Welcome Back Chris Akkerman Families!
If you are no longer attending Chris Akkerman school kindly call the office on Monday morning to let Ms Shilpa know. If you are moving this month, please call the school to arrange the transfer to your new school. Ms Shilpa is happy to help you with this.
Important Dates
- September 11 – Meet the Teacher/Welcome Back Picnic/ Bottle Drive (Students are in uniform on this evening event please)
- September 12 – Spirit Day (Wear your Chris the Cub Shirt and uniform bottoms)
- September 19 – Terry Fox Run (Wear your Canada clothing/ Wear red!)
- September 22 – School Photos
- September 25 – 6- 7 pm School Council – All parents welcome.
- September 22 – Fun Lunch Healthy Hunger Log In
- September 26 – Orange Shirt Day
- September 29 – Non-Instructional Day – No School for Students
- September 30 – National Truth and Reconciliation Day – Schools closed
- October 9 – 6pm School Council Sponsored: Psychologist Samaira will present to all parents.
- October 14 – Thanksgiving Day
- October 17 – Walk for Wenjack
- October 20 – Non-Instructional Day – No School for Students
Happy back to school everyone! We trust that you all had an amazing summer, filled with fun memories, excitement and safety. It was wonderful to see all your smiling faces, Positive energy, clean uniforms and backpacks as you started off the school year.
Please remember to label all your children’s belongings so that they can care for them and return home with them. As the weather changes, be ready to dress for rain, sun and any weather that can come about in our city. (no umbrellas please – rain coats are better).
Please save the date for our Welcome Back Picnic, Meet the Teacher and School Council Fundraising Bottle Drive event. We will have 5 food trucks at our school on September 11 from 4:30 to 7:30 pm. The food trucks promise to have vegetarian and Hallal options available. Families are welcome to come and sit in our field with their own lawn chairs and picnic blankets and get to know one another. Stay tuned for details from your teachers about registering for meet the teacher night. Kindergarten meeting times will be 5PM, 5:30PM, 6PM, 6:30. Grade 1 – 5 will have times to sign up at 5:30PM, 6PM and 6:30PM.
School Council has arranged to have a bottle Depot Truck at Chris Akkerman on Thursday evening. Please ensure you bring all of your empty bottles, juice boxes, and returnables to support this fundraising event!
Transportation
Thank you for all your help, working together to make our school year start-up a success! Please remember to register your child for the bus if you haven’t done so already. Busses leave the school promptly after dismissal at 2:35 (Monday to Thursday) and 11:35 on Friday. If you wish to pick your child up from school and not ride the bus, you must inform the office by 1:30 pm (M – Th) or 10:00 am (F) so that we can update the bus attendance. When you forget to share your plans with the school we hold all of the buses until we know the location and whereabouts of your child. Let’s all work to keep the buses on time.
Here is where the school busses pick up students daily:
Front Street: A,B,E,H,I
Alley: C,D,F,G,J
You may pick your child up from the bus. Please tell the driver and the bus monitor who you are so they can mark your child as a pick-up.
Bus Safety
Parents, please ensure you say hello and introduce yourself to our bus drivers early in the school year. It is important they know who you are. Please remember though, parents are not permitted onto the buses. Also, parents need to park well away from the pick- up locations in your community. If you miss your bus in the AM, please bring your child to school rather than following the bus and trying to get on the bus at the next stop. This is a very unsafe idea.
Traffic Safety
Please do NOT Jay-Walk with your children or in front of our school. Please be a safe and positive role model for all of our students.
Please do NOT park in or drop off students in bus parking. We have 10 buses dropping off over 500 students. We also have the city transit bus that uses this space right before our bell. Please find a spot on another block and walk into the school. Thank you for having a safe and respectful plan for bringing your child to school every day.
Lunch Supervision
If you have not yet registered your child for lunch supervision please do so by going into My CBE PowerSchool account. Every student who remains at school over the lunch hour needs to be registered for lunchroom supervision. This is supervision only. We do not feed students lunch in the CBE. Please also remember to pay your fees for lunch. If you stay for lunch, you will be charged for supervision.
Student Health
If your child has a medical condition or requires medication to be administered through the day then they will need to have these medical forms filled out and returned to school as soon as possible. These forms must be filled out in detail. Please ensure you fill out all parts of the forms provided.
Epipens and/or inhalers – We ask that any student who requires an epipen wear the EpiPen on them in a satchel or fanny pack daily. Please ensure the item is clearly labeled and not expired. There is a Student Health Emergency Response Protocol form which will need to be completed as well. You can find this form on the CBE website.
Student Health Emergency Response Protocol
School Supplies
You do not need to buy school supplies for your child. We will send you a reminder in a few weeks to check your MyCBE account to pay a minimal school fee that covers all of the school supplies needed for the school year. This fee has not yet been posted to your account. This means no students should be bringing fancy pens and supplies to school. All “toys” and fancy supplies are best left at home.
Uniform
Monday is the first day of the school week and as such is a formal uniform day. Students may wear navy dress shorts, skorts, tunics as part of their formal uniform as the weather will be hot. While all students will arrive to school with a cardigan on, I suspect it will quickly be hung up or tied around a waist. Please ensure it is labelled with your child’s name. With 660 students wearing the same cardigan, and most being brand new, we remain hopeful an unlabeled cardigan will make it back to the original owner after it has been discarded due to hot weather. Label everything!
McCarthy’s uniform pieces are all available. We will welcome about 40 new families this week. Kindly ensure your child is ready to attend with uniform pieces. McCarthy’s is well stocked with items. Also, I have noticed many uniform pieces for sale on Facebook Market Place and also at Once Upon a Child. Thank you for being diligent and ensuring your children follow the dress code.
Legal Agreements
Families who have any relevant legal agreements in place (e.g., custody arrangements, emergency protection orders, etc.) are asked to please provide a current copy to the main office. In the absence of legal agreements on file, all legal parent/guardians will have full access to the student and their educational information.
Late Entry / Early Departure
We ask that you please notify the office and the classroom teacher anytime your child is late or leaving early. Kindly call the school and leave a message.
Volunteers
We will let families know more details about volunteers and visitors in the near future. We welcome family members who are eager to get involved and assist in the school. A valid police clearance is necessary to volunteer. There will be more information about this in the following weekly update.
School Council
We have an amazing group of very dedicated parent volunteers who help to support our school. Our first meeting this year will be on Thursday September 25 at the school from 6PM – 7PM. All Chris Akkerman families are automatically members of School Council and welcome to attend the meetings. We hope to see you later this month. All dates for school council are on the school calendar.
School Council is always looking for families to get involved. It is only through your involvement in the school that we can continue to be the great place we are. We are hopeful to see many families out for our first school council meeting.
Extended Absence
If you are planning to be away from school for a week or longer. Please call the school to book an appointment with Mr Murray. It is important we meet with you and document your intended absence. The set times for Extended Absence Meetings will be shared soon. Thank you for ensuring you meet with us. We appreciate it.