February 11th, 2024

Dear Franklin Families,

This coming Friday, your children will be receiving their report cards. Please remember that the goal with report cards is two-fold:

To allow you to see how your child/children are doing AND to help your child/children make some goals towards improvement.

As you know, each child will have their own strengths and areas to grow and each will learn at different rates. The key is movement forward, no matter how small.

Reminders:

1. Report cards will be given out on Friday February 16th. In the report card envelopes, there will be a letter about the one mark in literacy that will now be evident, and if applicable, a notice regarding vaccinations if not up to date.

2. School Council meeting on Thursday at 6:30 pm in the library. See School-Day for link if you are not able to attend in person.

3. Please note that student vaccination records need to be updated by Tuesday March 26th at 4:30 pm. Please note that The Immunization of School Pupils Act (ISPA) – https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90i01- requires all elementary and secondary school students to have proof of these vaccinations or a valid exemption on file with Public Health – https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/health-and-wellness/immunizations-and-vaccines.aspx. For any family with questions or needing help: Visit Region of Waterloo Public Health to learn more and or Region of Waterloo Public Health at 519-575-4400, (TTY) call 519-575-4608.

Visit regionofwaterloo.ca/vaccines to update your records or to view vaccine clinic dates and locations.

4. If you have children entering Kindergarten next year, please register them as soon as you can. Accurate numbers this year, prevents chaos and class re-structuring next year.

5. February 19th – third Monday of February – is the Family Day long weekend. There is NO school for students on that day.

6. Attendance letters will be going home this week, if your child has missed a lot of school days. We know that absences impact academic performance, peer relationships and long term outcomes. We do understand if absences are due to illnesses as it cannot be helped and a child’s health is first and foremost.

7. If interested in the series on digital tools…
Learn about digital tools that can help your child plan out tasks and manage their time.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024 from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. (https://meet.google.com/sgw-ijog-kmc)
Learn about tools that can help your child organize their digital space.
Friday, February 23, 2024 from 12:30 to 1 p.m. (https://meet.google.com/hfb-ymah-rvv)

Updates:

1. The Nurture School Gardening Program is wondering if there are any green-thumb parents, grandparents, etc. within the Franklin school community who might be interested in volunteering in the garden this summer? They “are hoping to have an adult community volunteer at each school this year, as a stable presence in the garden and to act as additional “Garden Mentors” to the youth teams.” If you are interested, please sign up at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScRt_Yoh2OUFDHCiJKsfJ_INnvliasStWSrTn6vtECkBgceMg/viewform

2. Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday starting at 7 pm. If interested, please joining https://www.youtube.com/c/WRDSBVideo/live.

Quote of the Week:

“What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning.” (Chuck Grassley)