morris school & the school messenger appMorris School Spirit Week(s)As we head into December...tough to believe we are already there...our senior years Student Leadership group have proposed a spirit week. We encourage all students to take part. Mom's pantry fundraiser - there's still time!!If you order online, you still have some time to get your order in. All funds raised will go to student activities this year. You can access the Mom's Pantry website by going to momspantry.ca Red level?? what it all meansOur school community has been balancing the work required to provide our students with a quality educational experience, while following the safety protocols placed in front of us to ensure we keep our people as safe as possible. As a part of the latter portion of our work, you and your students have been receiving surveys, hearing rumours about timing of one level moving to the other, and receiving letters from Southern Health about COVID-19 investigations involving our school. It can all be nerve wracking! We understand. This article in our weekly blog is here to provide some information about Red Levels (as this article is being written, there has been no indication that a Red level is required for Morris School). Our goal is to prepare and inform our students and their families so IF NEEDED we can transition as smoothly as possible into any version of Red level we are asked to enter AS WELL AS return to back to school (Orange or Yellow Level) as smoothly as possible. We encourage families who have questions to reach out to the school and speak directly with someone from administration. Tech Survey - please completeGrades 7-12 students are encouraged to complete a tech survey to ensure we transition smoothly to a remote learning environment IF and WHEN your cohort or our school is moved to a Red level. All students from 7-12 have been emailed an invitation to participate in the survey. IF you can't find the email, the link to that survey is https://forms.gle/12QD98NcmGXuSbMk7 Dear parents, This week an information update form was emailed out to all parents via Google Forms. Please take a minute to fill this out over the weekend, it should only take a few minutes. Next week we will be sending report cards out via email to all parents and we would like to ensure that all the contact information on file is up to date and accurate. If you didn't receive this email please let the office know. RRVSD announces three PD daysMr. Brad Curtis, Superintendent of the Red River Valley School Division announced three non-instructional days that have been added to the 2020-21 RRVSD calendar. These days reflect the government's announcement last week. Education Minister Goertzen announced three additional non-instructional days to the school calendar for the 2020-21 year so that schools can focus on collaborative planning as they shift and adapt to remote learning. Two of these days will be scheduled before Christmas and one in the second semester. Divisions will incorporate these days into their calendars where it fits best. Mr. Curtis has asked us to share the dates with our community. They will be Friday, December 4th, Monday, December 7th and Friday, March 5th. These days will be devoted to professional development for all staff members. A new copy of the RRVSD School Calendar is below. Red Level Planning (key word = planning)We understand that you have been receiving a number or inquiries from a number of sources with questions and statements regarding planning for Level Red. Let me take a minute to explain why. In the spring of 2020, we were somewhat caught off-guard with the closing of schools. We had a week to prepare for what we thought was two weeks...well...that turned into three months. I don't think we need to relive the experience. As we learn more from experiences, both ours and other communities, we can foresee two types of remote learning possibilities. The first would be IF a cohort was asked to stay home and isolate for a period of time and the rest of the school was conducting a regular schedule. The second type of remote learning possibility would be IF our entire school was moved to remote learning due to a province wide mandate (or even to control community spread within our school community). So, in an attempt to learn from our experiences, we are seeking information from families to ensure we don't take as long to transition to effective remote learning IF we are asked to do so. Understanding that, we would ask that you be patient as possible and understand that the information we request may never be used...BUT...we have it if we need it. Please cooperate as much as possible and respond to an email or answer a survey. It will help in our planning efforts. If you have questions about how the school is planning certain aspects of COVID-19 protocols or plans for specific levels, please contact the school administration directly. I know for certain you won't find the accurate information on your Facebook page!! We would also ask that limit questions to our teachers to your student's academic or social/emotional development. Those questions are always welcome. Our teachers won't be able to answer questions about COVID-19 planning and protocols, so please direct those questions to Morris School administration. donation request - gently used winter clothesOur winter season is upon us. We must face that fact. With our Phys. Ed. classes being outside, staff are noticing some students are not prepared to be outside. Some of that preparation is based on our students realizing winter has arrived and they need to outside for their Phys. Ed. class. However, in some cases, our students lack the essential items required to stay warm for an extended period of time outdoors. It's time to reach out to our great school community! If you have any outdoor clothing that you can donate to the school, we would appreciate it. We are looking for all sizes of winter clothing articles that will assist a K-12 student. You can send your items with your student OR you can drop it off at the front office of the school. Just buzz at the door and someone will meet you at the door. Thank you, in advance, for you assistance with this request. virtual book fair - thank you!A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who supported our first Virtual Book Fair with Scholastic Books! We really appreciate your support and will be able to add a few hundred dollars in new books to the school library for everyone to enjoy! Scholastic is hoping to improve the site and process even more in future. If you do not receive your order in a timely manner, please contact Mrs. DeKezel in the Library and she will follow up with you. student leadership fundraising initiativeThe Morris School student leadership team is holding a one week Mom’s Pantry fundraiser. All product will need to be ordered by November 27 and it will be here the week of December 8th. Orders can be done on the Mom’s Pantry website. For further information please contact the student leadership team and Mrs Laurie Edel. POINSETTIA fundraiser - pick up informationFor those who participated in the music poinsettia fundraiser, pick up will be on Thursday, December 3 from 4:00-5:30 pm at the south theatre doors in the bus loop. Students/parents who sold poinsettias are responsible for picking up all of their orders for their buyers. We ask that you line up socially distanced outside and patiently wait for your turn as someone will bring your order to you. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for support of the Morris School Music Program! PHoto Retakes PostponedPlease note that due to the Red levels in the province, Photo Retakes and Grad Photos are now postponed. We are awaiting new dates for late December or into the new year for retakes. GRAD PHOTOS: With divisional permission, these photos have been rebooked for one day (4 cameras) on December 18th but only IF the Province lifts the Red levels. A NEW sign-up link and info package will be given to the students in the coming weeks. Virtual Book Fair Extended - Mon., Nov 16The virtual book fair continues until Monday November 16th so there is still time to shop! Thank you for supporting our school library! Free shipping available! https://virtualbookfairs.scholastic.ca/pages/5148813 sign up for parent-teacher conferences!!Our online booking software is open & accepting appointments for our upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences. Our conferences this year will be held remotely on Thursday, November 19th from 4 to 8 pm AND Friday, November 20 from 9 am until Noon. You can ask for a Google Meet session by adding the term "Google Meet" to the comment section of your appointment booking. If you do not request a Google Meet, the teachers will either call from their classroom phone or some may supply you with a phone number via email to call in to a Google Meet phone call. You will still be part of a phone call on your end, but the teachers will be using Google Meet. You can access the Conference Manager booking software by clicking on https://morris-rrvsd.schoolsoft.com/login.jsf The software will accept bookings until Noon on Wednesday, November 18. Please contact the school office if you have any questions or need support in booking an appointment. November Report Cards to be emailedMorris School is proud to announce we are moving to paperless report cards. All parents will receive their student(s) report card to the email address we have on file. We understand that some parents would also like to receive a paper copy. If this is the case for you, please let your classroom teacher know and we will be sure to send one home with your student once the emailed versions have gone out. Please note that any inserts, forms or lists that would normally be included with the report card will either be sent home with your student or posted on the school website. Access Students appreciate canadian symbols!In the Access classroom they have a hands on approach to learning and lately they've been studying Canadian Symbols. In addition to reading, watching videos and discussing all things "Canadiana", they recently created a class totem pole! Throughout the unit some students tried maple syrup for the first time and even took advantage of the weather to build stone inukshuks after checking out trees near the river that have been chewed on by beavers. Photo retakes (Nov 13 & Nov 16)School Picture retakes will take place on Friday, November 13 for our Grades 1-10 students and Monday, November 16 for our Kindergarten, Grade 11, and 12 students and any Grades 1-8 students who were missed on the 13th. We would ask all parents of K-8 students to email your student's teacher to indicate you would like a picture retake for your student. Please email. your teacher by noon on Tuesday, November 10. Senior Years student families can notify Mrs. Huska in the office of their desire to have a retake. Grad PHoto InformationWe've received some information for booking Grad Photos for our Class of 2021. That information is below. You will also be receiving a mailout from Mrs. Derewianchuk with more Grad 2021 information. You can also reference the school website for all Grad related things as the year progresses. Maplewood parent portal informationMorris School to support Remembrance DayMorris School Parent Teacher ConferencesOur Parent-Teacher Conferences are set for Thursday, November 19 (4 to 8 pm) and Friday, November 20 (9 am to Noon). In order to reserve a spot with your student's teacher(s), you are asked to access our Conference Manager software. The conference bookings open at 8 am on Thursday, November 12 and closes at noon on Wednesday, November 18. You can access the software by accessing . If you have used Conference Manager before, you can simply log in and book your appointment. If you are new to the school or the software, you will need to click on the REGISTER NOW button and go through the registration process. Due to one of our protocols being limiting the number of visitors in the school, we have two options for the conference. You can have the conference over the phone or using our Google Meet software. The default will be a phone call. IF you would like to choose the Google Meet option, please type Google Meet in the comment section of the appointment booking window (see image below). The software will prompt you for a phone number this year to ensure our staff call the correct number to get the meeting started. If you have any questions about how to get set up and booked for a parent-teacher conference, please call the school or email Mr. Watson ([email protected]) or Ms. LeBlanc ([email protected]). Morris School Music fundraiserThe K-8 music program is doing a poinsettia fundraiser from now until November 18. Please see the attached letter and order form for more details. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Zimmerman at [email protected]. the Grade 7/8 Forts are progressing!!staying positive during challenging timesIt is understatement to suggest our school community has been faced with a challenging time in our history. Adversity is something we all face in our lives...this one just seems to be lingering longer than most. Our students and staff have done a great job in making the best of the situation that has been placed in front of us. However, there are days when we struggle. A recent article in Harvard Business Review reveals some ideas on "How to Thrive When Everything Feels Terrible." The online article can be found by accessing https://hbr.org/2020/10/how-to-thrive-when-everything-feels-terrible. If you're looking for ways to keep a positive mindset, this article provides some ways to accomplish this goal. |
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