May 18th, 2025

Dear Families/Guardians of Franklin Falcons,

We hope you are enjoying your LONG weekend. There is no school on Monday. Here are your updates and reminders.

Updates:

1. Zero Day in the library is Friday June 13th. This is the day all student books must be returned and there are no more checkouts until September.

2. May 30th is a PD Day for Elementary School students. There is no school that day for them.

3.There is a serious TIK TOK trend mentioned last week. https://www.cnet.com/tech/dangerous-tiktok-chromebook-challenge-avoid-sparking-a-fire-in-your-laptop/ Intentional damage to Chromebooks could be costly to students/families. Please remind your children that TIK TOK challenges should be avoided if dangerous and wrong.

4. Our Grade 3 students will be receiving bike helmets and doing some learning on bike safety on Friday June 13th.

5. There is a May Lunch and Learn on the 5 Ms of Mental Health. When: May 21, 2025 from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. Where: https://zoom.us/j/5441930058?pwd=bFBqMmY2L2VwMzlPVERwOEZGUXRhZz09#success Meeting ID: 544 193 0058 Password: WRDSB

6. Thank you to Ms. Smits and her students as they prepared and ran the Fete Francophone this past week of which primary and junior student classes were invited to participate. Thank you as well to Mrs. Parks and Mr. Shuh who dealt with the ordering of items/finances.

7. The animals at the KW Humane Society thank you. As a school we raised $336.00 for the animals. Way to go, Falcons!

8. We are looking for a paid parking supervisor position. If you are able to give 30 minutes at the beginning of the day and 30 minutes at the end of the day, please contact Franklin P.S. and speak to Linda.

9. Our Sunsense challenge continues. Please encourage your children to wear a hat outside in the sun, preferably a cool one. We are also encouraging the wearing of hats and on Friday, over the announcements, we also spoke about finding shade sources.

10. Other than appointments, illness, or co-curricular (in-school or out-of-school) activities, please refrain from picking up your children early. There are various routines, checks, and sometimes last minute information that they miss.

Reminders:

1. There is NO school or extended day on May 19th due to the Victoria Day long weekend.

2. These may be of interest to you and come from the Board’s community page – https://www.wrdsb.ca/community/community-e-flyers/.

3. A letter went out on School-Day regarding the grade 4 to 12 Safe, Caring and Inclusive Survey. Please review, if you have children in grade 4 to 6 at Franklin in case you choose to opt out.

4. Although pets are loved, they are not allowed on school premises during the school day for a variety of reasons.

5. If you are interested in sending your child to an international language program to learn an extra language or to support them with a home language, please visit:

https://schools.wrdsb.ca/continuing-education/elementary-international-languages-program/

6. Please do not park in bus zones between 9 am and 4 pm. At any point, people can be ticketed and that would have to be at one’s own expense.

7. Also, if you are planning a longer term vacation or are moving over the next few months, please contact the school (lara_parks@wrdsb.ca) so that you are aware of any forms that need to be filled or any for any help with going to a new school. This also keeps our school numbers up to date.

8. Technological Learning Series continue.

Part One

Learn how to access OrbitNote PDF reader and Equatio Math & Science Editor to support your child’s learning at home.

Wednesday, May 21, 2025, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (https://meet.google.com/cms-ncst-jqc)

Part Two

Explore tools in Equatio Math & Science Editor that support your child in visualizing and understanding math concepts.

Monday, May 26, 2025, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. (https://meet.google.com/coe-eosw-yxg)

Part Three

Explore digital tools available in OrbitNote that can make math homework that is in a PDF format more accessible.

Thursday, June 5, 2025 from 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. (https://meet.google.com/wug-uqxq-xtf)

9. The Brain Injury Association Waterloo-Wellington is excited to announce their 2025 bike helmet giveaway event, made possible by their sponsor, Kitchener Rangers Community Fund. Free bicycle helmets will be given to children in Kitchener who cannot otherwise afford them. The event will be located in the parking lot of the BIAWW Office (1-41 River, Rd. E, Kitchener) on Sunday, June 22, 2025 from 10:00am – 12:30pm. The link for the registration form is: BIAWW Request for Free Children’s Helmet – https://biawwlidzonkidz.com/contact-us

Quote of the Week:

“When a child gives you a gift, even if it’s a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. It may be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you.”