Halloween Howl tomorrow night! ...and spirit wear

HALLOWEEN HOWL:

Only a couple of days left until the Halloween Howl on Friday October 27th 5:30-8:30pm.  We hope to see you there.  If you had trouble ordering your Howl Pizza dinner online you can purchase your pizza dinner onsite at the Howl.  Here are the map details for the event….

Click on the Howl Map that shows which room hosts your favourite activity

Click on the Howl Legend for a description of the HOWL activities

CLAIRLEA SPIRIT WEAR:

Clairlea Spirit Wear is ready to go.  What you need to know….

1.     All purchases can be made online only using this link.

https://clairlea2017.itemorder.com/

2.     This is not through the school cash online system but directly with the vendor.

3.     Orders will arrive the middle of December.

4.     The `deadline to order is November 9th, orders will not be possible beyond that date.

5.     Sample garments are available at the school for size fitting until November 9th daily Monday to Friday  from 9:00-4:30pm.

6.     We strongly recommend that you look through the samples to ensure the correct sizing choice.

7.     Items cannot be returned or exchanged.  All sales are final.

8.     Manual orders will not be accepted all orders are to be placed online prior to November 9th.

Regards,

Irit

Clairlea School Council

The Clairlea Howl…

The Howl is coming, The Howl is coming chanted the kids of Clairlea.

It’s almost Friday oh what a sight the kids were jumping with Glee.

All sorts of plans to rush home from school and come back dressed in disguise

Only to see your classroom or 3 transformed before your eyes.

It’s a 5:30 start so be here to craft, play games and mill about

And don’t forget to go upstairs, as the library guarantees a shout

Collect your candy from room to room with the bag you bring from home

With map in hand you’ll guide your way wherever you choose to roam

Paint your Face, Toss a Loonie, touch a worm or shoot a puck

Find your fortune, Guess the candy, pull a lolly, try your luck

Be ready, it’s great when we start the debate which costume is best in the land

The Judging is led by Mr. McGilvray of course with prizes in hand.

So much to do, so much to see when you come to the Howl at Clairlea.

Whatever you do, whatever you see and wherever you choose to prowl

Please be sure to take the time and visit us at the HOWL!

Message from the Chair

Following is a message from our newly re-elected School Council Chair, Irit Hartman: 

Dear Clairlea Families…

The school year is well underway and things are getting busy and we as your School Council are working hard to put forth a fun year!  We have had our first School Council meeting which included the elections for the School Council executive.  Congratulations to our 2017/18 elected positions.

Vice Chair – Marina Murray

Treasurer – Denise Clarke

Secretary – Hanan Hadad

WHAT'S COMING UP...

I’ve outlined some key dates coming up as well as where we could use your help for the upcoming School Council events at the school.  Please have a look through and as always we want to hear your comments so please contact us via clairleacouncil@gmail.com   Other places to look for information about Clairlea School Council Events are; The School Council bulletin board located outside the Main Office  and the School Council Blog http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com to keep up to date of what is going on! 

SAVE THE DATE:

OUR ANNUAL CLAIRLEA HALLOWEEN HOWL EVENT - FRIDAY OCTOBER 27TH 5:30PM-8:30PM

WHAT IS THE HOWL? Bring the family out for a fun time on Friday October 27th from 5:30-8:30pm where many rooms at Clairlea School turn into a fun activity or game.  Entry is only $5.00/per child and parents are free. All ages are welcome.  We encourage all children to dress up in their favourite costume so that they can participate in the costume contest at 6:30pm!  Bring your own loot bag/recycle bag to the Howl so that you can collect all your goodies when traveling from room to room and partake in fun activities – featuring our very popular “HAUNTED LIBRARY” upstairs.  All are welcome so tell your friends, neighbours, family.  You do NOT need to be a student at Clairlea to attend the Howl.

We will be offering the option of a pizza dinner during the event so there is no need to make dinner.  Make things easier on yourself and leave the dinner to us and you just need to enjoy the event and pick up your dinner in the gym from 6:00pm onwards.  This coming week you will receive an email giving you the option to purchase a Halloween Howl Pizza Dinner through the online School Cash system as well as a map will be sent out outlining the activities of the evening.  We prefer that you order you Howl dinner in advance so that we ensure there is enough for all or you can purchase your dinner on the night of the event.

In order for this event to run smoothly we need your help!  Please see the list below indicating ways you can help make the Halloween Howl a great success!

HOW CAN YOU HELP:

We need donations and volunteers.  Spend $10 dollars in the dollar store and drop it off in the School Office.  Email us and say you can help out during the event at Clairleacouncil@gmail.com.  We are looking for the following items:

1.       VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE HOWL… We are looking for volunteers to help run rooms/activities during the Halloween Howl Event on October 27th.  The Howl is one of our largest and most popular events that we run at Clairlea.  In order for it to be success we need people to run the many moving parts that make up the fun event.  If you want to help out please email us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.   We have specific openings for face painters, Hockey players and general room helpers.  Please volunteer your time!

2.       WE NEED: DECORATIONS: We need Halloween decorations to get the school ready for the Halloween Howl!! 

-  Spider Webs

-  Black plastic dollar store Table Cloths – many of these

-  Police Tape

-  Lots of Candy!!!!

3.       WE NEED LOTS OF HALLOWEEN CANDY:  We need lots of peanut free Halloween candy to be used as prizes in most rooms.  Please pick up a few bags of candy from the dollar store and drop it off in the School main office.

4.       WE NEED: HOME MADE CANDY JARS/BAGS:  We need many candy jars/bags to be used as prizes for the Lollipop Pull room.  You can help by filling any sized jar or little baggy with (nut free) candy and bring it to the school office anytime between now and the Halloween Howl.  The more jars we have the longer this room will be able to stay open and it is definitely one of the favourite rooms.  In past years we have needed approximately 400 jars/bags to have this room open for the entire event.  Feel free to decorate your jars as well.  

5.       WE NEED: LOLLIPOPS FOR THE LOLLIPOP PULL:  We need 400 plus lollipops to fill up the peg board for the Lollipop Pull Game.  Please pick up a few bags of lollipops from the dollar store and drop them off in the blue bin in front of the School Office.  The more lollipops we have the longer the room can stay open.  I’ve attached a picture of the lollipops that fit well in the peg board.

6.       PERSONAL AND/OR CORPORATE DONTATIONS:  We are always looking for gift donations that we can use as prizes or raffles during the Halloween Howl.  If you or your company would like to donate a prize or gift to be used as one of our prizes during the event please contact us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.

CLAIRLEA FRENCH IMMERSION HIGH SCHOOL PATHWAY…

We started this process in January 2017 and we now have confirmation that our French Immersion High School Pathway has changed to East York CI effective the September 2018 High School Enrollment.  Come join us at our next School Council meeting on Wednesday October 18th from 7:00-8:30pm as our guest speaker (Angela Caccamo – Central Coordinating Principal, Teaching and Learning, TDSB) will answer your questions regarding the Clairlea French Immersion High School Pathway change.

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETINGS.  WHEN DO WE MEET…

School Council meetings take place every 3rd Wednesday of each month.  Meetings are open to all Clairlea Community members (Parents/family members of children of Clairlea).  The next school council meeting is on Wednesday October 18th from 7pm-8:30pm. Free child minding is available.  We hope to see you there!  From time to time we will arrange guest speakers to attend the meetings.

The Agenda for October’s School Council meeting is as follows:

7:00 – 7:40pm Guest Speaker - Angela Caccamo (TDSB)–Clairlea French Immersion High School Pathway             

7:40 – 8:00pm Administration Report (Mr. McGilvray and Ms. Karsh)

8:00 – 8:10pm Upcoming Events (Irit)

8:00 – 8:30pm Open Discussion (All)

HOW TO REACH US…

If you know someone that would like to be added to the distribution list please send a request to clairleacouncil@gmail.com.  We would like to hear your feedback and suggestions.  If you are not able to come to the next meeting and want to contribute ideas please email them to us or drop a note in the council box in the office and we can bring them forward to the meeting.    You can contact us via email at clairleacouncil@gmail.com, on the blog at http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com, or have a look at our bulletin board outside the office for the latest news.

Best Regards,

Irit

Chairperson,

Clairlea School Council 2017/2018

clairleacouncil@gmail.com

Message from the Chair

Here is a message sent out by our Chair, Irit Hartman, last week prior to our Nov 16 council meeting. My apologies for posting it so late. -Catharine

DEAR CLAIRLEA FAMILIES…

We have had a very successful couple of months with respect to fundraising and we have you to thank.  If it were not for the volunteers giving of their time and working behind the scenes as well as the countless donations and contributions from people along with all the students, Clairlea families, Clairlea Staff and Community that support the fundraisers by purchasing, participating and contributing we would not have the successes we’ve had.  Thank you to all!

HERE’S HOW WE ARE DOING SO FAR….

HALLOWEEN HOWL 2016 – Thank you to all the families that came to the event.   We had over 380 kids come through the doors, many with maps in hand!  We raised over $4000.00 in gross revenue and estimate approximately $3000.00 in net profits that will go towards the Clairlea literacy project.  We could not have done this if it were not for the generosity of the many volunteers and contributors in the Clairlea community.   We received lots of spider webs in the drop off bin in front of the office, about 500 candy bags and countless lollipops for the lollipop pull. Many families came to help setup along with a dedicated group of high school students from the community, some of which were Clairlea alumni!  Clairlea grade 7 and 8 students worked diligently to prepare the windows in the library to ensure a scary dark environment for the haunted library.  The fantastic signs for each room were made by our own Clairlea students.  Thank you to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly in a room during the event or were runners to ensure that everything ran smoothly.   We thank the Clairlea Admin for their tireless efforts and support.  We hope you enjoyed your experience!   All Looney Toss and candy guess jar winners have been contacted.

SO WHAT’S NEXT…?

MOVIE NIGHT NOVEMBER 25^th - Our first movie night will be held on Friday November 25^th, featuring “Finding Dory”.  We hope to see you there!  This event is open to children in grade 6 and under.  (See flyer.)

SCHOOL CONCERT:

There will be a winter concert on Wednesday December 21^st for half the school and the other half will take place in the spring.  We would like to raffle baskets during the concert and I have listed the classes below that will participate in December along with the theme for your class. 

What do you need to do?

Please donate an item that corresponds to the theme for your class or simply bring in a toonie and we will put the basket together.  Alternatively if you want to make your own basket and donate it that is great too!  Please make all donations by December 15^th to give us time to organize and make the baskets.

We will do this again in the spring for the remaining classes and there will be a Kindergarten concert on a separate date to be announced.

Please see below for your class theme:  Donations deadline December 15^th….

Classes and Basket Theme:  DONATIONS DUE DECEMBER 15^TH (THANK YOU!)

CRAFT THEME:  BRING A TOONIE OR ANY CRAFT ITEM (examples: scissors, paper, pencil crayons, glue, and any craft items)

Bensalam – Basket Theme: CRAFTS
Diop - Basket Theme: CRAFTS
Janke - Basket Theme: CRAFTS

BBQ THEME: BRING A TOONIE OR ANY BBQ ITEM (examples: cookbooks, spatulas, sauce, spices, and any bbq accessories)

Hawkins – Basket Theme: BBQ
Boisjoly – Basket Theme: BBQ
Roberts – Basket Theme: BBQ

MOVIE NIGHT THEME: BRING A TOONIE OR ANY MOVIE NIGHT ITEM (examples: popcorn, movie gift cards, candy, chocolates, dvds)

Avdylaj – Basket Theme: Movie Night
Scott – Basket Theme: Movie Night
Brown – Basket Theme: Movie Night
Jeffery – Basket Theme: Movie Night

NEXT CLAIRLEA COUNCIL MEETING - Our next meeting will take place tonight took place last Wednesday November 16^th @ 7pm until 8:30pm.   Free child minding is available and all are welcome!  The October 2016 minutes are here for your reference.  Please note we will not have a meeting in December.  

NOVEMBER AGENDA:

6:45 – 7:00pm - Selling 50/50 tickets to be drawn at the end of the meeting (purchase is optional)

7:00 – 7:10pm - Introduction and voting in the past minutes (Irit)

7:10 – 7:30pm - Administration Report (Mr. McGilvray and Ms. Karsh)

7:40 – 7:45pm - Treasurer’s Report (Denise)

7:45 – 7:55pm - Fundraising Report (Irit)

7:55 – 8:25pm - Open Discussion (All)

8:25 – 8:30pm - 50/50 draw and wrap up (Irit)

REMINDER…

When you are in the school for your parent teacher interviews don’t forget to have a look through the lost and found. 

HOW TO REACH US…

If you know someone that would like to be added to the distribution list please send a request to clairleacouncil@gmail.com.  We would like to hear your feedback and suggestions.  Do you have any feedback about the Halloween Howl, Dieleman or any fundraiser and how we can make it better for next year or what you liked about it this year?  If you are not able to come to the next meeting and want to contribute ideas please email them to us or drop a note in the council box in the office and we can bring them forward to the meeting.   

You can contact us via email at clairleacouncil@gmail.com, on the blog at http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com, or have a look at our bulletin board outside the office for the latest news.

Best Regards,

Irit

Clairlea School Council

2016/2017clairleacouncil@gmail.com

Halloween Howl - tonight!

From our chair...

HALLOWEEN HOWL EVENT

The Halloween Howl Event is today Friday October 28^th from 5:30-8:30pm.  Please see the Map and legend describing the activities found in each room.  The Costume contest is at 6:30pm in the gym and the 50/50 draw is at 8:15pm.  100% of the proceeds raised from the 2016 Howl will go towards the Clairlea Literacy Initiative benefiting grades JK to 8 (English and French).  We hope to see you there!  Thank you to all the volunteers and contributors that made this event possible.

A Howl Poem…

The Howl is coming, The Howl is coming chanted the kids of Clairlea.

It’s finally Friday oh what a sight the kids were jumping with Glee.

All sorts of plans to rush home from school and come back dressed in disguise

Only to see your classroom or 3 transformed before your eyes.

It’s a 5:30 start so be here to craft, play games and mill about

And don’t forget to go upstairs, as the library guarantees a shout

Collect your candy from room to room with the bag you bring from home

With map in hand you’ll guide your way wherever you choose to roam

Paint your Face, Toss a Loonie, touch a worm or shoot a puck

Find your fortune, Guess the candy, pull a lolly, try your luck

Be ready, it’s great when we start the debate which costume is best in the land

The Judging is led by Karsh and McGilvray both with prizes in hand.

So much to do, so much to see when you come to the Howl at Clairlea.

Whatever you do, whatever you see and wherever you choose to prowl

Please be sure to take the time and visit us at the HOWL!

A message from the chair

Dear Clairlea Families…

HALLOWEEN HOWL EVENT

We are less than one week away until the Halloween Howl Fundraiser on Friday October 28th from 5:30-8:30pm. Please see the Map for the night of the Howl as well as a legend describing the activities found in each room. 100% of the proceeds raised from the 2016 Howl will go towards the Clairlea Literacy Initiative benefiting grades JK to 8 (English and French).

We are still missing some key items please see below ways you can help our school make the Howl a great success! Please give generously and a big thank you to all that have donated and volunteered to date.

HOW CAN YOU HELP:

1. HALLOWEEN CANDY: We need LOTS of peanut free Halloween candy to be used as prizes in various rooms. Please pick up a bag of any candy and drop it off in the blue bin in front of the office.

2. HOME MADE CANDY JARS/BAGS: We need many mini candy jars/bags to be used as prizes for the Lollipop Pull room. You can help by filling any sized jar or little baggy with (nut free) candy and bring it to the school office anytime between now and the Halloween Howl. We currently have about 150 candy bags, The more we have the longer this room will be able to stay open and it is definitely one of the favourite rooms. In past years we have needed approximately 400 jars/bags to have this room open for the entire event. Feel free to decorate your jars as well.

3. VOLUNTEERS: Volunteers are still needed for the face painting room and a few floaters for the general event. If you can help please contact us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.

4. PERSONAL AND/OR CORPORATE DONTATIONS: We are always looking for gift donations that we can use as prizes or raffles during any Clairlea Event. If you or your company would like to donate a prize or gift to be used as one of our prizes during the event please contact us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.

HALLOWEEN PIZZA DINNER Make things easier on yourself and leave the dinner to us and you just need to enjoy the event and pick up your dinner in the gym. Preorder dinner envelopes were sent home in the backpacks last week and are due back by Tuesday October 25th. Hand in your Howl dinner order to your classroom and pick up your dinner at the Howl on the 28th any time after 6:00pm in the gym. The order will be under you family name. Please print clearly on the envelope. If you did not receive an envelope extras are available in the office for pickup. NOTE: This is a completely separate envelope and not to be confused with our regular monthly pizza lunch event held in the school during the daytime.

WHAT IS THE HOWL? It is our very popular yearly School Council fundraising event that is loads of fun for all age/grade levels (JK to Grade 8). Please see the attached Map for the night of the Howl as well as a legend describing the activities found in each room. Bring your family, bring your neighbours and bring your friends, all are welcome. Save the date and come out for a fun time on Friday October 28th from 5:30-8:30pm. We encourage the children to dress up in their favourite costume so that they can participate in the contest held at 6:30pm in the gym! Bring your own loot bag/recycle bag to the Howl to enable the kids to collect all their goodies when they travel from room to room and partake in fun activities – featuring our very popular “HAUNTED LIBRARY”. Entry is only $5.00/per child and adults are free. All children must be accompanied by an adult. 100% of the proceeds raised from the 2016 Howl will go towards the Clairlea Literacy Initiative benefiting grades JK to 8 (English and French).

We hope to see you there!!

DIELEMAN FUNDRAISER… Thank you to all that placed orders. They are being processed and are due to arrive at Clairlea the end of November. Once the orders arrive they will be sent home in your child’s backpack. In the situation that the order is too large to fit in the backpack we will contact you directly to arrange a pickup time at the school. Direct questions to clairleacouncil@gmail.com.

HOW TO REACH US…
If you would like to unsubscribe to this email (we hope you don’t) or you know someone that would like to be added to the distribution list please send a request to clairleacouncil@gmail.com. We would like to hear your feedback and suggestions. If you are not able to come to the next meeting and want to contribute ideas please email them to us or drop a note in the council box in the office and we can bring them forward to the meeting. You can contact us via email at clairleacouncil@gmail.com, on the blog at http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com, or have a look at our bulletin board outside the office for the latest news.

Best Regards,
Irit
Chairperson, Clairlea School Council
2016/2017
clairleacouncil@gmail.com

Halloween Howl! Friday October 28, 5:30pm

The Halloween Howl is just one week away! Friday October 28, 5:30-8:30pm

Pre-order your pizza dinner by Tuesday Oct 26 using the envelope that came home this week.

Plan your evening using the station map and legend. Kids are encouraged to bring a copy of the map and a loot bag with them to the event.

Admission is $5 per child. Adult entry is free. Some activities have an additional charge (photos, loonie toss, lollipop pull, pizza dinner).

Profits from the Halloween Howl will support Clairlea's English and French literacy initiatives. Thank you for your support!

Message from the chair

Following is a message from School Council chair Irit Hartman:

Dear Clairlea Families…

The school year is well underway and things are getting busy and we as your School Council are working hard to put forth a fun year!  We have had our first School Council meeting which included the elections for the School Council executive.  Congratulations to our 2016/17 elected positions:

Vice Chair – Marina Murray

Treasurer & Secretary – Denise Clarke

WHEN DO WE MEET…

School Council meetings take place every 3^rd Wednesday of each month.  Meetings are open to all in Clairlea Community.  The next school council meeting will take place on Wednesday October 19^th from 7pm-8:30pm. Free child minding is available.  We hope to see you there!  From time to time we will arrange guest speakers to attend the meetings.

The Agenda for School Council meeting usually follow this format:

6:50 – 7:00pm Sell 50/50 tickets (optional)

7:00 – 7:10pm Introduction and voting in the past minutes (Irit)                 

7:10 – 7:35pm Administration Report (Mr. McGilvray and Ms. Karsh)

7:35 – 7:45pm Treasurer’s Report (Denise)

7:45 – 8:00pm Fundraising Report (Irit)

8:00 – 8:25pm Open Discussion (All)

8:25 – 8:30pm 50/50 draw

WHAT'S COMING UP.....

I’ve outlined below some key dates coming up as well as where we could use your help for the upcoming events at the school.  Please have a look through and as always we want to hear your comments so please contact us via clairleacouncil@gmail.com   Other places to look for information about Clairlea School Council Events are; The School Council bulletin board located outside the Main Office  and the School Council Blog http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com to keep up to date of what is going on! 

SAVE THE DATE:

OUR ANNUAL CLAIRLEA HALLOWEEN HOWL EVENT - FRIDAY OCTOBER 28^TH 5:30PM-8:30PM

HOWL VOLUNTEER MEETING: WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 5^TH 7:00PM

WHAT IS THE HOWL? Bring the children out for a fun time on Friday October 28^th from 5:30-8:30pm where many rooms at Clairlea School turn into a fun activity or game.  Entry is only $5.00/per child and parents are free.  We encourage all children to dress up in their favourite costume so that they can participate in the costume contest!  Bring your own loot bag/recycle bag to the Howl so that you can collect all your goodies when traveling from room to room and partake in fun activities – featuring our very popular “HAUNTED LIBRARY”.  All are welcome so tell your friends, neighbours, family.  You do NOT need to be a student at Clairlea to attend the Howl.

We will be offering the option of a pizza dinner during the event so there is no need to make dinner.  Make things easier on yourself and leave the dinner to us and you just need to enjoy the event and pick up your dinner in the gym. Check the backpacks over the next couple of weeks to look for a preorder dinner envelope along with a map featuring all activities for the night or you can purchase your dinner on the night of the event.

In order for this event to run smoothly we need your help!  Please see the list below indicating ways you can help make the Halloween Howl a great success!

HOW CAN YOU HELP:

Starting October 3rd there will be a large blue bin in front of the main office of the school where you can drop off items.  Spend $5 in the dollar store and drop it off in the bin.  We are looking for the following items:

1.      VOLUNTEER MEETING FOR THE HOWL… (WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 5TH) We are looking for volunteers to help run rooms/activities during the Halloween Howl Event on October 28^th.  Please join us at the Volunteers meeting on Wednesday October 5^th at 7:00pm in the Staff Room to see how you can help.  The Howl is one of our largest and most popular events that we run at Clairlea.  In order for it to be a success we need people to run the many moving parts that make up the fun event.  If you want to help out but can’t attend the meeting please email us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.

2.      WE NEED: DECORATIONS: We need Halloween decorations to get the school ready for the Halloween Howl!!  Visit the dollar store to pick up some items and drop them off in the blue bin in front of the main office.
-  Spider Webs – many of these
-  Black plastic dollar store Table Cloths – many of these

-  Police Tape

3.      WE NEED: HALLOWEEN CANDY:  We need peanut free Halloween candy to be used as prizes in various rooms.  Please pick up a bag or two of candy from the dollar store and drop it off in the blue bin in front of the main office.

4.      WE NEED: HOME MADE CANDY JARS/BAGS:  We need many candy jars/bags to be used as prizes for the Lollipop Pull room.  You can help by filling any sized jar or little baggy with (nut free) candy and bring it to the school office anytime between now and the Halloween Howl.  The more jars we have the longer this room will be able to stay open and it is definitely one of the favourite rooms.  In past years we have needed approximately 400 jars/bags to have this room open for the entire event.  Feel free to decorate your jars as well.   

5.      WE NEED: LOLLIPOPS FOR THE LOLLIPOP PULL:  We need 400 plus lollipops to fill up the peg board for the Lollipop Pull Game.  Please pick up a few bags of lollipops from the dollar store and drop them off in the blue bin in front of the main office.  The more lollipops we have the longer the room can stay open.  I’ve attached a picture of the lollipops that fit well in the peg board.

6.      PERSONAL AND/OR CORPORATE DONATIONS:  We are always looking for gift donations that we can use as prizes or raffles during the Halloween Howl.  If you or your company would like to donate a prize or gift to be used as one of our prizes during the event please contact us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.

DIELEMAN DFS CATALOG (FORMERLY KNOWN AS NORCARD)… 

(ALL ORDERS AND PAYMENTS ARE DUE FRIDAY OCTOBER 21st)  Check your backpacks…  Over the last week you would have received the 2016 DFS Catalog.  This shopping catalog is filled with items you can order such as; calendars, greeting cards, stationary items,  jewelry, kitchen items, Home Décor and much more just in time for the holiday season.  The Ordered Items will arrive late November early December 2016.  All money (cash or cheque) and order forms (with completed legible contact information and order details) must be returned to your classroom no later than FRIDAY OCTOBER 21st 2016.   Please make all cheques payable to “Clairlea School Council”.   If you have not received the Catalog or need an additional order form we have left extras in the Main Office.  This fundraiser enables Clairlea to receive up to 50% of all orders made.  Late orders will not be accepted and will be returned back to you.

PIZZA LUNCH….  We had our first pizza lunch of the year and despite a couple of hiccups on the part of pizza pizza we were able to service approximately 80% of the classes that submitted pizza envelopes and placed orders and we thank the remaining 20% classes for their patience as they received the second round of pizza within the hour or sooner.   Although we always order the pizzas to be cut in slices of 10 each pizza, in error all pizzas arrived precut in slices of 8 per pizza which entail caused a shortage of over 130 slices of pizza which were promptly reordered and arrived and were distributed within the hour.   The few classes that had a delayed pizza arrival had received their snacks and drinks. 

PIZZA REMINDERS:

Each month a Pizza Lunch order envelope will be distributed to each student by their homeroom teacher. This envelope will enable you to order Pizza for one or both Pizza lunch days for that month (the second and last Wednesday of each month).  You can indicate what type of pizza as well as how often you would like your child to have pizza lunch.  If you would like to participate in the Pizza Lunch program, please fill out the envelope order form with the student’s full name, teacher’s name and circle the order you would like along with which days you would like to receive pizza. Please enclose in the envelope the EXACT amount of money or a cheque to pay for the pizza lunch. Cheques should be made payable to “Clairlea School Council”.  Please return the envelope to the teacher by the date indicated at the bottom of the envelope (usually by the Friday before the Pizza Lunch date).  On Pizza Lunch Day (always the second Wednesday and the last Wednesday of the month) your student’s order will be delivered to their classroom by lunchtime!

Before submitting the envelope please take a moment to ensure that the front of the envelope has been completed properly with the students name and they have selected all items (type of pizza and drink).  This will ensure that your child gets what they wanted on Pizza day! 

If you have more than one child in the school we ask that you submit a separate envelope for each child that way their order can be processed with their class.  It is ok to pay for multiple children in one envelope and simply submit an empty completed envelope for the other children and just indicate on the empty envelope the name of the child the money was submitted with.

Due to the large volume of pizza that is processed at our school we are required to place the pizza order two days prior to the pizza lunch day so it is important that we receive all envelopes by the deadline to ensure it is included in the order. 

If at any time you do not receive a pizza lunch envelope you can download it on the Clairlea School Council Blog at www.clairleacouncil.blogspot.com. 

HOW TO REACH US…

If you would like to be added to the School Council email distribution list please send a request to clairleacouncil@gmail.com.  We would like to hear your feedback and suggestions.  If you are not able to come to the next meeting and want to contribute ideas please email them to us or drop a note in the council box in the office and we can bring them forward to the meeting.    You can contact us via email at clairleacouncil@gmail.com, on the blog at http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com, or have a look at our bulletin board outside the office for the latest news.

Best Regards,

Irit

Chairperson, Clairlea School Council
2016/2017

Notes from School Council

There was a terrific turnout at the year's School Council meeting last night. Thank you to everyone who attended.

Minutes will be forthcoming but here are a few notes: 

Staffing and class assignments: There's always a bit of class shuffling in September as our numbers settle, but it should be relatively minimal this year. We're at just over 600 students, as projected. The school is at 105% capacity. We have an extra portable; it will be used for band and primary music.

Facilities: The upstairs hall will be repainted. The parking lot will be repaved. Please remember that the bus loop is "kiss and ride." There is no parking in the bus loop, ever. 

Bussing: The TDSB changed bus carriers this year, causing significant problems in the first week. These have mostly been resolved. Contact Michelle or Carin in the school office with any concerns. 

Events, activities, sport: A number of field trips are already being planned. Sports/teams underway: Girls and boys softball, co-ed flag football, run club/ x-country team, house league soccer gr 4-8 (gr 1-3 will follow). Picture Day is Wednesday October 5. Oct 7 is a PA Day. There will be three school concerts this year: kindies at the winter holidays; grades 1-8 either winter or spring. Stay tuned. 

Curriculum night: Details here. Please visit the book fair; 50% of the proceeds are returned to Clairlea in books. 

Snack program: starts in October. This "morning meal" includes a protein, grain and fruit/vegetable. The program is one-third funded by a grant; one-third by parent contributions and the remainder needs to be fundraised. No one will be refused for inability to pay, but you must sign the permission form for your child to participate. 

New superintendent: Peter Chang. Our trustee is Parthi Kandavel who is hosting a ward forum on Sept 27. 

Upcoming fundraisers:

• Catalogue sales - information to come home soon
• Pizza lunch Sept 28 and bimonthly after that
• Spirit wear - watch for order forms in mid to late October
• Halloween Howl - Friday October 28, please let us know if you can volunteer
• Movie night - dates to come

Questions/concerns from parents:

Playground equipment: The broken bridge on the play structure remains boarded off. Despite the fact that the playground inspector deems the structure to be safe, parents are aware that children frequently climb over the boards to play on the unsafe area. The school budget cannot absorb the cost to repair the structure. Mr. McGilvray committed to speak to the facilities team leader before our October meeting to determine whether the TDSB is willing to repair the structure. 

CCAT: Parents of grade 3 students have been asked to consent to a cognitive abilities test which is a pre-screening for gifted exceptionalities. This is an effort by the TDSB to make access to the gifted program more equitable. It has nothing to do with EQAO. 

High school information: We were reminded of last year's discussion about providing families of all grades information about the high schools available to students in our area. Ms Karsh will arrange for our guidance counsellor to lead a session for parents on this topic. 

In-school daycare: For the third consecutive year, there was not sufficient interest among JK/SK parents to run a daycare in the school. 

Next meeting Wednesday October 19, 7pm in the staff room. 

Thank you from the Animal Helpers Club

In December, Clairlea students Alice and Niamh (grades 4 and 5) visited the Toronto Wildlife Centre to present a donation $142.62 on behalf of their Animal Helpers Club.

Most of this was raised through their donation jar at the Halloween Howl, so they are sending a big thank you to everyone who contributed!

Toronto Wildlife Centre provides medical treatment and care to sick, injured and orphaned wild animals found or rescued by members of the public. It is Canada’s largest and busiest wildlife centre, and a leader in the field of wildlife rehabilitation.

Message from the Chair

Most of you will have received this via email directly from Irit, but just in case:

DEAR CLAIRLEA FAMILIES…

We have had a very successful couple of months with respect to fundraising and we have you to thank.  If it were not for the volunteers giving of their time and working behind the scenes as well as the countless donations and contributions from people along with all the students, Clairlea families, Clairlea Staff and Community that support the fundraisers by purchasing, participating and contributing we would not have the successes we’ve had.  Thank you to all!

HERE’S HOW WE ARE DOING SO FAR….

HALLOWEEN HOWL – We surpassed last year’s event.  Thank you to all the families that came to the event.   We had approximately 370 kids come through the doors, many with maps in hand!  We raised over $3600.00 in net profits.  We could not have done this if it were not for the generosity of the many volunteers and contributors in the Clairlea community.   We received countless decorations dropped off in the office, about 350 plus candy jars for the lollipop pull which raised approximately $441.00, wonderful people sought out many prize donations which were given for the Loonie Toss room raising approximately $500.00, as well as the front door raffle, and a dedicated group of high school students from the community, most of which were Clairlea alumni!  Clairlea students worked diligently to prepare the windows in the library to ensure a scary dark environment for the haunted library.  The fantastic signs for each room were made by our own Clairlea students. Thank you to the local police constables that dropped by and stayed for part of the evening to chat and answer questions.  Thank you to all the volunteers that worked tirelessly in the rooms during the event.   We thank the Clairlea staff for trusting us with their classrooms.  Also a big thank you to the administration for their help, flexibility and endless eagerness to always move forward in a positive direction.  All Loonie Toss winners and candy count jar winners have been contacted.

NORCARD WINTER CATALOGUE ORDERS – Thank you to all of you that placed orders for the Norcard Catalogue Fundraiser.  The items have arrived and have been sorted and given to your kids to bring home or you received a call if the order was too big to carry.  If you received a call please pick up your order in the office this week.  We managed to collect over $5000.00 in product orders of which 50% ($2400+) of it goes to Clairlea. 

SO WHAT’S NEXT…?

NEXT CLAIRLEA COUNCIL MEETING - Our next meeting will take place tonight Wednesday November 18^th @ 7pm until 8:30pm.   Free child minding is available and all are welcome!  Please note we will not have a meeting in December and council will meet again in January 2016.  

NOVEMBER AGENDA:

6:45 – 7:00pm - Selling 50/50 tickets to be drawn at the end of the meeting (purchase is optional)

7:00 – 7:05pm - Introduction (Irit)

7:05 – 7:35pm - Administration Report (Mr. Mcgilvray and Ms. Karsh)

7:35 – 7:45pm - Treasurer’s Report (Russ)

7:45 – 7:55pm - Fundraising Report (Joanne)

7:55 – 8:25pm - Open Discussion (All)

8:25 – 8:30pm - 50/50 draw and wrap up (Irit)

PIZZA LUNCH OCTOBER – As per usual Pizza lunch is a big hit.  Thanks to the hard work of our regular pizza lunch volunteer crew we raise approximately $1000.00 net profit each month.  Reminder your pizza lunch envelopes are due this Friday November 20^th and pizza lunch is next Wednesday November 25^th.

CLAIRLEA MOVIE NIGHT NOVEMBER 27^th - Our first movie night of the year will take place on Friday November 27^th at 7:00pm sharp, featuring “Inside Out”.  We hope to see you there!  This event is open to children in grade 6 and under.  If you have never experienced a Clairlea movie night before please come out and give it a try it is a fun night out for the family.  All movies are shown in the gym and children are welcome to dress in their pajamas and bring blankets and pillows and get comfortable while they watch the big screen.  The cost is $2.00 per person (child or adult).  Snacks and drinks are sold at the movie.  All friends and family are welcome whether you attend Clairlea or not.  This movie is open to all children grade 6 and lower only.  All children must be have adult supervision with them for the evening.  (See flyer attached).

HOW TO REACH US…

If you would like to be added to the distribution list please send a request to clairleacouncil@gmail.com.  We would like to hear your feedback and suggestions.  Do you have any feedback about the Halloween Howl, Norcard or any fundraiser and how we can make it better for next year or what you liked about it this year?  If you are not able to come to the next meeting and want to contribute ideas please email them to us or drop a note in the council box in the office and we can bring them forward to the meeting.   

You can contact us via email at clairleacouncil@gmail.com, on the blog at http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com, or have a look at our bulletin board outside the office for the latest news.

Best Regards,

Irit

Clairlea School Council

Work to rule campaign ends!

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for not posting for the past couple of weeks -- our family was travelling. I hear that the Halloween Howl was terrific. I know that was thanks to all those who volunteered their time, made donations, and came to enjoy the event.

You've no doubt heard on the news that the teacher's union has called an end to its work to rule campaign in light of the tentative labour deal that was reached yesterday with the government. I know we're all very glad to see the end of this disruption. The students will receive report cards, with comments, in December. Details in this Toronto Star article.

Message from the Chair

DEAR CLAIRLEA FAMILIES…

Well we are off to a good start.  We are deep into the planning stages of the Halloween Howl event coming up on Friday October 30^th from 5:30-8:30pm.  Thank you to all that came to the planning meeting as well as those who couldn’t make it but have confirmed that they will volunteer at the event.  We are still looking for more adults to help out on the night so if you find the time it will make all the difference to help keep the rooms open that are favorites year after year.  Please email us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com to let us know you are available.  Please also see below other ways you can help your school make the Howl a great success!

 OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP:

1.       DECORATION DROP OFF: We need Halloween decorations to get the school ready for the Halloween Howl!!  Starting this week there will be a large blue bin in front of the main office of the school where you can drop off all items.  Spend $5 dollars in the dollar store and drop it off in the bin.  We are looking for:
-  Spider Webs – many of these
-  Black plastic dollar store Table Cloths – many of these

-  Large Candy Lollipops for the Lollipop Pull Room

2.      HALLOWEEN CANDY:  We need peanut free Halloween candy to be used as prizes in various rooms.  Please pick up a bag of candy and drop it off in the blue bin in front of the main office.

3.      PERSONAL AND/OR CORPORATE DONATIONS:  We are always looking for gift donations that we can use as prizes or raffles during the Halloween Howl.  If you or your company would like to donate a prize or gift to be used as one of our prizes during the event please contact us at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.

4.      HOME MADE CANDY JARS/BAGS:  We need many mini candy jars/bags to be used as prizes for the Lollipop Pull room.  You can help by filling any sized jar or little baggy with (nut free) candy and bring it to the school office anytime between now and the Halloween Howl.  The more jars we have the longer this room will be able to stay open and it is definitely one of the favourite rooms.  In past years we have needed approximately 400 jars/bags to have this room open for the entire event.  Feel free to decorate your jars as well.   

5.      CRAFT MATERIAL:  This year we need QTips, Coloured Construction paper, glue.  Spend $5 in the dollar store and drop it off in the blue bin in front of the office.

6.      VOLUNTEER: Help out on the night of the event.  We need adult volunteers to help run the rooms and that will enable your kids to experience all the planned activities that are favourites year after year.

HALLOWEEN DINNER we will be offering the option of purchasing a pizza dinner in advance of the event so there is no need to make dinner.  Make things easier on yourself and leave the dinner to us and you just need to enjoy the event and pick up your dinner in the gym. Check the backpacks over the next couple of weeks to look for a preorder dinner envelope along with a map featuring all activities for the night.  Submit the dinner preorder form on the due date specified on the envelope and you can pick up your dinner at the event on the 30^th after 6:00pm in the gym.  NOTE:  This is not to be confused with our regular monthly pizza lunch event held in the school.

WHAT IS THE HOWL? It is our very popular yearly School Council fundraising event that is loads of fun for all age/grade levels (JK to Grade 8).  Bring your family, bring your neighbours and bring your friends, all are welcome.  Save the date and come out for a fun time on Friday October 30^th from 5:30-8:30pm.  We encourage the children to dress up in their favourite costume so that they can participate in the contest at the end of the evening!  Bring your own loot bag/recycle bag to the Howl to enable the kids to collect all their goodies when they travel from room to room and partake in fun activities – featuring our very popular “HAUNTED LIBRARY”.  Entry is only $5.00/per child and adults are free.  All children must be accompanied by an adult.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?...

ONLY 3 MORE DAYS!!!!!

NORCARD…  (DUE FRIDAY OCTOBER 9^TH)  There are only a few days left to hand in your orders!!  Over the last couple of weeks you should have received a Red and White Holiday Magic Norcard Fundraising Catalog.  This shopping catalog is filled with items you can order such as; calendars, greeting cards, stationary items,  jewelry, kitchen items, phone charge cords, USB adapter wall chargers and much more just in time for the holiday season.  The Ordered Items will arrive approximately at the end of November 2015 (perhaps sooner).  All money (cash or cheque) and order forms (with completed legible contact information and order details) must be returned to the school no later than FRIDAY OCTOBER 9^TH 2015.   Cheques must be made payable to “Clairlea School Council”.   If you have not received the Catalog or need an additional order form we have extras in the Main Office.  This fundraiser enables Clairlea to receive up to 50% of all orders made.  Late orders will not be accepted and will be returned back to you.

WHEN DO WE MEET AGAIN…

School Council meetings take place every 3^rd Wednesday of each month.  The next school council meeting is on Wednesday October 21^st from 7pm-8:30pm. Free child minding is available.  All are welcome and we hope to see you there!  Please take a moment to read through the minutes from the September 2015 meeting.

The Agenda for School Council meeting usually follow this format:

6:50 – 7:00pm Sell 50/50 tickets (optional)

7:00 – 7:10pm Introduction and voting in the past minutes (Irit)     

7:10 – 7:35pm Administration Report (Mr. Mcgilvray and Ms. Karsh)

7:35 – 7:45pm Treasurer’s Report (Russ)

7:45 – 8:00pm Fundraising Report (Joanne)

8:00 – 8:25pm Open Discussion (All)

8:25 – 8:30pm 50/50 draw

MEMBER OF SCHOOL COUNCIL VS. NON MEMBER OF SCHOOL COUNCIL

In September everyone received a Clairlea School Council self-nomination form that was sent home.  On this form you were given the option as to whether you want to nominate yourself to be a member of school council or run for an executive position.  If you chose to nominate yourself as a member of council that means that when we choose to have a vote on any topic, you, as a member will have your vote counted.  As per the bylaws we are required to have 50% plus 1 of the members in attendance for the meetings or a pre-determined number for quorum in order to be able to have a vote be deemed valid.  That is why we encourage everyone who is a member to make every effort to attend all council meetings.

If you chose not be a member and just want to attend the meetings, that means that you are welcome and encouraged to come to each meeting and participate fully.  When it comes time for a vote only members can partake but member as well as non-members can all be present.  Should you still come to the meetings even though you are not a member?  Absolutely, your opinion is important and coming to the meeting and being part of the discussion is always beneficial to all involved.  If you decide that you want to change your mind and become a member of council you are still able to do so as there are spots left.  Our bylaws state we can have up to a maximum of 50 members.

HOW TO REACH US…

If you would like to subscribe to the School Council emails or you know someone that would like to be added to the distribution list please send a request to clairleacouncil@gmail.com.  We would like to hear your feedback and suggestions.  If you are not able to come to the next meeting and want to contribute ideas please email them to us or drop a note in the council box in the office and we can bring them forward to the meeting.   

You can contact us via email at clairleacouncil@gmail.com, on the blog at http://clairleacouncil.blogspot.com, or have a look at our bulletin board outside the office for the latest news.

Best Regards,

Irit

Chairperson, Clairlea School Council
2015/2016

clairleacouncil@gmail.com