Central Weekly Update – May 30 – June 3, 2022
Dear Central families,
A reminder that our Parent Engagement Evening is this Tuesday, May 31, 2022 from 4-6pm. An invite has been sent home with all students. If you have not received an invite or your child did not bring home an invite please contact the school at 905 522-9690 to let us know if you will be attending, Please also indicate if you require childcare and specify what language you speak so we can be sure to have interpreters on site for the evening. This will be an opportunity to interact with other families, share some of your thoughts and ideas and ask questions about school related issues. We will have interpreters in all languages requested, a licensed daycare if you requested it, popcorn for sale and light refreshments. Please plan to join us!
Thank you to our Kindergarten team for organizing and hosting a very successful Welcome to Kindergarten Event last week. It was great to meet many of our Junior Kindergarten students and families and we look forward to having all of our new Kindergarten students join us in September!
Upcoming Events at Central: A reminder that this Friday, June 3 is a PA Day for students so there will be no school on that day.
Parent Engagement Evening – Tuesday, May 31 – 4:00-6:00pm
Junior Soccer Tournament – Wednesday, June 1, During the school day
PA Day – No School for Students – Friday, June 3
Track & Field Day – During the school day – Monday, June 6
EQAO for Grade 3’s only – Monday, June 5 – Tuesday, June 14
Jump Rope for Heart Event at Central for students – Wednesday, June 8
A reminder that EQAO will be taking place from Monday June 5 – Tues June 14 for Grade 3 students only. It is online this year and students will be writing the assessment at various times throughout these days. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you require more details. If your child in Grade 3 is absent for any reason there will be make up days. Information regarding EQAO has been sent home with all Grade 3 students.
Our pizza day was such a success that we will be hosting another Pizza Day in June. Stay tuned for details. Thanks to all of the staff that made this day such a success!
Due to our limited space we will continue to ask all visitors to buzz in at the entrance and wait for one of our office staff to come to greet you. Those that need to enter are not required to wear masks, but will be offered a mask upon sign-in and strongly encouraged to wear one while in schools in order to align with Board of Trustees direction. Visitors include anyone who is not a staff member or student: parents/guardians, volunteers, third party service providers, and contractors.
To protect our school community from COVID19, our emphasis going forward will be on rigorous screening. The updated screen is attached and linked here:
Please follow the directions provided in the COVID-19 school and Child Care screening and stay home if your child is sick.
Please reach out to your child’s teacher or call the office at 905 522-9690 if you have any questions or concerns.
Please be sure to continue to complete daily screenings and have students stay at home if they are ill. We also strongly encourage that masks continue to be worn by all individuals on site. We continue to encourage hand hygiene, conducting lessons outdoors where possible and have been sending students that become ill at school home as soon as possible.
A reminder that our Public Health Nurse is available to consult with us if needed. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions for our Public Health Nurse.
Here are some of the COVID-19 related City of Hamilton webpages that you may find helpful. Please note that you can press on the 
button and then each webpage can be translated into 1 of 51 languages.
School Planning COVID-19 – https://www.hamilton.ca/coronavirus/school-planning-covid-19
COVID-19 Resources for Parents – https://www.hamilton.ca/coronavirus/school-covid-19-resources-parents
Child and Youth Mental Health During COVID-19 – https://www.hamilton.ca/coronavirus/child-and-youth-mental-health-during-covid-19
Please also note that if there are school related COVID-19 questions you can still call:
Please continue to check your emails for updates from the school and register t0 receive updates on our school website at https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/central/
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 Accessible 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. Please be sure to connect with your child’s teacher if there are any concerns about your child while at school. You can do this by setting up an appointment with your child’s teacher in person, through email or by contacting our office at 905 522-9690.
Parents/Guardians must supervise students at all times if they are playing on the play structure before or after school as the play structure is not used doing the school day. The play structure is owned by the City of Hamilton and we are waiting for an inspection from the city so please be mindful of this to ensure students safety. Contact the City of Hamilton with any questions or concerns (www.hamilton.ca or call 905 546-2489)
Thank you,
Mr. Carey, Principal Central Elementary
Updated on Sunday, May 29, 2022.