WELCOME TO GRADE 3!

Welcome!

I am excited to welcome you to my Grade Three class at St. Jude’s Academy! Students will be taught academics by myself, Elisa Chiappetta, French by Mme. Rawan, Gym by Emily Vasconcelos and Music by Ann McMillan.

Before I continue, let me introduce myself. My name is Ms. Chiappetta and this will be my third year of teaching here at St. Jude’s Academy. I completed my undergraduate degree at The University of Guelph-Humber for Early Childhood Education earning my Diploma in Early Childhood Education and my Bachelors of Applied Science in Early Childhood Education. My second degree was a Bachelors in Education from The University of Western Ontario. I have completed my additional qualifications in Special Education and I strive to ensure that my students feel welcomed, safe and valued within my classroom. I am a life-long learner and I hope to help your children develop a love for learning. I believe that communication is key for your child’s success and to develop a great parent/teacher relationship, so I encourage you to contact me if you have any questions or concerns at any time. Once again, I cannot wait to meet all of you very soon!  

Below is some important information about the first couple weeks of school: 

SJA Student Policy 

Attached to this email you will find the SJA Family Handbook. Please read it, sign the last page and bring it back to me by Friday, September 13^th, 2019 so I can add it to your child’s file. In addition to this, I have attached the SJA Code of Conduct and Welcome BBQ flyer.

Upcoming Event

1. Lower School Orientation Evening

Our orientation takes place on Wednesday, August 28^th (JK- Grade 6) from 5- 7 pm. Our classroom is in room #22, near the library! This is a good time to pick up your family’s FOB if you haven’t already done this. FOBs can be picked up from Kaitlin Padua at reception.

During this time, you are also welcome to meet with and address any questions with specialists, our uniform coordinator, Alpa Sachania, and bussing coordinator, Anna Khursheed.

• Gym, French and Music specialists will be in Room 29
• Busing, Wynne Fitness and Uniforms will be in Room 28
• Basketball Presentation will be in the Gym
  
  For Upper School Orientation information, please see flyer attached.

2. The First Day of School
   The first day of school is Wednesday, September 4^th. This is a full school day. Students are expected to be in full uniform. Please review the Parent and Student Handbook with your son or daughter prior to the first day of school.  Please sign the last page and send it in to your child’s teacher by September 13^th, 2019.

3. Welcome BBQ
   All families are invited to attend the BBQ event, taking place on Thursday, September 19^th, 2019. Tickets will be sold throughout the first couple weeks of school. More information about this event will be available at the orientation evenings and during the first weeks of school.

Key Fobs 

All SJA families are required to purchase a key fob. This will allow you to enter the building at the side door between 7:30-9:00 AM and then again from 3:45-6:00 PM. For new families, this was included in your tuition cost and you are able to pick up your fob on Orientation Night from Kaitlin at the reception. If you require addition fobs, you are to speak to Dawn about ordering one and make a $40 deposit.

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 13^th, 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: Log on 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. 

Step 1: Go to website http://mydigitalmailroom.com/sja

·      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**

Homework/Workload

Please know that both Grade Three classes receive the same amount of homework as listed below:

• Students will receive reading comprehension folders on Fridays to complete over the weekend. This will only be sent when there is not a novel study taking place.
• Students are expected to read for 25 minutes each night.
• Spelling lessons will take place on Monday; if incomplete it will be sent home and is due on Thursday.
• Spelling Tests will take place on Fridays. Spelling tests involve using their list words in complete sentences, using the appropriate context.
• Math homework will be sent home nightly to practice concepts taught during the day. All concepts involved in homework will have been taught in class.
• Students may periodically bring home incomplete work from the day to finish that night. 
• All summative task work will be completed solely in class.

Agendas 

Your child will receive an agenda on their first day of school. Please read and sign your child’s agenda every day, as important dates, announcements and homework will be included and updated each week. Students need to bring their agendas back and forth to school each day. This is another way of communicating with me. 

If communicating important information through your child’s agenda, please inform your child to show me their agenda first thing in the morning.

Upcoming Events

• August 28: Lower School Orientation, 5-7 pm 
• September 2: Labour Day (No School) 
• September 3: PD Day, IB Training (No School)
• September 4: First Day of School, Term 1 Begins 
• September 4-6: Neophyte Week
• September 6: Spirit Day: House Colours Dress Up
• September 13: Terry Fox Run (Lower School)
• September 19: Welcome BBQ
• September 20- 27: Fall Fundraiser
• September 25: Casual Day
• September 30: Orange Shirt Day (Lower School)

Uniform 

From September until Thanksgiving, students are able to wear the summer uniform, which consists of grey pants/shorts, their grey uniform dress, navy socks, and the white polo t-shirt. From Thanksgiving until after Easter, students are required to wear the winter uniform, which consists of grey pants/dress, navy-blue socks/tights, a white button up long sleeve shirt, and a long sleeve sweater/sweater vest. Full school dress uniform is required on all field trips, unless otherwise stated. Black dress shoes are also part of their dress uniform. Black shoes must be polishable and there should not be a lot of detail. Black running shoes will not be accepted. The SJA gym uniform consists of navy-blue sweatpants/shorts, a SJA gym shirt or house shirt, white socks, and proper running shoes. It is recommended that all students keep their gym uniform in a bag. Please label all pieces of the uniform, especially since students begin to change for Gym in Grade 3.

**All uniform pieces must be purchased through Alpa and Multiform Canada. Uniform violations will be sent home to students who do not have the proper uniform pieces. ** Alpa can be reached at alpa@multiformcanada.ca. Students who are not in proper uniform will receive a uniform violation.

Gym 

Gym classes for students in Grade 3 and up will take place at the SJA Athletic Centre on alternate days of the 6-day cycle. Our Gym days are on Days 2, 4 and 6. Students will change into their gym uniforms, then be bused to and from the school. When attending Gym, students are required to bring a water bottle at all times.

Library

A NOTE FROM THE LIBRARIAN, MS. HAYWARD

Hello!  I hope everyone has had a great summer and is excited for back to school. I am looking forward to a great third year in the St. Jude's Academy Library.

We accomplished a lot last year in the library.  We cataloged over 2,300 books in our collection.  We had successful Recess Readers sessions. We started out LIT Club (library helpers). Our Enchanted Forest Book Fair was a huge success allowing us to get over $2,400 worth of new books and resources for the library.  The Library also held some fun contests. And, of course, we checked out a lot of books for the voracious readers at SJA. 

I hope to continue all these things and more.

Please check out (and follow) the library blog at www.sjalibrary.wordpress.com for all things library and literacy related. See you soon!

Unit of Inquiry

This is what we will be exploring this year throughout our units of inquiry:

Where we are In Place and Time: Back to the Past

Central Idea: The interactions between newcomers and First Peoples shape our world.

Key Concepts: Change and Perspective

Lines of Inquiry:

• Life in Canada during the early 1800s
• Indigenous peoples views and uses of land and resources
• Aspects of life in early-settler communities and present-day communities

Who We Are: A Mindful Well-being

Central Idea: Individuals’ well-being and self-worth are connected to one’s beliefs, values and experiences.

Key Concepts: Connection and Causation 

Lines of Inquiry:

• Ways our personal beliefs and values shape us
• Identifying stressors and ways to cope successfully with situations of adversity
• The effect self-worth has on individuals’ approaches to learning and social interactions

How We Express Ourselves: It’s Show Time!

Central Idea: A variety of art engages the performer in different forms of expression.

Key Concepts: Form and Connection 

Lines of Inquiry:

• The use of body language to express ideas
• Different forms and elements of drama and dance
• How drama and dance are connected to cultures and creativity

How We Organize Ourselves: Urban vs. Rural

Central Idea: Landforms and environmental factors influence the development of communities.

Key Concepts: Form, Causation and Change

Lines of Inquiry:

• Features of urban and rural communities
• Factors that influence the location of communities
• Changes in modern-day communities in Ontario

How The World Works: Phenomenal Forces

Central Idea: Humans and the environment are impacted by forces.

Key Concepts: Function, Responsibility and Connection

Lines of Inquiry:

• Types of forces and their effects
• How we can protect ourselves from forces
• Using force to work and manipulate objects 

Sharing The Planet: My Garden

Central Idea: Humans are responsible to care for plants and soils as they are essential for life on Earth.

Key Concepts: Form, Change and Responsibility

Lines of Inquiry:

• Characteristics of plants and soils
• Growth in plants and formation of soils
• Protecting plant & soil habitats

Field Trips

To support our learning inside the classroom, the Grade 3s will be attending a planned field trip for most of our UOI’s. At those times, we will be requesting parent volunteers, on a first come first serve basis. To help ensure students safety, parent volunteers are required to submit a clear vulnerable sector check prior to the trip. If a vulnerable sector check has already been submitted to the school within the past 5 years, parents will be required to sign an annual offence declaration to continue volunteering for the duration of this school year. Please see the SJA Parent and Student Handbook for more information.

Blog 

Please visit the class blog daily, as it is a way to stay connected, see what we did during the day, or to find important dates and homework. There will be a post every single day of what we are learning and resources to help you. Please click this link to visit my blog:  https://misschiappettasja.blogspot.com/ 

French- Mme. Rawan: https://mmerawansja.blogspot.com


Gym- Emily Vasconcelos: https://msvphysed.blogspot.com/


Music: Ann McMillan: www.mrsmcmillanmusic.blogspot.com 
Food Allergies 

• Please be advised that St. Jude's strives to be 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.

• Please be advised the school does not permit food to be sent in for special events and/or birthdays. Please refer to the birthday policy in the student handbook.

After-care Program: Kinderlime

New Parents 

• You have been sent an email to sign up with a pin
• Please download the FREE Kinderlime app via APP Store, Google Play etc. Or Visit the website https://www.kinderlime.com <https://www.kinderlime.com/>

Complete MUST HAVE information about your child(ren) on APP/Website 

• Phone number(s)
• Updated pick up permissions
• Allergy/Medication information
• We strongly suggest you set up automatic payments through the app/website to ensure you will not incur late fees for monthly invoices. 
• You can also choose to pay monthly through the app/website.
• Through the app/website you will be able to digitally access monthly break downs (printed copies will not be available)  
• View App/Website daily to see sign in/out times. 

Returning Parents 

• Update the MUST HAVE information about your child(ren) on APP/Website 
• Phone number(s)
• Updated pick up permissions
• Allergy/Medication information
• If you have not already done so we strongly suggest you set up automatic payments through the app/website to ensure you will not incur late fees for monthly invoices.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this new addition, please contact the Students Services Coordinator at bsmith@stjudesacademy.com

Contact Information 

I believe that open lines of communication between the parents, students and teachers are the key to promoting an educational climate that is conductive to learning. Please feel free to contact me at any time if there is a question or situation you would like to discuss echiappetta@stjudesacademy.com

I look forward to meeting you and having a wonderful school year!