Morris School moves from yellow to orangeWe've made it through another week at Morris School. In spite of the challenges we face from the current public health situation, we continue to be grateful to be together as a school community each day. The ability for our students and staff to be together is a better option than not being together So we thank you for your week. Our school community will continue to face the challenges of our current situation with grace. It is noticed and appreciated. We've been delivered another challenge today by having our school move to Level Orange. We've had some plans in place for a few days now in anticipation of this. It will affect our school somewhat, but we are in a good place to take this on and keep our students & staff safe. After being part of a RRVSD Principal's meeting, reading the Province's Level Orange documents, as well as the most recent COVID-19 update from Mr. Brad Curtis, here are the main adjustments it will take to get us to Level Orange:
November Report cards delayedIn light of all the changes that need to take place next week to meet Level Orange set by the Province, we will push back our report card dates back by two weeks. We will keep our parent-teacher conferences where they are (evening of November 19; morning of November 20), but report cards/progress reports will be mailed out the following week (ending November 27). We will set up our Conference Manager software by Friday, November 6th at 8 am. You can access Conference Manager by going to https://morris-rrvsd.schoolsoft.com/login.jsf. For those new parents, you can click on the REGISTER NOW button on the right side of the screen to create an account and add your student(s) to the software. We will keep the booking software open until noon on the day before parent-teacher conferences. A reminder that parent-teacher conferences will be over the phone or via Google Meet. important correctioncohort calendar (Senior Years & kindergartenAfter last Friday's inservice day, there were questions regarding what cohort should be at school and possibly if it was a Kindergarten day or not. If there are questions, that signifies that we did not communicate that clearly enough or people have misplaced their calendars. We apologize for any confusion. If you need another calendar, you can access pdf copies of our Kindergarten and Senior Years cohort calendar on our website (https://www.morris.rrvsd.ca). If you follow the navigation process below, you should be able to locate your desired calendar. Grad photos - november 19 & 20Attention Members of the Class of 2021...Grad Photos are set to take place Thursday, November 19 & Friday, November 20. More information regarding online sign up will be out soon, so pay attention to blog posts and announcements for more information. fall is football weather!!Intramural Flag Football started up this past week for students and staff. Grade 7's, 8's, and 12's fielded teams in their respective divisions. The teachers also have a team of star-studded athletes competing in each division as well. After one week of competition the teachers lead with a 2-0 record followed by the Grade 7s (1-1) and the 12's & 8's (0-1). Competition resumes next week. There's a sense around the school that the rivalries will heat up just like the weather forecast! Good luck to all teams! Grade 7 & 8 boys build fortsThe Grade 7 & 8 boys Phys. Ed. class is embracing their outdoor setting and taking on a challenge posed by Mr. Lehmann. They are tasked with the project of building a fort with material they find and an arm's length of rope. They have worked to gather enough workable pieces found in the "woods" within close proximity of the school and are getting closer to a finished product. Way to go, MAV's! grade 3/4's carve pumpkins and math it up!!As highlighted by our budding new reports, Hannah & Natalie, our Grade 3/4 students got in the fall/Halloween spirit by carving pumpkins in their classes. Their creative and artist skills were in full display. But...they weren't done there. Rather than just clean out the inner "guts" of the pumpkin and throw it away, the students counted the number of seeds in their respective pumpkins. They then picked the numbers counted of five or six of their friends and created a graph as it related to the number of seeds in each of their classmate's pumpkins. A great cross-curricular learning opportunity posed by their teachers! Way to go, MAV's!! Math & a snowman?!?!Students in Grade 10 Math took the opportunity to get outside and apply some of their knowledge to the real world with all this fresh snow coming down recently. Students made a snowman and calculated the volume of snow required to create it. Each piece of the snowman needed to be measured precisely to make a perfectly proportional snowman! Here is Emilie Jashyn's piece of art and her volume calculations! Keep it going with Math...congrats to Mikayla!Grade 10 student, Mikayla Wiebe, was presented with an award this week. Mr. Cox presented Mikayla with a medal from the Centre for Education in Computing & Mathematics puts on an International Math contest. Mikayla was one of our students who wrote the contest and scored the highest in our school. Congratulations Mikayla! Fall planting underway at Morris SchoolOur Access Program did some fall planting this past Thursday afternoon with perennial bulbs. Mrs. Scharfenberg won the bulbs from Halifax Perennials in an online contest this past spring. The Access Program has now added many varieties of lilies, peonies, grape hyacinth, tulips and daffodils. We look forward to seeing the fruits of their labour in the spring & summer of 2021! Way to go, MAV's! Parent-Teacher virtual/phone conferencesThe Fall 2020 Parent-Teacher conferences will have a different look this year. We feel these meetings are important, but we are mandated to limit the number of visitors in our school. The compromise is a virtual or over the phone conference. We will update you on the process in the near future, but the dates of these conferences will be the evening of Thursday, November 19 (4 to 8 pm) and the morning of Friday, November 20 (9 am - Noon). Attention Class of 2021 (Grade 12's)University of Manitoba VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE Wednesday, October 28th - 2:00pm-8:00pm (Central Daylight Time) REGISTER TODAY ON OUR WEBSITE: umanitoba.ca/openhouse Explore: Visit over 25 booths in our UM expo to gather information and learn more about our academic programs, services and community. Connect: Initiate 1:1 text, video or audio chats with representatives from UM faculties and programs. Watch: Attend live presentations and virtual campus tours, offered throughout the event. Our Virtual Open House is a come-and-go style event: register anytime on or before event day, log-in from any device between 2pm and 8pm (CDT) on Wed. Oct. 28, and start exploring! Parents and counsellors may register in addition to individual students – all are welcome to attend. Win a $1,000 Tuition Prize! Grade 12 students who register and attend our Virtual Open House will be automatically entered into a draw for a chance to win one of three $1,000 tuition prizes, to be applied to your 2021 University of Manitoba tuition fees!* *Winners will be contacted following the event. Some conditions apply. For full event details, visit umanitoba.ca/openhouse. We look forward to hosting your students on Wednesday, October 28! Virtual Career FairA chance to give back to your communityThe Morris & District Skating Club is currently recruiting volunteers for their Learn to Skate program. We are sure that your learning to skate experience was enhanced by a volunteer, so here's a chance to give back to your community. All interested volunteers can email Cassandra at [email protected] Kindergarten class learns about fire safetyTwo firefighters, Mr. Thiessen and Mr. Funk, came to the Kindergarten class to teach about fire safety and to give the class a tour of a fire truck. The Kinders practiced “stop, drop and roll”, identified hot items that are not safe to touch, and learned about the important job of a firefighter. A huge thank goes out to Mr. Thiessen and Mr. Funk! The kids had a great time and learned some important lessons! Book donationThe school library has received a number of copies of a book that highlights opposites, with a baseball theme. The brand new, hardcover books are free on a first come-first serve basis. Feel free to contact Mrs. Dekezel if you feel your student(s) would enjoy this book. Virtual parent group - coming November 6thJoin the school social work clinicians for a virtual drop-in parent group every Friday at noon. Themes discussed will include:
What to expect:
How to sign up: Email [email protected] with the subject “Parent Group” and the link to join will be sent to you. Maverick Volleyball practicesIt's not too late to sign up for students from Grades 9-12 who are interested in taking part in Maverick Volleyball skill development sessions. Our Maverick coaches are excited to get started. Practices will be taking place after school (3:45 - 4:45) in your cohort groupings. Please see one of the following people OR Mrs. Lucier if you are interested, but haven't signed up yet. Grade 12: Mr. Cox and Mrs. Edel Grade 11: Mr. Lehmann and Mrs. Leflar Grade 9 & 10: Mr. Kelesnick & Mr. Antoski Flag Football intramural sign upCrisp fall air means it's football weather! Flag Football Intramural leagues are being set up for students from Grades 7-12. Flag Football is a game loved by many across the world. The 5-on-5 game allows for safe & explosive plays, active participation as well as some great memories formed in a short period of time. We encourage our students to build co-ed teams of 5 or 6 and come out & enjoy one of the fast growing sports in the world. Please see Mrs. Lucier or Mr. Watson if you have questions. League play will start as soon as possible. Living Life to the full - a new programDear Students and Parents, We are excited to be partnering with the Canadian Mental Health Association to offer the Living Life to the Full program for youth. It is a mental health and wellness informed community course that is delivered across eight weeks. The course is designed to help students learn skills for meeting life’s challenges. Some of the topics students will learn about are low mood, worry and stress, positive and negative thinking, and problem solving. Sixteen of our grade 9 and 10 students will be given the opportunity to participate in the program. Sarah Wiebe, the CMHA instructor and I will be joining the students each week at 11:15 am in room 29/33. Students are welcome to bring their lunch as each session will be just over an hour long. The following dates are set for the course: Wednesday, October 21 Wednesday, October 28 Thursday, November 5 Tuesday, November 10 Thursday, November 19 Thursday, November 26 Wednesday, December 2 Thursday, December 10 If you have any questions please contact me at the school or by email [email protected] for further information. Sincerely, Laurie Edel Guidance, Morris School parent-teacher conferences - Nov 19 & 20Our annual fall set of parent-teacher conferences will run on Thursday, November 19 (4-8 pm) and Friday, November 20 (9 - Noon). Due to protocols in place of limiting visitors in the school, we will hold our parent-teacher conferences over the phone or virtually using Google Meet. Stay tuned to our weekly blog for sign up information. We will use the Conference Manager software again this year to handle the booking of appointments. Terry Fox Run - 2020 can't stop us!A huge congratulations to all the staff and students who participated in this year's version of the Terry Fox Run. This year marked the 40th anniversary of Terry's contribution to our country's fabric as well as the financial contribution to cancer research. His legacy continues to affect change in the development of cancer treatments and in the students who learn about his life. We appreciate our students' and school community's support in this year's run. We thank the K-4 staff for your work in making it happen. immunizations - tomorrow (Tues., October 13)Our public health personnel will be here on Tuesday, October 13th to immunize our Grade 6 - 9 (inclusive) students in the first of two rounds for this school year. The second round will be in the spring. All students should have received an information package. If not, please call the school office. maverick volleyball announcementMorris School and the athletic department is thrilled to offer an after school volleyball skill development program. This is a program that will allow student athletes to keep training and developing skills in a manner that follows Volleyball Manitoba’s Phase 3 guidelines that were released October 5th. This program will run twice a week for one hour (3:45pm to 4:45pm) per session and will take place in the half gym on the senior years side as well as the junior gym. Students will be participating within their cohort (Grades 9/10s, 11’s and 12’s) coed. Student athletes will be practicing on the day they are at school (11’s and 12’s will be separated by gyms). We are aiming to start Monday, October 19th (a Grade 9/10 day), followed by October 20th for the 11 and 12’s. Students will be required to attend an orientation meeting, receive permission from their parents/guardians and follow strict rules each practice in order to participate. If any of these rules are not followed he/she will be asked to not participate. Orientation meetings will be held on October 14th for the grade 11 and 12 students, followed by October 15th for the grade 9/10 students during lunch hour in room 29/33. Reminder this is an after school program, there is no bussing so students will be required to find their own way home. The school doors will be locked by 5pm to allow cleaning staff to prepare for the school before the next day. As a caution please recognize that it is important all individuals understand when they choose to participate in physical activities outside the home during the pandemic, you are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. There is an inherent risk of participating in non-essential activities in your community. In saying this, we will do our best to make sure that all rules put in place are followed to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Morris School is excited to offer this opportunity to get our students back into some extracurricular activities. We are hoping this program will transfer to different sports and activities! Photo day(s) this weekSchedules will be posted on Instagram and Twitter when they are finalized by our photographer on Monday. Terry Fox Run - Friday, October 9This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Terry Fox Run. We are planning to host the event on Friday, October 9. The K-1-2 cohort will run around the school field from 1:00-2:00 pm. The Grade 3-4 cohort will have their run time from 2:10-3:10. We are challenging each student to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the run by raising $40 each. (or 8 pledges of $5). Online fundraising is the safest and best way!. Students can get on board too by setting up their own fundraising page under your school name. It’s easy, safe and donors are issued receipts immediately! School Fundraising Link: http://www.terryfox.ca/Morris Username: 2020MB2151 Password: CUREMB5235 Our K-4 students have been introduced to Terry Fox and his story in their classes at the end of last week. We look forward to seeing everyone doing their best at the run on Friday as well as in their fundraising efforts leading up to the event. Every nickel counts!! Safe Arrival software - please registerAt Morris School, one of our greatest priorities is ensuring that all our students arrive safely at school each and every day. To enhance our existing absence-checking procedure, we are introducing a new, more efficient student absence reporting system called SafeArrival. This new system will reduce the time it takes to verify student attendance, make it easy for you to report your child’s absence and easy for staff to respond to unexplained student absences. With SafeArrival, you are asked to report your child’s absence in advance using any of these 3 convenient methods:
These options are available 24 hours/day, 7 days a week. Future absences can be reported at any time. In addition, we will use the SchoolMessenger Communicate automated notification system to contact parents whose child is absent when the absence was not reported in advance. The automated notification system will attempt to contact parents at multiple contact points until a reason is submitted for the absence. If our system is unable to reach the designated contacts, office staff will follow up. If you report your child’s absence in advance using the SafeArrival toll-free number, website or mobile app, you will NOT receive these notifications. Please report absences in advance using SafeArrival instead of sending notes or calling/emailing the school. Staff will being using the SafeArrival notifications to let you know if your student is absent (when you haven’t reported the absence in advance). If you have children attending other schools, please continue to report absences using the existing procedures for those schools. Thank you for your cooperation. Mike Watson, Principal Morris School Grad Photos - coming soon...Attention Class of 2021!! Grad Photos are set for Thursday, November 19 AND Friday, November 20 the yearbook - wants y0u!!Are you interested in Making History? Do you have a flare for design, photography, organization, writing, or just want to contribute the school some way, somehow? Well...the yearbook committee is for you! For the past few years, staff have been the main contributors to the yearbook. Well...the yearbook belongs to the students!! Join the committee who will be responsible for putting this extremely interesting year into the annals of Morris School history!! See Mrs. Dekezel and let her know when you'd like to get started as well as what part of the yearbook process will bring you the best memories!! Immunizations reminderOur public health personnel will be here on Tuesday, October 13th to immunize our Grade 6 - 9 (inclusive) students in the first of two rounds for this school year. The second round will be in the spring. All students should have received an information package. If not, please call the school office. |
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