Monthly Archives: September 2022

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Thank you to all parents and guardians that came to our Meet the Staff Night. As you are likely aware, our school enrollment continues to grow leaps and bounds. We have just received notification from the school board that our school will be adding an additional JK/SK classroom.  As we are currently using all available classrooms, we will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of a fifth portable. In the meantime, students in Mr. Burton’s grade 2/3 classroom will temporarily be moving to the school library to accommodate this new addition. We would like to welcome Olivia Buongiorno to Saint Gabriel as our new JK/SK teacher.

We would also like to take this opportunity to remind families with children in grades 1 – 8 to please  drop off students at the top of the stairs, located off of Guelph Ave on the public sidewalk. Students will then be able to continue to the tarmac with a clear siteline for families. It is extremely important to remember that our schoolyard is a STAFF & STUDENT ONLY ZONE in order to support our safety guidelines in keeping our students safe.

Families with students in JK/SK, are asked to continue bringing students directly to the Kindergarten gate for hand-to-hand drop off. Once your child has been passed to the Early Years staff, please refrain from relocating to the other side of the fence as it is imperative for us to keep the walkways as clear as possible.

Parking in the school lot is for staff, buses, and special transportation only. Please use street parking during morning drop off and after school pick up.

Thank you for your continued support in keeping our students safe.

P. Bruni                                                                 E. Stevens

Principal                                                               Vice Principal

The staff and students of Saint Gabriel are thrilled to announce that will be taking part in our annual Terry Fox Walk on Thursday September 29^th.

This year’s Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research theme is, “I’m Not a Quitter”. Terry Fox was not a quitter, and neither is the St. Gabriel School community. Last year our school community raised $1 720 for cancer research. Since opening our school, we have raised $7 596!! Let’s “Be like Terry” and show we are not quitters!

Please consider making a donation at the following link:

https://schools.terryfox.ca/StGabrielCSCambridge

Good evening, Wings!

A reminder that our Annual Meet the Staff/Open House is on Thursday, September 22, 2022 from 5:30 pm – 6:45 pm. It is a great night to come with the family, travel through the school at your own pace, and meet our staff!

Please know that our staff will be available from 5:30 pm – 6:45 pm to meet with you, say a “hello” and put a “face to the name”.  Do not feel as though you have to come for the entire time. A quick drop-in is fine.

Students in the Early Years will have access to their classrooms starting at 6:00 pm as the classrooms are being utilized for the Extended Day program until 6:00 pm.

Please plan accordingly and our gymnasium will be set-up to eat the delicious BBQ led by our School Council starting at 5:30 pm. Reminder that you must place your food order by September 18th on School Cashonline. Thank you to our awesome School Council for preparing and leading this BBQ.

We are looking forward to a fabulous evening of food, friends, and good cheer!

P. Bruni                                E. Stevens

Principal                             Vice Principal

Anticipated Transportation Services Disruption

Dear Parents and Families,

We want to share an important update about school buses. Due to the ongoing bus driver shortage and lingering impacts of the public board’s cyber attack on our shared bus planning software, some routes will need to be temporarily cancelled.

Most bus routes are operating normally. However, some routes are experiencing more frequent and prolonged delays (30 minutes or greater).

This temporary measure will be effective Monday, September 19, 2022 and will continue until Christmas, at which time our need for cancellations will be reviewed.

We understand the significant impact this decision will have on our students and their families and caregivers. Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR) does this only as a last resort. We hope that this proactive message will allow families and caregivers to better prepare for and react to the cancellation of bus routes.

Please note that delays have not been caused by our current bus drivers.  When they are late, it is because they are trying to support students on bus routes that have no driver, with the best of intentions.  They do not have to do this.  They are trying to help.  Please be kind to them!

What Happens If A School Bus Route is Cancelled?

Effective September 19, 2022

A school bus route will be cancelled when the driver shortage causes a route to be late by more than 30 minutes consistently. Affected students and families will be informed immediately of the cancellation period.  Cancellations are done on a week to week basis.

Supporting Student Learning

If a school bus route is cancelled, families are responsible for transporting their children to and from school each day.

Where this is not possible, students should access asynchronous learning materials posted by their classroom teacher on their Learning Management System (LMS), either D2L or Google Classroom. Additional activities can be found here: .

Families should contact their school to let them know if they are unable to get to school.  The school can also help families to sign out a Chromebook if necessary.

Stay Informed

Families will be informed the day prior to any cancellation. Cancellations will be posted on the STSWR website with an expected return date.

• Register for notifications on the STSWR parent portal
• Check the Bus Delays page on the STSWR website

The Bus Delays page will be updated with cancellation information each afternoon by 4:30 PM.

Questions?

Please contact Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR).

Good Afternoon Saint Gabriel Community!

We have exciting news! Our first School Council meeting is next week on Monday September 19th at 6:30 pm in the Learning Commons (Library). ALL parents and guardians are welcome to attend. Come check out what our school council is all about.

At this time, many of our long-standing members have children that will be graduating over the next couple of years, so we are always looking for new members to join us.  Our hope is to build a wonderful, ever evolving council that will continue to serve our students and community for years to come.

We need you! Having parents and guardians that are actively involved in a child’s school life benefits not only your child, but all our kids.

Hope to see you there!

Welcome back Saint Gabriel families. We hope your summer break was wonderful.

As the Open House and BBQ are quickly approaching we are going to need a few extra hands to make it run as smoothly as possible.

We are in need of help setting up the gym, prepping the food stations, tracking purchases and handing out the BBQ items.

We have set up an easy schedule that would allow our volunteers to lend a hand and still have time to visit your child’s classroom.

Volunteer time slots will be on September 22:

4:00-5:30 – Set up and Serving Staff dinner

5:15-6:30 – Prep & Serving Community

6:00-7:00 – Serving Community & Clean-up

If you are available to help on Thursday September 22nd please email Karen (School Council Chair) at karen.applebee82@gmail.com

Good Afternoon School Community,

Our school experienced an internal power outage that started over the lunch hour. Power has since been restored. Please note, areas that were experiencing a power outage, emergency lighting along with natural light in the classrooms allowed for instructional activities to continue. In the event of a power outage it is important to know that the main office will be on full back-up mode allowing for access to the Internet, PA system and phones for any office and school needs.

P. Bruni                                            E. Stevens

Principal                                          Vice Principal

Morning Drop Off

As enrollment continues to grow at Saint Gabriel, student safety continues to be our number one priority. With this in mind we are reminding families with children in grades 1 – 8 to please  drop off students at the top of the stairs, located off of Guelph Ave on the public sidewalk.  Students will then be able to continue to the tarmac with a clear siteline for families.

Families with students in JK/SK, are asked to continue bringing students directly to the Kindergarten gate, for hand-to-hand drop off. 

Afternoon Pick Up

The following classes will be dismissed out  the front doors:

• Mrs. Mendonca
• Mrs. Chevalier
• Mrs. Castillo
• Mr. Burton
• Mrs. Barry
• Mr. DaCosta

Please meet your child at a predetermined spot on the front lawn or front walkways to help reduce congestion as classroom teachers dismiss your child from the front doors, one class, at a time. Please do not wait directly under the covered area by the front doors where students exit the school to allow for visibility of all parents and guardians.

School Parking

Parking in the school lot is for staff, buses and special transportation only. Please use street parking during morning drop off and after school pick up.

Family Pets

Please remember that dogs are not allowed on school property. 

Thank you for your continued support in keeping our students safe,

Saint Gabriel Staff