Due to connectivity issues from Bracebridge we were unable to confirm information until now. All students arrived safe and sound just before noon. They are full on into their programs and having fun! We will post additional information / photos to our school website as we receive them.
The date for the Kindergarten Drop-in is Thursday, August 29, 2019 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
At this time you will have an opportunity to meet your child's teachers, see the classroom, drop off an extra full set of clothes, indoor shoes and box of Kleenex.
We look forward to seeing you all on Thursday, August 29, 2019.
Welcome
to the start of another great year at Frontenac. We are excited to have our students enjoy a
newly renovated space this year.
School Hours: 9:25 a.m.—3:45 p.m.
Supervision of students will begin
at 9:00 a.m. to allow time for families to adjust to the change of our start
time (for September 2020, supervision will start at 9:10 a.m.). Supervision ends at 4:00 p.m. at the end of
the day.
Class Lists
This year
you will be receiving an email at some point after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August
30th to inform you of your child’s class placement. Class lists will no longer be posted on the
front doors. This has been a change that
has been implemented by the Board.
Busing Information
Parents can go online at www.haltonbus.ca to check
on bus schedules for students. The phone
number for the transportation department is 1.888.803.8660.
First Day
All students should meet in the
back of the school on the blacktop starting at 9:10 a.m. where teachers will be
lined up against the wall in grade order.
Students who travel by bus on the first day will be greeted at the bus
and directed to the blacktop by Frontenac staff. Kindergarten students will go to the
kindergarten fenced-in play area. Grade
1—8 students should find their teacher, stay with him/her and be ready to enter
the school with the teacher when the bell rings at 9:15 a.m. There will be lots of staff members outside
to help your child find his/her class.Parents
will say goodbye to all students outside of the school.
Parking Lot
The parking lot will be closed as it was at the end
of the last school year. The closure of
the parking led to a significant improvement in student safety which is why it
will remain closed for the time being.
If you are dropping your child off near the school please ensure that
they exit the vehicle on the curb side and that they cross the street at
appropriate crossing points and where there is a crossing guard.
School Supplies
Most
school related supplies are provided by the school, but there are some items
that students should have. A pair of “indoor shoes” that will stay at
school are necessary. Running shoes are
preferred, and they should be labeled with your child’s name. An extra set of clothing is always a good
idea. Just pop a shirt, pants, underwear
& socks in a large Ziploc bag, label it, and it can stay in your child’s
locker until needed. Students should
have a backpack, lunch bag and reusable water bottle. A pencil case with pencils, pens, erasers, markers, and pencil
crayons is a good idea for students in grades 1-8. A binder with dividers is useful for students
in grades 4-8. Any other specific items
that students need will be communicated to parents through correspondence from
the teachers.
School
Reorganization
Please be aware that since
decisions were made regarding 2019-2020 classes, our total school enrolment has
changed which may necessitate a reorganization of some of our JK-8 classes after
the start of school. The purpose of the
reorganization would be to ensure our Board is compliant with the requirements
for class sizes as outlined by the Ministry of Education. Ultimately our goal is to improve the quality
of the learning experience for our students by ensuring smaller class
sizes. If reorganization does occur, it
may impact staffing and therefore individual students may need to move
classes. We will continue to accurately
assess our enrolments and class sizes once school begins and will keep you
updated if changes need to occur.
Start Up
Packages
On their first day, students will
be receiving a “school start up package” to take home. We would appreciate you reviewing the package
and returning the forms no later than
Friday, September 6, 2019. These
forms will help us ensure all student information is accurate and up to date.
If you require additional
information, please don’t hesitate to visit the Frontenac website at http://fro.hdsb.ca or contact
us at the school.
Lunch Sign Out
Only students in Grades 7 & 8
are allowed to sign out during first nutrition break, and only after parents
have given written permission using the form in the start up package. For now, Grade 7’s will go out on Tuesdays and
Grade 8’s can go out for lunch on Fridays.
There will be no lunch sign out privileges for any students until
the week of September 16, 2019.
New Student Registration
If you have a student who will be new
to Frontenac in September 2019, please drop by the school office to
register ASAP. Please pass the
message on to any newcomers in your neighbourhood.
You will need to bring
certification of your child’s date of birth (e.g. birth certificate or
passport) and proof of address (must be a recent property tax bill or purchase
agreement if you own or a lease agreement if you rent).Registration cannot be completed until all of
these items have been presented to the school.
As registration determines staffing for September, it
is important that we know how many students we can anticipate. Please register ASAP!
Hours for Registration:
August 19—30: 8:45 a.m.—3:30 p.m.
We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, September 3rd!
The following information is provided in order to further clarify the information shared last week regarding changes to our schedule for the 2019-2020 school year. As was communicated our times will be as follows:
Entry Bell:9:25 a.m.
Dismissal Bell: 3:45 p.m.
This adjustment to our school hours is a result of the Halton Student Transportation Services (HSTS) efficiency review. Bus routes for numerous schools in Halton have changed (see attached report). These route efficiencies will result in significant cost savings in school bus transportation for the Halton District School Board and the Halton Catholic District School Board (approx. $865,960.00).
The changes are as a result of route efficiency reviews conducted by the Halton Student Transportation Service, as part of the Board’s budget discussions. This was not something that the school requested but is part of a larger process to find savings to address reduced funding by the province for the 2019-2020 school year. The changes to the bell times of the schools involved results in significant savings for our board (approx $500,000 annually). To not accept these changes would mean that our board would have to try and find these savings elsewhere (e.g., classroom instruction, special education, etc.).
While our entry time has moved back to 9:25 a.m. our dismissal time will remain the same. This has been accomplished by reducing our first nutrition break/recess from 50 minutes to 40 minutes. Therefore, both of our breaks will now be a total of 40 minutes in length. Please note that the majority of HDSB schools have long since moved to a 40/40 model. Frontenac is one of a dwindling number of schools that still has a 50/40 model.
Prior to the ‘balanced day’ model being introduced many years ago, all elementary schools followed a traditional model offering two 15 minute breaks and one 60 minute lunch break. The balanced day model ensures that all teachers had the ability to have a 40 minute uninterrupted period of time for lunch, as well as reduced the lost instructional time that students experienced when preparing to go out for recess and returning back inside.
All HDSB elementary schools utilize the balanced day model. This provides for three 100 minute blocks of instructional time that are interrupted by two blocks of nutrition/recess breaks.The initial move to the 'balanced day' model (vs the traditional one of a 60 min lunch and two 15 min breaks) had all schools offering a 40 min break and a 50 min break. Schools are required to follow the Bell Times Admin Procedure when bringing these requests forward. School Principals have initiated these requests based on some or all of the rationale below:
Reduces the supervision requirements for staff, which also lessens the need for student supervisors. There is a hard cap on the supervision minutes that elementary teachers can provide which can create challenges for some schools to meet their supervision requirements.
Shortens the length of the school day, which provides for more time to facilitate after school activities, professional development with staff, attend meetings, etc.
May allow for more support to be directed to students with special needs due to less general supervision required.
Reduces student behavioural concerns outside by reducing outdoor activity time. Student conflicts often occur towards the end of a longer period of unstructured time.
Increases overall safety of building as more teachers are available to supervise both on the playground and in the ‘lunchrooms’.
In summary, hope this information helps explain why we are experiencing the change to our school bell times. The change was not a request from the school but one that has originated as a part of a broad ongoing study of each and every department across our board, in order to determine how we can find as many efficiencies as possible in order to address budget shortfalls for the coming school year.
