Welcome to Grade 3!

Welcome parents and/or guardian

I am very excited for the upcoming year!! I hope everyone had an amazing summer vacation and is ready and excited to start school again. I know I am eager to get to know all of my amazing new students! I will be teaching language, math and Unit of Inquiry. French will be taught by Mme. Stella, gym will be taught by Mr. Beresford and music will be taught by Mr. Oliver. For those who do not know me, let me introduce myself. This is my fourth year of teaching and my third year at St. Jude’s Academy. Previously I taught children age 3-11 in Cleethorpes, England. I completed my undergraduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University in Sociology and Psychology. My second degree was in a Master’s in Education specializing in Inclusive Education from McGill University. Finally I completed teachers college at Trent University. My specialty is working with children with disabilities and I have a lot of experience working 1:1 and in small groups. I have a great understanding for academic and social struggles in the classroom and I strive to ensure that my students feel that they can come to me regarding those needs. I am willing to put in the extra effort to help any student. I am a life-long learner and I hope to help your children develop a love of learning. I believe that communication is key for your child’s success and to a great parent/teacher relationship so I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any time. Please know that every day is a new day and we continually start fresh and with a great attitude!  

Important Dates and Information:

September 6th --First day of School

September 6-8 --Neophyte Week

September 8--Spirit Day: House Colours dress up

September 16--Fall Fiesta

September 26--Terry Fox Run

September 27th--Casual Day

October 5th--International Day

October 6th--PD Day NO SCHOOL

October 9th--Thanksgiving Day NO SCHOOL

October 25th--Casual Day

October 26th--Picture Day

October 31--Spirit Day: Harvest/Halloween Dress Up

Uniform

Your child must be dressed in either the sort sleeved polo shirt (spring/summer) or the long sleeve polo shirt (fall/winter). Appointment can be made with Alpa during to purchase your child's school uniform. She can be reached atalpa@multiformcanada.com. In grade three we change for gym every day. As a result, it is required that your child brings their gym clothes in a bag labeled with their name every day. It is recommended that each piece of clothing be labeled to ensure clothing is not lost. Students are asked to have three pairs of shoes at school: outdoor, black indoor, and gym shoes.

Secured-Access Entry Point

SJA uses a secured-access entry door that will be the only entry point to the school during before and after care. This door will only be able to be accessed with a specialized key. The side entry door will be locked after 9:00 and you must enter through the office. Keys will be provided to all parents during Orientation week (a $40 deposit required). Please see Dawn to obtain your key fob.

Homework

Students will have math homework every day to be completed in a math notebook. The math textbook will be sent home in order reinforce the work that we did in class that day.

Spelling tests happen every Friday. Students will be given a new list of 15-20 words each week that they will record in their agendas. You will also be able to find this list on the blog.

Students will also be required to read for 25 minutes every day. Reading consistently has been shown to help their writing, spelling, imagination and decoding abilities.

Agendas

As the students enter into grade three, it is their responsibility to make sure they have their agenda every day in order to write down their homework and any important dates. If there are any important papers or forms your child should ensure that they speak to me first thing in the morning.

Padlet

This year I will be starting some new! I will be using a new website called Padlet. This is a virtual corkboard that the students can sign into along with parental assistance and post links that they find interesting. It encourages students to be inquirers and develop their research skills. I will be talking to the children about this during the first week of school. Please help them to register online. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know. Here is a link to see what our class padlet looks like: This year I will be starting some new! I will be using a new website called Padlet. This is a virtual corkboard that the students can sign into along with parental assistance and post links that they find interesting. It encourages students to be inquirers and develop their research skills. I will be talking to the children about this during the first week of school. Please help them to register online. If you have any questions or concerns please let me know. Here is a link to see what our class padlet looks like: https://padlet.com/SJAMissRoss/Grade3

Action

Action is an important part of the IB program. Action is when a student applies what they have learned during our Unit Of Inquiry outside of school. For example, if we are learning about emergency safety and your child organizes a fire drill at home, they are performing action. If your child performs action at home I would love to know about it! In my classroom I want to celebrate when the students take action. They will become an action star and will be celebrated on a board in our classroom and on the blog. At St. Jude’s students can also be nominated to be an action star each month!

Blog

Please ensure to check theblog daily so you can take a peek into our classroom and enjoy videos and pictures of your child at school. I will communicate daily about what we have done and any important information. You are also invited to follow my blog in order to receive a notification when my blog is posted.

Lunches

Our HOT lunch program is back online and ready for you to place your order for the month of September. Please know that the website closes off end of day Aug 31^st and is unable to reopen for September ordering. Please ensure you get your orders in as soon as possible! We have some new options featured on our menu please keep your eye out for those! Lunch payments are due tohomeroom teacher or reception no later than September 8th, 2017.

Below are the instructions for returning families:

*if you have a sibling joining SJA this year please keep in mind you can only use one email per child.

Step 1 Logon to website http://mydigitalmailroom.com/sja - if you forgot your password or email used please contactbsmith@stjudesacademy.com

Step 2 Across the top menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MY ACCOUNT, Change grade and teacher to reflect new year. Select SAVE

Step 3 Across the top menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MANAGE LUNCH, a drop-down menu will appear, select ADD NEW LUNCH FORM.

*Don’t forget to select payment method BEFORE ordering

Below are the instructions for new families:

**If you have more than one child you will need to use different email addresses for each child. Only one child can be registered and ordered for under a single email address.

Step 1 Go to website http://mydigitalmailroom.com/sja

·  Select register an account

·  Select grade

·  Select class

·  Select teacher

·  Enter in student information

·  Accept terms and conditions and select Register

Repeat for additional students.

Step 2 Across the top menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MANAGE LUNCH, a drop-down menu will appear, select ADD NEW LUNCH FORM.

*Don’t forget to select payment method BEFORE ordering

SJA Back to School Kick Off BBQ

·  On Saturday, September 16^th from 11am-3pm, The Parent Guild is excited to invite all families to the “SJA Back to School Kick Off BBQ”. This is a great opportunity to meet other families, socialize and have fun!

·  The price for this event is $30.00, which includes food, drink, games, cupcakes, etc.

Student Handbook 

Please read the attached document to your welcome email then sign the last page and return to school in the student agenda by Friday September 15^th. 

Student Orientation

I am getting my room all ready and I am very excited for you to see it! Unfortunately, I am unable to attend the student orientation night on August 28th. My room (Classroom 10) is all prepared for you to look around and get a glimpse into what this year will be like! Please feel free to take a brochure that I have made that provides some information on our classroom this year. I will be having a student orientation night onTuesday September 5^th from 12 pm to 7pm. Please drop in at your convenience. If you have any immediate questions or concerns please email me at . Please drop in at your convenience. If you have any immediate questions or concerns please email me atmross@stjudesacademy.com . You can also direct any questions to my teaching partner Mr. Chia. Hope to see you all there!

Notes

1.  Please not that afternoon Kiss and Ride has been canceled. The new dismissal procedures can be found in the SJA Parent and Student Handbook attached to this email. The new procedures will also be explained at the orientation evening next week.

2.  Daily early dismissal procedures have been canceled. Parents will still be able to pick up their child/ren for appointments. Please notify you child’s teacher as these events occur.

3.  The Parent Guild is excited to invite all families to the “SJA Back to School Kick Off” BBQ. This is a great opportunity to meet other families, socialize, and have fun!

Have a great and sunny rest of your week!

Mackenzie Ross, B.A.(Hons), M.Ed, OCT
Grade 3 Teacher
St. Jude's Academy
IB World School
2150 Torquay Mews
Mississauga, Ontario L5N 2M6
T. 905-814-0202
W. St. Jude's Academy