September 24th, 2024

Dear families and guardians, 

We hope you have all had a wonderful weekend and that your children are beginning to feel settled here at JF Carmichael. We had a wonderful third week of school! The students are excited, and our school is starting to look beautiful and lively with all the artwork and learning displayed on our walls.

Please see our Cougar Chronicles below, for some important school and WRDSB updates that can further support you and your family. You will see some amazing things going on within our school and within the community. Many of these initiatives are run by the talented and dedicated educators and parents in our school – we are so grateful to count on the initiative and leadership of all involved in our children’s education.

Thanks to all who came to our Meet the Teacher night on September 11th.  It was wonderful to welcome all of you to our school, and we look forward to continuing to get to know each and every one of you.

Ms Jaime Demsey (Vice Principal) and Mrs. Leah Pullen (Principal)

School Day

All of our important communication is shared via School Day. (https://www.school-day.com/) . In order to access your child’s class-specific information, you need a special code called a Secure Match Key. If you don’t already have one, please ask your child’s teacher if they can help you or call the office at 519 578 8450 and press 3. We encourage all of you to join us on School Day so that important messages, field trip information, pizza days, and other exciting events can be shared. 

Terry Fox Run

On Friday, September 20th, our school ran for Terry Fox to help find a cure for cancer. Our Terry Fox Run run took place on our back field as well as a larger loop on the neighbourhood streets directly around JF Carmichael – (thanks to Miss Bennett and Mme Dawson for leading this initiative!). Terry Fox hoped to raise $1 for every Canadian for cancer research. Since he began his Marathon of Hope an incredible $908 million has been raised in his name, and JF Carmichael has contributed to this incredible effort! Special thanks to all of our wonderful parent volunteers who were able to donate their valuable time to make our event a success. We appreciate you!

Food Supports Available for WRDSB Students

With the new school year underway, the WRDSB recognizes that food insecurity is affecting our communities at unprecedented levels. In addition to local food banks and pantries, we wanted families to be aware of nutrition supports in place specifically for children and youth in Waterloo Region, both during and outside of school hours.

For more information on these programs and how to receive them, please visit: Food Supports for WRDSB students. If you have any questions, please reach out for more information. 

Literacy Approach

One of the things on which we will be working hard at JFC is learning more about The Science of Reading. The Science of Reading is fundamental in primary education as it aligns with the principles outlined in the Human Rights Commission’s “Right to Read” document, which emphasizes the importance of equitable access to effective literacy instruction for all students. In Ontario, this evidence-based approach ensures that every child receives systematic and comprehensive reading instruction, crucial for developing essential literacy skills. By focusing on phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, the Science of Reading supports diverse learning needs and helps bridge gaps in literacy achievement. This commitment to effective teaching methods is a vital step in upholding students’ right to quality education and ensuring that all children have the opportunity to become proficient, confident readers.

Last week, all of our K-2 teachers completed the training being offered system-wide by the WRDSB, and from September 27th – October 7th, we have a consultant coming to our school to support our educators to administer the universal screening tool that will help us identify children at risk for reading difficulties. Once this process of data gathering is through, we will continue to engage in deep learning about these new practices as a part of our School Learning Improvement Plan, and you may notice some changes in your child’s reading program.

We want to emphasize however, that “research has found that young children whose parents read to them daily have been exposed to at least 290,000 more words by the time they enter Kindergarten than kids who aren’t read to regularly. And depending on how much daily reading time kids get, that number can go up to over a million words. Aside from language and literacy, reading is also an important tool for helping children develop empathy. As kids read books about people whose lives are different from their own (and especially stories told from the perspectives of those people), they gain an appreciation for other people’s feelings, as well as other cultures, lifestyles, and perspectives.”

So while some practices may be innovative moving forward, we want to remind you that the love of reading and reading with your child continues to be something we highly encourage here at JFC– and please remember that reading in your mother or home language is always a wonderful way to foster multi-language acquisition and connection. If your original language is not English, please be assured that reading in your language is incredibly beneficial to your child as well and is highly encouraged! 

School Council

Welcome to JF Carmichael School Council for the 2024/25 school year! Please feel free to contact us anytime at jf-carmichael-school-council@googlegroups.com. Our first meeting and election will be on October 7th at 7pm in the library or via a Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/idn-tvha-uap

There are two volunteer opportunities as part of the JF Carmichael School Council, as well as additional opportunities throughout the school year. Any parent or guardian of a student at JFC can be part of Council. Collaboration and input is valued for all of the positions listed below.

The first opportunity is a “Member-at-Large” position on Council. This offers flexibility as Members-at-Large attend meetings as they are available and/or volunteer for events and activities. This is not a voting position. WRDSB employees can be a Member-at-Large.

The second opportunity is a “Parent Member” position. Parent Members are expected to attend every meeting to ensure quorum is met if a vote is required. Parent Members also may volunteer for any event or activity. WRDSB Employees can be Parent Members if they are not employed at JFC and have made their employment status clear to people qualified to vote.

Elected Parent Members vote for executive positions including Chair or Co-Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.

To express your interest in being a part of the JFC School Council for the 2024/25 School year, please fill out this Google Form  Please click on the following live links to read more about our BYLAWS and about the WRDSB School Councils. We look forward to welcoming any interested JF Carmichael family to our School Council! 

WEFI & Lenscrafters OneSight Program

We believe when more children can see the board in school, we can all fight illiteracy. This is why The Waterloo Education Foundation Inc. (WEFI) has partnered with Lencrafters through OneSight’s OnSite Voucher Program so that eligible patients can receive glasses free of charge. If you know a student that would benefit from this program, please contact our school to request a referral letter. Together, WEFI believes that as a whole communities gain access to eye exams and glasses, we can all resist inequality.

Community Flyers

The WRDSB offers community organizations and not-for-profits the opportunity to share information on their programs and services with our schools on our Community E-Flyers website. Each week we will share the most recent flyers shared with the Board in this newsletter in hopes that you share this information with your community if you deem it appropriate.

Dates happening this week: 

  •  International Week of the Deaf, September 23-29, 2024
  • International Day of Sign Languages, September 23, 2024
  • Truth and Reconciliation Week, September 23-27, 2024
  • Rowan’s Law Day, September 25, 2024
  • Police and Peace Officers’ National Memorial Day, September 29, 2024