With our increased Covid-fatigue, please remember to be vigilant about staying safe with all of our routines and procedures.
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Question about our TDSB COVID-19 Response?
https://www.tdsb.on.ca/In-Person-Learning/Health-and-Safety or please connect with us here at the school
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How to Register?
Registration for all TDSB Kindergarten programs begins in February.
We look forward to welcoming you and your child! You may choose to register by using our new online registration system.
Register here
Children who will be four by December 31, 2022, can start Junior Kindergarten in September 2022.
(2018 is JK in September 2022)
Please note:
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The TDSB Twitter account has all of the latest news whenever the weather is, or could be, an issue. You may want to give it a follow.
Decision to Close Schools - The decision to close schools is made by the Director of Education. School Closures and Cancellation of Transportation. Closure of schools or cancellation of transportation services will be announced from 6:30 a.m. onward on AM and FM Radio Stations as well as the Weather Network, and other local TV stations.
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School councils are an excellent way for you to get involved in your child’s education. Every TDSB school has an elected school council. Your school council is an important forum for involving parents/guardians and community in matters that affect the education of students.
The School Council meets regularly. This is a great chance to have your voices heard, propose ideas, and find out what’s going on in the McMurrich School Community. If you are not able to make it to the meetings, not a problem, feel free to contact us, as we are always looking for fresh new ideas, and volunteers to help out in the many events coming up. We host outreach events throughout the year to build community and coordinate fun events for our children such as pizza lunches, Dance-A-Thon and our annual Fun Fair.
Our Fundraising efforts enhance your child’s education and support school initiatives such as Scientists in the School, field trips, the purchasing of technology, special in-house programs such as storytellers, enriching our music program, sports and clubs and much more!
Please visit School Council's website for more information: http://www.mcmurrichschoolcouncil.com/
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Follow Us on Social Media #TDSB
Join the conversation by following the TDSB on social media. See the most up-to-date information and find out what’s happening across the Board by following our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Twitter - @TDSB
http://www.twitter.com/tdsb
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/toronto.dsb
Instagram - @Torontodsb
https://www.instagram.com/torontodsb
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Please remember that Attendance Matters!
When your child is healthy and well please ensure that they come to school and come to school on time. Many of our staff recognize that the young person's brain is most ready to engage in learning in the morning and start their days off with important lessons and opportunities. Thank you for doing your best to have your child at McMurrich by 8:40. It makes a difference.
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Don't forget about...
Recess During Rainy and Cooler Weather
As you all know we are encouraging our students to "Dress for Success" as it relates to our outdoor play priorities. We want our students to play in the many ways they do during their recess times!
Elementary school students are kept indoors for recess and lunch times for a number of weather conditions such as heavy rain, lightning in the area, extreme winds and extreme cold. When temperature and wind chill measure -28C or lower, students are kept indoors. Recesses and lunch hour may be shortened if the temperature and wind chill reading is between -20C and -28C.
Don't forget that our three guiding questions for our OPAL initiative for our students are:
1) Is it safe?
2) Is it fun?
3) Are you being inclusive?
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Safe Arrival Program
One measure of keeping students safe is ensuring students have safely arrived at school. If your child is going to be late or absent for any reason, it is important that you contact the office immediately and report the reason for the absence.
At the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) we have an automated call-out system that will attempt to contact you if your child is late or absent on the day where the school was not previously informed.
The system call-out will work as follows:
Parents/guardians identified in TDSB's Student Information Systems who has access to student records, and emergency contact with priority 1 or 2 will receive a call.
When you receive the call, you are required to listen to the entire message and follow the prompts accordingly.
You will be asked if you are aware or unaware of your child's absence.
If unaware, you will be asked to call the school immediately.
If you are aware of the absence, you will be asked to enter the reason for your child's absence. The following options will be provided for you:
- Illness;
- Doctor Appointment;
- Dentist Appointment;
- Family Matter;
- Weather;
- Other.
At the end of the message, you will have to press 2 to confirm you received the message.
If you do not confirm receipt, you will receive a call on your mobile phone.
If there is no response from a Priority 1 contact, this same process will be followed for Priority 2 contacts.
If there is no contact with either Priority 1 or Priority 2, this entire process will be repeated 3 times in 10 minute intervals.
In the evening, all parents/guardians of students who were late that day will receive a call informing them of their child's tardiness.
With this in mind, it is important that your contact information on file at the office is current and up-to-date. Please let the office know immediately if your contact information changes at any time throughout the school year.
We recognize that regular attendance is essential to the safety, academic success, and well-being of all students. Thank you for your continued cooperation to keep your child safe and accounted for.
For more information please visit www.tdsb.on.ca and search safe arrival program.
Anaphylaxis – Taking the Necessary Precautions:
Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that can be life threatening. This medical condition can cause a severe reaction to specific foods or other materials, and can result in death within minutes. Although foods such as peanuts, milk, eggs, and sesame seeds are the most common cause of anaphylaxis, insect stings, medicine, or latex can also cause a reaction. In recent years, anaphylaxis has increased dramatically among students. The TDSB is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for all students and works with Toronto Public Health and other partners to ensure the successful implementation of Sabrina's Law, which came into effect on January 1, 2006.
Sabrina's Law requires every school board to establish and maintain an anaphylactic policy that includes strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to anaphylactic causative agents in classrooms and common school areas. The TDSB has procedures for the prevention and management of anaphylactic reactions.
Although this may or may not affect your child’s class directly, we want to raise awareness about this life-threatening condition. Students who have severe allergies to such food substances are exposed to a severe health risk when such products are consumed in their environment or shared with them. As prevention is the best approach, we ask that you speak with your child about not sharing their snacks or lunches with other students and please do not send any snacks or lunches with your child that contain peanuts.
If your child has health problems of any kind, please inform your child’s teacher or office staff immediately so that the necessary health protection steps may be taken and to ensure everyone’s co-operation for a safe learning environment.
Whether you are living with the allergy yourself, caring for someone who is, or concerned about people in your community, more information about life threatening allergies is available on the Anaphylaxis Canada’s web site at http://www.anaphylaxis.org/ or by calling 416-785-5666. More information about anaphylaxis will also be available at our Meet the Teacher Night.
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Have you checked out the McMurrich Calendar?
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Indoor Shoes and Outdoor Clothing:
As the warmer weather arrives we just wanted to send out a quick note to remind all students to ensure they continue to please bring a pair of indoor shoes to leave at school. Students will be outdoors for both the recess periods and the lunch period and will be more comfortable if they are dressed for the weather.
As part of our outdoor play focus we will be going outside to play in light rain in the near future as well. Extra clothing in a bag for your child may be most helpful.
Hoping we return to "regular ways" sooner than later...
Safety in the Halls:
Just a quick reminder to please check in at the school office before you go to visit any classrooms. We want to ensure that our students are safe in all areas of the school and it really helps when the office is aware of any and all visitors in the school. We will have visitor stickers arriving soon that will help us to identify unknown adults in the building who have not signed in with the office.
- Please call the school office or send a note if you would like to make an appointment to meet with a staff member.
- If you have any items that you need to deliver to students during the school day, please bring them to the office and we will call students to pick them up.
- If students are late, please bring them to the office for a late slip. If the student needs someone to walk them up to class, we will call up to the rooms and have partners meet them in the office.
- We are also asking that parents do not enter the school with entry lines in the morning. We know that morning good byes can be tough but we would really appreciate your support with this.
Thank you for being willing to work together to keep the students at McMurrich safe.
Anaphylaxis – Taking the Necessary Precautions:
Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that can be life threatening. This medical condition can cause a severe reaction to specific foods or other materials, and can result in death within minutes. Although foods such as peanuts, milk, eggs, and sesame seeds are the most common cause of anaphylaxis, insect stings, medicine, or latex can also cause a reaction. In recent years, anaphylaxis has increased dramatically among students. The TDSB is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for all students and works with Toronto Public Health and other partners to ensure the successful implementation of Sabrina's Law, which came into effect on January 1, 2006.
Sabrina's Law requires every school board to establish and maintain an anaphylactic policy that includes strategies to reduce the risk of exposure to anaphylactic causative agents in classrooms and common school areas. The TDSB has procedures for the prevention and management of anaphylactic reactions.
Although this may or may not affect your child’s class directly, we want to raise awareness about this life-threatening condition. Students who have severe allergies to such food substances are exposed to a severe health risk when such products are consumed in their environment or shared with them. As prevention is the best approach, we ask that you speak with your child about not sharing their snacks or lunches with other students and please do not send any snacks or lunches with your child that contain peanuts.
If your child has health problems of any kind, please inform your child’s teacher or office staff immediately so that the necessary health protection steps may be taken and to ensure everyone’s co-operation for a safe learning environment.
Whether you are living with the allergy yourself, caring for someone who is, or concerned about people in your community, more information about life threatening allergies is available on the Anaphylaxis Canada’s web site at http://www.anaphylaxis.org/ or by calling 416-785-5666. More information about anaphylaxis will also be available at our Meet the Teacher Night.
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Stay safe and be well!