Sacred Heart Academy Newsletter

Students, staff and other members of our learning community will participate in the TD Kids Eat Smart Province-Wide Walk for Breakfast beginning at approximately 1:20 pm on Wednesday, October 4th. Participants will walk around the area of Sacred Heart Academy and Marystown Central High. Staff and students are asked to bring in a small monetary donation to help support the breakfast program at our school. You can also donate online at www.kidseatsmart.ca and designate the donation for our school.

Due to traffic associated with our pick-up time, we ask that all parents use extreme caution when coming to pick up their children on this day.

Families are invited to attend on 2nd Annual Back to School Open House on Thursday, October 5th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. This will be an opportunity to visit your child's classroom, meet their teacher and tour the school building. We look forward to welcoming you and your family to our open house.

Students who bring their own lunch to school are kindly requested to remember to bring their own eating utensils such as forks, knives, spoons, plates, bowls, and any other necessary items from home.

Please ensure that these items are packed along with your child's lunch. Our school will not be providing disposable utensils, plates, or bowls during lunchtime as these items can no longer be purchased as they fall under the Federal Government's Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations.

Sacred Heart Academy is currently accepting nominations for a Parent Representative on the School Council. To be eligible for election, you must be the parent/guardian of a student currently attending Sacred Heart Academy. Only parent/guardians can nominate and vote for school council members. Our school council meets four times throughout the school year via Google Meet. For more information check out the school council page on our school website.

📝Online Nomination Form

The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, October 6th.

Communication between the home and school is very important to us. We use the SchoolMessenger notification service to quickly send phone calls, email and push notifications to the SchoolMessenger app regarding school related events, weather delays, transportation issues, last minute cancellations, emergencies, and daily attendance issues. The program takes information from our PowerSchool database, so it is very important that we have up-to-date and accurate contact information for families.

The primary contact for home communication using SchoolMessenger will be your home number. When activated SchoolMessenger will contact your home (primary number) and if the call is not answered it will continue to call the multiple contact numbers in the PowerSchool database until one of the designated contacts is reached. Please keep in mind that you must listen to the message and wait for the instruction to end the call.

To use the SchoolMessenger app:

• Use the new SchoolMessenger website, https://go.schoolmessenger.ca Please ensure that you go to the .ca site (not the .com site). The first time you use the website, select Sign Up to create your account using your email address. Your email address must match the email address on file at the school.
• Using your mobile device, download and install the SchoolMessenger app from the App Store (iOS) or the Google Play Store (or from the links at https://go.schoolmessenger.ca). Be sure to download the SchoolMessenger app with the BLUE icon (not the yellow icon). Use your new login information to access your account.

Finally, school closures and re-openings will also be announced on the school district website (www.nlesd.ca). Should you not receive a phone call and you are unsure of a closure, the school district website will be your back-up notification.

Within our school community there are several students who have potentially life-threatening allergy (anaphylaxis) to the following:

• latex
• peanuts/products with peanuts in the ingredients
• tree nuts (e.g. almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts).
• kiwi
• soy
  
• peas
• egg
• fish and shellfish products

To provide an “allergy-safe” environment for children at risk of anaphylaxis please avoid sending these foods to school. Any minimal contact with these foods and their derivatives may cause anaphylactic shock and unconsciousness within a matter of minutes. In such a case, the allergy may even cause the student’s death. Because even the slightest residue and in some cases even the odor of these allergens may trigger a life-threatening reaction, we need to make the whole school as allergy safe as is practically possible. A “no sharing” policy of food, utensils, containers, straws, etc. is recommended for children with food allergies.

Security cameras are in use at Sacred Heart Academy. Signage is posted around school property notifying the general public of security cameras in use on the premises. The video surveillance system is monitored by the school administration. If you have any questions, please call the school.

🗓️ Friday, September 29th: Staff Professional Learning Day. No Classes for Students.

🗓️ Monday, October 2nd: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. No Classes.

🗓️ Monday, October 9th: Thanksgiving Day Holiday. No Classes.

🗓️ Tuesday, October 17th: School Photographs. More information will be sent home to families at a later date.