Dear Parents,
Welcome to St. Jude’s Academy!
I hope you and your children had a
fabulous summer and are ready for an incredibly exciting new year. It is a
pleasure to have your child in my classroom and I am grateful for being part of
their growth and learning. JK is a crucial year for cognitive development,
social and emotional as well as physical growth. Your engagements, interests
and feedback will help make this a wondeful year for your child and I will be
working closely with you throughout the whole year to make sure your child
succeeds in every criterion. You are more than welcome to email (shamieh@stjudesacademy.com) or call me at school to discuss your child’s progress.
As most of you know, we are an IB School and we
operate with IB curriculum, policies and procedures. Please check their
website for more information regarding the program: http://www.ibo.org/
Every IB unit operates under a central idea that acts as a
guideline for the learning and development that will be done in the unit.
Within a school year, you child will complete 4 different units, all with
different focuses and initiatives. You can find all four units with the
description in our class blog.
Please visit the class blog daily as I post important
announcements, pictures, videos and students ‘work. To make things easier,
please input your email where it says “Followed by email” on the left side bar
of the blog. This way you will not miss out on what is happening in our class.
Here is the address https://sjajkhamieh.blogspot.com/
Attached to this email
you will find the SJA Student Policy Handbook. Please read it, sign the last
page and bring it to me, so I can add to your child’s file.
Here is
some important information before school starts:
·
Parent
– Teacher Orientation Night is on Mon., Aug. 27th at 5pm. It is very
important that at least one of the parents participate, so you can collect your
key fob to enter the school. It is required a $40 deposit. JK parents are all
meeting in the cafeteria at 5pm for a general information session.
·
On
the first day of school, I strongly encourage parents to make the drop off as
quickly as possible. I know, it is hard, but it is the most effective way for
your child to get into the school routine. I’ll be there for your child! J No worries! Drop
off will take place in the classroom for the JKs.
·
If
you wish to purchase hot lunch for your child, please see the letter attached
explaining the steps to do so.
·
On September 20th, from 4-6pm SJA is inviting your family for a fun BBQ. You will have the opportunity
to meet the teachers involved in your child’s school life and other parents.
·
Just a reminder, students are to come to school on Wednesday,
September 5th in their gym uniform. Required gym uniform days
are Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, students are to come to
school in their full school uniform.
·
Please,
to avoid any discomfort in case of washroom accidents, send in your child’s
backpack an extra change of clothes in a plastic bag. The bag will remain in
your child’s backpack and it will be used only when needed. If your child is
not able to change independently we will be calling you to come to school and
change him/her. Please understand, that is part of our policy.
·
Please be advised that St. Jude's is
a nut free facility. When purchasing items for your child's lunch, please read
the packages carefully. If the label says, "may contain nuts", please
refrain from sending that item. Look for products with the nut-free label.
·
Remember
that your child will need to bring 2 pairs of indoor shoes: 1 pair of
black dress shoes and 1 pair of indoor running shoes. These shoes will remain
at school. If your child cannot tie laces on his/her own, please send in
slip-on or velcro shoes. Please label your child's shoes. Children often have
the same or very similar shoes.
·
For
hygiene purposes your child’s bottle of water will be sent home everyday to be
washed and returned. Please, place your child’s water bottle in the bin inside
the class every morning.
·
Please
read and sign your child’s agenda every day. Students need to bring their
agendas back and forth to school each day. This is another way of communicating
with me. Your child will receive the
agenda on his/her first day of school. Please, place the agenda in the bin
outside the class.
·
Each
day a different child will be the Special Helper of the day. The Special Helper
will be the line leader, will help lead the calendar routine and is in charge
of any special errands for the teacher.
·
Starting
second week of school (Sept. 14th), every Friday 5-6 students will
be asked to bring in an object that begins with the letter of the week (i.e .if
the letter of the week is “Cc”, then the child might bring in a car). Your
child will be assessed each time he/she presents.
·
In
regards to class field trips, if you are interested in participating, please
let me know as we rotate parents throughout the school year. Parent volunteers
are required to submit a clear vulnerable sector check. Please see the SJA
Parent and Student Handbook for more information.
·
Your
child is free to bring in a small toy to school, so she or he can play during
recess. Please refrain from sending expensive and breakable toys.
·
If
you wish to purchase hot lunch for your child, please follow the instructions
listed below.
·
Hot Lunch
Program
·
· Please
know that the website will be closed at 3pm on Aug 30th and is unable to
reopen for September ordering.
·
· Lunch
payments are due no later than September
13th, after this date it will begin to collect
interest.
·
·
Below are the
instructions for returning families:
·
*if you have a sibling
joining SJA this year please keep in mind you can only use one email per
child.
·
Step 1 Logon to
website http://mydigitalmailroom.com/sja - if you forgot your password or email used please
contact bsmith@stjudesacademy.com
·
Step 2 Across the top
menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MY ACCOUNT, change
grade and teacher to reflect new year. Select SAVE
·
Step 3 Across the top
menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MANAGE LUNCH, a
drop-down menu will appear, select ADD NEW LUNCH FORM.
·
*Don’t forget to
select payment method BEFORE ordering
·
·
Below are the
instructions for new families:
·
**If you have more
than one child you will need to use different email addresses for each child.
Only one child can be registered and ordered for under a single email
address.
·
· Select
register an account
·
· Select
grade
·
Select class
·
Select teacher
·
Enter in student
information
·
Accept terms and
conditions and select Register
·
Repeat for additional
students.
·
Step 2 Across the top
menu bar you will see several options, please scroll over MANAGE LUNCH, a
drop-down menu will appear, select ADD NEW LUNCH FORM.
·
*Don’t forget to
select payment method BEFORE ordering
Please
contact me if you have any questions.
Miss
Hamieh
