Volume 1, Issue 1 September 2016 G R A S S L A N D S P U B L I C S C H O O L S BJHS SEPT NEWSLETTER Jim Buchell, Principal Jim.burchell@grasslands.ab.ca Jaret Hofer, Vice Principal Jaret.hofer@grasslands.ab.ca 124 4th Ave East, Brooks, AB T1R 0Z3 Tel:(403) 362-3524 IMPORTANT DATES Sept 14th School Pictures - Smile! Sept 20th School Advisory Council Meeting (6:30) Oct. 7th Terry Fox Run and Orange Shirt Day Oct. 10th No School - STAT Holiday Oct. 14th Report Cards Oct. 18th School Advisory Council Meeting (6:30) Oct. 19 & 20th Parent/Teacher Interviews 3:30-7 School calendar fridge magnets are available at the front office to parents of new students and any other parents that did not receive one PICTURE DAY: September 14th RETAKE DAY: October 25th Please contact Lifetouch directly if you have questions regarding proof order forms and picture packages you can contact the parent help line at 1-866-457-8212 FROM THE DESK OF THE PRINCIPAL Welcome back one and all to an other year at Brooks Junior High School. We have many adventures, experiences, and awesome learning activities planned for the upcoming year. I am extremely excited about the amazing staff we have at BJHS and the diverse backgrounds they bring to the Roadrunner Family!! We are all very excited about the start of another year and would welcome parent s input at the first parent council meeting which is scheduled for Tuesday, September 20 th at 6:30pm in the Library at BJHS...your input will help to make your son/daughter s experience at our school the best it can be!! I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome all the new staff to BJHS and introduce Mr. Hofer as the new Vice Principal in Roadrunner Country! Please stop by soon to meet all of the new folks...there are ten of them in total. Finally, welcome to all the new students who will be attending BJHS for the first time this fall. You will love the amazing opportunities you will have at our school...get involved in as many of them as you can! TERRY FOX RUN Students will be raising money and participating in the Terry Fox Run on Oct. 7th. Participation letters and forms will be handed out in Health classes. Our goal is to fulfill Terry s dream of collecting at least 1.00 for every student but students are encouraged to set a higher goal. If you have questions please email erin.woods@grasslands.ab.ca
Page 2 BROOKS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL CONTACT INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION If we do not have a copy of your child s birth certificate and AB Health Care card, please supply us with one. We are required to have these documents as part of each student s records. We also require custody papers or legal proof of guardianship (if applicable). Parents of students that have permanent resident cards are required to provide the school with the new card if the existing one has expired. The first day of school all students were given a form to take home to have parents/guardians verify the information that we have in our database. If there are changes to the information, please make the changes on the form, sign it and return it to the school. Having up-to-date contact information ensures we can reach you in case of an emergency and also means that you get any important information that is mailed out to you. If the information is correct, all you need to do is sign the form and return it to the school. Other forms were also sent home for parent signatures and we require all signed forms back to the home room teacher within the first week of school. Please note that all information going out to parents will have the legal name on the document. All student information with AB Education is linked to the legal name. THIS AND THAT Students are expected to remember to bring their gym clothes, books, homework, instruments, permission slips, timetables and other forms to school. When visiting the building during the school day, please use the main entrance doors and check in at the front office. Please remember not to park in the bus unloading zones or enter the school parking lot when dropping off your child for school or picking them up at the end of the day. We want to ensure the safety of students at all times. The best place to do this is in the back alley. Thank you for your cooperation. In an effort to reduce paper usage we will no longer be sending home paper copies of the newsletters. If you would like to view the newsletter, please visit our website and subscribe to the newsletter. Once you subscribe to the newsletter you will automatically receive the newsletters in your email. We send out newsletters in September, November, Jan., March and the final one in May. For parents that still want the paper copy you can come to the office and obtain one at the counter. Thank you for helping us reduce paper. We do not call a student out of class unless it is for an appointment or an emergency. Frequent interruptions to the class make it difficult for students to concentrate, especially when new concepts are being introduced. We also have no way of knowing whether students in the class are writing an exam and we certainly do not want to interrupt their thought process during that time. If you have a lunch or backpack that you are dropping off, we will call your child down at the break between classes. If you need to speak to them, we can have them call you at the break. Thank you for your cooperation.
Parent Newsletter Page 3 PAYMENT OF ALL SCHOOL AND EXTRA CURRICULAR FEES School Cash Online allows parents to look up their child s fee balance online, pay online using debit, visa or mastercard and print off your receipt. Lost a receipt? No problem, just log on and print off a duplicate receipt. The fast convenient and secure way to pay. Once all options are finalized, we will input the fees into this system so parents can look up a detailed summary of fees and pay extra curricular and school related fees in one easy step. Fees will be posted in the system for viewing and payment AFTER September 15th. If you have never paid online before the steps are as follows: Step 1 - Create your profile. Click get started today. Fill in the required fields to create your profile. Step 2 - Confirm your email - check your inbox for the same email confirmation and click the link inside. Sign in with your new login details. Step 3 - add a student - click add a student and fill in the required fields with your child s details. SUPPORT: A parent support line and email is available if you require assistance. 1-866-961-1803 parenthelp@schoolcashonline.com Brooks Junior High School Council School Councils are advisory groups of parents, staff and community members who work to promote the well-being and effectiveness of the entire school community and thereby to enhance student learning. We are hoping to encourage a minimum of two parents from each class to come to our meetings which are held the third Tuesday of each month excluding December, February and June. The meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and run no later than 8:00 p.m. We look for input with regards to our education plan, budget allocations, program priorities, school policies, and in-service needs. The School Council facilitates communication by involving you in important decisions and enhancing the partnership between home and school. It also gives us an opportunity to evaluate our education plan and school initiatives such as an onsite school resource officer, implementation of family school liaison workers, or our RTI. Our first meeting is Tuesday, September 20th at 6:30pm. All parents/guardians are encouraged to attend.
Page 4 BROOKS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL We believe that academic success begins with regular attendance at school and in classes. Students are expected to attend all classes each and every day so that they are getting the best education possible. When students miss a class or an entire day of classes, valuable information from instruction, activities, and discussions is lost. It is the responsibility of the student to make up all work missed due to an absence. Teachers post homework on our website bjhs.grasslands.ab.ca If it is necessary that your child miss school, please remember to call the absence line at 403-362-3524 and press 501 to report the absence on the day of the absence. This system allows us to more effectively deal with student and parent inquiries at the counter before morning classes commence. If no notification is received, the absence is considered unexcused and you will receive a call and an email at the end of the day from our automated system. RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES Set a good example Model an active lifestyle for your child. Make physical activity a priority for yourself or, even better, make it a family goal. Good activities include playing catch or taking a walk or hike. Make sure to praise and encourage your child. Being active should be fun. Establish a routine Set aside daily active time for activity. Take the dog for a morning walk, or head outside before or after dinner. Follow your child s lead Team sports are great, but they won t appeal to all children. Work activity around your child s interests: dance in the living room, take a nature walk, or go for a bike ride. Limit screen time The more time children spend in front of a television, computer or video game console, the less time they spend moving their bodies. Set time limits on screen time, don t place a TV in their bedrooms, and turn it off during meal times. If your child plays video games, choose active games that require movement, such as dancing or sports games. To subscribe to our newsletters enter your email address on the homepage of our website bjhs.grasslands.ab.ca
Parent Newsletter Page 5 Hi! We're the Grasslands Prevention and Education Counsellors, Chelsea Opperman and Tracey Materi! Our new office is at BJHS, but we work in all of Grasslands Public Schools. We present to classes from Grades 3-12 in topics from Self-Esteem, Peer Pressure, Healthy Relationships, to Communication as well as covering information on Addictions, Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco! We also offer counselling to students and families related to substance use/abuse. If you would like to contact us please call BJHS 403-362-3524 or email at Chelsea.opperman@grasslands.ab.ca ortracey.materi@grasslands.ab.ca Truth and Reconciliation For over 150 years, residential schools operated in Canada. Over 150,000 children attended these schools. Many never returned. Often underfunded and overcrowded, these schools were used as a tool of assimilation by the Canadian state and churches. Thousands of students suffered physical and sexual abuse. All suffered from loneliness and a longing to be home with their families. The damages inflicted by these schools continue to this day. In 2009, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada began a multi-year process to listen to Survivors, communities and others affected by the Residential School system. The resulting collection of statements, documents and other materials now forms the heart of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. As part of the Truth and Reconciliation process one of the recommendations is to teach and discuss with our students the realities of the mistreatment of Indigenous students in residential schools within Canada. Homeroom teachers will be doing this in September during their RTI classes. In addition, the BJHS will be celebrating the National Orange Shirt Campaign on Oct. 7th in conjunction with our annual Terry Fox Run. The National Orange Shirt Campaign is an effort to promote safe and caring schools and communities. Every Child Matters remembers the experiences of former students of Indian Residential Schools and is a commitment to ongoing reconciliation in Canada. To help promote this event the BJHS with the support of Frontier Signs will be providing each student with an Orange Shirt on Oct. 7th. Please help the BJHS promote Safe and Caring Schools for all students.
September 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 No school STAT holiday 6 Welcome Back! 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 School Pictures 18 19 20 SAC Meeting 6:30 pm 15 16 17 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 October 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Terry Fox Run & Orange Shirt Day 8 9 10 No school STAT holiday 11 12 13 14 Report Cards 15 16 17 18 23 24 25 SAC Meeting 6:30pm Picture Retakes 19 Parent Teacher Interviews 3:30-7 20 Parent Teacher Interviews 3:30-7 21 22 26 27 28 29