This Week at WMES

November 1st – 5th

Dear Families:

Please use the Covid19 Daily check before sending your child to school each day.  Thank you for helping us all stay safe and healthy this year.

Some reminders for this week:

School/Bus Cancellations and Delayed Openings:
The Halifax Regional Centre for Education takes great care when making the decision to cancel schools and/or buses, or delay the opening of school, in the event of severe or inclement weather. When these situations occur, the information is posted on the HRCE’s website at www.hrce.ca , on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HRCE_NS , recorded at 902-464-INFO (4636) and communicated to local radio stations. Families can also subscribe to receive notice of cancellations and delayed openings by e-mail or text message by following the link on the front page (left side) of the HRCE website.

If weather conditions warrant, the HRCE could implement a delayed opening. Delayed openings would be considered when a weather event has concluded but snow clearing or other operations require additional time. Delayed opening may also be considered when the physical plant is experiencing an issue such as a power outage or loss of water and additional time is required to prepare the school to open. If this was to occur, school and Pre-Primary would be delayed by two hours. In our school, this means school would start at 9:55am. If school buses are operating, the expectation will be that students are picked up two hours later than their regularly assigned time pending any weather-related delays.
Our lunch and dismissal times will remain at their regularly scheduled times.
The EXCEL program will be cancelled for the morning only.

The weather in Nova Scotia is unpredictable so it’s always a good idea for families to have a back-up plan for child care when school is cancelled. To learn more about the process on how decisions regarding closures and cancellations are made, visit: https://www.hrce.ca/about-our-schools/parents/inclement-weather .

Our first fundraiser of the school year closes this Friday. 
We are partnering with the Vegetorium Country Farm Market to provide Farm to Families Vegetable Boxes to WMES families.

Each box is $30.  You can order between Tuesday, October 26th and Friday, November 5th.  (Corrected date)

Vegetables included: 2lbs carrots, 2lb onions, celery, 5lbs potatoes, 1 turnip, 1 lb sweet potato, 1 bulb garlic, 5lbs apples, 1 quart pears. 

Vegetable boxes can be picked up at the Vegetorium Country Farm Market (2900 Nova Scotia Trunk 2, near the Fall River roundabout) on Wednesday, November 17th (or in the days after), between 9am-7pm

$10 from each vegetable box sold will go to Waverley Memorial Elementary
If your family would benefit from a donated veggie box, please contact the office: (902) 860-4150
Boxes can be purchased by logging in to SchoolCash Online.  https://hrce.schoolcashonline.com/
Ordering online is preferred, however, if you require a paper order form you can access it on our webpage, or send us an email and we’ll send one home. 

Remembrance Day is November 11th.  There is no school on November 11th. 
Students will be participating in a virtual Remembrance Day assembly on the 10th. 
We encourage everyone to wear red and black on November 10th if at all possible.   All students will be given a Poppy (pin or sticker) to wear for the assembly.  If you would like to make a donation to the local legion can send in a cash donation in an envelope or small plastic bag labelled poppy donation, or you can donate at https://www.legion.ca/ . 
Lest we forget.
One way we honour our Veteran’s at Waverley Memorial is by creating a “Wall of Honour” in our main foyer each November.  Please see that attached notice for details if you would like to participate.  

Video Surveillance at School  (FYI):
Our school uses a video surveillance system as part of our continued efforts to support a safe, positive and effective learning environment.  We recognize that the images recorded by this video surveillance system are personal information and, as with all other personal information, we take steps to balance privacy rights with safety and security concerns.  The school has the legal authority to collect this personal information under Section 24 of Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Only designated staff has access to our video surveillance equipment and such access is restricted as required by law.  The system is used to enhance school safety and to deter or take action in response to unlawful behaviours.

If you have any questions about video surveillance at our school, please contact Karla Wolfe (Principal) at 902-860-4150.

Bus manifests – students are not permitted to ride a bus unless they are registered to be on that bus.  It is imperative to ensure student safety that bus drivers have accurate manifests and emergency contacts for all students on their bus. If students are getting together after school you will need to make arrangements to pick the students up at school (with notes giving permission to pick up someone else’s child), or make arrangements for students to get together after they get home.  Thanks for your understanding and support. 

Term 1 ends on November 18th. 
November 19th is an Assessment and Evaluation Day for teachers and there is no school for students on that day.

Progress interviews with classroom teachers will take place virtually for first term.  Classroom teachers will reach out to set up appointments in the next week or two.  The dates set aside for interviews are November 24th (evening) and November 25th (afternoon).  There is no school on November 25th.  

Have a great week everyone. 

Please reach out if you have any questions / concerns.

Karla Wolfe

Principal WMES

Our webpage can be found at:  https://wms.hrce.ca/

You can also follow us on Twitter at: @WMESchool

Important Dates in November:

November 4th – SAC meeting (Zoom) 6pm

November 5th – last day to order Veggie boxes from the Vegetorium

November 8th – PTC meeting at 6pm

November 11th – Remembrance Day – No School

November 17th – Pick up Veggie Boxes at Vegetorium

November 19th – No School – Assessment and Evaluation Day

November 22nd – First day of Term 2

November 24th/ 25th – Teacher interviews re. 1st Term progress