New Vice-Principal at Alta Vista PS next year
Current Vice-Principal Mme Grondin will be transferring to Trillium Elementary School in Orleans. She has worked tirelessly for three years as our Vice-Principal and Intermediate Core French teacher and we will miss her greatly. We wish her all the best in this next step of her career.
Mr. Paul Parmelee will be our Vice-Principal next year. He comes to us with 21 years of experience with the OCDSB, 18 years as a classroom teacher and the last three as Vice-Principal of Cedarview MS. AV will be the fifth school he has worked in. Paul has a coaching background and he truly believes “that a school community is a big team in which goals are reached when we all pull together in the same direction supporting one another along the way.”
September Organization and staffing
We are pleased to be so far along in the staffing process for September. Mme Rizzi’s letter of retirement has just been received and so her position will be the final teaching one to be staffed.
Angela Petten was the successful applicant for the Learning Resource Teacher (LRT) position as well as the ESL position. She comes to us from Vincent Massey where she is the Lead ESL teacher and from R.E. Wilson where she was most recently LRT for the past two years.
Lisa Gibson will be joining us as a grade 8 Homeroom teacher as well as working half-time with the LD class. She taught at Queen Elizabeth School for ten years. Mrs. Gibson has a strong knowledge of the Grade 8 curriculum and special education.
Michelle Smith is will be teaching our Grade 4 French Immersion. She returns back to Canada and Alta Vista from two years of teaching in Brazil. Welcome back Mme Smith!
Stefan Nichols is joining us after spending 3 years teaching French immersion at Hopewell. Prior to that he was at Roberta Bondar when Mr. Walker also taught there. Mr. Nichols will be teaching grade 7 EFI and Grade 6 EFI. He is the owner of his own hockey school and is excited to have the opportunity to teach and coach sports here at AVPS.
Classes are Still Tentative
Due to Ministry caps in the primary grades of 20 students (with 10% of primary classes allowed to reach 23 students), the addition or departure of one or two students might well impact on class organization. Class organization can change before the end of June and in August before school starts. Class organization will only be finalized once actual attendance numbers are sent in to the board office at the beginning of September after which our final allocation is confirmed. We will be sending a note home with report cards to share about the first day of school which is Tuesday September 7th.
Thank you to parents who have shared their input as we have created tentative class lists for September.
If you have further input on class placement for your child, please write a note to Mrs. Bright and she will follow-up.
We have very strong enrolment and we received news this past week that we have been allocated two portables (with air conditioners). We will be calling them Chalet Forget and Chalet Cayen in honour of the two teachers who will be teaching in them in the fall.
Annual Spring Fair a huge success
Spring is in the air! Alta Vista School Council proudly presented its Annual Spring Fair on Saturday, May 1st. With the assistance of many parents, teachers, community members and students, this was the school's second biggest fundraiser of the year and a great opportunity to celebrate the school, students and the community.
The fair featured games, a plant sale, Silent Auction, Cake Walk, face painting, White Elephant Sale, pizza, a used book sale, Hair & Nails, a bake sale, BBQ, Cupcake Walk, and a craft room. Also guest appearances were made by Alta Vista’s own Student Drumming and Strings Music Program Students, Ottawa Police, Fire Department, Bouncy Castles and more!
Education Ministry invites questions about new full-day learning program
May 12, 2010—Today the Ministry of Education launched a new online tool on its website.
The new online section, Discussion on Early Learning, will make it easier for staff in the education sector to ask questions about the new full-day learning program and engage in a discussion with the Early Learning Division.
The new site will be interactive, providing a forum to listen to ideas and respond to questions. It will also feature some of the most frequently asked questions and comments, along with responses from the Early Learning Division. In addition there will be an archive of questions and answers that visitors can read through.
"A Knight to Remember" a smash hit!
"A Knight to Remember," a musical produced by grade 5 teacher, Mrs. Betty Anne Malloff, was recently presented to a packed gym at Alta Vista.
Full day kindergarten is being phased in over five years. We do not yet know when Alta Vista will be offering full day kindergarten. We are not anticipating it will be before our late French immersion program is phased out as our school is at capacity. Our last class of late French immersion will finish in June 2012.
Two cases of Fifth Disease reported at Alta Vista
We have had two physician confirmed cases of Fifth Disease at Alta Vista P.S. Fifth Disease, also known as Parvovirus B19, is a viral illness usually affecting children, but it can affect people of all ages.
Kindergarten and Vista Daycare for September 2010
This is just a reminder that for the upcoming school year (2010-2011), Kindergarten will continue to be a HALF day morning or afternoon program. The morning program runs from 9:00—1130 a.m. and the afternoon program runs from 1:00-3:30 p.m. The staffing process is not yet underway, nor has our initial allocation been made for September 2010, but at this point based on kinder registrations, we are planning for 3 English JK/SK classes (one morning JK, one afternoon JK/SK and one afternoon JK) and 3 Early French immersion SK classes: two mornings and one afternoon class. We are also, at this point, anticipating having the same teachers teach in our Kinder program for the upcoming year.
We are not anticipating any changes to the Vista DayCare before and after school program for 2010.
We will keep you aware of new information as it becomes available. If you have any questions or concerns, do no hesitate to contact the school.
Alta Vista fundraiser reaches out to the world community
The Alta Vista Public School fundraiser, held within days of the January 12th earthquake in Haiti, raised almost $8,000. Efforts included a pie toss at 20-plus teachers, a jelly bean counting event, and a competition to see which class could bring in the most donations.
>Read story & see pictures
Project Love/Project Amour raises funds for school supplies
As part of the Alta Vista Public School fundraiser, Project Love/Project Amour raised $1,650.00 to purchase school supplies for Haiti and Malawi.
Information session for parents of kindergarten registrants
If you have already registered your child, we recommend that you attend the May 27th information session from 6:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. starting in Gym 2 followed by visits to the kindergarten classrooms.
>Read more
Ontario will stop issuing fall report cards to elementary school pupils starting next year. Teachers in Ontario have pushed for years to get rid of the report cards, which are usually issued in late October or early November, saying they come too soon after the start of the school year.
Breakfast Club at Alta Vista
The Children’s Breakfast Clubs is a program that ensures that every child receives a nutritious breakfast and a good beginning of the day. An estimated 300 breakfasts are 
served each week to approximately 60 students. In addition to serving bagels, croissants, cereals, the Children’s Breakfast Club also offers nutrition and social development opportunities. Thank you to Laura-Lee MacDonald who joined us as the new Breakfast Club Coordinator. To prepare and shop for food Laura-Lee follows the Canadian food guide and Breakfast organization of Ontario guidelines. Laura Lee is also being helped by students who set up and serve breakfast every morning. We are in need of parent volunteers who could give us 45 minutes to an hour to assist Laura-Lee supervise the group of students eating breakfast.
Why volunteer for Breakfast club?
• If they don’t already participate, your own children can join breakfast club and enjoy the great food.
• It is early in the morning from 8:15 until 9:00 so you can do it before going to work
• You can supervise for 1 morning, 2 mornings or more. It is your choice.
• You get to meet great kids who participate in sports, music, and school clubs.
• All you need is to love spending time with kids
If you can give us an hour of your time in the morning, please email Mme Grondin at Micheline.Grondin@ocdsb.ca
Street Safety
Several staff and parents have expressed concern over street safety on Randall Street in particular near Ridgecrest and Randall Street. We are asking all parents to slow down when driving on Randall Street and to respect the no stopping zone. The Ottawa Police have advised that the safest way to drop off students is to use the “Kiss and Ride” drop off zone in the school parking lot. Students who do cross Randall Street should also be reminded to look both ways before crossing the street.
Supervision in the morning
In the morning, duty staff begins supervision duty at 8: 45 a.m. Please be aware that we cannot accept responsibility for students who are left on their own earlier than this time and request your cooperation in not dropping off your child(ren) before 8:45 a.m. Thank you!
Knitting/Sewing Club
Thank you to parent Laura-Lee MacDonald student are able to participate in a sewing /knitting club on Tuesday during the morning recesses.
Athletic News
We have had many athletic activities taking place this past month. Mr. Costello has been welcoming countless students during the morning recesses to play intramural basketball. There have been opportunities in soccer, cross country running, football and badminton.
Lunch monitors
As part of the Community of Character program this year at Alta Vista, all the intermediate students will have an opportunity to be a lunch monitor on rotation, in a primary or junior classroom. Rotations are for either term one, two, or three. Six different teams of students cover the morning or afternoon nutrition breaks. The lunch monitor role is very important in helping students develop responsibility, respect, perseverance, fairness and empathy five of the ten character traits suggested in emphasized in the OCDSB “A Community of Character” Wheel.
All students doing the first rotation have received a pamphlet explaining the role of the Lunch monitor and given instruction on the difference between supervising and disciplining. Lunch monitors are helping the younger students with their lunch, go pick up the milk and the pizza for the class, support teacher supervision and play indoor games on inclement weather days.
We are very proud of our student lunch monitors. Check out the display in the school and you might see a picture of your child learning a game form a lunch monitor during inclement weather, or of your child sharing their skills with younger ones!
Healthy/Active Schools
As part of our Healthy/Active Schools participation, we encourage students to bring healthy snacks and lunches. Please choose healthy food for your child for both nutrition breaks, including 100% fruit or veggie options, juice, cheese or yogurt.
Please do not send glass bottles to school.
Psychologist and Social Worker
We are pleased to introduce you to AV’s school psychologist, Isabelle Geracts Rose, and our social worker, Emily Balla. Dr. Geraets Rose will usually be available to students Wednesday afternoons, while Ms. Balla will be available Tuesday afternoons. Please speak to our learning support teachers, Laura Eagles (primary/junior) or Jennie Campbell (intermediate) if you are interested in accessing either of these services. A signed parent consent form will be required for ongoing services.
A safer walk to school . . . A new adult Crossing Guard
The City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Safety Council are helping children in your area walk to school more safely. Starting in September of 2009, a new supervised school crossing, staffed with an adult Crossing Guard, will be implemented at the intersection of Bank Street and Randall Avenue for students from Alta Vista Public School.