Winona News – Oct 30

Important Dates

• Nov 2 – Take Our Kids to Work Day (Grade 9)
• Nov 3 – Sr. Girls Volleyball
• Nov 17 – Photo Retakes
• Nov 18 – Progress Reports Sent Home

Labour Updates – HWDSB strives to keep its community informed about the status of labour negotiations with employee groups.  As each school board is unique, information will differ between school boards in relation to labour updates. Any updates from HWDSB will be shared with families via School Messenger, social media, and the HWDSB board and Winona school website.

School Council Update – Thank you to School Council for their ongoing work and guidance.  At our last meeting, School Council members determined that surplus fundraising money will be used to support the purchase of class-based recess equipment, robotics club materials, and an outdoor seating project (with a focus on student well-being). Our students will be thrilled with the purchases and we look forward to getting these items into our school over the next month.

Halloween – Monday, October 31 is Halloween. For students who choose to wear a costume on this day, we ask that they come to school wearing the costume and keep the costume on for the duration of the day.   A “school costume” should be simplified and allow your child to participate in the full day.  We recommend that extra accessories are left at home. To help with planning, you may want to talk to your child about the difference between their school costume and their special home costume (also consider cultural appropriation, offensive and insensitive costumes, weapons, masks that might impede vision, inappropriate images, etc.). We recognize that some families in the school community may not participate in Halloween.  It is our goal to plan for an inclusive day that allows for learning and routines to continue for all students. 

Pizza Days Are Coming – We know that many families have been asking when to expect lunch programs to begin again.  We are pleased to let families know that we are in the process of organizing bi-weekly Pizza days for students.  We hope to have more details to share in the next few weeks.

Supporting All Students – Families are reminded that all school events, excursions, and activities should be accessible for each and every student.  Please reach out to a staff member if there is a barrier to your child’s participation in a school-based or classroom activity.  Whether this is for financial, physical, social-emotional, or other individual reasons, our staff is willing to work with families to make the necessary accommodations to support your child.