September 7th, 2018
Dear Empire families,
What a great first week back at school! We have been working hard in all our classes to build our learning communities and are continuing to work on learning the school and classroom routines and procedures. It’s been a busy week!
We want to share with you some important upcoming events and dates:
Our Meet the Teacher Night will be on Wednesday, September 12th from 6-7pm. The purpose of this evening is for families and caregivers to meet the educators and staff at the school, and to see your children’s learning space.
Pizza order forms went home this week, and are due on Friday, September 14th. New this year is the option to pay on School-Day! Thank you to Mrs. Hart and Mrs. Beauvais in our office for organizing this fundraiser for our school, and getting the payments online for this year.
Our School Council will have its first meeting on Wednesday, September 19th at 7pm in the Empire Library. This first meeting is where we share highlights of the past year’s work with our school community as well as nominate and elect key representatives such as our Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary. All are welcome to attend this meeting.
Empire is looking for Strong Start Volunteers. Strong Start is an early literacy program that pairs an adult with a student to work on specially selected games and activities to develop literacy skills that position children for success. There is an online training component to this position, and a minimum time commitment of one half-hour per week. If you are interested, please email our school contact heather_hadden@wrdsb.ca
Thursday, September 20th is Empire’s Terry Fox Walk/Run to raise money for the Terry Fox Foundation. This money is used to fund cancer research in the hopes that one day we may see Terry’s dream, of a world without cancer, come true. We are proud to once again participate in this great cause.
We are asking students to collect pledges or to bring a donation on September 20th. However, if your child is away or if you wish to make a larger donation and receive a tax receipt, you may donate on-line under National School Run Day (Empire, Waterloo) for our school at www.terryfox.ca/EmpirePSWaterloo. The due date for pledges is September 28th.
On September 20th, at 2:45 classes will begin their challenge of travelling around the school yard as many times as possible until about 3:25. With each lap, they will stop and receive a stamp on their paper running shoe to keep track of their efforts. As students grow tired, they are free to stop and to take a break until they are ready to continue. Younger students will be walking as a group with their classmates and respective teachers. We will walk/run rain or shine. So, dress for the weather and join us if you wish! On behalf of the Terry Fox Foundation and Empire School Staff, we would like to thank you very much for your support.
Finally, mark your calendars for Photo Day, which takes place at Empire on Friday, September 28th.
We look forward to seeing you all on September 12 at our Meet the Teacher Night!