Monthly Archives: September 2022

Wednesday, September 28th, 2022, is Rowan’s Law Day (#RowansLawDay, #WCDSBRowansLawDay) – a day to engage students, staff, and parents/guardians in activities that increase awareness about concussions and to share Rowan Stringer’s story.

Rowan’s Story:

Rowan Stringer loved rugby. A competitive and keen athlete, she was captain of her high school’s team. Tragically, in May 2013, 17-year-old Rowan died as the result of head injuries she sustained while playing rugby. In the week before her last game, Rowan was hit twice while playing, likely sustaining a concussion after each blow. Her concussions went unreported, and she continued to play. Rowan suspected something was not right—she texted a friend about her condition and used Google to search for information about concussions. When she was hit again in her final game, Rowan suffered what is known as Second Impact Syndrome— catastrophic swelling caused by a second injury to a brain still healing from previous trauma. Rowan collapsed on the field on May 8th, 2013 and died four days later.

Rowan’s Law:

In 2018, a new law called Rowan’s Law was passed in Ontario. It will help protect people who play sports, or play active games in schools, help teachers, parents/guardians and coaches learn about preventing concussions, and help people who get concussions to recover. Have you ever bumped your head or body? Probably! We’re all at risk of sustaining a concussion but because some bumps can hurt our brains and our brains may need a lot of time to heal, Rowan’s Law was created. Thanks to Rowan’s Law, all sports organizations and schools in Ontario will have new rules in place around concussions. Even when we do our best to prevent injuries there is always some risk. Rowan’s Law will help coaches, teachers, and parents/guardians, know when a child has suffered a suspected concussion and that they should immediately stop participating in physical activities, and help them to identify when it’s safe to play again.

We are so happy to be back in a safe environment together!

We will add important dates to our school calendar and keep it up to date. Classroom teachers continue to communicate through their google classrooms.

I will continue my ‘alphabet’ style review each month:

A

Athletics are fully up and running for our grade 4 – 8 students. Congratulations to our Junior Soccer boys’ and girls’ team for winning second place at the tournament at Riverside Park, September 19^th. Baseball / 3-pitch tournaments for our Intermediate students were rescheduled for Wednesday September 28^th.

B

Bus delays and cancellations have interrupted our start up for bus families. Thank you for your understanding as we work through a ‘system-wide’ problem!

C

CCAT results for grade 4 from last year and CAT-4 results for Grade 7 from last year were sent home. Copies are also kept in each student’s OSR (Ontario Student Record) file.

Catholic School Council start up meeting is being planned. Also, in the works is a meet the teacher evening October 6^th.

D

Dogs on the yard. We realize dogs are part of some families, but we also have students who may be afraid. Ideally, we would appreciate if you do bring your dog, please arrange a spot away from the pick-up area at the side of the school.

E

ECO Team is preparing some activities. Stay tuned.

F

Our Forest is off-limits and ‘out of bounds’ for staff and students for safety reasons.

Fire Drills are practiced each term. We have completed 3 Fire Drills practices.

Faith:

-we celebrated our opening Liturgy Friday September 16^th. Mrs. Freitas’ and Mrs. Milito’s class led our first gathering as a school community.

-Father Joe our St. Patrick Church priest, has provided the dates for upcoming masses and sacraments. They will be posted on the school calendar and more information will be sent home.

-Food Drive in support of St Vincent DePaul (St. Patrick Parish) will run from Monday September 26^th to Thursday October 6^th.

H

Hot lunches are organized by our Catholic School Council. Stay tuned Pizza and Friday Hot lunches are coming soon!

I

Inclement Weather protocols are being reviewed. At this time a bell will ring at 8:35 p.m. when our supervision starts. Students will enter at the gym ramp and stay in the gym, supervised until the bell rings at 8:50 a.m.

M

Meet the teacher will be Thursday October 6^th from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Students are invited to share their classroom and introduce their new teacher.

N

No Peanut butter or other substitutes like soya etc. If it looks and smells like Peanut butter it will be treated as peanut butter.

Nutrition for Learning will be available to all our students in the near future. Stay tuned!

Our NEW Director Mr. Tyrone Dowling visited the school on September 22^nd.

Orange Shirt Day is on Friday September 30^th. Students and staff are encouraged to wear orange as a community in the spirit of reconciliation and hope because every child matters!

P

Picture Day is Tuesday September 27^th. We will be using a new company Pegasus this year! There will be a retake day for any students absent.

Parking Lot Safety! Our parking lot is ONLY for staff, approved transportation vehicles and parents contacting the Office for a specific need. We now have 2 busses, so there is a longer time for approved vehicles to remain parked before leaving the lot. PLEASE find drop off and parking areas safely in the community!

Professional Development Day is October 24^th – No School for students!

R

Rowan’s Law Day is September 28^th. Concussions are very serious!

Miss Rubenstein our NEW CYW (Youth Care Worker) supports students and teachers. If you require support, please contact the classroom teacher or Miss Weltman our NEW Special Education teacher for more information. Mrs. Grosz is still our Social Worker supporting students and staff!

S

Spirt Wear is coming soon. Watch for an order form coming soon. Remember that EVERY Wednesday is a school spirit day to wear ‘Scotties’ gear or school colours black and green!

Student Verification Forms were due Friday September 16^th.

T

Trips with families are common. Please contact the school Office if the student (s) will be away for any period. Please continue to contact the classroom teacher for absences and copy the office to ensure safety.

Terry Fox Walk was September 29^th. Thank you so much for another successful Terry Fox Walk. Together we raised the most money in St. Margaret history! We surpassed our goal of $2500 and raised $2680! Plus, it’s not too late to still donate! Donations will be accepted until the end of the month! Together we can accomplish so much!

Go Scotties Go!

V

Volunteers will be welcomed back into the school this year. Stay tuned for the opportunities we offer!

W

Welcome back to a NEW school year learning in-person, praying and playing together!!

Mr. J. Schnarr

Principal

Thanksgiving Food Drive for St. Vincent DePaul of St. Patrick Church:

The shelves at SVDP are empty!  They have a special request for the following items, although anything is much appreciated:

boxed cereal, canned fruit and vegetables, canned meat and fish, peanut butter, pancake mix and syrup, KD, pasta sauce.

The food drive at St. Margaret will run from Monday September 26-Thursday October 6.

SVDP will plan to pick up on Friday October 7.

Thank you for any support you are able to provide!!

Due to the weather, today’s Intermediate 3 – pitch tournaments have been rescheduled for this Wednesday September 28th ‘same times and same places’.

Parents that volunteered to drive today, please confirm with the coach (note in the agenda, or call) that you are able to drive Wednesday.

Go Scotties!!

Route 064 has been cancelled next week due to the rotating cancellations.

Our second bus route 071 will run on the regular schedule. The individual families affected were sent a letter from the school by email.

Dear Parents and Families,

We want to share an important update about school buses. Due to the ongoing bus driver shortage and lingering impacts of the public board’s cyber attack on our shared bus planning software, some routes will need to be temporarily cancelled.

Most bus routes are operating normally. However, some routes are experiencing more frequent and prolonged delays (30 minutes or greater).

This temporary measure will be effective Monday, September 19, 2022 and will continue until Christmas, at which time our need for cancellations will be reviewed.

We understand the significant impact this decision will have on our students and their families and caregivers. Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR) does this only as a last resort. We hope that this proactive message will allow families and caregivers to better prepare for and react to the cancellation of bus routes.

Please note that delays have not been caused by our current bus drivers.  When they are late, it is because they are trying to support students on bus routes that have no driver, with the best of intentions.  They do not have to do this.  They are trying to help.  Please be kind to them!

What Happens If A School Bus Route is Cancelled?

Effective September 19, 2022

A school bus route will be cancelled when the driver shortage causes a route to be late by more than 30 minutes consistently. Affected students and families will be informed immediately of the cancellation period.  Cancellations are done on a week to week basis.

Supporting Student Learning

If a school bus route is cancelled, families are responsible for transporting their children to and from school each day.

Where this is not possible, students should access asynchronous learning materials posted by their classroom teacher on their Learning Management System (LMS), either D2L or Google Classroom. Additional activities can be found here: .

Families should contact their school to let them know if they are unable to get to school.  The school can also help families to sign out a Chromebook if necessary.

Stay Informed

Families will be informed the day prior to any cancellation. Cancellations will be posted on the STSWR website with an expected return date.

• Register for notifications on the STSWR parent portal
• Check the Bus Delays page on the STSWR website

The Bus Delays page will be updated with cancellation information each afternoon by 4:30 PM.

Questions?

Please contact Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR).

2 messages from the Office about Bus Students and returning Student Verification Forms:

1. On Monday Student Verification Forms were sent home to be reviewed, corrected, and signed by parents and brought back to their classroom teachers by Friday September 16th, 2022. This will make sure our Aspen Portal has the correct information in our database.

2. Bus Students:

Welcome Back to another school year. In the last couple of days, we have taken attendance for both our buses. We have noticed students showing up on our lists that may be eligible for bussing , but no longer want to bus due to before and after school programs at the school or other reasons.

I am sending an electronic link that provides you with a form to fill out, that goes directly to student transportation services. Transportation services can only remove them off the bus list with this form completed. If they are siblings that ride on the bus, a form needs to be filled out for each one.

We ask your cooperation in completing this form immediately.

Do Not Ride (Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region) (stswr.ca)

September 2022

Dear St. Margaret Families,

On Friday September 23, 2022 students in Kindergarten to Grade Eight will be taking part in the Terry Fox National School Walk Day.

St. Margaret School is proud to play an important role in keeping the legacy of Terry Fox going.  Students will have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the heroic efforts of Terry as well as donate much-needed funds for cancer research.  Through our participation in the Terry Fox School Walk, we hope to encourage leadership in our students and create positive agents of change in our wonderful school community.

Donate online to ur school page or scan this QR code to find our school.

http://www.terryfox.ca/StMargaretCSCambridge

The site is secure, and receipts are sent to your email address. All monies raised will be forwarded to The Terry Fox Foundation and 82 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to cancer research!

On our walk day all students are encouraged to wea running shoes in addition to red and white to show support for our Canadian hero.

We hope you will join us as our school community bands together in the fight against cancer. Thank you in advance for your support!

Sincerely,

The St. Margaret Staff

Our bus route 071 just left the school (4:25 p.m.)

We thank the parents that were able to pick up their children today.

We expect this delay again tomorrow, so other arrangements to pick up the children would be helpful.

We hope to have the regular route running on time beginning Monday September 12th.

Mr. Schnarr

Bus Parents

Bus 071 (most of our bus students) has not arrived yet. Students are being supervised in front of the school until the bus arrives!

Thanks for your understanding!