April showers lead to... all kinds of beautiful.

The rain has washed away winter, and the earth's soil is being provided with the nourishment it needs to green up our grass, bring our flowers into bloom, and assist our trees in growing new leaves. Of course, this process occurs differently for each plant depending on the weather, the environment that it exists within and the conditions it requires to grow and develop.

I think this analogy makes a lot of sense when we're thinking about supporting the well-being and achievement of all students at Chalmers. In partnership with you, we will continue to strive to meet the needs of your child to ensure they have a positive and successful experience during the final few months of the school year.

Reflecting back on April, there are so many great things to share and celebrate!

As it relates to professional learning, our teacher teams continue to engage in their collaborative learning focus and continue to explore the implementation of WRDSB's Comprehensive Approach to Mathematics as a framework for providing high-quality instruction and supporting student success. Last week, many of our teachers participated in a co-teaching experience that enabled them to observe or facilitate a three-part mathematics lesson using Marian Small's MathUP resource. It was a valuable and enjoyable experience for both staff and students as we reflected on our pedagogy and observed student thinking in action.

With spring also comes hockey playoffs. We would like to congratulate this year's floor hockey champions, the Leafs! Thank you to all staff who organized and participated in this fun and enjoyable after school activity with our students. Now that it is the floor hockey off-season, many of our student athletes have signed up for Running Club in preparation for Junior Track and Field (or simply because they enjoy being physically active with their friends). The Chalmers Junior Track and Field event will take place Monday, May 27th and our competition date is set for Tuesday, June 11th at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School.

Our School Council rocks!

It seems that School Council is always doing something amazing for our students and their families. During the month of April, they organized a Value Village clothing drive and literally every day there were bags and boxes of clothing being collected in our foyer and being prepared for delivery. Don't forget: large items can be dropped off directly at the store location on Hespeler Road on Sunday, May 5th at 11am (let them know that you are from Chalmers). Stay tuned for the impressive results of our fundraiser as we await the final tally of our total donation weight.

I would also like to thank all School Council representatives and community volunteers who assisted in the organization of our Value Village Fill-A-Bag event that took place on Wednesday evening in the Chalmers gym. This was another highly successful event!

Our Welcome to Kindergarten event:

Do you have a child that will be new to Kindergarten in September? If so, we'd like to invite you to our Welcome to Kindergarten Open House on Thursday, May 9th from 6:15-7:15pm. Come out and meet our wonderful Kindergarten team as well as various school and community supports who assist our students and their families during the early years and throughout their time at Chalmers. In addition to receiving their Welcome to Kindergarten bag of goodies, your child will also have the opportunity to explore our beautiful Kindergarten learning environments and engage in play.

Check out The Learning Partnership website for additional helpful information and resources as you prepare your child for Kindergarten.

Indigenous Arts and Culture Night at Chalmers:

Another exciting community engagement night is happening on Thursday, May 16th from 6-7:30pm. Join us for Indigenous Arts and Culture Night at Chalmers! Together with your child you will have an opportunity to create Métis dot art, play and learn more about the cultural significance of lacrosse, enjoy Haudenosaunee social dancing and engage in a powerful discussion on “how we obtain and maintain our good mind.”

Safe Schools reminders:

Please remember that our school is maintained as a safe and secure site, and our doors are locked with access being granted through the office as well as by extended day staff. We kindly ask that you don’t wait to hold the door open for others or provide access to other members of the community. While we recognize that this is a common courtesy in many environments, we want to ensure that we know exactly who has been permitted into our school.

All visitors will continue to require permission from the office (and obtain a visitor badge) before entering the hallway. With the instructional day occurring from 9:20am-3:40pm, students arriving late or being dismissed early will receive assistance from a Chalmers staff member, and we ask that parents/guardians and visitors wait in the foyer. Students must be signed-in/out by a parent/guardian.

We continue to encourage the active participation of parents and community members who have a completed Vulnerable Sector Check with the Waterloo Regional Police. Once received, please submit your VSC to the main office.

Please refrain from using our parking lot:

Our parking lot is a very busy, small and unsupervised space. We encourage you to access the walking paths at either end of the school rather than cutting through the parking lot when walking with your children. As we strive to foster further independence in our students, it is important that we model the correct and safest way to arrive and depart from school. In addition, please refrain from parking in our lot. Parking on-site is only permitted to school and board staff and volunteers. We encourage you to pay careful attention to municipal parking regulations and signage when parking on the street.

Join over 80% of our families on School-Day!

Have you registered on School-Day.com? Be informed and stay connected to everything Chalmers. We will continue to send updates and our monthly Cougar Report through this digital platform. In addition to pizza sales being sold exclusively through School-Day, we will also be expanding its usage with field trips in the near future in our continued efforts to limit the cash flow at school.

WEFI: Did you know that you can make a donation to Chalmers online?

Donations to support student learning at Chalmers can be made online at anytime through the Waterloo Education Foundation Inc. These donations will support current initiatives at Chalmers, such as enhancing tech tools in the building, assisting us in supplementing our Nutrition for Learning program, reducing the cost of excursions for our students, and enabling special events to take place (e.g., guest speakers, parent engagement events).

Simply access our school website at Chalmers Street Public School and click on the “Donate Online!” button on the left. One time and monthly donation options are available. You are also able to include a “message” if you have a special request (e.g., “I would like my donation to be used to support Grade 6 camp; I want to contribute to Nutrition for Learning).

Just around the corner:

• School Council Meeting: Wednesday, May 8th @6pm in the Library
• Welcome to Kindergarten Night: Thursday, May 9th @ 6:15-7:15pm
• Indigenous Arts and Culture Night at Chalmers- Thursday, May 16th @ 6-7:30pm
• Grade 3 & 6 EQAO: Tuesday, May 21st- Monday, June 3rd
• Chalmers Junior Track and Field: Monday, May 27th (at Chalmers)
• Junior Track and Field Meet: Tuesday, June 11th (at Jacob Hespeler SS)

Around the community:

Carizon Family Game Night