Guthrie PS Newsletter October 2023
Principal’s Message
Our first month of school has already gone by and we have been busy here at Guthrie P.S. getting back into routine. It has been wonderful to see students participating in school teams including Flag Football, Cross Country Running, and some of our Volleyball and Basketball teams. We have a great team of student athletes who have been showing great sportsmanship on the court and fields.
The month of September was an exciting one as we got ready for and participated in the Oro Fair. We had a great turnout of families, and the students did a fantastic job with all of their fair entries. We are very proud of our Hay Bale team who brought home 1st place this year! What a great community event to help us start the year off! We also took part in the Terry Fox Run and are very excited to have surpassed our fundraising goal. Thank you for helping us raise over $4500 dollars towards this important campaign.
During the month of September our students also spent time talking and learning about Orange Shirt Day and our National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Students were engaged in important conversations as we learned together about residential schools and the significance of the orange shirt.
This week is a busy one with our 1st School Council meeting that took place on Monday as well as our Welcome Back Pizza-Q taking place on Wednesday. We hope many of our families are able to make it to our Pizza-Q to meet our staff and see our school.
Thank you to all our families for working together with the Guthrie staff to support a successful transition back to school. Enjoy the fall season and colours and have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
Dianna Wright-Drzazga, Principal
Lisa Aldersey, Vice-Principal
Guthrie welcomes Prologue for the Performing Arts
Guthrie is excited to be welcoming 4 performances from Prologue for the Performing Arts (https://www.prologue.org/ ) this school year. Prologue Performing Arts is a not-for-profit charitable organization that presents both in-person and virtual performing arts experiences for children and youth in schools and communities across Ontario. please visit SchoolCash Online to pay). Link to SchoolCash Online: https://simcoecounty.schoolcashonline.com/
We are looking forward to welcoming these artists to our school:
M. JOHN KENNEDY→ Fireside Munsch Classics, Grades: K-3
Wednesday October, 11 2023 @ 11:45
WILL’s JAMs, Grades: K-3
Wednesday March 6th 2024 @ 11:45
SULTAN’s OF STRING→ A World of Music, Grades: 4-8
Thursday October 26th 2023 @ 9:30
ALL-STAR SLAM → SLAM! Grades: 4-8
Wednesday May 1, 2024 @ 11:45
Guthrie’s Barrie Colts Game Night – November 23, 2023
Come to Guthrie’s Barrie Colts Game Night on Thursday, November 23rd, 2023 at 7pm as the Colts face off against the Owen Sound Attack.
Support our school and watch the NHL stars of tomorrow! Wear your Guthrie Spirit Wear and be LOUD!
Tickets are $23 including taxes, and Guthrie will earn a portion of each ticket sold. Look for tickets on SchoolCash Online in the coming days.
Guthrie Important Dates:
October 4-9 – Scholastic Book Fair in the Library
October 4 – Pizza Q/Meet the Teacher night 5:00pm – 6:30pm
October 5 – Picture Day
And October 5 – Spiritwear orders due before midnight. Link to order: https://guthrie-2023.itemorder.com/shop/home/
October 11 – Gr. K-3 Robert Munsch Play
October 12 – Gr. 1 & 2 Chappell Farms Field Trip
October 13 - Primary Fun Run
October 18 – Gr. 4s Wye Marsh Field Trip
October 20 – PA Day (students do not attend)
October 26 – Gr. 4-8 Sultans of String Performance
November 6 – Parent Council meets in the Library at 6:30
November 13 – Grad 7 Immunization visit 1 of 2
November 16 – Parent-Teacher interviews
November 23 – Barrie Colts Night
Rainbows
Guthrie PS will once again be offering a weekly peer support group for our students who are going through painful life transitions (eg: separation, divorce, or death). Rainbows is an international, not-for-profit organization that fosters emotional healing among children. Staff members at Guthrie who have been trained with the Rainbows program will meet small groups of students once a week during a nutrition/fitness break (for 12+ weeks). Students will participate in activities and work through a Rainbows Journal. They are given the opportunity to share their feelings in a safe environment with peers who are going through a similar situation. If you would like your child to participate in Rainbows at Guthrie, forms are available from your child's teacher or at the office. We plan to offer Rainbows at the end of December until March. Please return the form to Mrs. Liedtke or the office on or before Monday, December 4th, 2023. If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact Mrs. Liedtke (lid key). Thank you!
Parents’ Guide to Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting
Learn to navigate the world of assessment, evaluation, and reporting with this new guide for parents/guardians. Created to support parents/guardians understanding of assessment, this guide was designed to effectively empower you to actively engage in your child's educational journey. The guide has been posted to the Simcoe County District School Board’s website and can be accessed via the following link /UserFiles/Servers/Server_210898/File/Secondary/Parents-Guide-to-Assessment.pdf
Inclement weather and bus cancellation information reminder
All information regarding cancelled buses in Simcoe County is posted on the Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium (SCSTC)’s bus information website at www.simcoecountyschoolbus.ca. Our school is in the CENTRAL zone. When buses are cancelled, schools remain open for student learning, unless otherwise noted. School staff are expected to plan for such emergencies in order to transition students who are unable to attend due to inclement weather, to their online platforms (Google Classroom and/or SCDSBhub [Brightspace by D2L]) and continue with academic programming. It is always a family decision whether or not it is safe for their child(ren) to leave for school under severe weather conditions.
The Consortium and bus operators try to make the decision to cancel school buses before 6 a.m. and make every effort to post announcements before 7 a.m. Inclement weather cancellations are effective for the whole day and buses cancelled in the morning will not run at the end of the day. You can follow the Consortium on Twitter @SCSTC_SchoolBus for bus cancellations and other information. You can also subscribe to receive bus delay notifications here: https://scstc.ca/Subscriptions/Login.aspx.
School Bus Safety Week and School Bus Driver Appreciation Day
School Bus Safety Week takes place Oct. 16 to 20, 2023. Please visit the Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium (SCSTC) website at main.simcoecountyschoolbus.ca for information on school bus safety and links to school bus safety resources. Oct. 19, 2023 is School Bus Driver Appreciation Day in the province of Ontario. It’s a great opportunity for the school community to thank our bus drivers for all their hard work transporting students to and from school safely.
Upcoming in-person Grade 1 French Immersion information sessions
The Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) offers French Immersion (FI) at select schools throughout Simcoe County beginning in Grade 1. The goal of the FI program is to enable students to communicate in French with a high level of proficiency, enabling them to function with ease in both English and French.
Information sessions for families who are considering entry into Grade 1 FI for the 2024-25 school year will take place at:
Harriett Todd Public School, 11 George St., Orillia, on Tuesday, November 14th, at 6pm.
And
Oakley Park Public School, 22 Davidson St., Barrie, on Monday, November 20th, at 6pm.
and online applications will open in December 2023.
Entry into the FI program will be determined through a digitally randomized lottery system. A link to access the Grade 1 FI online application form will be available on the SCDSB website starting at 9 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 1 until 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15. For more information regarding French Immersion, visit www.scdsb.on.ca, then select ‘elementary’, and ‘French as a Second Language’.