Oakwood Public School 255 Omer Avenue, Port Colborne, L3C 3Z1

January 2017 Newsletter

Mr. P. Hawkey – Principal Mr. W. Hahn - Superintendent

Mrs. S. Quesnel - Secretary Mr. D. Schaubel – School Board Trustee

School Phone: 905-834-9732, Email: http://oakwood.dsbn.org

Message from the Principal

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the holidays with your families. We had a great fall and it was wonderful to see everyone that came out to our Christmas Concert. The next few months look busy, as well, with lots of activities for the students and staff. We are continuing to focus on “problem based’ math instruction for our students. The students work individually, in pairs and small groups to solve problems that have the math instruction imbedded in them. Research has shown that this form of learning allows the students to ‘understand’ the math and how math is applied to everyday life. It has been shown that stu-dents will retain this knowledge longer and will be able to become better “problem solvers” too. This does not mean that students shouldn’t learn their ‘math facts’ but that they need to understand the math behind the facts. Good luck with those resolutions, P. Hawkey

From the Eagles

Nest…

Vendor's Needed! The Oakwood School Council is hosting a Vendor

Fair on April 29, 2017 from 10am to 3pm. The

cost is $25 per spot, plus a donation to the raffle

table. Tables will be available for rent at an ad-

ditional cost. Please contact Michelle Fairman

at oakwoodschoolcouncil@yahoo.ca to reserve

your spot, and for further information.

Thank you for your support!

Our next meeting is

Tuesday, January 24 at 6:30 p.m.

Everyone is welcomed to attend!

Food Drive Update

We want to thank the students in Mr. Wilson’s class for organizing the food and toys dur-

ing our recent donation drive for Port Cares. Each year we ask for your help, and each year

we are amazed at the generosity of this community. The success of such an event can’t

happen without the support from our families, and for that we are grateful!

French Immersion

Open House

The French Immersion program (offered at McKay Public School) is open to all students in Senior Kindergar-

ten. If you want your child to develop high proficiency and fluency in Canada’s two official languages, French

Immersion has a great deal to offer.

Features of the French Immersion program:

Develops French language skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing from grades one to twelve;

Designed to be a second-language program for children whose first language is NOT French;

Current enrolment of over 2,000 elementary students;

Certificate of French Immersion Studies awarded upon successful completion of the elementary and second-

ary immersion programs;

Promotes understanding of other cultures;

Provides additional opportunities for employement using French as the working language;

Increases the ability to communicate and interact with confidence in French.

Registration will open January 9th, 2017

Closes: February 21st, 2017 @ 9:00 a.m.

For more information about French Immersion in the District School Board of Niagara visit www.dsbn.org/fi

or speak to your school principal.

A parent information evening will be held on January 12, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. at McKay Public School.

Cash On-line Update

Oakwood has reached a 53% adoption rate. It is very encouraging to see

the numbers continuing to rise. If you haven’t signed up already, we hope you will

consider this easy and convenient way to pay for hot lunches, school trips and special

events, as well as permission forms etc.

Visit our school website and click on “School Cash Online”. There you’ll find more

information about the system, links to registration and support. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate

to contact the school office.

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT

INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES

There may be times during the school year where inclement weather or other situations could cause transporta-

tion cancellations or school closures.

At times when student transportation has been cancelled and schools remain open, the decision of whether or

not to have children in school on that day rests with the parent or guardian.

Should you decide not to send your child to school in the event that transportation is cancelled but schools

remain open, or if your child is ill or late, please ensure that you call your child’s school to inform them of

your child’s absence.

A key resource in any emergency is the DSBN Emergency Information form that you filled out at the beginning

of the school year. Please let the school know of any changes in contact information or procedures you wish to

be followed throughout the school year.

For secondary schools it may become necessary to cancel late buses. Notice will be provided via school announce-

ments and on the websites and subscription features by 11:30 a.m.

Information about transportation cancellations and school closures will be available as soon as it is available

through the following channels:

Websites:

http://www.dsbn.org/inclementweather/

www.nsts.ca

Subscription Features:

DSBN Facebook or Twitter

NSTS Transportation Delay or Cancellation Alerts

Phone:

Niagara Student Transportation Services 905-346-0290 Voice Auto Attendant

Radio Stations:

CKTB (610 AM) St. Catharines

CHRE (105.7 FM) St. Catharines

WAVE (94.7 FM) Hamilton CHTZ-FM (97.7 FM) St. Catharines

CKOC (1150 AM) Hamilton 2DayFM (105.1 FM) Niagara Falls/Fort

Erie

CHML (900 AM) Hamilton K-LITE-FM (102.9 FM) Hamilton

CHAM (820 AM) Hamilton GIANT FM (91.7 FM) Welland

Y-108(107.9) Hamilton