1st.

Dalewood French Immersion Public School

School Travel Planning Committee

WINTER COAT

DRIVE All donations will be given to

Community Care St. Catharines.

Let’s help the children and caregivers in our community

to bundle up and stay warm on their walk to school!!!

January 8, 2019

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back to school after a two-week break! As you are aware, viruses and cold season is at its height. Please review handwashing procedures with your child(ren) - a diagram is below. We will also reinforce this at school.

Your cooperation is appreciated,

Dalewood School Staff