Updates for the Month of May

(THIS IS A REPLICATED MESSAGE THAT WAS SENT TO ALL FAMILIES VIA EMAIL THROUGH SCHOOL MESSENGER.  IF YOU DID NOT RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE VIA EMAIL THROUGH SCHOOL MESSENGER, PLEASE CALL THE SCHOOL TO UPDATE THE EMAIL ADDRESS ON FILE FOR YOU)

Hello Cootes Families!

After a long winter, I know we are all ready for spring and all the wonderful things that come with it. It has certainly been nice to hear the birds coming to visit and the sunshine peaking through.

It is hard to believe that we are heading into the final two months of the school year.  We wanted to share a few important updates with our families that we thought would be helpful:

Monthly Newsletter:

In an effort to provide more timely information, we will continue to provide important information through our website.  Please be sure to check the site often as we post important messages, along with the event calendar where we will post important upcoming dates.  We will also continue to provide our student video message for the month of May and June.  It is strongly recommended that all families subscribe for email notifications from our website.

Secure School Information:

Today, Cootes staff and students practiced a Hold & Secure where exterior doors are locked, and all staff and students are required to remain inside the building.  During the second term, Cootes will be required to conduct at least 3 Fire Drills, 1 Lockdown Drill and 1 Evacuation Drill so that students are prepared in the event of a real emergency. Please do not be alarmed if your child tells you that the alarm went off at school. This is all part of our Emergency Plan of Action.

Class Placements 2022/23

With a new school year approaching, many families wonder about who their child’s teacher will be. This process for organizing classes will soon be underway. When creating classes, teachers meet with each other and school administration to discuss the needs of each student. Some of the factors that are considered are:

• Balance of ability, interests, and talents
• Balance of males/females
• Learning styles of students
• Teaching styles of teachers
• Resources and remedial needs, enrichment needs
• Students to be kept together or separated because of the positive/negative influence on each other’s learning.

We appreciate your trust in our professional judgement in balancing the considerations mentioned above. The final decision for class placements is the responsibility of the principal. If you have further information regarding your child’s learning needs that we should consider, please send me an email or note with the specifics. We will not entertain requests for specific teachers. Please consider the bullets listed above. We will do our best to accommodate your child so that we can maximize their learning opportunites and be successful. Please note that all requests are due to Ms. Hogan by May 20^th , and that class placements are tentative until the end of September.

EQAO 2022

EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Office) provincial assessments measure students’ literacy (reading and writing) and math skills at key points in students’ educational careers. Following Ministry direction, Primary, Junior and Secondary EQAO assessments will be resuming in the spring of 2022, following a two-year pause due to COVID-19 disruptions.

From May 30 to June 10, our grade 3 student will participate in EQAO assessments.  For further informaiton please click here https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/blog/eqao-assessments-for-spring-2022/

Out of Catchment Requests

It is hard to believe that the end of the school year is soon approaching. For the 2022/23 school year, both Cootes Paradise & Dalewood schools are closed to any families who live outside of the catchment area.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of our Out of Catchment families that presently have children at Cootes Paradise that they will have to be registered at their home school for the 2022/23 school year. Please contact your home school to inquire about any Information that might be available to help with this transition.

If you are unsure of your child’s home school, please use HWDSB’s School Locator found at: www.hwdsb.on.ca/find/

Elementary Learning: Human Development & Sexual Health

HWDSB is committed to the health and well-being of all our students. All students deserve to have the knowledge to keep themselves safe and to act with care and consideration for themselves, their peers, and all people in their communities. Throughout the month of May, our staff will be committed to teaching the 2019 curriculum including topics such as online safety, sexual orientation, mental health, gender identification and consent, with our continued comprehensive safety and well-being approach, in a professional and respectful manner that is both developmentally and age appropriate. A letter to families was sent home earlier this month by homeroom teachers.  .

Recognizing that parents are the primary educators of their children with respect to learning about values, appropriate behaviour and ethnocultural, spiritual, and personal beliefs and traditions, it is important for schools and parents to work together to ensure that home and school provide a mutually supportive framework for
young people’s education. Therefore, any families who wish to have their child(ren) exemption from this learning, will need to complete an exemption form.  This can be done through the Parent Portal, or paper copies/and/or phone calls to the school will also be accepted.