Parents, check out our webpage for the latest news and some great pics of what’s happening around school. We are always amazed at all the engaging student activities occurring in our classrooms and want to share what we see with you. www.jjn.gsacrd.ab.ca !Jan Maslyk & Gina Anstruther

Report Cards On Friday, November 21st, your child’s report cards will be going home. Besides communicating academic levels of achievement, report cards also communicate achievement about a child’s progress, social development and his/her work and study habits. Student work is assessed through key learner outcomes that are closely tied to the Alberta Program of Studies. Teachers are using levels of achievement in their reporting of a student’s progress. A level of achievement provides a summary statement of student achievement, based on the assessment evidence at the time of the report card.

Parking lot a.m. drop off- Don’t stop at garbage bins... The staff parking lot is available for parent drop off ONLY in the morning. We have received information from the Traffic Safety Control representative and the RCMP that it is not very safe practice to have so many cars using the parking lot. They are very concerned about the parents who drop off heir children by the garbage bins. This plugs up the parking lot and creates a backlog onto the road. In order for the staff parking lot to continue to be available for parents for a.m. drop off, parents will

have to adhere to the original agreement of dropping off their children at the front of the parking lot near the handicap stalls. Please pull to one side and be considerate of staff trying to enter their stalls.

Halloween Dance fun! Thank you  to all of t he f am i l i e s who a t t e n d e d t h e S p o o k t a c u l a r H a l l o w e e n Dance! The event was a huge success - raising $2,500!!! A special thank you to the Popowich Family,

the Razin Family, and the Mulligan Family  for their generous donations towards the event.  As well as Boston Pizza for their gift certificate donations and to all the volunteers who helped make the dance a success!   Thank you for supporting the Families and Friends of J.J. Nearing's "Computers for Classroom’s" project. Happy Halloween from the Families & Friends  of J.J. Nearing - Layna Haley & Bo Liron !The staff at J.J. Nearing would also like to thank Layna Haley for spearheading the Halloween Dance. The dance provided a chance for families to visit and get to know one another and for children to have fun dancing in their wild costumes.

Dates to Remember November 2014 Nov. 5 - Kindergarten parent workshop 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6 - Remembrance Day Assembly 10:45a.m. Nov. 6 - Java, Muffins and Math 9:00 a.m. Nov. 7 - NO SCHOOL - PD DAY Nov. 10 - NO SCHOOL - FALL BREAK Nov. 11 - NO SCHOOL - REMEMBRANCE DAY Nov. 19 - School Council mtg. 6:30 p.m. Nov. 21 - Christmas Carnival 6:00 p.m. Nov. 25-27 - Parent Teacher Interviews Nov. 28 - NO SCHOOL - DAY IN LIEU

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196 Deer Ridge Drive Ph: 780-418-6330 www.jjn.gsacrd.ab.ca St. Albert, T8N 6T6 Fax: 780-419-6683 School Council: jjnschoolcouncil@gsacrd.ab.ca

J. J. Nearing News!

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Drumheller fun! Grade 4B and 4C travelled to Drumheller for our annual Royal Tyrrell Museum field trip. Here are some of the highlights as reported by the students. Each year we are grateful for the parent support that makes this trip possible and unforgettable!

!-My trip to Drumheller was unbelievable. We got to ride on a coach bus. They are so cool! Wyatt -It was fun to spend time with my friends. Brett -There are amazing views, petrified wood and hoodoos on our hike. John -One of the best features are the hills. They look like someone painted them but it's layers and layers of different rocks. Kate -I liked looking at the fossils and making fossils. I rate Drumheller a 5 out of 5 field trip! Griffin -I slept right beside the T-Rex! Jordan -We learned about different types of Raptors and got to act like one in a dinosaur race. Darragh I learned so many cool facts. Like, if two of the same fossils are found in different places, it means the land was once together a long time ago. Ava -I can't stop thinking about the gallery at the museum. Some of the dinosaurs were as big as houses! Riley -Wow! Sleeping under the T-rex is something I will never forget! Ethan W. -Did you know that each time a hoodoo dies, a new one grows? Evan ! !!!!!!

It was a fun filled adventure and the students had lots of stories to share. about all they experienced and learned! !We Day Alberta On Monday, November 3rd, some of our grade 6 students will be rising early and boarding a bus at 3:30 a.m. to join other students from across Alberta at the Calgary Saddledome. About 240 GSACRD staff and students will be part of the event known as We Day. !!

We Day is an outcrop of an organization called Free the Children, established in 1996 by two Canadian brothers, Marc and Craig Kielburger. Its motto is “children helping children through education”. The Toronto-based organization has grown to be very large, with connections and projects world-wide that support education,health care, enterprise, and clean water/sanitation. It promotes positive social change, socially responsible products and volunteerism. GSACRD is now an official partner with Free the Children. !J.J.N. Christmas Carnival! The JJ Nearing Annual Christmas Carnival is on it's way. CAROLERS! CRAFTS! A Visit with Santa! Warm mittens and hats. Christmas fun...it's all about that!!! !Date: November 21 Time: 6:00 - 8:00 pm Place: J.J. Nearing School Cost: $6.00 per person (kids under 5 are free) !For tickets and further information, please see notice that went home with your child on Monday, October 22nd. !All Souls Day - Nov. 2 November 2nd is All Souls Day. This is a day to remember loved ones that have passed away. J.J. Nearing began a Book of Remembrance, and if your family has names that you would like to have added to our book, please fill out the form below and send it to your child’s teacher or email us at dkuzio@gsacrd.ab.ca. We will add the name(s) in our book and remember and pray for your loved ones on All Souls Day and throughout the month of November. !Family Name: _________________________________ !Person(s) to be remembered: !______________________________________________ !______________________________________________ !______________________________________________ !______________________________________________ !______________________________________________ !______________________________________________

Remembrance Day We would like to invite all military personnel to join us for our Remembrance Day Assembly on Thursday, November 6th at 10:30 a.m. in the J.J. Nearing gym. In honor of your service, we would like you to join our procession into the gym and there will be reserved seating for you. We invite you to come dressed in your uniform and for all our students involved in Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Sparks and Brownies to also wear their uniforms. Our kindergarten a.m. class and full day class children have planned a beautiful celebration; an opportunity for us as a school family to remember and honor those who were killed in the wars and those who are currently serving in peace keeping missions around the world. We will be taking a collection for poppies that morning. All families welcome! !School AGE TALK BOX! How is your child’s speech? The purpose of the Talk Box is to give parents suggestions to help create language-rich environments at home, in the park, at the mall, or anywhere. It is meant to be a resource for any parent. It is not meant to be a substitute for a speech-language pathologist. !This is the link to get started: http://humanservices.alberta.ca/family-community/talk-box-school-age.html !Math for Breakfast We have had many parents join in our math sessions this month of October! Are you interested in helping your child in math in a fun and engaging way? Would you like to learn more about the strategies we use to teach the basic facts? Come join our district Numeracy Coordinator, Ulana Soletsky, from 8:55 - 9:30 a.m. in the J.J. Nearing library for your morning coffee and learn some ways you can help your child build their number sense. This is open to ALL parents of students between Kindergarten and Grade 6. Sessions will run for 30-60 minutes. NEXT SESSION IS NOVEMBER 6TH. Please RSVP by to dkuzio@gsacrd.ab.ca if you are interested in joining us!

Operation Education Dine at Boston PIzza and earn cash for your school! As part of Boston Pizza’s commitment to education, they have

developed a program whereby families can earn money for their school, simply by doing what they love anyway - eating at Boston Pizza! How it works: After your visit to Boston Pizza, save your validated receipts and send them to J.J Nearing. Boston Pizza will then send 5% of the total to the school! When you do the math, it adds up! 200 families per school x 6 visits to BP per year x $40 per visit x 5% earn-back = $2400.00 !Noon Hour Supervisor Needed! What a great opportunity to be involved in our wonderful school! Monday - Friday 12:15 -1:15 PM 12:15-12:45 is outdoor supervision 12:45-1:15 is indoor class monitoring Salary is $20.40/day If you or someone you know may be interested, please contact Mrs. Anstruther at 780-418-6330. = $2400.00 !!

Wrestling News! The J.J.N. Dolphins Wrestling Team will be starting up this year in the second week of December. If your child is in grade 4, 5 or 6, please encourage them to come out and give it a try! This is a fun Beginners wrestling team that will be coached by Mr. McDougall and Mr. Kelly. They will be coming around to each class the last few weeks of November to do a short presentation and to hand out registration forms for those students that are interested. !

Halloween Toonie Carnival smiles! A great big shout-out to our very dedicated grade 6’s for hosting such a spook-tacular carnival. The students of Mr. McDougall, Mrs. Sowinski and Mr. Kelly’s classes demonstrated great leadership by working very hard to create a joy-filled day for our kindergarten to grade 5 students! They helped raise over $600.00 to help rebuild a village and build a school in Tacloban, Philippines. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Earth Rangers A great big thank you to Lehigh Hanson Heidelberg Cement Group and the Sanderson family for bringing the Earth Rangers presentation to our school on October 24th. The students were mesmerized by the Peregrine Falcon, bobolink bird, armadillo and beautiful swift fox! Check out the Earth Rangers website to see how this group educates and promotes conservation of our wildlife and care for our environment.

Healthy Children Parent Newsletter

October 2014

To find an electronic copy of this newsletter, visit: www.albertahealthservices.ca/csh.asp

Active Transport

Active transportation is a great way to travel. With a little planning, it can easily be integrated into daily life. Active transportation refers to any form of human-powered transportation such as walking, cycling, using a wheelchair, in-line skating or skateboarding. For students, active transportation often means walking or cycling to school. There are many benefits to walking or cycling to school:

x Health: Active  transportation  contributes  to  children’s  physical  

activity participation and improves overall health. x Social: Time spent walking to school allows students to interact

with their parents, siblings or peers. x Environment: Active trips are environmentally friendly and can

contribute to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. x Economic: Walking or cycling to school saves money on gas. x Education: Physical activity before the school day helps to prepare

students for learning by increasing concentration and reducing stress. Students arrive to school awake and alert.

Tips for Increasing Active Transportation from ParticipACTION

x Make active transportation comfortable. Be sure to wear proper footwear, a comfortable backpack and dress for the weather.

x Teach your children to be safe pedestrians and cyclists. Lead by example. Always wear a helmet and show children where and how to cross roads safely.

x Pledge to use active transportation for any nearby destination - leave the cars, wagons and strollers at home!

x Encourage your community and school to host bike safety workshops and install bike racks at schools, parks and shops.

Reminder: Immunization consent forms will be sent home this month with Grade 5 and 9 students. Please watch for them! As the best defense against influenza infection & illness, annual influenza immunization is recommended for all Albertans six months of age and older. For more information about immunization visit http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/influenza.asp

Fun Active Transportation Ideas

x Check out the resources available from the Active & Safe Routes to Schools http://www.saferoutestoschool.ca/international-walk-school-daymonth

x October is International Walk to School Month.  Coordinate  with  your  child’s  school  or  other  families  to  walk  or  bike to school.

x Start a Walk/Wheel on Wednesdays (WOW) program. Designate one day per week as Walk or Wheel to School Day in order to slowly increase the number of active trips to school.

x Develop a Walking or Cycling School Bus to and from your school. A walking or cycling school bus is two or more students or families, traveling together for safety.

J. J. Nearing News!