orange shirt day - Monday, September 30A reminder to all Morris School community members of Orange Shirt Day. Orange Shirt Day was designed to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation. Chief Justice Murray Sinclair challenged all of the participants to keep the reconciliation process alive, as a result of the realization that every former student had similar stories. Terry Fox run - Friday, October 4The K-6 students will be participating in Morris School's annual Terry Fox Run this upcoming Friday. Our teachers organized an assembly this past Friday to help inform the students of the Run, the reason behind it, and the students' role in ensuring a successful event. The run will take place at the Stampede grounds. Family members are welcome to attend. Teachers have (or soon will) provide pledge forms for their students. Students are encouraged to seek donations, but it is not mandatory. All proceeds will go to cancer research. Grade 5/6 Soccer a big hit!Our Grade 5/6's travelled to Rosenort on Thursday to participate in their divisional tournament. We had so many keen soccer student-athletes that we decided to form two girls' teams and two boys teams. All teams competed hard and conducted themselves with a great level of sportsmanship. We would like to thank Rosenort School for being such great hosts. We would also like to thank Mr. Scott Stevenson, Mrs. Charron, Alexsei Bliznik, and Amy Neustater for coaching the teams. We would also like to thank Hunter Edel, Liam Collette, Adam Friesen, Logan & Teagan Fillion for officiating. Grade 7/8 divisional soccer tournamentThe Grade 7/8's will be off to Rosenort this week to participate in the divisional soccer tournament. The tournament was scheduled for last week, but was postponed due to inclement weather. The new date is Tuesday, October 1. Go MAV's Go! staff vs students softball Game (Grades 9-12)The staff is looking for a challenge early in the school year. They are challenging our Senior Years students to a game of softball. Trash talking has not yet begun, but it is sure to be a heated battle. Interested students should see Mr. Cox, bring their gloves, and their best game on Thursday, October 3rd. We will meet in the far east end of the school yard where the backstop is located. No student will be turned away unless their not up for the staff's best!! Mavericks host JV volleyball tournamentMorris School played host to the 2019 JV Volleyball Invitational Tournament. Our Mavericks hosted both a girls and boys side of the tournament. Our Mavericks competed hard for two days, earning some victories and learning a ton about themselves and their teammates. Both teams ended in 5th place in their side of the tournament. Thank you to the varsity girls' team for ensuring the tournament ran smoothly. We would also like to thank the parent volunteers who stepped up again to contribute to a successful event. Mr. Stevenson and Mrs. Kurylko worked hard behind the scenes to ensure the weekend went smooth. Congratulations to the Gabrielle Roy boys and the Immanuel Christian girls for taking home the tournament titles! Grade 5/6 students attend leadership campThis past week (Tuesday - Thursday), our Grade 5/6's travelled to the Whiteshell Provincial Park to attend the Community Leaders Program hosted by the Tim Hortons' Foundation Camp. The camp provided our Mavericks with "experiences designed to develop life and leadership skills which provide the building blocks for youth engagement." The overnight experience allowed our students to learn about their leadership styles, enjoy some team building activities as well as get to know their classmates and teachers better. Our group returns home with a project to complete. Over the next few months you will be learning about our Gaga ball pit and school playground improvement project. We will be soliciting volunteers and donors over the next few weeks and months to ensure we complete the project prior to leaving back to camp in April. We would like to thank our students for being open to this new experience as well as their parents for allowing your students the opportunity to attend. School PHoto Day - October 11 Morris School Picture Day is a bit later this year. It is set for Friday, October 11th. After Picture day, order your photos online (mylifetouch.ca). Enter you Portrait ID and Access Code, which can be found on your Picture Day order form. Please contact the school if you have any questions. Orange Shirt Day - Monday, September 30This year Orange Shirt Day, September 30 falls on a Monday. Morris School is planning events activities leading up to, and on that date. The events were designed to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation. Chief Justice Murray Sinclair challenged all of the participants to keep the reconciliation process alive, as a result of the realization that every former student had similar stories. Right now we are looking at providing some pre-teaching lessons for teachers to touch on before Orange Shirt day. On Friday, September 27 we are asking Lionel Mason, a traditional knowledge keeper, has agreed to visit Morris School to read stories to our K-8s in the morning and speak to our 9-12s in the afternoon. Mavericks Varsity Girls VolleyballThis past weekend, the Maverick ladies proudly represented our school, hosting a Varsity Girls volleyball tournament. In an unusual turn of events, one of the teams dropped out last minute, and the Mavs split their roster into two. Coach Mr. Stevenson has been heard bragging that the talent on his team was so deep, that he could split the team in half and both would still finish top 3, who knew they'd have a chance to test this out? Round robin play went exceptionally well, Morris White went a perfect 8-0, their only real challenge being the Morris Black team, who finished round robin in 2nd place with a 6-2 record. The Mavs were set up perfectly going into playoffs. If they kept winning, they wouldn't meet each other again until the finals. Morris White kept rolling and confidently eliminated Rosenort in the quarter-finals, followed by a great come from behind victory against Niverville in the Semi-Finals. Morris Black came out strong in the quarter finals against RVS winning the first set with authority. After battling in a tight back and forth set, they came up just short, forcing a 3rd and deciding set. The Morris girls rose to the challenge and moved past their conference rivals for a chance to face Gab Roy in the Semis. Unfortunately, the all Morris final was not to be. Gab Roy's strong offensive hitting proved to be enough to best Morris Black on this day. So Morris White was facing off against Gab Roy in the finals, and redemption was at hand. Again, Gab Roy hit some powerful attacks, that caught the Morris team off guard, giving the first set to the visiting team. But Morris refused to accept defeat, not in their home gym, not with their fans watching, not today! The girls took a commanding lead in the second set, and never looked back. Morris White, your 2019 Maverick Invitational Tournament Champions! Huge thank you to Mrs. Clayton and Mrs. Leflar for taking care of the canteen, Mrs. Kurylko for spending another weekend in a sweaty gym to run the tournament, and all the student and parent volunteers who made this tournament possible. JV Boys Volleyball capture elm creek tourneyOur JV Boys Volleyball team hopped into some cars on Friday morning and headed to Elm Creek for their first volleyball tournament of the season. After a full day of pool play, the Mavericks finished second, earning the opportunity to play Dufferin Christian in the semi-final. A tough, three-set battle earned the Mavericks a trip to the final against the Gimli Lakers. Our Mavericks overcame a bit of a shaky start, losing the first set. The boys battled back, winning the next two sets and winning the Cobra tournament. Congratulations to team captain, Andrew Penner, for earning the tournament MVP. We look forward to sharing the hosting honours with our JV girls this upcoming weekend. Go MAV's Go! Undergrad awards - Thursday, September 19The annual Morris School Undergrad Awards will take place on Thursday, September 19th beginning at 1:00 pm. The awards will take place in the theatre/music room. The awards ceremony will highlight the achievements of those students enrolled in Grades 7-11 in our previous school year. Parents are welcome to attend. school photo day - October 11Morris School Picture Day is a bit later this year. It is set for Friday, October 11th. More information to follow. MAV Groups meet for the first timeThis past Thursday, our Grades 7-12 students participated in their first Mav Group meeting of the year. Mav Groups have three main goals:
Our theme for October will be Time Management. We will also review the results of the September survey within our groups as well. mavericks travel to deloraineThe Varsity Girls Volleyball season kicked off this weekend in Deloraine. The ladies started off strong winning 4 of 6 sets on Friday. After an early morning blunder which saw the Mavs hand over a couple of sets to Souris (the eventual tournament champions) after leading right up until the final points, the team re-grouped and confidently advanced passed Melita in the first round of playoffs. Another small setback in the semi-finals against Boissevain resulted in the girls taking on the host team from Deloraine in the 3rd place final. The Mavericks were no longer in a giving mood, and thanked the Colts for their hospitality by beating them two straight and taking home the bronze. You can catch the ladies in action this Friday as they kick off the Morris Mavericks Invitational Tournament in the senior years gym at 1pm vs Immanuel Christian. A message from our public health nursepaying student fees onlineA variety of fees will be due during the year (Student Fees, Art Supplies, Band Fees, Hockey Academy, Sport Team Registrations, etc.) at Morris School. The Red River Valley School Division has an online payment system that can be accessed via the school's website (https://morris.rrvsd.ca) to conveniently pay for these fees. You can find it under the For Parents menu item. It is called School Cash. Your ability to pay online also assists our front office staff as it reduces the amount of cash (bills & change) and cheques on a daily basis. This allows our front office staff to directly serve our students and staff more effectively. We would encourage you to use the School Cash payment method as your main method of payments. Thank you! Physical computing clubURGENT - STrong Beginnings REgistration K-8Friday, September 6th WAS the deadline for K-8 parents to register their student(s) our annual Strong Beginnings appointments. Thank you to the numerous families who met the deadline. We appreciate your work as it is a large undertaking to ensure all families register for their assessment session(s). If you have not registered yet, please do so before NOON on Tuesday, September 10th. The link to register is https://morris-rrvsd.schoolsoft.com/login.jsf. If you don't register online, the teachers will need to call you directly to book an appointment. That will take time away from preparing and working with your student(s). It is essential for all students to have an appointment by Tuesday. To review, Strong Beginnings is a MANDATORY assessment that occurs early in September for students in Kindergarten to Grade 8. On Friday, September 13 and Monday, September 16, 2019, children will attend school by appointment for approximately 60 minutes to participate in assessment activities. The appointments on these days replace regular classes. This is an opportunity for teachers to extend and consolidate their understanding of each child in order to plan for instruction. This, in turn, will effectively address unique learning needs as early as possible in the new school year. If you have any questions about booking an appointment, please call the school. Grade 5/6's off to CampMorris School has teamed with the Tim Hortons Foundation to provide our Grade 5/6's a great opportunity for leadership development during the next school year. We have applied and been accepted to be part of the Foundation's Community Leaders program for the 2019-20 school year. Our Grade 5/6's will travel to the Tim Hortons' Camp in the Whiteshell twice next year (September and April). In between the two visits, the Grade 5/6's will be responsible for planning and executing a low to no-cost community improvement initiative in Morris. The first trip is set for Tuesday, September 17 to Thursday, September 19. Returning students had documentation sent home with their June Report Cards. New students/families will/have receive/received documents from their classroom teacher. We would ask those documents to be returned by this Wednesday (September 11th). Since all students are invited/expected to attend the camp, formal Grade 5/6 classes will not be offered on those days as our teachers will be at the camp. Please indicate to your respective classroom teacher if your student will be attending the camp. Please do so by Wednesday, September 11th as we need to plan accoridingly. The camp experience is designed to develop life and leadership skills which will provide the building blocks for youth engagement. We hope to build off the camp experience by working with our Grade 5/6's to become larger leaders within our K-6 sub-community within Morris School. The camp is a no cost camp for our students, so we are extremely grateful to the Red River Valley School Division for allowing us to attend, for the Tim Hortons Foundation for providing the opportunity, and for the greater community for donating to Camp Day earlier in the year. Your donations have allowed us to be a part of this tremendous learning opportunity. Safe Arrival - online attendanceFor those families new to Morris School, we use online software to administer attendance. One of our greatest priorities is ensuring that all our students arrive safely to school every day. To improve our safe arrival process, we've add SafeArrival to make it easier for you to report and respond to school absences of your student. The app can be downloaded on your digital device (phone, tablet, etc). If you student(s) will be away from school, you can use the App 24/7 to notify the school. The student absence reporting system will let you use a website, interactive toll-free phone line, or mobile app, to report an absence in advance. As a result, it will take the school less time to verify student attendance, and less time to begin to notify parents/guardians of absences that were unexpected or unplanned. This time saving feature makes it faster and more efficient to account for all students and their safety. How does it work? If your child is marked absent, and the absence hasn’t been explained in advance, our new SafeArrival system will be able to rapidly contact you by automated phone call, text message, email, or mobile app push notification (coming soon), and ask for a reason for the absence. Calls and contacts will continue until you choose an option to explain the absence. This new, automated SafeArrival process is part of our SchoolMessenger notification system and will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to make it convenient for you to report future absences. The system with Morris School starts by teachers taking attendance at the beginning of class. Some students will be absent. Those who are absent AND had their parents notify the school will not receive notification from SafeArrival. After teachers take attendance, the front office staff pulls the information from that attendance information and sends home the notifications to families who have not notified the school of their student's absence. If your child is late for class, they will be marked absent, you will get a phone call. We have put a process in place where if a student is late, they must check into the office, get a late slip and bring it to the teacher. This is so we can account for the students that are in the building. The phone call will still go home until the child checks into the office, then they will be entered as late into the system, which means you will then get a notification that your child was late. If you have any questions or are having issues getting logged into the School Messenger App, please call (204-746-2612 ext. 3222 or email lkeck@rrvsd. Picking up students during the school dayWe would ask all parents/guardians need to pick up their student(s) during the school day to please check in at the Morris School Welcome Centre (the office). We will ensure your student meets you in the office in time for you to make your appointment. This applies to all students (K-12). If a senior years' student is leaving on their own for any reason, they should be checking out at the office. The above procedures are for the safety and accountability of our students. If you are coming to the school to visit your student's classroom, please check in at the office first. Picking up and dropping off studentsTo ensure an efficient and effective drop off and pick up process of non-bus students, we would ask you to not park in the circle at the east end of Morris School (by the play structure). An unoccupied circle allows cars to easily turn around and exit. We would also appreciate vehicles not accessing or parking in the bus area before and after school while our students are arriving or leaving for the day. We appreciate your cooperation. Paying student fees onlineA variety of fees will be due during the year (Student Fees, Art Supplies, Band Fees, Hockey Academy, Sport Team Registrations, etc.) at Morris School. The Red River Valley School Division has an online payment system that can be accessed via the school's website (https://morris.rrvsd.ca) to conveniently pay for these fees. You can find it under the For Parents menu item. It is called School Cash. Your ability to pay online also assists our front office staff as it reduces the amount of cash (bills & change) and cheques on a daily basis. This allows our front office staff to directly serve our students and staff more effectively. We would encourage you to use the School Cash payment method as your main method of payments. Thank you! Morris School's Computing ClubThis club is for Morris School students in Grades 5 through 12 inclusive. Our informational meeting will take place on Thursday, September 26 at Noon. Stay tuned for more information! See Mr. Watson if you have questions. |
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