Principal’s Message

We all hope you had an enjoyable Victoria Day long weekend with New Dundee acting as the “centre of the world” when it comes to celebrations on this annual holiday.  It was nice to see our students congregate to parade together representing our school as they did.

Last week saw a fun spirit day in which students came to school dressed as their favourite character.  While we had lots of princesses we also had some Marios and Luigis, Waldos, and even a staff full of colourful crayons from the popular book The Day the Crayons Quit.

Our Tweens & Sen’z club met Wednesday in their final monthly gathering with very positive feedback being garnered to both students and staff.  Congratulations to our Grade 5 and 6 students and to Mrs. Nolet and Mrs. DeJong for their contributions to our community.

Grade 6 EQAO testing takes place May 25-27.  Please try to avoid any appointments causing student absences during this time where at all possible  Grade 3 testing takes place May 31-June 2.  As always, we are encouraging our students to give their best effort in showing what they know.

Grade 6 students moving on to Sir Adam Beck next year met yet again with Mr. Boettcher, Principal, for his second visit on Wednesday.  Principal Boettcher commented on the high level of respect and engagement our students showed in his visits and looks forward to getting them over into their new school on May 30th to continue to ease this transition.

 

Community Safety

Following an incident on the weekend in which a girl was approached by a stranger in New Dundee, New Dundee P.S., the Waterloo Region District School Board, and the Waterloo Region Police Service are reminding families to ensure their children are well-versed on basic street-proofing.  The following tips are from the Waterloo Region Police Service.

1. Never approach a stranger.

2. Stay away from vehicles you do not know.

3. Be wary of strangers who are overly friendly or take an unusual interest in you.

4. You can go places and accept things from people you know, but first get your parents permission and tell them where you are going, who you are with, and when you will return home.

5. Avoid potentially dangerous places such as secluded areas in parks, school yards after school is finished, alleyways, lane ways, and empty parking lots.

6. Never get into a stranger’s vehicle.

7. Never engage in conversation with a stranger who is walking or driving a vehicle. Always stay back a safe distance and continue walking while being aware of the stranger’s actions.

8. If you are ever confronted by a stranger, do whatever it takes to break free, such as loud screams, biting, kicking, and rolling on the ground.

9. Never accept gifts, money, or candy from a stranger.

10. Always walk to and from school with brothers, sisters, or friends.

11. Whenever possible, if approached, try to remember the licence plate number, vehicle description, and the stranger’s description.

12. Contact the police as soon as possible for assistance by calling 911.

BASIC RULE: SAY NO, GET AWAY, AND TELL SOMEONE YOU TRUST

http://www.wrps.on.ca/stay-safe/keep-your-children-safe

Thankfully this type of situation is very rare in our New Dundee community. This type of occurrence does, however, reminda us to be vigilant about safety. We encourage you to have a conversation with your child(ren) about safety in our community and how to safely respond in situations like this one.  With summer quickly approaching, it’s a good time for this type of conversation.  Thank you for your continued support in keeping the New Dundee community a safe place to live and work for all of us, especially your children.

 

School Organization for 2016-17

This is the time when WRDSB schools are busy being organized and staffed for the upcoming school year.  This is a very timely process but one that ensures students have the best experience possible come September.  There are some changes coming to New Dundee P.S. next year and the board has also provided us with our final class breakdown.  It is with mixed emotions that we say thank you to some valuable members of our permanent teaching staff this June.  Ms. Leblanc is headed to Tait St. P.S., Mr. Hallman is off to Parkway P.S. and Mrs. Evans is joining the staff at Jean Steckle P.S.  Our new additions are listed below but we must say a fond farewell to these energetic teachers.  We can say this isn’t goodbye as much as it is farewell for now.

 

FDK – Mrs. Urquhart and Mrs. Cressman

FDK – Mrs. Mesar (from Winston Churchill P.S.) with Mrs. Muresan (pm DECE) and to be announced for Mrs. Eby’s parental leave (am DECE)

Gr. ½ – Mrs. McLean

Gr. ½ – Mrs. Roth

Grade ⅔ – Mrs. Turner Wilson (from Sandowne P.S.)

Gr. ¾ – Mr. Heer (from Jean Steckle P.S.)

Gr. 4 – Mr. McKenzie

Gr. 5 – Mrs. Nolet

Gr. 6 – Mrs. DeJong

 

This list represents the board’s permanent contracted teachers and staff members and not those classified as Long Term Occasional teachers (who might be replacing someone on leave, (for example).

 

Bag 2 School

Bag 2 School is back! Thanks to your generous donations when we ran this campaign in January, we were able to raise $155.25 (that’s approximately 1500 pounds of donations!). More importantly, these items were diverted from landfill, helping the environment. We will be accepting donations for our current campaign May 24 – 27th. Donations can be dropped off during office hours (8:30 – 4:00) by using the ‘School Main Office’ call button at the front door, or from 7:00 am – 8:30 am and 4:00 – 5:00 pm by using the ‘Extended Day’ call button. If you need more bags, just let us know – we have lots! Items accepted include clothing (doesn’t have to be in good condition), hats, belts, purses, footwear (tied or secured in pairs), and soft/stuffed toys.   www.bag2school.ca

 

Upcoming Dates

 

May 24-26: Grade 6 EQAO testing

May 30: Grade 6’s visit Sir Adam Beck

May 31-June 2: Grade 3 EQAO testing

June 3: PA Day

June 9: School Track Day

June 20: Grade 6 Celebration

June 21: Board track meet at Jacob Hespeler S.S.

June 23: Volunteer Appreciation Tea (info to follow)

June 27: Reports Cards go home

June 29: Last day of school for students