August 29th, 2025

New - Blue Box Recycling

This year, blue bin recycling for plastic, glass, and metal will no longer be available at our school. The contractor who previously serviced blue bin recycling for all four Ottawa school boards chose not to continue when the contract ended in July, and unfortunately, a replacement service has not yet been secured. While we share in your disappointment, we are hopeful that this service can be reinstated in the future.

Paper and mixed fibre recycling will continue as usual. In the meantime, we ask students to bring any plastic, glass, or metal recyclables back home for proper disposal in household blue bins. To help reduce waste, we are encouraging families to embrace the Boomerang Lunch and Reusable Water Bottles.

• Boomerang Lunches: All wrappers, containers, and food scraps are returned home in your child's lunch bag. This allows families to see what has been eaten and to recycle or compost appropriately. 

• Reusable Water Bottles: Encourage your child to refill a reusable water bottle instead of bringing disposable plastic bottles.

As with any new initiative, we will work together to support efforts to reduce waste and for helping your child make environmentally responsible choices each day.

2025 - 2026 Class Lists

The organization of our school is based on student enrollment. We have received a number of registrations throughout the summer. The organization of our school may be affected by new registrations and students moving to other areas. We appreciate your understanding that, at this time, class assignments are finalized and we will not be accepting requests for changes. Careful consideration goes into planning balanced classes to best meet the needs of all students. We look forward to a year that further promotes your child's academic and social-emotional development and growth. 

You should receive an email indicating your Grade 1 - 6 child’s morning homeroom teacher by the end of day today, August 29th indicating your child’s morning homeroom class and informing you where to meet your child’s teacher on the morning of the first day of school. If you do not receive an email please inform the school. 

Kindergarten students were given an appointment time in June for their literacy screening/orientation and when their first day at school will be.  Please review the notice sent home in June. Please call the school with any questions. 

First Day of School for Gr. 1 - 6 Students

On Tuesday September 2nd, whether your grade 1 - 6 child takes the bus, walks or gets dropped off, staff will be present in the school yard from 9:00 - 9:15 am to assist your child to find their class. Students in grades 1 - 6 will be asked to line up at their assigned spot near their entry door. If you or your child are unsure of where to meet your child’s teacher, please ask one of the yellow-vested staff members. The assigned doors/meeting spots at the back of the school are as follows:

Door 1 (closest to gate to enter the school yard) 

4I(Mme Gauthier), 5BL(Ms. Stasiewicz,) 5/6BL(TBD), 6BL(Ms.Ferraro)

Door 2 (middle doors) - 1L(Mrs. Lombardi), 1/2M(Mrs. Mount), 3/4L(Mrs. Lepindea) 

Door 3 (Portapack) - 2/3F(Mrs. Flynn), 3P(Mrs. Prosser)

At the end of the day, our Grades 1 - 6 students who are walkers will be dismissed at the back of the school. Staff will be outside with their students to ensure that they connect with their parents. Dismissal is always a busy time so we ask that if you need to communicate with the teacher about a question or concern to please phone or email them.

If your child is late to school, you will need to sign them in at the office. We will have a sign-in table between our two entry doors at the front of the school. 

Please note that dogs are not permitted on the premises as we have students with allergies and a fear of dogs.

School Supplies

Students need to come to school with a school bag, a lunch kit and non-marking indoor running shoes for the classroom and gym. Our school provides the necessary supplies for students. Many parents, however, ask for suggestions so that their child can have their individual supplies. Some families prefer for students to have some school supplies for their personal use. A suggested optional list of school supplies parents of students from grade 1-6 may choose to send to school with their student includes:

• a pencil case

• pencil crayons

• calculator (grades 4 - 6)

• a box of kleenex

• a box of large ziploc bags

• erasers

• glue sticks

• children’s safety scissors

• headphones 

There may be very few specific optional items that the teacher may request. If so, it will be communicated to you by the educators once school begins.

Kindergarten Parents:

Kindergarten students will need a medium backpack, lunch bag, indoor running shoes (velcro please), refillable water bottle, small blanket for quiet time, and a labelled change of clothing in a ziploc bag.

Open House

Our school will be hosting a Welcome Back Open House on Thursday, September 11th from 4:30 - 6:00 pm.  You and your child are welcome to stop by the school to meet our team of educators and visit the classrooms.  We hope you are able to join us!    

Morning Drop-off/Afternoon Pickup

Morning drop-off and afternoon dismissal is always the busiest time of the school day. This will be exacerbated with the ongoing construction on Jeanne d’Arc. We are also anticipating an increase in vehicular traffic due to an increasing number of parents choosing to provide their own transportation to school. We encourage parents to walk their children to school, if possible. To ensure the safety of all students and staff, we ask that you please follow the expectations below.

If you are dropping your child off for EDP or school in the morning, we ask that you please park in one of the visitor parking spots and not the staff parking lot.  

Students who travel to school by bus or special transportation vehicles are greeted each morning by a staff member on duty who will guide them safely to the path that leads to the school yard. Kindergarten bus students will be directed to their yard by one of our student bus leaders.  

Students who walk or bike to school proceed directly to the school yard.  Kindergarten students who do not take a bus will need to be dropped off by a parent/guardian at the gate near the kindergarten yard at the front of the school.

Parents who drive their children to school will need to park their car in one of the visitor parking spots and walk their children to their school yard (or office if arriving after 9:15 am).  We ask that you refrain from letting your children out of your vehicle in the laneway as it is not safe.  For the safety of all of our students, we ask that you respect this request. Students are not permitted in the parking lot without the supervision of a parent/guardian. Please escort children to the appropriate gate.

If there is a change of plan in regards to how your child will be going home at the end of the day, parents MUST phone or email the school before 3:15 pm to notify us of the change. This includes changes to who is picking up your child or if your child is not to take the bus that day.  This protocol is extremely important to follow so that we know our students are going home safely.

Stay Connected and Informed

It is important that all parents sign up for the following applications so that they may stay connected and informed:

* School Messenger - To ensure that you always get communication from the school, teachers, and the school board, please sign up for School Messenger. If you wish to receive all types of emails sent by the school, you must opt in for GENERAL Messages. To receive any emails sent by the school, your  preference must be set up to “yes” for General Messages. To receive any emails from your child’s teachers, your preference must be set to “yes” for Teacher-to-Parent Messaging. 

FYI - This newsletter was shared via EMERGENCY send. This is a feature only used in an emergency situation. Going forward communication/newsletters will NOT be sent to you this way and you risk not getting important information from the school, so please be sure to sign up ASAP!

*School Cash Online - This will allow you to pay for events and or hot lunch days once they commence. We do NOT accept cash or cheques at the school.

*Parent Portal - This will ensure that you have access to your child’s report cards and for some students their Individual Education Plans (IEPs). Printed report cards will no longer be sent home. Parents may also update their contact information in the parent portal.

Signing up is easy! Simply follow the steps in the embedded links above. If you need assistance, please call the school next week and Mrs. Albert will be happy to assist you.

Volunteering

If you are interested in volunteering at the school for field trips, hot lunches and special events, you must be on the school volunteer list. To add your name to the volunteer list you must email the OCSB volunteer coordinator at www.ocsb.ca/contact/volunteers/ to begin the process. Please note that a police records check for the vulnerable sector will be needed. The records check is sent directly to the volunteer coordinator and not to the school.

School Bus Service

Please review your child’s information on the Bus Planner Web. Parents are asked to stay with their children at the bus stop until the bus arrives in case of delays or cancellations.  

We ask that you please review the importance of being safe when riding the school bus.  Please see the attached link for some school bus safety resources to review with your child.

Student Absences/Late Drop off/ Early Pick-up Procedures

If your child will not be attending school for any reason, please call the school at 613-824-8541 or email us at Convent.Glen@ocsb.ca. Please leave your child’s full name, class, grade and reason for absence on the answering machine if calling after hours. 

If your child is late to school, you will need to sign them in. We have a sign in table set-up between our two entry doors at the front of the school. Once they are signed in, we will send them to their class. Please note that if you arrive at the school during O’Canada and morning prayer, you will need to wait outside until the morning routine is finished.

If you need to pick your child up during the school day, please email the school at Convent.Glen@ocsb.ca or phone the school at 613-824-8541 to let us know.  Once you arrive in the parking lot, please call the school and your child will be called down to the office.  Please make your way to the front of the school to sign your child out. Students will not be permitted to wait in the office in the event that you are late arriving to pick them up.

Illness or Accidents at School

If your child becomes ill or is injured at school they will be escorted to the office. If the injury or illness is severe, a call will be made to the parents and/or 911 emergency.  If your child feels better, or in the case of a minor injury for which first aid is administered, they will return to their classroom. Parents will be notified in the case of any reported accident that involves a bump to the head.  

Parents are asked to contact the school immediately if your child is at home sick due to a contagious condition such as pink eye, chickenpox, fifth disease or head lice.  When a child is sick at school, the office will contact the parent or guardian. Please do not send your child to school while they are recovering from an illness. A child is not to be sent with a request to remain indoors during recess as there is no supervision available.

Allergies

Please be aware that there are students and staff members in our school with severe life-threatening food allergies including peanuts, nuts, shellfish, sesame, kiwi, coconut, eggs, dairy products. These individuals are diagnosed as anaphylactic. Anaphylaxis is a medical condition that causes a severe reaction to specific foods and can be fatal. Your child’s teacher will share specific information about possible allergies in their classroom.  Convent Glen Catholic School strives to be a scent-free environment for the safety of staff and students.  We thank you for your cooperation in helping to keep all of our students and staff safe.

OCSB Parent Portal

Having accurate student information on file is very important. We are asking parents to review this important information and verify all details such as address, phone number, daycare, emergency contact etc. through the Parent Portal.  If there is information that needs updating, please send an email to Convent.Glen@ocsb.ca and we will make the changes for you. If you have trouble signing up for the Parent Portal or need other support, please use the Compass Support Chat (blue tab in the bottom right corner of the Parent Portal Login screen). As well, please ensure that the following forms are completed in the Parent Portal:

• Responsible Use of Technology

• Off Site Permission Form

• OCSB Student Verification

• Consent for Use and Disclosure of Information