CARE Committee Cares

Our CARE committee has recently announced that they are sponsoring a fundraiser for the Philippines. Two of the committee members have let me have a copy of their first announcements.

“Bonjour. Je m’appelle Duncan, et je m’appelle Tessa. And we are from the CARE Committee.

“We would like to remind you about the loonies drive for the Philippines. As you know, they were his by a typhoon a week ago. They need water, food and medicine. Planes are now able to land in certain areas. That means the Red Cross can get supplies there, so we challenge students to bring a loonie or toonie for our loonie drive here at Cleveland.

“Just think. If everybody contributes, we could raise $500 – $1000 in two weeks.

“So don’t forget your loonies!

“Thank you, and have a magnificent day.”

So, please support our CARE Committee (students in grades 2, 3, 4 and 5). They would love to send a big check to the Red Cross.

Take care

Emergency Release Drill Today

We are busy here getting ready for today’s Emergency Student Release Drill. This drill will assist us in planning for emergencies, and in supporting the safe release of all 487 students if the event of a significant emergency.

I would like to thank all parents in advance for their support and patience during this drill.

I am curious how some people will react to the drill. Will some parents be upset that we are making them come pick up their child early? Will some families be surprised that we do not have their forms? Will some children be stressed out because their parents wont’ be here right at 1:00 pm?

I suspect the answer to all the above questions will be yes. Some people will be upset. Some families will be surprised, and some children will be stressed out.

If your are upset about the drill, I ask that you be calm while you are here, and reflect on why this drill is so important for a community. We have planned this to ensure that we keep all children (and adults) safe and accounted for in the event of an emergency. The last thing we need in an emergency is to not know where a child is, so we plan for an orderly, systematic release of all our students.

“Chance favours the prepared mind.” ~ Louis Pasteur

We have approximately 50 students for whom we do not have a student release form returned to our office. I am disappointed to see so many missing forms. All families have an obligation to the school, and returning emergency forms is one of those obligations. Perhaps they are in your child’s backpack. Maybe they are in your child’s classroom. Or maybe they are still somewhere at home. If you have not yet returned you form, please make this a priority.

There may be some children who are stressed out during this drill. We have had tears during fire drills and earthquake drills. Teachers and staff will be with children at all times, and will be helping them to understand that these drills are to help us be safe, and should not be the cause of worry.

“Remember, when disaster strikes, the time to prepare has passed.” ~ Steven Cyros

We have received an incredible amount of support from the Cleveland PAC and the Emergency Preparedness Committee. Some Emergency Preparedness Committee members will be assisting us in this drill today, and they a they will be wearing safety vest to identify them as volunteers. We thank everyone for their help.

We work very hard to plan for a number of emergency situations that may happen during a school day. How is your planning going? Is your family prepared for an emergency?

For any Cleveland parents reading this blog today, we hope to see you this afternoon. For those of you reading this after our drill, thanks again for your support.

Take care

Back to Work Today

For the past couple of days, I have been at home in bed dealing with an illness. I think I am better. I hope.

I am back at school now, and will start working on catching up. There are 120 emails in the inbox. I have an information letter to send home about Emergency Student Release Drill (on Wednesday, November 13). There are some things to get ready for today’s staff meeting. I will visit classes, followup on a few phone calls, reschedule some meetings that were missed, check in with staff, …

Maybe I should have stayed home. 🙂

No. When faced with a lot to do, just approach each task, do one thing at a time, and all will get done.

If you have an email or phone message waiting for me, please be patient. I will get to you soon.

Take care

Monday Morning

It is Monday morning at Cleveland, and the school week has begun. The students had a long weekend, as Friday was a Professional Day.

This weekend we all changed our clocks for Daily Savings Time. I changed the school’s bell clock, but forgot to turn on the bells. My bad.

While visiting classes, I see children yawning (waking up on Monday morning is hard). I often wonder about how much sleep students get. This year students have shared with me that they stay up late watching television, using Instagram, or texting friends. Here are some sites to visit about the importance of sleep:

If your child is always sleepy at school, you may get an email from your child’s teacher. You may not be aware of the fact that your child is yawning all day long. Sharing of information is very helpful. If your child did not get a good night sleep, please share this with your child’s teacher.

Let’s all try to get a goodnight sleep.

Take care.