How was today?

Welcome back, everyone! I hope the first day of school was terrific. It was great to see so many friendly faces on the schoolyard this morning... including, for me, a former classmate whom I haven't seen in nearly 20 years. (Hi, Dave!)

First of all, let's give a warm Clairlea welcome (and welcome back) to Ms Macpherson and Mr McGilvray. We hope you are settling in and we look forward to getting to know you.

In your kids' backpacks tonight, you should find a package of papers to read and sign. In that package, there's a self-nomination form for School Council. Please fill it out and join us! Involved parents lead to successful schools, and School Council can be the first step in your involvement with Clairlea. It's a monthly opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions and provide feedback to the school administration. It's a chance to get to know the other parents, hear and understand their perspectives, and learn about issues and initiatives at Clairlea. For parents of younger kids, it's also a neat way to get a preview of what's to come. Fundraising is an important part of Council activity but it's not the only thing we do. Please come to our first meeting on Sept 21 (7pm) to learn more.

To clarify the time commitment: the meetings are once a month (on a Wednesday) for 1.5 hrs. Childcare is provided in the gym. Members are asked to volunteer additional time to assist with events, committees and fundraisers, but this extra time is optional. If you can't commit to monthly meetings, you may still be a non-voting member and attend as many as you can. In fact, any member of the Clairlea community is welcome at meetings, whether or not you are a voting member. 

See you at Curriculum Night on Sept 15.
-Catharine.