Monday Family Update

Happy Monday, October 25th, to all of our Ancaster Meadow families! 

Islamic Heritage Month 

We are excited to share that our Student Equity Action Team will be taking the lead in answering some of the authentic questions student have about Islamic Heritage. Our student team will be interactive with many classrooms through MS Teams throughout the week. How great that we have such student initiative and enthusiasm in our building for learning and sharing!

Halloween 

For students who participate in Halloween celebrations, we know there is great planning involved for costumes. Please take a moment to review some of our guidelines for Halloween this year:

• Students can wear costumes to school as per prior years (e.g., no cultural appropriation, no offensive and/or insensitive costumes, no weapons, no masks that might impede vision, no inappropriate images, etc.)

• Cultural appropriate means taking or borrowing a look or trait from a culture that is not your own. Costumes that are based on people’s culture are offensive, harmful and insensitive. The following are suggested questions to reflect on:

• Is my costume making fun of a group of people, their culture, religion and/or belief systems?

• Does my costume reinforce jokes and stereotypes about certain groups, cultures, religions and/or belief systems?

• Am I altering my skin colour, facial/body features to make it like a particular race, ethnicity, or cultural group?

• Am I dressing up as a culture or borrowing from a religion that is not my own or is not part of my background?

• Students choosing to wear a costume should come to the school already wearing the costume and keep the costume on for the duration of the day

• Student costumes must be able to accommodate a face covering

• A costume mask is not a substitute for a face covering. A costume mask should not be worn over a non-medical mask or face covering because of breathing difficulties

• No costume parades are permitted indoors or outdoors

• No home baked foods; nut free store bought treats are permitted

Gentle and Important Reminders 

Dogs 

Although we love all furry creatures, it is important that you do not bring your dog(s) on school property. There is a firm “No Dogs” policy for HWDSB school properties, including Ancaster Meadow Elementary School.

Masks 

All adults on school property are required to wear a mask. Please be sure to have a mask on, covering your mouth and nose, when you drop off or pick up your child(ren). Not only is this a requirement, but it sets a good example for our students who are required to have a mask on at school for the majority of the day.

Early Dismissal 

To ensure quality instruction, the school is responsible for minimizing distractions to the classroom. Part of reducing interruptions is to have early dismissal of students occur only between class period times in the afternoon. If a student must leave early, please make sure the early dismissal is placed in the School Messenger. You can record the early dismissal as soon as you are aware of an appointment or need – even days in advance.

Pick up times in the afternoon are: 12:25 pm, 1:15 pm, 1:55 pm, or 2:55 pm. 

We also recognize that there are instances where an item needs to be delivered to your child throughout the day. Unless it is absolutely necessary, we are asking that you reserve the drop offs to nutrition breaks to further minimize class disruptions. Nutrition break times are 10:55am – 11:35 am and 1:15 pm – 1:55 pm. 

Parking Lot & Safety 

Thank you for respecting our “Parking Lot Closed” times (9:00 am – 9:30 am & 3:15 pm – 4:00 pm). There has been less congestion in our parking lot, which means it’s safer for all.

Concerns still exist for the Kitty Murray drop offs. If your child has a seat on the school bus, we kindly ask that you send your child(ren) on the bus rather than drive them to school when and if at all possible. We recognize that the school has no jurisdiction for street safety, but we do encourage safe stops on all of the surrounding streets, following road safety and street signs.

We sincerely appreciate your effort and cooperation.

In partnership,

Kelly Dunford