news

* We welcome Madame Czebe to Heritage Glen for May and June this school year. She will be teaching Core French in place of Mlle. Picket. We also wish Mlle. Picket all the best as she completes her placement in her studies for her "Deaf and Hard of Hearing" teaching qualifications (posted 4.30.12)

* Thank you to Ms Carr for a wonderful 2011-12 with her JKSK students! Ms Carr's last day will be this Thursday. We also welcome Mrs. Brisbin back from her maternity leave for the remainder of the school year.

* Check the menu on the main page for a link to 2012-13 Updates. This page will contain information regarding the transition to HG for our new students.

* Mansfield Update: The Grade 5's will be returning at approximately 4:30pm this evening (Thursday, Feb.16). There was a delay in getting the second bus to Mansfield and they are late leaving...

* We wish Mrs. King all the best on her maternity leave! We are pleased to have Mrs. Archbell stay on at Heritage Glen until the end of the year to take over Mrs. King's position and we welcome Miss Burrows to our Intermediate Art and Primary Music position until February 17th.

* January is an exciting time in the library as it is the start of our Forest of Reading Book Clubs as well as our Annual Forest of Reading Book Fair.

The book fair this year will take place from Thursday, Jan. 26 to Thursday, Feb. 2. We will be offering classes and parents a chance to preview books Friday all day and Monday morning. Sales will begin Monday after lunch and continue up to Thursday morning. Parents are welcome to come in and make purchases as well. For every $10 spent in book fair products, $6 goes directly back to our school library which makes it a fantastic way for us to obtain new and high interest books for our library collection.

Students are encouraged to listen to the announcements over the next two weeks to hear about contests and promotions for the event. Flyers advertising the books will be sent home with students along with a letter providing a bit more detail about the fair and the $50 draw prize.

If you are interested in more information about the book fair or are able to volunteer to help out during this time please contact Heather Larsen by e-mail at larsenh@hdsb.ca or by calling the school.

* Kindergarten registration for 2012-13 begins next week. Click HERE for more information. PLEASE NOTE: Heritage Glen remains "A" track and "B" track for next year. We will NOT be implementing full day Kindergarten until the Fall of 2013.

* We would like to wish all our Heritage Glen families a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season! Enjoy the time with your friends and loved ones. School resumes on Monday, January 9.

* A reminder that our Holiday Performance Evening is this Wednesday, December 21. Drop by the concourse for hot chocolate, then head to the large gym for your child's presentation. We will be having Kindergartens go first, then primary students, then junior students, and finally the band and choir. Starts at 6:30pm.

* High School information nights are now planned for all high schools in the Board. Click here for information. Abbey Park's evening is Thursday, January 12.

* Attention Grade 8 parents: if you are interested in helping out with the Grade 8 Grad committee, please attend our first meeting in the library on Tuesday, January 10 @ 3:00pm. Grad Committee Letter

* A reminder that the Parent Information session for the Grade 8 Quebec Trip is next Wednesday, November 2 at 7pm in the library.

* For the election on Thursday, all voters are to go to the back entrance of the school and go directly to the large gym. Security will be visible to monitor in case an adult must use the staff washroom by the concourse. All students will be using the junior/intermediate doors for nutritional breaks. There should be no voters by classrooms or in the hallways.

* You can now access all the morning announcements from our web page. Click on the link in the left menu that says "Announcements on Twitter". You will be taken directly to the hgannouncements feed.

Each day at Heritage Glen, the morning announcements let students know about clubs, sports, upcoming events and important messages. We all know that sometimes students forget what they heard in the morning or don’t write relevant information in their agendas.

We have been testing Twitter as a means of publishing announcements and reminders to our students and school community and have had good feedback. The purpose of posting our morning announcements and other timely reminders on Twitter is to have that information accessible to students and their families at all times.

You can follow us on Twitter at “hgannouncements” to keep up to date at all times. If you follow us then the notices will show up in your Twitter feed. Alternatively, you can just look us up as needed on Twitter.com.

Please note that this Twitter account is not an interactive account at this time and is being used to post Heritage Glen announcements. If you would like to contact the school, please call us at 905-847-5496 or email me at phillipsb@hdsb.ca.

* Open House this Wednesday, September 28 @ 7:00pm. Come out and meet the teachers and see what the students have been up to for the first few weeks of school.

* Halton Region is proud to bring John Linney as a speaker on October 5. John Linney is an international speaker and co-author of the book Safe School Ambassadors: Harnessing Student Power to Stop Bullying and Violence. The workshop will highlight the impact that bullying has on students and families, practical strategies to address bullying, and how parents can partner with their schools to prevent and address harm so everyone can thrive. See here for all details!

* The annual PIC Conference information is here. There are some excellent forums for parents and the keynote speaker will be Garfield Gini-Newman. From the brochure: "The Parent Involvement Committee is pleased to host our 4th Annual PIC Conference for Parents. This is a FREE conference. On-line registration begins August 15, 2011 at http://registrations.hdsb.ca/ picreg/

* It was great to see the students return yesterday. There were lots of stories about exciting summers :-) A reminder to please return all forms that went home for signatures.

* This are extremely busy in the office at Heritage Glen this start up season so I would like to thank you for your patience as we begin to post the information about the 2011-12 school year.

There are some staff changes that have occurred over the summer. We are presently hiring for two more teaching positions, an EA position and have recently hired a new Senior Secretary to replace Ms. Cheong. Welcome to our new secretary Miss McFatridge, who will be joining us beginning this Friday, September 2.

Class lists will be posted at 3:00pm Thursday afternoon in the main entrance of the school. You will need your child's OEN number from the report card as names will not be posted. Please know that we take class placement very seriously and have done so thoughtfully and carefully while attending to student, school and system needs.

Our JK/SK class placement and visit letters will be mailed Tuesday. If you do not receive your letter by Thursday's mail, you are welcome to call the school Friday (847-5496) to ask about your child's classroom teacher and times.

* Thank you to everyone for making 2010-11 a great school year at Heritage Glen. Report cards went home this week along with the last newsletter. The newsletter is posted, and it includes an update: we are very sorry to announce that our head secretary, Ms. Cheong, has accepted a position at Maple Grove PS for the fall. We wish her the best in her new placement and she will be missed tremendously.

Did you know that our neighbourhood could fall within the boundary of the new “West Oak” High School that opens September 2012? This may have an impact on our children at Heritage Glen.

As members of the Boundary Review committee that is determining possible boundary and program (e.g. English and French Immersion) scenarios for ward 4 secondary schools it is important for us to get your input.

The Halton District School Board (HDSB) has written criteria that will be used to determine which boundary/program scenarios are better than others. We have the opportunity to give feedback to the committee on these criteria and give new criteria suggestions. We would like your input, but we need your response ASAP so we can give feedback to the committee on Thursday February 24th! Please click on the link below to fill out this short survey.

* Heritage Glen is featured on the home page of the Halton District School Board. There is a profile of the STOMP! presentation that Ms. Cox organized. http://www.hdsb.ca/Newsroom/SpotlightonSchools/Pages/Heritage%20Glen%20Public%20School%20had%20a%20stomping%20good%20time.aspx

All members of the community are invited to attend an Open House Information evening to learn about the new northwest Oakville high school. This high school is currently under construction at 2820 Westoak Trials Blvd and is scheduled to open in Fall 2012.

At the meeting, parents and community members may view the school’s architectural plans and speak with trustees and board staff to learn about the process for making decisions about the new high school. Parents are requested to share this information with neighbours who do not have children in our school system. All are welcome !

* Heritage Glen has been designated an "open school" for optional attendance for 2011-12. Click here for the application form that needs to be filled out and brought in to the school by January 23, 2011 if you are interested in having your child attend Heritage Glen if we are not your designated home school for 2011-12. More information regarding optional attendance can be found at the Board website as of December 1st.

* We are looking for a parent to be a part of our Safe Schools Team at HG. Our team is responsible for the development, implementation, monitoring and review of our school-wide bullying prevention and intervention plan. We will meet to do this in early October. If you are interested, please contact Mr. Phillips (phillipsb@hdsb.ca).

* What a great start to the first day of school! It was wonderful to see so many smiling faces. There is a lot of paperwork coming home today. Please take the time to review all this information. We are striving to use less paper his year so we will only be sending paper copies of the monthly newsletter to families who request them by returning the form on the front page of the September newsletter. It is now posted online in the "newsletters" section.

* We congratulate Mrs. Schredl for obtaining the job of Math Transitions Consultant (liaison between elementary and secondary schools with a focus on Mathematics instruction)! We will miss her immensely as the position takes her out of HG, but know that this great opportunity for her will allow her to reach so many teachers and students in Halton.

* Grad Night 2010. Congratulations to our Grade 8 students! Tonight is their big night. 5:30 arrival will be followed by a composite picture at 6:00pm. Parents are able to purchase the composite from the photographer and it will be mailed when ready. Cost is $15.00. The dance will run from after the ceremony until 10:30pm. Please arrange to have your son/daughter picked up at this time.

* Grade 8 students were passing through Kingston at 2:15pm. The estimated time of arrival back at Heritage Glen is 6:00pm.

* Every year brings changes to our staff at Heritage Glen. With the opening of Palermo PS in September and many of our students starting that new adventure, it has resulted in a downsizing of our staff at HG. We will miss the following staff and wish them all the best at their new locations:

At this point, these are the moves that will be occurring. Due to the nature of the staffing process, changes can be expected right up until September.

* Grade 8's leave for Quebec Tuesday morning. Be there 6:45am-7:00am. They will return Friday evening. We will post here their expected arrival time.

* To be put on the School Council's email list, please use the Get Connected form. This will provide you information updates and communications important to the school community.

* Friday, March 26 we are celebrating Earth Hour at Hertiage Glen. From 1:45-2:45pm we will be reducing electricity use as much as possible to focus attention on the need to reduce our energy consumption.

* A huge thank you to Ms. Spiers and the entire crew, staff and performers in our Variety Show just before March Break. They did a spectacular job and parents were very proud. Well done!!

* Last week a letter went home regarding Tyron - one of our Kindergarten students who is very sick. We wish him well in his treatment.

*The following is an update concerning the dangerous stranger communication sent on Friday, February 12, 2010 involving a 16-year old girl who was assaulted in the area of Monk’s Passage and Monastery Drive (Glen Abbey area) of Oakville.

Later on February 12, 2010 the victim in this matter was re-interviewed by police. During the interview investigators learned that although the victim did feel she was being followed by a suspicious van, and did fear for her safety, she was not actually grabbed by a male suspect.

Police investigators canvassed the area where the incident had taken place and were able to locate the suspicious van in question. Police interviewed the driver and are confident he was in the area for legitimate purposes and had no criminal or inappropriate intentions in relation to the teenage girl.

* The newsletter is now posted online and has gone home with Kindergarten "A" students. The rest of the school will receive the printed copy on Thursday.

* We would like to congratulate Mrs. McDonald on her promotion to Principal of Falgarwood school in Oakville. We are thrilled for her as this is a wonderful opportunity and a well-deserved appointment. Sadly, it means that she will be leaving Heritage Glen at the end of February as her new role begins March 1. We will miss her and we wish her all the best. Thank you for your commitment to the Heritage Glen community over the past three years!

* The Grade 5's are getting excited about their trip to Mansfield Monday and Tuesday! Anticipated return on Tuesday is around 4:15pm.

* A reminder to submit your suggestion for naming the new school in Palermo. The submission box is in the office and will be there until Friday, January 29.

* Heritage Glen staff would like to wish all families a safe and happy holiday break! Early dismissal is Friday at 1:15pm and school resumes Monday, January 4.

* We look forward to seeing parents in this week for their first term interviews with staff. While you are here, please be sure to check the lost and found that will be set up in the office. It will be on display Thursday evening and Friday all day.

* Heritage Glen has been designated an "open school" for optional attendance for 2010-11. Click here for the application form that needs to be filled out and brought in to the school by January 31, 2010 if you are interested in having your child attend Heritage Glen if we are not your designated home school for 2010-11. More information regarding optional attendance can be found at the Board website as of December 1st.

* Music Night rescheduling: We have had to postpone our December Music Night that was scheduled for Wed., Dec. 16 to Wednesday, January 27. The bands continue to work hard on establishing a stellar song list and look forward to performing them after the holidays. (This rescheduling does not affect the Kindergarten performances that will happen that day). Thank you for your understanding!

* Report Cards were distributed today (Nov. 27). The newsletter and information about a Board French survey were also included, as well as information for Kindergarten and Grade 6 students only about French Immersion sessions that are upcoming.

* Apologies to the Eco Club at Heritage Glen! The following two items were missed from the newsletter going home on Friday. Please note the date for Litterless Lunch Day...

Heritage Glen is striving to be Eco School Certified. As a part of this process we are getting members of the whole school involved in meeting regularly to discuss and plan how to make Heritage Glen a greener place.

The Environment Club is an extra-curricular club that Grade 4 to Grade 8 students can join and participate in to improve our environmental impact. In November the club introduced the the Eco School stickers to help save energy by turning “Monitor’s off” and “Light’s Off” in our school. We will also be distributing the G.O.O.S.E. bins (for paper that is "Good On One Side") to the whole school, to encourage students and staff to reuse paper. Some upcoming events planed for December and January are litterless lunch days. Everyone can get involved and be a part of making HG a more environmentally friendly place.

On December 10^th and January 14^th we will be encouraging students to bring reusable containers to school in order to produce less waste. We encourage students to reduce, reuse and then recycle. Mark these dates on your calendar!

* Please see these two notices regarding the delay in the Hepatitis B and HPV immunizations for 2009-10. (Nov.10)

* Student Council is selling HG Pink Ribbon T-shirts to raise funds for Breast Cancer research. Cost is $10 and they are on sale during nutritional breaks at the school.

* Unfortunately, we have had recent incidents of iPods being taken from unlocked lockers or the change rooms during school hours. If anyone has any information that would help us determine those responsible, please contact either Mr. Phillips or Mrs. McDonald at the school. We encourage students to leave valuables at home, but if these items are brought to school please do not leave them unattended.

* To parents of our students who will be attending the new Palermo School in 2010-11, please see this notice regarding an information session on October 13th.

* Concert Band and Jazz Band both had their first rehearsals this week, and we have already started learning new pieces! Concert Band rehearses every Tuesday at lunch and has over 40 members, and Jazz Band rehearses every Friday at lunch and has over 20 members. Stay tuned for info on upcoming performances.

* A reminder that this Wendesday, September 23rd is Heritage Glen's Open House. This year, classrooms will be open from 6:15-7:30pm. Parents are encouraged to come and see their child's classroom and meet their teachers. The focus will be on students' classrooms and we would like parents to have time to visit so there will be no formal presentations this year. Enjoy the evening and we look forward to seeing both new and returning families!

* October 15th @ 7:00pm: Facebook 101. Heritage Glen is proud to bring in Chris Vollum to speak with parents about social networking sites and what they should know if they have children who use them. Click here for the flyer and details.