Dear WMES families:

A few notes/ reflections after our first day:

• It was a great day.  We are so impressed with how well students adjusted to new classrooms, new teachers, and new routines. Excitement was the  general feeling throughout the building.

• Wednesday morning we are asking parents NOT to come onto school grounds to meet students from the buses.  While we appreciate how important that was for the first day for some families, we also had a lot of people on school grounds between 7:40 and 8am this morning.  Tomorrow it is important for us to start getting into our regular morning routines, so please say good-bye at home on Wednesday morning.  Thanks.

• A reminder that our Kiss and Go Loop is for quick drop offs.  Adults are asked to NOT get out of the car at the Kiss and Go.  There should be an adult there to greet students and help if necessary.  If you need to get out of your car you will need to find a parking space in one of our two parking lots, or on School Street.  You can also wait for the buses to leave the bus loop (approximately 7:50am) and pull in there to park (until 8am).

• Students attending Cheema’s after school program: 
You need to go to https://hrcetransportation.mybusplanner.ca   and request a courtesy bus to Cheema after school.  Students are scheduled on the bus to their home address unless you put in a request to change this.   You can also contact transportation@hrce.ca if you need any help with this process.

• Thursday is Stand up Against Bullying day across Nova Scotia.  Standing up Against Bullying is a topic that is discussed frequently throughout the school year, but it is important to recognize that we always have more work to do.  Wearing Pink on September 9th is one way that we acknowledge our commitment to ongoing education and improvement.  We invite all students to join us in this commitment on Thursday by wearing pink.  Thanks.

Some Upcoming Dates for your calendars:
September 9th – Pink Shirt Day (Stand up Against Bullying)
September 13th – Our cafeteria reopens.  Order online on our school webpage.
September 16th – School Picture Day.
September 17th – Grade 4 and 5 students will be participating in the Student Vote.
September 24th - Professional Development Day for Staff - No school for student
September 30th – Truth and Reconciliation Day – No school for students.
October 1st - Orange Shirt Day at WMES - Please wear Orange today as we continue important conversations about truth and reconciliation.  Every child matters!

Have a great evening everyone.
Mrs. Wolfe