Welcome to our school!

June 2010 message from Carmen Mackay, Principal

A fond farewell to all of you! It was a very short but sweet stay at Devonshire! We have had a very busy school year that involved many different activities for students, parents, staff and community. Without all the volunteers and the hours that have been given to Devonshire, we would not be able to do all that we do for our school. Thank you to all of you for the welcoming support you have always demonstrated during my time here. What a pleasure it has been to work with all of you and your children—I am, indeed, fortunate to have been the principal at such a fine school. Thank you to all the students for making this year so wonderful. Your efforts, participation, respectfulness and friendliness have made it a memorable year in my career. Happy summer, everyone!

Download the June newsletter



BEST TOOLS FOR SCHOOLS

Devonshire School Council and Best Tools for Schools have teamed up again to offer you an affordable and convenient method to prepare your child for school.

Best Tools for Schools is an Ottawa-based company, offering pre-packaged school supplies that are customized for each student. The kit contains exactly what their teachers are requesting and is delivered directly to your school. Best of all, $4 from the sale of each kit goes to Devonshire School Council to help with fundraising initiatives.Simply go to www.toolsforschools.ca and enter your five digit code found below.

Grade 110039
Grade 210141
Grade 310040
Grade 410037
Grade 510038
Grade 610140

Parents have the option to delete up to 3 items on the list (scissors, math set, and calculator). These are items students tend to re-use each year. The order deadline for this year is Sunday, August 22.

Best Tools for Schools will take care of the rest! Your child’s school supply kit will be delivered to Devonshire and will be waiting for your child on the first day of school. You will receive an email confirmation of your order when it has been delivered to the school. We appreciate your support of our program and hope it helps make your summer more enjoyable.



STAFFING CHANGES

Farewell and best of luck to the following teachers who have been a part of the staff this year: Mme Vicky, Mme Nagwa, and Mme Sweetman, who will pursue other endeavours the next school year.

Welcome to Marthita Pennefather who will be joining the Devonshire staff for September. Welcome back to Mme Susan Murphy who will be returning from Leave. Finally, please welcome Devonshire’s new principal, Deb Kuffner.



TENTATIVE SCHOOL ORGANIZATION

As the office has been receiving registrations on a daily basis, our numbers are increasing at the moment and the tentative school organization is also changing. Therefore, our classes would be better named at a later date as numbers can continue to change as new families move into or out of the area. A reminder that in mid to late September, classes could change again depending on firm numbers at that time. Thanks for your patience.



SCHOOL HOURS

For September, school will continue to start at 8:30 am and will dismiss in the afternoon at 3:00 pm. However, in the effort to equalize the morning instructional period and the afternoon instructional period, the lunch time hour will change to 11:15 am to 12:15 pm. Morning Kindergarten students will continue to end their morning at 11:00 am and afternoon Kindergarten students will commence the afternoon at 12:30 pm, as they always have, with the 3:00 pm dismissal time.

Supervision on the yards begins at 8:15 am and for afternoon Kindergarten students, supervision begins at 12:20 pm.



OFFICE HOURS

The school office re-opens on Friday, August, 27th. Office hours before the school opens for students remain 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for information and registrations. Starting Tuesday, September 7th, the school office will be open from 8:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. daily.



FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PROCEDURES FOR SEPTEMBER 7th, 2010

Grade 1 and 2 students will meet in the Primary yard at 8:30 a.m. Class lists will be posted at 8:15 a.m. In case of inclement weather, students will meet teachers in the gymnasium at 8:30 a.m.

Grade 3 through 6 students will meet in the Junior yard at 8:30 a.m. Class lists will also be posted and students will line up in front of their designated teacher.



PREVENTING SKIN CANCER IN KIDS

Did you know that severe sunburns during childhood increase the risk of skin cancer? Teaching children sun safety habits while they are young can reduce their risk of skin cancer in the future.

For more information go to ottawa.ca/health or call Ottawa Public Health at 613-580-6744 to speak with a public health nurse.



BUSING FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2010-2011

Transportation Route Schedules:
All 2010 – 2011 Transportation Route Schedules will be posted on the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority’s web site at www.ottawaschoolbus.ca by mid-August.

In addition to the bus route schedules being posted, please note that there is also a “Stop Locator” feature on our website. This feature will allow parents to access bus stop information for their children starting in mid-August when it will be updated with the 2010 – 2011 bus route schedules. The “Stop Locator” feature returns bus stop and route information for eligible students who are assigned to regular “yellow school bus” service or for eligible students who are assigned to OC Transpo service.

School Bus Safety Awareness Day (First Time Rider Program):
This year’s School Bus Safety Awareness Day is scheduled for Sunday, August 29, 2010 and will run at six sites across the city in 45 minute sessions from 09:00 am to 1:00 pm. For more information, check our website at: www.ottawaschoolbus.ca.