PWS UPDATE
Park West School
Newsletter
Phone: (902) 457-7800 E-mail:
parkwest@hrsb.ns.ca
Website: parkwest.ednet.ns.ca
Principal:
Mr. D. Carter Vice
Principals: Ms. M. Chiasson Mr. B. Melanson
June
24, 2013
Farewell: Regrettably, the
Park West School community is bidding a fond and sad farewell to some of our
staff. We thank them for helping to
make a positive difference here at Park West School. We wish them well in their future assignments
and endeavours. We’re going to miss
them. The following ‘members of our
family’ will not be returning in the fall:
Ms. Scott-Dominix (EPA)…Mr. Chute (EPA)…Ms. Gazely (EPA)…Ms. Ng (grade
primary)…Ms. Henneberry (grade primary)…Ms. Little (grade 1)…Ms. Mackay (grade
5 / resource)…Ms. Lucas (grade 2)…Mr. Mrezar (grade 5)…Ms. Jenkins (grade
6)…Ms. MacKinnon (resource)…Ms. Murray (grade 7)…Ms. Morgan (grade 9)…Mr.
Thibault (grade 9)…Ms. Fortune (Jr. High French)…Ms. Pashkoski (phys. ed./
art)…Ms. Dickison (early literacy)…Ms. Tulloch (learning centre / resource)…Ms.
AuCoin (grade 6)…Ms. Ward (learning centre)…and Ms. Ryan (secretary).
Congratulations to Ms. Little and Ms. Tulloch.
Both were recently appointed to Vice Principal positions at other schools
for the 2013-2014 school year.
Proud to be Canadian!: Wednesday, June
26 is “Canadiana Day” at Park West.
We’re celebrating Canada Day early….and showing our pride in being
Canadians. On that day please wear the
colours and symbols of Canada to school.
Assessment and Evaluation Day: Thursday, June 27 is Assessment and
Evaluation Day. There will be no
school for students on that date.
Last Day of
School: The last day of school will
be Friday, June 28. All students will be dismissed at 10:00 am.
Yearbooks: A few 2012-2013 Park West School Yearbooks are
still for sale. The price of the
Yearbook is $25.00 and is available through the school office. Once these last few are sold this one-of-a-kind
book will never be available again. If
you didn’t order one….this is your last chance.
Get yours now while supplies last!
Lost & Found: After student dismissal on June 28 all
remaining items in our Lost & Found will be bagged and donated to
charity.
Late Registration:
The school office will be open for
registration on Tuesday, August 27, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm. Children who live within the Park West School
boundaries are eligible to attend this school.
If new neighbours with elementary/junior high aged children move into
the area over the summer please encourage them to register on this date. Proof of address, a birth certificate, and a
Nova Scotia health card number are required to complete registration.
Are you in the Right School? Only
children who reside within the Park West School boundaries with parents or legal
guardians are eligible to attend this school.
Addresses provided to the school may be investigated if there is
suspicion the information is not accurate.
If a child registered at and/or attending Park West School is found to
be not
residing in our area his/her parents will be directed to register at
the appropriate neighbourhood school.
This includes students who were living in our area and moved
out of bounds during this school year, but remained at Park West to finish
the year.
Are You Moving?
If your children attended Park
West this year, but you’ll be moving away over the summer, please inform us as
soon as possible. We need to know if
they won’t be here in September. Call
Ms. Ryan or Ms. Hayes (our office administrators) at 457-7800 or email us at parkwest@staff.ednet.ns.ca
Summer School: Need
another chance to succeed at a course?
Summer School may provide that opportunity. Junior High students who do not meet the
outcomes for Mathematics or Language Arts may be recommended by their teachers
to attend summer school. For more
information refer to the Halifax Regional School Board's website www.hrsb.ns.ca
School Supplies:
School supply lists for all grades will be posted
on our school website and on the school office window during the summer
months. Please don’t stress if you can’t
find specific brands, colours, sizes, etc. requested on the supply lists. Just do the best you can. All school supplies in quantities for the
entire year do not have to be brought to school on the first day.
Class Lists:
Due to reasons of privacy and
confidentiality we are no longer permitted to publicly post class lists. Students will be assigned to their new
classes when our doors open for a new school year on September 4th.
Back to School:
Students return to school on Wednesday,
September 4th at 8:25 a.m. Next year we are hoping all students (and
their parents) will make it their priority to be on time for school on a
regular basis.
Reminder to all School Volunteers: The HRSB Student Protection Policy
is now fully implemented. All
individuals who wish to volunteer in the school on a regular basis must complete Police
Records and Child Abuse Registry Checks before being able to do volunteer
work in our schools. Forms will be
available from the school office in September.
Previously completed Police Records and Child Abuse Registry Checks are valid for one year. For more details visit the HRSB website at www.hrsb.ns.ca
For More Information: For information during the summer months don’t forget to check out:
·
the
Halifax Regional School Board website at www.hrsb.ns.ca
·
the Park
West School website at www.parkwest.ednet.ns.ca
Office Hours: The school office will close for
the summer months on June 28. It will
re-open with regular hours (8:00 am – 3:30 pm) for the new school year on
September 4th.
We Need Them Back:
Students
and parents….please make sure ‘our
stuff’ gets returned before the end of the year. We’re looking for textbooks (they’re
expensive!), team uniforms (our athletes need to look good!); and overdue
library books (many of them are missing from our shelves!). PLEASE return them to us before you
leave.
2013-2014
School Year Calendar: Are you
making plans for next year? Are you
planning Christmas vacation? Do you need
to know the dates for March Break? The HRSB
School Year Calendar for 2013-2014 is now available at www.hrsb.ns.ca
Final
Report Cards: June report cards will be issued
to students on June 28th (the last day of school this year).
Report cards will not be issued early to any student. If students are
absent on the last day of school parents have several options:
1. Provide the teacher
with a self-addressed stamped envelope for the student. The report card
will be mailed on June 28.
2. Teachers will forward
all unclaimed report cards to the office on June 28 following student
dismissal. They will be available that day ONLY for parents to pick up in
person from the office until 3:00 pm. After that date and time
report cards will not be available to be picked up in person at the school
until the last week of August.
School personnel are not available to provide report cards during the
summer months.
3. Parents may provide a
teacher with a signed letter of consent authorizing an individual (egs. a sibling,
family member, friend) to claim a report card for an absent student on June
28 before 2:00 pm. Without this letter report cards will
NOT be issued to any person other than the student or parent.
A Message from the WE Club: We would like to express our appreciation and
gratitude for supporting the WE Club’s Change for Change campaign. We were
overwhelmed with your generosity and we admire you for advising your children
to be involved in such a rewarding action.
With your support we collected over $1,100.00 the money will be sent to
help with the clean water projects in Moyamba, Sierra Leone. We are so proud of
you all and very lucky to have such a supportive and giving community.
School & Community Garden Update: The garden is blooming! The Primaries
have planted potatoes, carrots, beets, beans, peas, pumpkins, strawberries, and
blueberries. The incoming Primary students planted sunflower seeds at
Primary Orientation. Please feel free to come visit the gardens over the
summer months and ry some of the strawberries and pull some weeds! Thanks to
the Park West PTA, NS Dept. of Agriculture and the HRSB for providing
grants for our school garden. Special thanks to the following businesses
who have also helped support our garden: Ocean Contractors (John &
Karen Flemming), Cypress Landscaping, Picket Fence Homes (Robert & Paulette
Kraitzek), and 4Evergreen Landscaping (Nadine & Garrie Gordon).
Staying
for Lunch Next Year? In
accordance with the Education Act of the Province of Nova Scotia all students
may remain at school for lunch without fees.
However, all students who wish to remain at school over the lunch
period must be registered for the
lunch supervision program. Registration forms for 2013-2014 were sent
home with all students (grades P – 8) in
May.
School Fees for 2013-2014: Based on feedback we received from parents, and after
consultation with our School Advisory Council and Parent-Teacher Association,
the student fee structure for Park West School was revised for the 2012-2013
school year. For the next school year
we have once again reviewed the fee structure and lowered the fees at all grade
levels. The following school fees are
suggested for 2013-2014:
|
Grade:
|
Fees cover:
|
|
Grade Primary
$20
|
·
Subsidy towards class trips and/or in-class activities (egs. Guest
speaker, Mad Science workshop, special craft project)
·
School presentations: guest
speakers and performances (egs. Neptune Theatre, Symphony Nova Scotia,
Mermaid Theatre, Terry Kelly)
·
School Activities: Field Day,
Multicultural Festival, etc.
·
Personalized items: desk plate,
name tags, labels for school supplies, photos for classroom activities.
|
|
Grades
1 - 6
$20
|
·
Subsidy towards class trips and/or in-class activities (egs. Guest
speaker, Mad Science workshop, special craft project).
·
School presentations: guest
speakers and performances (egs. Neptune Theatre, Symphony Nova Scotia,
Mermaid Theatre, Terry Kelly)
·
School Activities: Field Day,
Multicultural Festival, etc.
·
School agenda for each student
|
|
Grades
7 – 9
$20
|
·
Subsidy towards class trips and/or in-class activities (egs. Guest
speaker, Mad Science workshop, special craft project).
·
School presentations: guest
speakers and performances (egs. Neptune Theatre, Symphony Nova Scotia,
Mermaid Theatre, Terry Kelly)
·
School Activities: Field Day,
Multicultural Festival, etc.
·
Junior High Special Events:
Scavenger Hunt, Olympics, etc.
|
|
Athletic Fees
*fee charged will be based on the team sport
|
Athletic fees for team
members will be determined based on the expenses associated with each
sport. Students chosen to play on
school teams will each be responsible to pay the fee to cover these expenses
for the team. Athletic fees will pay
for:
·
Referee fees
·
Subsidize transportation expenses
·
School athletic association memberships
·
Venue rental expenses
·
Tournament and event fees
|
|
Band Fees
$20
|
Band fees will be charged to
each band student in grades 6 – 9.
Band fees will pay for:
·
Entrance fees for festivals and events
·
Subsidize transportation expenses
·
Enhancements (eg. special musical arrangements)
·
Guest clinicians or presenters
|
During the school year our
students participate in many extra-curricular activities to enhance learning
and their overall school experience. We
promote and provide these learning experiences and opportunities because we
believe they are important for intellectual, emotional and social
development. They enhance the learning
experience, and are often fun. Many of
these activities can only be provided at an extra cost to the school and our students. Therefore, we are requesting funds (school
fees) from parents to help defray the costs so we can provide these
opportunities and experiences for our students.
In most cases student fees will only partially cover the cost associated
with certain activities; in particular the class trips in which your child will
participate during the course of school year.
School fees will be used to subsidize class trips. Sometimes it will be
necessary to charge additional fees to cover the entire cost of trips. Some classes take more trips than others. Some trips cost more than others. Bus charters (even when using Stock
Transportation, the school board bus provider) have become extremely
expensive. For instance, to charter one
bus to go from our school to the Nova Scotia Museum on Summer Street in Halifax
costs approximately $200. That does not
include the fee the museum charges. We
are requesting school and band fees be paid in September by the end of the
month, if possible. Athletic fees may be paid throughout the year as team
participants are selected. It is not our
intention to cause any of our families undue hardship. In September homeroom teachers will be
collecting fees and issuing receipts. Fees
may be paid by cash or cheque. Please
submit fees in an envelope with the name and class of the student.
Mr. Carter, Ms.
Chiasson, Mr. Melanson, and the entire staff of Park West School thank you for
supporting us in our efforts to provide your children with the best educational
experience possible. We’re proud of our
students and our school. We all look
forward to working with you again next year.
We wish the families of Park West a summer that is safe, relaxing and
filled with lots of fun. See you on
September 4th.
