Principal’s Message
October is here and that means Thanksgiving is not far off. I wish all of you an enjoyable long weekend with family and friends to celebrate the many good things life offers.
We are well into the routines of school and are preparing for the upcoming Progress Reports.
This year, we will make math our focus. Our school is working on designing our specific math focus. On October 13, our math lead teachers and myself will go to the Education Centre to develop our math plans for the year. As always, we will use our high yield strategies in reading and writing to increase student achievement in Language and all other subjects.
Your support at home is always appreciated and research shows it has a positive impact on student achievement. Make time to read to your child every night for at least 15 minutes. For older students, set aside silent reading time and make sure the choices for reading are of interest to your child so that your child enjoys reading.
To encourage students to write, set aside 10-15 minutes of journal writing. This allows children to write about what is interesting to them and encourages engagement in writing. You can always ask your children to make lists or write out procedures for things like doing chores or cleaning up their rooms for added variety.
Remember to make math a part of your everyday life. Have your kids cook and bake with you so that they learn about measurement. Take your children shopping and have them estimate how much the final bill will be by adding up the cost of each item and rounding up/down. If you are painting a room or renovating, have your child participate in some small way to measure out the area of the room or create a design of the space on graph paper.
This connection between home and school is important. Your support goes a long way to improving student outcomes. Thank you to all that you do to assist your child with learning.
Calling All Three Year Olds
Registration for Kindergarten students starting September 2017 will take place at Central Perth on Monday, November 7th from 9:00 – 11:00. Please call the school to arrange to receive your package.
Fall Fundraisers at Central Perth
Yesterday, the youngest or only students were sent home with our Christmas Poinsettia Fundraiser. All orders are due back at the school by October 21st. Elmira Chicken Fundraiser will be starting at the end of October with delivery the first week in December.
QSP Magazine and Third wave fundraising were started in September and all orders must be back to the school by Wednesday, October 12th.
Today, the youngest or only student has also brought home the “No Work Fundraiser” for any family who is interested.
Thank you to everyone who support of fundraisers.
Parents as Partners
Thanks so much to parents for making donations to our Learning Commons Maker Space. We can still use a lot of items. Please call us if you are able to provide items. If you are not sure what we need, I am happy to provide a list of items needed. Just call or email me.
Safe Schools
We continue to reinforce the AMDSB’s goals to create positive, inclusive learning environments and we use our Safe Schools Team as a vehicle to achieve this. Our Safe Schools Team consists of staff members, a parent rep, a community rep and a student rep. At CPES, we are fortunate to have Constable Kees Wijnands and PHN, Veronica Kolkman as our community representatives. Amanda Cook is our parent rep. The team reviews the School Climate Survey and associated surveys about student well-being and determines a course of action to achieving a positive and inclusive environment at CPES. Our Be a Verb team uses the direction of the Safe Schools Team to determine a focus for students to improve inclusion and positivity.
Christmas Concert
This year, the students in grades JK-4 will be presenting “Toys, The Night They Came Alive”. The dress rehearsal will be on Monday, December 12th at 12:00 p.m. and the evening concert will be on Tuesday, December 13th at 6:00 p.m.
School Council
We had the opportunity to elect a new Council for the 2016-2017 school year. The following is the make-up of CPES’s School Council:
Nancy Baker – Co-Chair
RuthAnn Ogilvie – Co-Chair
Kim Rogers – Vice Chair
Sarah Vermist -Secretary
Judi Allen – Treasurer
Bridget Sage – Community Rep
Janelle Priestap – Staff Rep
I strongly encourage any parents to come and join our council. Parents who are not official members of council are welcome and encouraged to attend all of our meetings. Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 pm.
Reminder That All Parents/Visitors Are Asked to Follow This Protocol
Please use the Front Door to enter our school.
If you are signing in your child as “LATE”, please say your goodbyes in the office and let your child go to their classroom on his/her own (JK/SK exception).
If you are dropping off their snowpants, projects, lunches, forgotten items, etc., or meeting with a teacher, please come to the office. Please do not proceed to your child’s classroom.
When leaving the building, you can use the front door or the door off the parking lot.
When picking up your child at the end of the day, please come to the office and your child will meet you there.
All students being dropped off and/or picked up must be signed in or out using the book outside of the main office.
These procedures are to ensure the safety of our students.
School Council
We had the opportunity to elect a new Council for the 2016-2017 school year. The following is the make-up of CPES’s School Council:
Nancy Baker – Co-Chair
RuthAnn Ogilvie – Co-Chair
Kim Rogers – Vice Chair
Sarah Vermist -Secretary
Judi Allen – Treasurer
Bridget Sage – Community Rep
Janelle Priestap – Staff Rep
I strongly encourage any parents to come and join our council. Parents who are not official members of council are welcome and encouraged to attend all of our meetings. Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00 pm.
Character at Central Perth
October’s character virtue is Empathy – thinking and feeling about others. Regularly I will provide a thoughtful quote, question or reflection for students and staff on this topic. Please take the time to reinforce this virtue with your child.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Parent/Teacher interviews will be held on Thursday, November 3rd from 4:00 – 6:45 p.m. and on Friday, November 4th from 9:00 – 11:45 a.m. Please call the school the week of October 24th to book your time. If you are unable to attend at this time, please call your child’s teacher to arrange another time for the interview.
Halloween Happenings
Halloween is a special time for many children. On Monday, October 31st, primary students can dress up at noon in costumes for the parade. Students in grades 5 – 8 will have a dance on the afternoon of Friday, October 28th. October 31st is also a “Black and Orange” day. Students are not allowed to wear a mask at school. Parents who have concerns about Halloween activities are asked to contact their child’s teacher. Alternate activities and learning opportunities will always be provided.
Emergency School Closing
If schools are to be closed for the entire day and/or if buses are not operating or operating on a two hour bus delay due to fog or snow, the information will be broadcast as early as possible. You can find out about delays on radio stations CJCS 1240 AM, CKNX 107.7 and CKNX 920 AM Radio. You can also get this information from the Avon Maitland website www.yourschools.ca and on the school twitter account at
http://twitter.com/CentralPerthES. On the left side of the home page, click on “Transportation delays or cancellations”. First Student Transportation may determine that buses should leave the school before the regular 3:20 departure time. This information is always broadcast over the radio at least thirty minutes before buses leave the school. An early dismissal always creates concern for the safety and well being of our students, especially the younger ones.
Please note that in the event of a two hour bus delay, the school will open two hours later. Often a two hour delay can develop, depending on weather conditions, into a school closure. So, please ensure that if you drop your child off, transportation home is arranged. Staff may also be delayed in arriving at school by the prevailing weather conditions.
Please Use the Answering Machine, Not Email
When notifying the school of a student absence or bus change, please call the school and leave a message on the answering machine.
Please do not email any staff members.
If the staff member that you are sending the message to is either absent or does not check his/her email throughout the day, important messages can be missed.
Monthly Calendar
The Central Perth monthly calendar is available on line on the Central Perth website. Please log onto
https://avonmaitlandschools.ca/centralperth/ and save it to your favourites. The calendar gets updated as items are added. You are able to see the full year.
Used Inkjet and Laser Printer Cartridges
Stop throwing out your empty printer cartridges. Please drop them off at the school, as we have a company who is picking them up and paying us cash. Any money received will be used to purchase books for the library.