Good evening Chelsea Families,

I hope you and your children were able to enjoy the snowy afternoon after the challenging process of closing the school mid-morning. I want to thank our whole community for mobilizing quickly and efficiently to get students home safely today. We truly appreciate the responsiveness of our families when situations arise that require our immediate action, and the closure today was the right decision.

The school was ventilated throughout the day and while the smell is no longer present, as a precaution, the WQSB senior directors are arranging for an external assessment to be conducted. As a result, the school will be closed tomorrow, Thursday, December 5^th.  Please note that daycare services must be cancelled as well. Please see the attached letter from our Director General, Mr. Singfield, with further details. While they realize this may cause inconvenience, this precautionary measure is being taken to ensure the safety of our staff and students.

As always, I am confident that the safety of our staff and students is paramount in the WQSB making these decisions for our school. As I learn any new information, I will absolutely share that with our community. You will receive another update from me tomorrow in this regard.

Once again, thank you for your help and support today, and wishing everyone a good evening.

Bill Rosseel

Featuring Prize Winning DJ ‘Ross the Boss’

Chelsea Wear E-Store is Now Open! – Order before October, 18, 2024!

A reminder that Wednesdays are ‘Chelsea Gear Days’ at our school, where we encourage students and staff to wear their Chelsea gear with pride. To that end, we have many students and families asking about the next opportunity to purchase Chelsea School clothing. We are happy to announce that our fall e-store in partnership with Ricart is now officially open! We have a feature t-shirt (in men’s, women’s and kids) with our school name pulled from the beautiful graffiti mural in our Grand Hall created by Jimmy Baptiste and our students. There are also many other items for purchase that are available through this link. The e-store will remain open until Friday, October 18^th and then they go into production to get things shipped to our school. Please place your orders ASAP if you are interested. See the attached flyer for further details and the QR code.

Good afternoon Chelsea Families,

The last full week of September has come and gone, and what a busy week it was! There is so much going on at Chelsea Elementary School to appreciate and celebrate, and some important items I wanted to share with you as we lead into the weekend. Please see the details listed below.

NDTR & Orange Shirt Day Monday

There has been a great deal of learning and discussion taking place in classrooms related to the upcoming National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, as well as the Orange Shirt story and it’s meaning as it relates to September 30^th of each year (and beyond). Our students and staff have been learning about the history and impact of residential schools on survivors, their families, and their communities. Students have continued their work on visual representations of their learning throughout the school. On Monday, students and staff are encouraged to wear orange in support of Orange Shirt Day and its significant message. Our school will observe a moment of silence and reflection in the morning, as well as a musical interlude and special performance. We would like to continue this learning throughout the course of the year with our staff and students involving outside partners and members of the Indigenous community (see below). As a school, we are committed to listening, learning, and taking action that supports reconciliation. 

Reconciliation Through Art Opportunity at La Fab Open to Families

La Fab Chelsea is hosting Cree Metis resident artist Amanda Pierce who would like to extend an invitation to families to explore and learn about the stories behind each piece in honor of Truth and Reconciliation Day. A smudge will be lit throughout the day for moments of reflection and connection, offering a chance to engage in a collaborative journey of understanding and reconciliation through art. You can join Amanda at the gallery (La Fab) on:

• Saturday, September 28 from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
• Sunday, September 29 from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

During these dates, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in the creative process. While not a formal workshop, this informal setting allows you to create alongside Amanda. Try your hand at mark-making, create small bundles, embellish a feather stick in the traditional way and contribute to an abstract feather stick art piece that will be displayed on La Fab’s front doors on September 30.

On Monday, September 30, the gallery will be open from 1:00PM – 5:00 PM. Although Amanda will not be present, visitors are encouraged to reflect quietly and appreciate the art, enhancing the experience of this meaningful day.

Terry Fox Wrap-Up

We were so fortunate to have a beautiful weather day for today’s Terry Fox Run and Activity Day! We got warmed up, then students ran or walked the full perimeter of our school property with parents, friends and volunteers cheering them on. Following the run, students got to visit a rotation of activity stations run by our Grade 6 students and parent volunteers, as well as the rest and relax station with water, orange slices, music, games, slime, sidewalk chalk and more. It was such a fun and important event for our school, and our students did an amazing job running this race in honour of the Marathon of Hope. Thank you to everyone for all your efforts in making this such a successful day for fun for an amazing cause!

Chelsea Gear E-Store is Open!

A reminder that Wednesdays are ‘Chelsea Gear Days’ at our school, where we encourage students and staff to wear their Chelsea gear with pride. To that end, we have many students and families asking about the next opportunity to purchase Chelsea School clothing. We are happy to announce that our fall e-store in partnership with Ricart is now officially open! We have a feature t-shirt (in men’s, women’s and kids) with our school name pulled from the beautiful graffiti mural in our Grand Hall created by Jimmy Baptiste and our students. There are also many other items for purchase that are available through this link: Home | Chelsea Elementary School (inksoft.com) The e-store will remain open until Friday, October 18^th and then they go into production to get things shipped to our school. Please place your orders ASAP if you are interested. See the attached flyer for further details and the QR code.

September 30^th Declaration

A reminder that Monday, September 30^th is our enrolment count day, so it is very important for students to be in attendance that morning to be able to be marked as present in our numbers. For any student who misses this date, an attestation of attendance form will need to be signed by parents/guardians and returned to the school to make it into our official count.

Join the PPO Mailing List

If you are interested in getting updates from or becoming a part of our Parent Participation Organization (P.P.O.), please reach out by e-mail to the following address: chelseaesppo@gmail.com Once on this list, you will be the first to receive updates about volunteer opportunities, chances to get involved in school events and school life, and contribute to the Chelsea School community.

Traffic Pattern Changes Effective Monday

If you have not yet had the opportunity, please carefully read my message to families from Thursday morning with regards to the traffic patterns changes for our staff, parents and school buses. I have attached the aerial map visual of the new traffic patterns that will take effect beginning Monday and through early November. More details to come, but please be ready for Monday’s drop-off as outlined.

Thank you for your cooperation, and I wish everyone a wonderful sunny weekend as we head into October together!

Bill Rosseel

Meet the Teacher Picnic & Annual General Assembly Thursday, September 12^th

Please find attached an information letter regarding the upcoming AGA/Governing Board elections for our school, as well as our Meet the Teacher Evening. This event will look slightly different than in previous years:

• 5:30 – 6:45 PM: Meet the Teacher Picnic (see flyer attached)
  • All students & families are invited to this picnic event on our front lawn – a perfect opportunity to meet our staff and other members of the school community!
  • There will be a PPO (Parent’s Organization) table to promote opportunities for families to get involved in school life & activities
  • Treats will be on sale at the concession stand
• 7:00 PM: AGA and Governing Board elections in the MPR

We hope to see everyone at this important welcome back event and meeting to elect our Governing Board representatives.

Happy Monday to our Families,

As we begin the week, I wanted to share a few more details regarding the upcoming dance fundraiser as there is a lot of interest and a few questions, which is fantastic! Please see the important notes below regarding Friday evening’s event (same rules and outline as the Halloween event):

• You are welcome to wear semi-formal attire for fun, but it is absolutely not required to attend.

• Admission is $3.00 per child; students must be accompanied by an adult responsible (parent/designate) who will sign-in with their contact information for each minor/student they are accompanying. Students will not be allowed to leave the school premises without their adult responsible. If a student leaves the dance, that means they leave for the evening; there are no in and out privileges.
  
  Winter Wonderland Poster
  
• Only students who attend Chelsea Elementary School are permitted to attend this dance, however, this is a Chelsea Elementary family event and siblings of Grade 6 age and below are welcome to attend!

• Tickets will be available for purchase for drinks, candy, chips and non-candy treats (glow sticks, toys, etc.); we will be accepting cash, debit and credit at this event.
• If you are interested in volunteering to support this event by taking a shift during the evening, please consider visiting this link to sign up: C.E.S Winter Carnival and Winter Wonderland Dance Sign-up UPDATE.xlsx (sharepoint.com)

• At the beginning of the dance, chaperones will be identified. They include members of the Parent Participation Organization (PPO) and other volunteers; chaperones’ instructions are to be respected by everyone.
• Parents and students are to be respectful to Parent Participation Organization (PPO) Members, Staff and Volunteers; respect for all, by all.
• Doors will be monitored by a Parent Participation Organization (PPO) and Volunteers.
• School access is limited to the MPR (dance area), Grand Hall & washrooms in the main foyer (no classroom access).
• No smoking or alcoholic beverages permitted at the dance or on school grounds.
• Safety/emergency measures in place for the dance are working in conjunction with the school’s Emergency Preparedness Plan.
• All proceeds raised go towards our MPR Beautification Plan

NOTE: If any families are willing to lend/donate winter-themed decorations to help us beautify the MPR, it would be greatly appreciated. Please reach out to the office if you are willing to do so.

Looking forward to a fun family event and we will be spinning those tunes for you, so get your moves ready!

DJ Ross the Boss

Good afternoon Chelsea Families,

I hope that everyone has had an enjoyable start to February this week. Today at C.E.S., we celebrated 100s Day with a showcase of beautiful projects completed by our Kinder and Cycle 1 students. All our classes got to visit the MPR and see the creative and thoughtful work that was put into these projects by our students in commemorating this important milestone in every school year – 100 days of classes completed!

Registration Day for New Students in 2024-2025

We will be holding a Registration Day for new incoming Kindergarten students on Monday, February 12^th from 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM. Margit Pedersen will be taking appointments throughout the day to get students registered for next year. This day is also open to any student who may be new coming to the school next year at the older grades as well.

WQSB App

A reminder that if you have not done so, I would highly recommend that parents take the time to download the WQSB app to their devices so that you can receive transportation and inclement weather updates in real time. For example, we have been experiencing several bus cancellations recently and this was the main mechanism that the school board used to communicate this information to both the school and families.

Parent Workshop Series

There are a series of workshops being offered to families within our community, and one is coming up on February 20^th at the Wakefield Community Center. This is being offered by an organization called Village Parent, and further information available at www.villageparent.ca Please see the attached leaflet for details.

Parent Getting Involved (P.P.O.)

There are many opportunities for parents to get involved in school life and events in the coming months, that are included but not limited to:

• Volunteering in our Library
• Supporting fundraising efforts (ex: pizza lunches)
• Stations for Winter Carnival Afternoon
• Upcoming Winter Wonderland Dance supervision
• School Beautification Projects

If interested, please feel free to add your name to the link below!

 C.E.S Winter Carnival and Winter Wonderland Dance Sign-up UPDATE.xlsx

PD Days Next Week

A reminder that there are two PD days in our school calendar on Monday, February 12^th & Tuesday, February 13^th. No classes will be running, and staff will be engaging in professional learning opportunities during these days. We look forward to welcoming students back when classes resume on Wednesday, February 14^th.

Winter Carnival Afternoon Feb. 14^th

Despite the lack of fluffy snow on the ground these days, Ms. Bea has been organizing activities and stations in support of a Winter Carnival afternoon on Wednesday, February 14^th beginning at 12:30 PM. Students will be moving through winter activity games and stations in groups (7 total), and we will have music and hot chocolate available for all participants. Families are also welcome to attend this event from 1:00 – 2:30 PM to enjoy the fun. We are looking forward to all getting outside and enjoying ourselves together as a school community!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend ahead,

Good afternoon Chelsea Families,

I hope that everyone had a happy, safe, and restful winter break over the past few weeks.  We are very excited as a school team to welcome our students back to Chelsea Elementary tomorrow (Tuesday) as classes resume following the shutdown.

I know many families have been monitoring the teacher negotiations over the course of this break. Please find attached a memo from our WQSB Director General, George Singfield, regarding the ongoing negotiations between teachers, professionals, and the government. We will continue to share information as it becomes available to us.

Looking forward to getting 2024 off to a great start together! All the best,

Bill Rosseel