September 15th, 2024

Dear families and guardians, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that your children are beginning to feel settled here at Blair Rd PS. We had a wonderful second week of school, and this was also our first full week back at school. The students are excited, and the school is starting to look beautiful and lively with all the art work and learning displayed on our walls.

Please see our Principal’s Peek below, for some important school and system updates that can further support you and your family. You will see some amazing things going on within our school and within the community. Many of these initiatives are run by the amazing educators and parents in our school – I am very grateful to count on the initiative and leadership of all involved in our children’s education.

Thanks to all who came to our Meet the Teacher night this past week. It was wonderful to welcome all of you to our school, and I look forward to continuing to get to know each and every one of you.

Ms Carolina Miranda

Terry Fox Run

On Friday, September 27, we will run for Terry Fox and to help find a cure for cancer. Our Terry Fox Run run will take place at 2:45 pm on our backfield (thanks to Mr. Bolton for leading this initiative!). Terry Fox hoped to raise $1 for every Canadian for cancer research. Since he began his Marathon of Hope an incredible $908 million has been raised in his name, and Blair Road has contributed to this effort. To date, we have raised $62 291.63 for cancer research!

This year, our fundraising effort will take place during the week of September 23. Please know that no donation is too small! Every bit helps find a cure for cancer. Donations (Cash or cheques made out to the Terry Fox Foundation) can be brought into class any day during the week of September 23. Tax receipts will be issued if a name and address are attached to any cash donations over $20. Donations can also be made online at https://schools.terryfox.ca/BlairRoadSchoolCambridge.

Students can even set up their own online donation pages by visiting our school Terry Fox website. Terry Fox is a Canadian hero, and Blair Road is proud to once again support his dream of finding a cure for cancer.

Indigo Love of Reading Foundation Fundraiser

Did you know we’re currently running our annual Adopt a School fundraiser supporting Blair Road PS? Did you know that many teachers spend up to $1,000 per year of their own money to buy books for their students? Did you know the average age of books at many of the schools supported by the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation is more than 25 years old? That’s older than Indigo!

With the start of a new school year, Indigo and the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation are joining forces to champion literacy and support students and educators across Canada. From September 13 to October 6, we will build a deep and meaningful connection between stores and local communities through the Adopt a School fundraiser, a one-on-one fundraising initiative that raises and distributes funds directly into each store’s local community, with 100% of donations going to each store’s partner school.

So, from Friday, September 13 to October 6, you can visit Indigo at Cambridge Centre and Indigo Guelph to buy a bookmark made by our very own Blair Road PS students or purchase books for the school that reflect your child’s needs. All proceeds go directly to the school, and our school will be able to purchase books at a 30% discount with the funds raised.

A HUGE shout-out to Mrs. Ellis for her leadership in running this amazing initiative!

Food Supports Available for WRDSB Students

With the new school year underway, the WRDSB recognizes that food insecurity is affecting our communities at unprecedented levels. In addition to local food banks and pantries, we wanted families to be aware of nutrition supports in place specifically for children and youth in Waterloo Region, both during and outside of school hours.

For more information on these programs and how to receive them, please visit: Food Supports Available for WRDSB Students. If you have any questions, please reach out for more information

Tarmac Lines

I am excited to share that our playground markings will soon be repainted, and our Tarmac will be getting a refresher by the end of Fall! This is something exciting to share.

School Structure Fenced area

I want to address the recent changes concerning our fenced-in area and clarify the reasons behind them, especially regarding the safety of our youngest students. After observing unsupervised Kindergarten students gathering on the tarmac, as well as hearing parent concerns about supervision, I took immediate action to enhance their safety. Given our school’s older layout and increasing student numbers, our current setup no longer meets our needs. To address these concerns, we will relocate the fence to create a secure, smaller area for Kindergarteners and adjust supervision accordingly. The Creative Structure will be accessible to students in grades 1-6. Bused Kindergarten students will be guided to the new area, and extended-day students will have a supervised space. I am committed to ongoing communication and will keep you updated on any further changes. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to ensure a safe environment for all our students. Our facilities team is amazing and took our concerns seriously, so the work is expected to be completed promptly by Tuesday, September 17th.

Literacy Approach

One of the things we will be working hard here at Blair Rd PS this year, is in learning more about The Science of Reading. The Science of Reading is fundamental in primary education as it aligns with the principles outlined in the Human Rights Commission’s “Right to Read” document, which emphasizes the importance of equitable access to effective literacy instruction for all students. In Ontario, this evidence-based approach ensures that every child receives systematic and comprehensive reading instruction, crucial for developing essential literacy skills. By focusing on phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension, the Science of Reading supports diverse learning needs and helps bridge gaps in literacy achievement. This commitment to effective teaching methods is a vital step in upholding students’ right to quality education and ensuring that all children have the opportunity to become proficient, confident readers.

Last week, all of our K-2 teachers finally completed the training being offered system-wide by the WRDSB, and this week we have a consultant coming to our school to support our educators to administer the universal screening tool that will help us identify children at risk for reading difficulties. Once this process of data gathering is through, we will continue to engage in deep learning about these new practices as a part of our School Learning Improvement Plan, and you may notice some changes in your child’s reading program.

We want to emphasize however, that “research has found that young children whose parents read to them daily have been exposed to at least 290,000 more words by the time they enter kindergarten than kids who aren’t read to regularly. And depending on how much daily reading time kids get, that number can go up to over a million words. Aside from language and literacy, reading is also an important tool for helping children develop empathy. As kids read books about people whose lives are different from their own (and especially stories told from the perspectives of those people), they gain an appreciation for other people’s feelings, as well as other cultures, lifestyles, and perspectives.”

So while some practices may be innovative moving forward, we want to remind you that the love of reading and reading with your child continues to be something we highly encourage here at Blair Rd PS – and please remember that reading in your mother language is always a wonderful way to foster multi-language acquisition and connection. If your original language is not English, please be assured that reading in your language is incredibly beneficial to your child as well and we whole-heartedly encourage it.

School Council

Welcome to Blair Road School Council for the 2024/25 school year! Please feel free to contact us anytime at blairroadschoolcouncil@gmail.com. Our first meeting and election will be in September 26th at 6pm in the library or via a Google Meet link: https://meet.google.com/jou-guoj-bnf

There are two volunteer opportunities as part of the Blair Road School Council, as well as additional opportunities throughout the school year. Any parent or guardian of a student at Blair Road School can be part of Council. Collaboration and input is valued for all of the positions listed below.

The first opportunity is a “Member-at-Large” position on Council. This offers flexibility as Members-at-Large attend meetings as they are available and/or volunteer for events and activities. This is not a voting position. WRDSB employees can be a Member-at-Large.

The second opportunity is a “Parent Member” position. Parent Members are expected to attend every meeting to ensure quorum is met if a vote is required. Parent Members also may volunteer for any event or activity. WRDSB Employees can be Parent Members if they are not employed at Blair Road School and have made their employment status clear to people qualified to vote.

Elected Parent Members vote for executive positions including Chair or Co-Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer.

To express your interest in being a part of the Blair Rd PS School Council for the 2024/25 School year, please fill out this google form. Please click on the following live links to read more about our Bylaws and about the WRDSB School Councils. We look forward to welcoming any interested Blair Rd family to our School Council.

WEFI & Lenscrafters OneSight Program

We believe when more children can see the board in school, we can all fight illiteracy. This is why The Waterloo Education Foundation Inc. (WEFI) has partnered with Lencrafters through OneSight’s OnSite Voucher Program so that eligible patients can receive glasses free of charge. If you know a student that would benefit from this program, please contact our school to request a referral letter. Together, WEFI believes that as a whole communities gain access to eye exams and glasses, we can all resist inequality.

Community Flyers

The WRDSB offers community organizations and not-for-profits the opportunity to share information on their programs and services with our schools on our Community E-Flyers website. Each week we will share the most recent flyers shared with the Board in this newsletter in hopes that you share this information with your community if you deem it appropriate.

Dates happening this week:

  • Mawlid/Mawlid al-Nabi al-Sharif, September 15-16, 2024
  • International IT Professionals Day, September 17, 2024
  • Powley Day (Ontario), September 19, 2024
  • First Day of Fall, September 22, 2024
  • Mabon (Autumn Equinox), September 22, 2024