Happy February! As we begin a new Term we thought we’d share some news with you about routines, upcoming events, and some of the happenings at Broadview.

Safety Routines Around Drop Off/Pick Up

With the cold weather and multiple days with cancelled transportation, we’ve noticed more adults entering the building to drop their children off. This poses a problem for our school staff whose job it is to keep students safe in our building. Staff are trained to question adults/strangers in our building who are not identified with a visitor badge by our office staff. We’re a busy, full school as well and don’t really have the room to accommodate extra bodies during the busy times of morning startup and afternoon wrap-up. We also want to promote independence with our students. It’s important that they learn to go to their cubby areas/lockers and prepare themselves for the day without adult assistance. To that end, please adhere to the following guidelines:

Drop Off

• Please refer to the attached map for ideal pick up and drop off locations around the school. Please note that Broadview Public School does not have a dedicated pick up/drop off lane. Our main parking lot lane is reserved for OSTA vehicles only. As many students walk through this lot, pickup and drop off by the community is not permitted.

• Our designated bus drop off lane is on Broadview Ave. and is reserved for bus drop-off only.

• The front door is not a drop off zone. Students arriving between 9:00 - 9:15 are to enter the school using their designated doors at the back of the school.

• Students may enter the building after 9:00 on days when the temperature or windchill is -25C or colder.

For the safety of our students, there is no stopping permitted in these designated drop-off zones between the hours of 8:30 - 4:15.  

Safety and Supervision

Supervision begins at 9:00 am. For safety reasons, please do not drop your child(ren) off prior to 9:00 am. If a child arrives after 9:15 they need to sign-in at the office.

Any parents/guardians entering the school during school hours need to report to the office and sign in and receive and visitor badge. Anyone without a visitor badge will be approached by staff and redirected to the main office.  Should you feel the need to provide ongoing assistance for your child, please discuss this with your child’s teacher.

Pick Up

Our yard is being used for Phys. Ed and D.P.A. right up until the end of the day. If you are picking up your child, please do not arrive prior to 3:40 so our classes have full use of the yard. There is no supervision in the yard at 3:45 so walkers are encouraged to go straight home. Snow hills are out of bounds due to icy conditions during the school day and remain closed at the end of the day. Our EDP program has use of the yard beginning at 4:00 and so for safety and supervision purposes, we ask for your cooperation in clearing the yard by 4:00.

We frequently see cars making 3 point turns on the streets surrounding the school. This is not a safe driving practice and we would ask that you refrain from doing this. We’d like to remind you about the importance of being respectful of our neighbours’ properties. We frequently hear from neighbours about vehicles turning around in our neighbours’ driveways. Please help keep our streets safe by not turning around and be respectful of our neighbours’ properties. We also remind you that the loading zone parking lot near the corner of Denbury and Dovercourt is off limits. Even with barriers up we still see drivers going around these barriers. Please respect all traffic signage. Do not drive around barriers that are in place for our students' and staff's safety.

Thank you for your support as we work together to keep our school campus as safe a place to play, work and learn as possible.

Inclement Weather Days

A reminder that inclement weather days (snow days) occur when the OSTA makes a decision about safety and school transportation. The District sends an automated email around 6:00 am when transportation is cancelled. All extra-curricular activities (e.g., sports, math club, games club, robotics club) are cancelled as well. Parents and guardians who choose to transport students to school must only drop students off after 9:00 am and pick up students at 3:45. The school does not provide supervision for students before 9:00 am and after 3:45 pm.

Broadview is Allergy Aware

For our students and staff with life-threatening allergies, the world can be a dangerous place. At school, students eat where they learn, and in intermediate grades, often not at their own desks. While we can’t guarantee that our school is free of all allergens, we take steps to mitigate these risks. We ask that parents/guardians refrain from sending peanuts and foods containing peanuts to school. Homemade food for sharing should not be sent to school unless under the direction of the classroom teacher, and this food should be labelled with an ingredients list. Parents and guardians of children who have allergies should (and probably do!) have regular discussions about food safety. Teachers post allergy alerts on their classroom doors to advise of allergies within the room. Working together and open communication will help ensure we keep all of our students safe.

Sports and Leadership Camp

The Intermediate sports and leadership camp still has space. Students should see Mme Desjardins to register by the end of this week.

Toonie Tuesday - Education Foundation Fundraiser

The Ottawa-Carleton Education Foundation’s annual fundraiser is called Toonie Tuesday. It will be held this year on Tuesday, February 26, 2019. Please consider sending a Toonie to school with your child. I can tell you in my experience as Principal that I have been able to provide emergency support to families because of the Education Foundation on numerous occasions. I would encourage you to please consider donating generously. Thank you!

Congratulations and Thank You to Our School Council

Our Council is an incredible force for good in our school! We just completed a very successful online auction that raised over $8000 for our school! The annual Dance-a-Thon is next week on February 14th and our Book Bonanza is coming up this May. Council organizes pizza and Freshii lunches and organizes activities for our students to enhance the learning. Consider coming to a council meeting or event - our next meeting is on Tuesday, February 12 in our library at 7:00 pm. Come to hear what’s happening at Broadview, find a way to contribute to your children’s school, or to meet some new friends.

Report Cards and IEPs

Our report cards go home on Thursday, February 14 (Happy Valentine’s Day!!). If you require an extra copy please be sure to let your child’s homeroom teacher know. Updates to IEPs go home on Thursday, February 28.

Pink Shirt Day

This year’s focus is cyberbullying. We’ll be participating on February 27, 2019. Read more here.

Student Transfer Application Period

The Student Transfer Application Period runs from February 4-19. Please access the Student Transfer Parent Guide for more information about applying for a cross boundary transfer for your child.

News from the OCDSB

Black History Month 2019 Workshop - February 16, 2019

As part of Black History Month activities next month, Parents for Diversity will be putting on a workshop entitled "Addressing Anti-Black Racism in Schools". It will be held on February 16th, 2019, at 2:00 P.M.

This workshop will explore different actors in children's education, forms of anti-black racism and bias, human rights aspects of discrimination, as well as practical ways to address discrimination when it arises. While the workshop is free, they will be accepting donations at the door. Visit the registration website for further details.

Kindergarten Registration 2019

If your child will be 4 years old before December 31st, 2019, then they are ready to start kindergarten in September 2019. Call or stop by your child’s new school to pick up a registration package or register online. To find your local school, try our helpful School Locator.

Take a look at our Welcome To Kindergarten video and see some of the many new experiences your child will enjoy. If you know someone with a child who is ready to start kindergarten, encourage them to take a look. Registration in advance helps us to better plan for September. However, we welcome parents for registration at anytime in one of our schools or online.

Continuing Education - Winter Newsletter

Check out the Continuing Education Newsletter for February 2019, and have a look at what is coming up this Winter.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) Immunization

All children attending school between ages 4 to 17 need to be immunized according to Ontario's Immunization Schedule. Students attending school in Ontario are required to be vaccinated against nine (9) diseases or have a valid exemption. Parents are required to report all immunizations done at the doctor's office to OPH. Under this Act, OPH has the authority to suspend from attending school students for whom OPH does not have a record of immunization.

Parents/guardians of these intermediate and secondary students received written notice from OPH in the mail by November 21st. Suspension orders were mailed to households on January 25th, 2019 (Grades 7 - 12) and are scheduled to be enforced on February 20th, 2019.

Parents seeking more information can contact OPH by phoning 613-580-6744 or visit parentinginottawa.ca/immunization. Learn more here.

OCDSB Speaker Series - Free Information Night

Unstoppable You with Unstoppable Tracy Schmitt

February 28, 2019 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Earl of March Secondary School, 4 The Parkway, Kanata

No matter where you are in life, sometimes you just need to be inspired. Join us and “Unstoppable Tracy” as she shares how you can use humour and motivation to crush your obstacles and soar to the top!

Regards,

Dennis, Alli, and Alison

Upcoming Events and Dates
These events can be found on the school calendar. Consider adding our school’s Google calendar to your own as it will be the most up to date source of information about Broadview events:
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/ocdsb.ca_9dndt1k5m7h5gdt1o3af85ltbs%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Tuesday, February 12: Friday Schedule, School Council
Thursday, February 14: Valentine's Day, Dance-a-thon, Intermediate Valentine’s Dance (evening), Report Cards Go Home
Friday, February 15: PA Day (No school for students)
Monday, February 18: Family Day (School is closed)
Tuesday, February 26: Toonie Tuesday (Education Foundation Fundraiser)

Wednesday, February 27: Pink Shirt Day

Thursday, February 28: IEP Updates Go Home, Unstoppable You (OCDSB Speaker Series)
Tuesday, March 5: School Council

Monday, March 11 - Friday, March 15: March Break
Friday, March 29: Broadview Family Movie Night
Tuesday, April 9: School Council
Friday, April 12: PA Day (No school for students)
Friday, April 19: Good Friday (School is closed)
Sunday, April 21: Easter Sunday
Monday, April 22: Easter Monday (School is closed)

Tuesday, April 23 - Wednesday, April 24: Immunization Catch Up (Grade 7 students)
Wednesday, May 1 - Saturday, May 6: Book Bonanza

Thursday, April 25: Monday Schedule
Monday, May 6 - Friday, May 10: Enrichment Mini-Course Program (Grade 8s)
Tuesday, May 7: School Council

Sunday, May 12: Happy Mother’s Day
Thursday, May 16: Spring Band Concert (6:30 pm - 8:00 pm)
Friday, May 17: 80s and 90s Retro Day
Monday, May 20: Victoria Day (School is closed)

Wednesday, May 22 - Friday, May 3: Band Trip to Québec City
Tuesday, June 4: Friday Schedule
Thursday, June 6: Beach Day
Friday, June 7: PA Day - No school for students
Tuesday, June 11 - Thursday, June 13: Sports and Leadership Camp for Grades 7 and 8s
Tuesday, June 11: School Council

Sunday, June 16: Happy Father’s Day!
Tuesday, June 25: Report Cards Go Home, Grade 8 Leaving Ceremony Rehearsal
Wednesday, June 26: Grade 8 Leaving Ceremony (AM)
Thursday, June 27: Friday Schedule, Last Day of School
Friday, June 28: PA Day