Sep
29
By Darcy Topinka
On behalf of the entire staff here at the Community School, welcome to our new families who have moved into the James Bay Neighborhood. James Bay Community School greeted a few new shiny faces this September, 34 to be exact. Our student enrolment has reached 154 students thus far. School got off to a great start on Tuesday Sept 08 with Principal Janice Mathews and Vice Principal Scott Clazie welcoming new staff Cidalia Alvernaz Div 1, Joy Nugent Div 2, Trish Hunter Div 3, Janice Child Div 4, and our new learning assistance teacher Carmelle Granger.
The community Centre welcomed Alex Pike as our new Team Leader in KZ, and Nykita Souliere as an OSC leader in Blue Zone. Marcy Krulicki has taken over for Hiroko Dunnett who has recently given birth to a baby boy named Casey. Marcy comes to us from Edmonton with tons of experience working with children of all ages. Hiroko will be on Maternity Leave for a year. Congratulations, Hiroko and Dave.
What's new this school term? There is a change to the end time of the school day to make up for the for the new spring break schedule. Expect to see children out of the classroom for an additional week in March. School is now dismissed a bit later to make up for the added time off in March,, Classes let out at 2:49pm with the exception of early dismissals on Wednesdays at 1:52 pm.
When walking past the school, you might notice that the exterior of the school was painted, and new exterior siding was installed on some sections of the building, in addition to window replacement in some of the classrooms.
Over the summer months we witnessed much discussion in the media on H1N1 (Swine Flu). The Community School has taken steps to address concerns by distributing current pandemic information issued by the Province and by ensuring that hand sanitizers, sinks and running water exist in class rooms and the cafeteria. As an extra precaution parents are expected to keep their children home from school and daycare if they are exhibiting classic influenza symptoms.
Once again we are pleased to bring you the very popular Strong Start program, which is a free Ministry of Education program that runs Mon thru Fri from 8:45 until 11:45 am for parents and caregivers of children ages 0-5 yrs. Katie and her volunteers would love to see you.
The James Bay Community School Annual General Meeting will be held on Oct 19, 2009 at 6:30 pm here at the centre. The board of directors meets monthly and acts as the management team for all the community education programs which includes the community centre, daycare, leisure and recreation programs, the community café, special events fundraising and community rentals.
Please refer to the monthly calendar for all the very special events happening here at the centre. Of special note to Artists in the James Bay Community; you are all invited to a focus group discussion sponsored by the City of Victoria scheduled on Tuesday Oct 6 from 7:30-9 pm at the school. Further details can be obtained from the City of Victoria Community Services department and the Community Centre.
The Community School extends a special thank-you to the float-home owners and all their guests who attended the Open House at Fisherman's Wharf highlighting some of Victoria's fantastic float homes, your donations raised $1,500.00 for the Community School.