Central Weekly Memo – December 13 – 17, 2021

Central Families,

A reminder that this Friday will be the last day before the winter holidays. School will resume on Monday, January 3, 2022. Students will be asked to clear out all of their belongings. We will also be sending home a package of rapid anitgen screening tests with an important letter on Tuesday, December 14. If your child is absent on the day that the kits are sent home they may pick up a kit when they return. Please read the letter carefully for instructions on how to use the kits and contact the school office if you have any questions (905 522 9690). Student participation in these tests is voluntary and students are not required to participate in order to return to the classroom after the winter break. Please see the memo that was sent out to all HWDSB families on December 8th for more details. 

This Friday, December 17th is red, white and green day at Central so please join in our school spirit and wear

Thank you to all families for ensuring safety and exercising caution in our parking lot which becomes a very busy area during arrival and departure. As we have families that need to park in our Accessbile Parking spots to drop off students please be sure to not park in these designated parking spots and do not block other vehicles in. If you are dropping off or picking up students  please be sure to do so as quickly and safely as possible. Drive in  from Bay St. and make an immediate right turn and follow a circle around the parking lot as it is one way traffic only. Drop/pick up students, make sure that they get to the playground/to your vehicle safely and then circle around the parking lot to exit on Bay St..  Please avoid backing up as this creates a lot of congestion and can be unsafe as many students enter the school through the Bay St entrance. Dismissal is at 3:05pm so please be sure to be at the school to pick up your child or children on time.

Please contact the school using SafeArrival   (click for instructions) to report student absences or if you need to pick up your child from school early for an appointment. If you require assistance accessing the SafeArrival app please contact the school at 905 522-9690. We are unable to release students before the dismissal bell unless you have entered the dismissal in Safe Arrival.  Thank you to Ms. Gaston, our office assistant for all of her support with monitoring student attendance and calling families to ensure the safety of all of our students on a daily basis. This is a big job and takes up a lot of time in the morning so please assist us by using the Safe Arrival app or phone number to report absences. Contact the school if you require support with this. Thank you. 

A reminder that our school day starts promptly at 8:45am. If students are arriving late they must enter at the parking lot doors by ringing the doorbell and waiting for a staff member to escort them to class. If you are late, please do not send children in without calling the office and do not drop off in the  Kindergarten area as we must ensure supervision of all students at all times and we do not want to  disrupt the learning of the other classrooms or take staff away from their supervision and teaching responsibilities. Our protocol remains in place indicating that parents/guardians are not permitted into the school due to covid restrictions. Thank you,

We ask that you please continue to ensure that you do  your daily screening very thoroughly. Students that do not pass the screener must remain at home. 

Students showing any symptoms at school will be removed from their classrooms and sent home. Please contact the school if your child has been impacted by a covid case in their classrooms and you are unsure of their return date or the process that you are to follow. (905 522 – 9690).

A reminder that as we approach the colder months students will be coming in with a lot more clothing and gear. It is very difficult to manage lost and found items at Central amongst a pandemic so please label your child’s belongings very clearly using a sharpie if possible.

Ensure students dress appropriately for the weather and attend with enough healthy snacks for both Nutrition Breaks and that they come to school with a water bottle with their name on it. Our fountains are not operating and we are running out of cups to give students!

Be sure to register for our website to receive updated notifications. Go to [email protected] and click on the register tab, input the information requested and receive up-to-date notifications when information is added to our school website.

Please be reminded that we are to limit the number of visitors to the school so be sure to call (905 522 9690 or email at [email protected]) if you require assistance or need to contact us for any reason. 

Please follow the bylaw parking signs posted on the streets surrounding the school. Bylaw officers have been monitoring our area and will issue tickets for those violating parking bylaws.

A reminder that our play structure if off limits at this time. If you decide to allow your child to play on the play structure before or after school they must be supervised by an adult. We again, apologize for the overgrown bushes, grass, weeds etc. in the playground. We are working very hard on trying to resolve these issues to keep our playground safe for our students. Thank you for your patience. 

Have a safe and healthy winter break everyone!

Be sure to contact us with any questions or concerns (905 522 9690 / email : [email protected]).

Mr. Carey

Principal, Central Elementary