Holbrook Weekly Update – January 6-10, 2025
Welcome back Holbrook Families and Happy New Year!
On behalf of all Holbrook staff we wish to extend a happy, healthy and prosperous 2025 to everyone! Thank you to all families for donating to our Mitten Drive and Annual Food Bank collection. All items were sent along to our local charity (Neighbour to Neighbour) and they expressed gratitude for the ongoing partnership and reciprocal support that we have with them.
Hoping that everyone enjoyed a restful and enjoyable winter break and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school tomorrow morning at 8:45 am.
Although many are looking forward to returning to school, we are aware that the return to school may be somewhat challenging for some of us and there may be updates for staff. Pease be sure to connect with your child’s educators or office staff if there there is any important or helpful information to share.
Our picture retake day will be held on Friday, January 17th at 10:30 am in the library for those that missed our picture day or that want retakes. Please remember to have your child or children prepared for this date and time. Thank you!
We are happy to share that TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt) will be on sale for $4.00 starting this Friday, January 10th and then again on Thursday, January 23rd. The yogurt will be delivered during the first Nutrition Break (11:05 pm from the Nutrition Room), Parents can purchase using cash online or the day of with cash (exact amount is appreciated). Yogurt sales will be ongoing throughout this term and a variety of flavours will be available and shared soon!
Please stay tuned for exact dates of Yogurt sales in the following months as these dates have not been confirmed at this time. Thanks to Ms. Kenehan, Ms. Burch and Ms. Miles for organizing this along with some of our Gr 5/6 students that will be helping out.
Pizza available on Jan 14th & Jan 28th for $5.00 through cash online or cash orders that are due by this Tuesday, January 7th for both January Pizza Days. Contact the school at 905 385 5369 if you have any question about Pizza orders.
Popcorn will be available on Jan 17th and Jan 31st both available during the 2nd Nutrition Breaks- $2.50/bag. Flavours: Butter Salt, White Cheddar, Dill Pickle, Sweet and Salty- CASH ONLY PLEASE! Thanks to Ms. Weresch and her class for organizing this! Proceeds will go towards class trips and excursions.
Contact the school at 905 385 5369 if you have any question about Pizza orders, Yogurt or Popcorn Sales or updates regarding students. Thank you.
UPCOMING EVENTS AT HOLBROOK
Monday, January 6th – First Day back from Winter Break
Tuesday, January 7th -Pizza Orders for January due – cash online or cash ($5.00 each – cheese only)
Friday, January 10th – TCBY Yogurt Day ($4.00 -delivered during 1st NB at 11:05 am)
Tuesday, January 14th – Pizza Day (cheese only – delivered during 2nd NB at 1:25 pm)
Friday, January 17th – Picture Retake Day at 10:30 am in the Library
Tuesday, January 21st – School Council Meeting at 6pm in the Library – in person only
Friday, January 24th – PA Day for all students – NO SCHOOL
As the weather turns colder please make sure that students are dressed appropriately for the weather and that all clothing items are labelled with student’s names. To avoid the spread of various illnesses throughout the school community please try to make arrangements to keep students that are sick out of school until they are well enough to return. We will continue to contact families to pick students up if students become sick while at school. Thank you!
Also remind students that the snow and ice stays on the ground. We had some incidents last week with some minor injuries so please review this rule with your children. The snow can be rolled, sculpted, built with but must not be thrown, kicked or tossed. We are trying to work towards students being able to slide on the hill so please be sure that the have proper snow pants and boots for this. We are reviewing the expectations and monitoring / supervising this closely and if issues arise we will need to come up with another plan. Thank you!
Please review the importance of respectful behaviour throughout the school and in our school washrooms with your child or children as we have had some issues lately and this is an area that is unsupervised by staff. Our caretakers do an excellent job maintaining our school and keeping all areas clean and safe however, there have been some graffiti and vandalism over the last couple of weeks.
Thank you!
Holbrook Fundraisers:
Mabel’s Labels
Timing: Open year round!
Support Holbrook with every Mabel’s Labels order you make! The school will receive a percentage back for all sales tied to our Holbrook School (Hamilton) fundraiser and the steps are simple!
- Visit https://mabelslabels.ca/en-CA/fundraising/support
- Search for Holbrook School (Hamilton)
- Make your purchase online as you normally would
View more information about all fundraisers on the website here. If you have any questions please contact the school office at 905 385-5369.
A reminder if your child is going to the park after-school, they aren’t allowed back in the building to use the washroom as no one is there to supervise them inside the school as the instructional day has ended.
A reminder that due to several allergies and medical conditions Holbrook is a Scent-Friendly environment. Please remind students that they should not be bringing scented colognes and perfumes to school and we respectfully, ask that students not apply these before coming to school. Thank you.
Please be mindful that our school parking lot has no parking or stopping so we will ask parents that are driving to enter the city park lot west of the school and walk your children over to the playground to meet their new teacher. For safety reasons we will not be allowing vehicles in the school parking lot unless they are staff. A reminder that the parking closest to the school along the fence is reserved for staff so please park on the very west side.
Our school day begins at 8:45 am but we will have supervision on the playground from 8:30-8:45 am if you need to drop off and leave. Our day ends at 3:05 so please be sure to be on time to pick up students at the end of the day. We will have supervision on the playground from 3:05-3:20pm.
We also ask that parents please avoid entering the school at playground or side entrances. If you need to enter please ring the buzzer at the front of the school and myself or Ms. Miles, ,our office administrator, will be happy to assist you. We ask this of parents and guardians to avoid interruptions to our staff while they are instructing and supervising large numbers of students. Our staff will happily spend some time on the first few days talking with you at entry or dismissal. If you wish to speak with the office or your child’s teacher at another time please call us at 905 385 5369 and we can set up an appointment. Thank you.
Please be sure to let your child’s teacher know if your child has any medical conditions or if they require any type of medication (puffers, epi pens, etc.) while at school. We have medical forms and plan of care forms that we will send home that need to be filled out and signed by the physician treating the child and the parent / guardian as we are unable to administer any medication ( this includes over the counter medications – tylenol, topical creams, cough/cold etc.) without a completed medical form and the appropriate signatures. Contact our school office at 905 385-5369 if you have any questions about medical forms or using the parent portal.
A reminder that if any of your contact information has changed (phone, email, address) or you need to add or delete those that can pick up your children or emergency contacts please let the office know as soon as possible as this ensures that we can quickly and accurately access contacts when necessary.
I will send a Holbrook Weekly Memo out each Sunday with details of the upcoming events and the week ahead so be sure to check your emails to stay updated. Pease be sure to register for our school website by visiting : www.hwdsb.on.ca/holbrook/ and click on the “REGISTER” tab at the top of the page to complete the registration process as you will receive notifications when any new posts are added to the school website.
Thank you,
Have a great week!
Mr. G. Carey, Principal
Holbrook Elementary School
Updated on Sunday, January 05, 2025.