October Upcoming Events. Teaching Staff. October Greetings!

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1 Upcoming Events October 11 PA Day No School for Students October 14 Thanksgiving No School October 22 - SAC Meeting in 6:00 October 31 Hallowe en Wear a Costume! November 11 Remembrance Day 10:30 in the school gym Teaching Staff JK/SK Mr. Bedal JK/SK Mrs. Djelebian JK/SK Mrs. Savo-Newman Grade 1 Mrs. Coulter Grade 1 Mrs. Mamo Grade 2 Mrs. Dragicevic Grade 2 Mrs. Hunt-Robinson Grade 3 - Mrs. MacDonald Grade 3 Mrs. Forget Grade 4 Mrs. Aversa Grade 4 Mrs. Tessier Grade 5 Mrs. Baughan Grade 5 Mrs. DiVincenzo Grade 6 Mr. Piescic Grade 6 Mrs. Camlis Grade 7 Mrs. Glover-Ludwig Grade 7 Mr. Chisholm Grade 8 Mr. Dunlop Grade 8 Mr. Cichon SERR - Mrs. Brown LST- Mr. Edgar GAINS Mrs. Bellemore GAINS /Physio - Mr. Johnson / Mrs. Brown French Mme. Hermle French Mme. Meszaros Library Mr. Lucier Music Mr. Trocchi Physical Education Mr. Trudell October Greetings! October Staff and students have settled into their routines and as one walks through our halls it is obvious that our students are a happy community of learners busy at work with engaging and interactive activities taking place in all of our classrooms. September was a busy month with some changes to our school organization because the school s enrolment numbers have continued to maintain a steady growth. Our Three Guiding Themes: Southwood School has three guiding themes which we believe are necessary in character building and a fundamental component of a quality education. This month we will continue to stress the importance of caring and kindness by reminding our students that they can Pay it Forward and change the world with their random acts of kindness! The school community also continues to look for ways to Celebrate Our Diversity and learn more about each other by embracing the richness of the many cultures our students bring to the classroom. Having achieved Silver Certification through the efforts of our Eco Team our school population recognizes the need to decrease our footprint on the Earth. Parents can support our Environmental Stewardship Mission by encouraging children to participate in Litterless Lunch Days. Working together we can make a difference! A few weeks ago Southwood School held its first School Advisory Council (SAC). It was well attended and elections were held for the school year. We are very pleased to announce that the new Chair for our SAC is Mrs. B. Quinn. Our Vice Chair position goes to Mrs. N. Simpson. The position of treasurer has been accepted again this year by Mrs.J. Pratt and acting as our Secretary is Mrs. T. Piliotis. Our BINGO Fundraising Committee is being operated and managed again this year by the commitment and efforts of Mrs. J. Thompson and Mrs. T. Piliotis. All are active parents and bring much enthusiasm and energy to the SAC Executive. We owe a great deal of thanks and appreciation to our past SAC Chair, Mrs. Daphne Law. On behalf of all of the staff and students we would like to thank these loyal parent volunteers for their commitment to the SAC and Southwood School! The next School Advisory Council meeting will be held on Tuesday October 22 at 6:00 p.m. All parents are asked to please consider attending since our student s success is directly related to the extensive support and parental involvement we have historically enjoyed at Southwood School! Yours in Education, Mrs. L. Becken Principal Mr. B. Johnson Vice Principal

2 SAFE WELCOME PROGRAM As of September 2013 all Greater Essex County District schools will implement a new Safe Welcome Program. What does this mean to the Southwood School Community? As of September 2014 all exterior school doors will be locked at all times during the instructional school day. Any students, parents or visitors wishing to enter the school during our school instructional hours (8:20 a.m. to 2:35 p.m.) will now use our new front door entrance on the north side of the building facing Cabana Road. That door will be locked (8:20 to 2:35) and visitors are asked to ring the buzzer so the school secretary or clerk can use the camera / monitor to verify the visitor s identity before entry is allowed. Once the visitor has gained access to the building we continue to require the Visitor Log Book to be signed to confirm entry and exit of all school visitors. Students are asked to sign-in to the office, as always, if they are late for the instructional day. Thank you for your continued support as we make these changes to ensure everyone s safety! Please note all students who are either dropped-off or picked-up by parents should be using the Kiss and Ride Road located at the south side of the school. Please do not use the Parking Lot for drop-off unless your child is arriving after the entry bell. Indoor and Outdoor Shoe Requirements! Parents, please be advised that all students require an indoor pair of shoes to be kept here at the school. During the winter months, students will be asked to remove their boots or outdoor footwear at their classrooms. While outside, students require appropriate footwear for our playground. Proper footwear would include running shoes, canvas sneakers or closed sandal/runners with rubber soles. During the warmer months, students who wear sandals to school are asked to keep a pair of appropriate shoes at school for playing outside on our playground, field and/or our climbing equipment.

3 CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!!! Volunteers Needed! Southwood volunteers who worked Bingos during the last school year helped raise almost $12,000 that was used to purchase smart boards for the school. All students at Southwood now have the benefit of a smart board in their classroom. The Southwood SAC would like to thank all of the parents, grandparents and friends who volunteered their time to work Bingos for the school. This year it is our goal to purchase additional classroom sets of ipads for students to use at school. We need your help! If you would like to volunteer to help with this easy way to raise funds for your child's classroom please send an to jmthombingo@bell.net. All that is required is for you to attend a simple training session (OLG requirement) and then you can work at a Bingo session. It is that easy! And the benefit to the school and your child is worth it. If you are interested in helping us with Bingo s, there is a training session on Tuesday, October 6pm at the Moose Lodge 777 Tecumseh Road West. This year as an incentive, Southwood SAC is giving Bingo volunteers a ticket for a draw for each Bingo worked. The draw will be held after the last Bingo in June 2014 and will be for a $500 prepaid Visa card. Who couldn't use that? Congratulations to Jason Miller who won last year's draw for an ipad.

4 One of our many Extra Curricular activities at Southwood School is our Movie Club. Headed by Mr. Lucier and Mr. Renaud, the Movie Club is intended for students who are interested in learning what goes into writing, filming, editing, and producing a movie. We were very fortunate to make a connection with an actor/writer/director/producer from Los Angeles by the name of Orestes Matacena. Orestes has worked in films for his entire life as an actor, producer, and director. Most notably, he appeared in The Mask with Jim Carrey and Wild, Wild West with Will Smith. Mr. Matacena was gracious enough to visit with our Movie Club on Monday, September 30 thanks to a connection through one of our Southwood parents, Mrs. Killen (Mrs. Killen works as an independent film maker). Mr. Matacena shared with our club some of his experiences in the film industry and he also offered valuable advice to our budding young film makers. He even took the time to critique a past Movie Club film his response was very positive! The Movie Club would like to thank Mrs. Killen for bringing this distinguished guest speaker to our school, and we would like to thank Mr. Matacena for taking time out of his very busy schedule to share with the club his wisdom and his valuable advice!

5 School Advisory Council This year the elected members are: Chair: Beverley Quinn Vice Chair: Nicole Stinson Secretary: Tammy Piliotis Treasurers: Joanne Pratt / Sreelatha Kumar BINGO Treasurer: Jackie Thompson BINGO Co-ordinators: Tammy Piliotis / Jackie Thompson Community Representative: tba Teacher Representative: Shirley Glover-Ludwig Principal: Linda Becken Vice Principal: Bryan Johnson Additional Voting Members: Tammy Carder & Sandy Hawken-Pillon Southwood School s Kiss and Ride road is an injury prevention strategy that provides a safe, efficient way for children to be picked up and/or dropped off at the school. At 8:05 a.m., parents dropping off their children are asked to drive their vehicle into the designated Kiss n Ride Road on the south side of our building. A teacher will be there to assist your children as they exit the vehicle safely and walk along the path into the school yard where there are additional staff supervising until the entry bell rings at 8:20 a.m. At 2:35 p.m., parents are able to enter the road from the east side, line up along the right side of the road and wait for children to come to the vehicle. Parents are asked to please follow the directions and signs on the Kiss and Ride road and proceed slowly and with caution. Please keep children in your vehicle until you are at the final drop area and use only the right (passenger) side of your vehicle to either pick-up or disembark your children. Parents are also reminded not to use the school parking lot for any drop-offs or pick-up before and after school. Your cooperation and patience in this matter is necessary to ensure the safety of all students. Southwood is Scent Free Please note: Due to the fact that some children and adults are sensitive to a variety of scents, please abstain from wearing perfumes and colognes that are too overpowering when in the school. We want to inform anyone that will be in our building that we would appreciate immediate cooperation in this matter. Thank-you.

6 Images from Our Kindergarten Rooms