Welcome!
I am excited to welcome you to my Grade One class at St. Jude’s Academy! Students will be taught academics by myself (Samantha Gandy), French by Jessica Hou, Gym by Alexandra Yustin and Music by Darren Flower.
I am excited to welcome you to my Grade One class at St. Jude’s Academy! Students will be taught academics by myself (Samantha Gandy), French by Jessica Hou, Gym by Alexandra Yustin and Music by Darren Flower.
This is my first year teaching at St Jude’s and I am very excited to be joining the SJA team!
Below is some important information about the first couple weeks of school:
SJA Student Policy
Attached to this email you will find the SJA Student Policy Handbook. Please read it, sign the last page and bring it to me, so I can add to your child’s file. This page is due in the agenda by Friday, September 14th.
Orientation Night
Parent – Teacher Orientation Night is on August 27that 5pm. It is very important that at least one of the parents participate, also you can collect your key fob to enter the school. A $40 deposit is required for new fobs. Miss Gandy’s classroom number is 28!
Hot Lunch Program
· Please know that the website closes off end of day August 31stand is unable to reopen for September ordering.
· Lunch payments are due no later than September 14th.
Below are the instructions for returning families:
If you have a sibling joining SJA this year please keep in mind you can only use one email per child.
· Step 1 Logon to website http://mydigitalmailroom.com/sja - if you forgot your password or email used please contact bsmith@stjudesacademy.com
· Step 2 Across the top menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MY ACCOUNT, Change grade and teacher to reflect new year. Select SAVE
· Step 3 Across the top menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MANAGE LUNCH, a drop-down menu will appear, select ADD NEW LUNCH FORM.
*Don’t forget to select payment method BEFORE ordering
Below are the instructions for new families:
**If you have more than one child you will need to use different email addresses for each child. Only one child can be registered and ordered for under a single email address.
Step 1 Go to website http://mydigitalmailroom.com/sja
· Select register an account
· Select grade
· Select class
· Select teacher
· Enter in student information
· Accept terms and conditions and select Register
Repeat for additional students.
Step 2 Across the top menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MANAGE LUNCH, a drop-down menu will appear, select ADD NEW LUNCH FORM.
*Don’t forget to select payment method BEFORE ordering
Homework
- Students will receive reading folders to track their daily reading. Students are expected to read for 15 minutes each night. Please initial their reading log daily as they will be rewarded for completing these pages.
- Students may periodically bring home incomplete work from the day to finish that night. They will also receive review packages for upcoming tests a few days prior to the test.
- Weekly spelling words will be posted on my blog every Monday for the week. Students are expected to complete one sentence for each spelling word, which will be due every Friday.
If you would like to request work packages to continue skills at home I can gladly accommodate that!
Program of Inquiry for this upcoming year
Unit 1 - Rules, Relationships and Responsibilities
Central Idea: People living around the world all have relationships, rules, and responsibilities.
Lines of Inquiry:
- Important relationships within the community
- Home, school and community rules and their importance
-How rules and relationships change over time
Key Concepts: reflection, responsibility
Unit 2 -We are Going Pre-Historic
Central Idea: Animals can change and adapt over time
Lines of Inquiry:
-Describe animals, which lived on earth during the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period
-How information about dinosaurs is gathered
- Ways people can protect living things, which are endangered or extinct
Key Concepts
- causation, connection, change
Unit 3 - Outrageously Organized
Central Idea: People often use organization as a system to establish order.
Lines of Inquiry:
- Reasons why people use systems of organization
- Strategies to organize ourselves at home, school, and in our community,
-Consequences of a presence or absence of organization
Key Concepts
- causation,connection,change
Unit 4 - Inventions, Innovations and Discovery
Central Idea: Inventions are a response to challenges and opportunities, and impact our daily lives.
The origins of different inventions and how they have changed over time
· Events that lead to the creation of important inventions
Significant inventors and the importance of their inventions
Key Concepts- causation-function
Unit 5 - Art Attack
Unit 5 - Art Attack
Central Idea: People use art forms to express their culture.
Lines of Inquiry:
· -The art forms of local and international cultures both past and present
· -How art is used for expression and communication
· -How art can demonstrate various cultural experiences (e.g. language, beliefs)
Key Concepts
- perspective , reflection
Unit 6 - Hoppy Hoppy Habitats
Central Idea: Living things require specific conditions within a healthy environment to survive.
Lines of Inquiry:
· Needs of plants and animals within various ecosystems.
· The characteristics which define habitats around the world.
· The ways human actions can affect ecosystems.
Key Concepts
- change, responsibility, form
Agendas
Your child will receive an agenda on his/her first day of school. Please read and sign your child’s agenda every day, as important dates, announcements and homework will be included and updated each week. Students need to bring their agendas back and forth to school each day. This is another way of communicating with me.
Upcoming Events
· August 27 PYP Orientation, 5-7 pm
· September 3 Labour Day (No School)
· September 4 PD Day, IB Training (No School)
· September 5 First Day of School, Term 1 Begins
· September 7 Spirit Day: House Colours Dress Up
· September 20 Welcome BBQ
· September 26 Casual Day
· September 27 Terry Fox Run (PYP)
· September 28 Orange Shirt Day (PYP)
Uniform
· Students are to come to school on Wednesday, September 5th in their gym uniform. Required gym uniform days are Monday and Wednesday ONLY. After a holiday Monday, students will return on the Tuesday in their dress uniform.
· Students are to come to school in their full-dress uniform Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Please ensure that all uniform items are to be labelled with your child’s name.
· Please make sure your child has a pair of black dress shoes and a pair of gym shoes labeled and to be left at the school for their indoor shoes this year. Gym and dress shoes cannot be worn outside.
· Please, to avoid any discomfort in case of washroom accidents, send in your child’s backpack an extra change of clothes in a plastic bag. The bag will remain in your child’s backpack and it will be used only when needed.
Ms. Hayward, our Teacher Librarian, is looking forward to seeing all our returning students and meeting those of you new to the school. We've been busy over the summer cataloguing all our books and will soon have our Library Computer system ready for signing out all the great books you'll want to read this year. This year our class will get regular library visits for tours, research and study skill sessions, and to borrow books. There will also be Recess Readers, Library Contests, and Book Fair! Don't forget to follow all things library on the library blog: www.sjalibrary.wordpress.com
Blog
· Please visit the class blog daily, as it is a way to stay connected, see what we did during the day, or to find important dates and homework. At the bottom of the blog, you will see a tab, “FOLLOW BY EMAIL”, where you are able to enter your email address. In doing this, you will receive an email of my blog every time I am to post and will not miss out on any important information. Please click this link to visit my blog http://gandygr1class.blogspot.com
Food Allergies
· Please be advised that St. Jude's is a nut free facility. When purchasing items for your child's lunch, please read the packages carefully. If the label says, "may contain nuts", please refrain from sending that item. Look for products with the nut-free label.
* Please be advised the school does not permit food to be sent in for special events and/or birthdays. Please refer to the birthday policy in the student handbook.
Kinderlime
- You will receive your logon information via email on file by Tuesday August 28th.
- Please download the FREE Kinderlime app via APP Store, Google Play etc. Or Visit the website https://www.kinderlime.com
Complete MUST HAVE information about your child(ren) on APP/Website
- Phone number
- Updated pick up permissions
- Allergy/Medication information
* We strongly suggest you set up automatic payments through the app/website to ensure you will not incur late fees for monthly invoices.
- You can also choose to pay monthly through the app/website.
- Through the app/website you will be able to digitally access monthly break downs (printed copies will not be available)
* View App/Website daily to see sign in/out times.
*To help ensure students safety, parent volunteers are required to submit a clear vulnerable sector check. Please see the SJA Parent and Student Handbook for more information.
If you have any questions/comments regarding this new addition, please contact the Students Services Coordinator at bsmith@stjudesacademy.com
Welcome BBQ
Annual SJA Welcome BBQ. This is a great opportunity to meet other families, socialize, and have fun!
When: September 20th from 4:00-6:00.
Where: St. Jude’s Academy
Tickets for food and drink will be available to purchase.
Contact Information
· Please email me letting me know how you would prefer to speak at the end of each of our Units of Inquiry. I will be in contact with you 6 times of the year on top of our 2 student lead conferences. In this email, I would like to know if you would like an update on your child by email, phone or in person.
- I will also be using the classroom app ‘Remind’, to send out updates about important class information. To sign up for notifications, please download the app and click the link https://www.remind.com/join/hg6gcf- classroom code is hg6gcf.
I believe that open lines of communication between the parents, students and teachers are the key to promoting an educational climate that is conductive to learning. Please feel free to contact me at any time if there is a question or situation you would like to discuss sgandy@stjudesacademy.com
I look forward to meeting you and having a wonderful school year!
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