Belonging and Connection at Janet Johnstone School:

Our school's motto is "Better Together" / "Meilleur Ensemble". It's important for students to feel like they are connected to their classrooms and the school community.

“Students who feel connected to their schools are also more apt to have better academic achievement, to maintain better school attendance, and to stay in school longer” (Joint Consortium for School Health- Positive Mental Health Toolkit, 2016, p.4).

Teachers use a variety of strategies to create connected classroom communities such as developing clear expectations for learning and relationships, teaching positive social skills and providing opportunities to work together.

Our whole staff strives to create opportunities for community building through whole-school activities such as our Friday assemblies. Every Friday morning, our whole school gathers in the gym for a short assembly.

During the assemblies:

-older students have the opportunity to be leaders

-students learn how to be positive members of the audience

-we celebrate diversity in our school community

-we sing O Canada in French and English and our school song

-classes share what they have been learning

-teachers teach important lessons that are connected to our Physical Education and Wellness (Health) curriculum such as safety and relationship skills

Families are invited to join us every Friday at 8:00AM. Parents/guardians will be notified ahead of time if their child's class will be presenting or if their child will be speaking in the assembly.

Our Remembrance Day assembly will be on Thursday, November 7 at 10:30AM.

Please join us!

Celebrations:

Our school community is diverse and we love learning about each other! We recognize that our families celebrate many things. This week we will celebrate Halloween as a school and we will also learn about dates that are important to our families. If you would like to teach us about your family's celebrations, look for a survey from Mrs. Paul that will be coming home in the next couple of weeks. Here is CBE's calendar of significance:

https://cbe.ab.ca/registration/calendars/Pages/dates-of-significance.aspx

Lost and Found:

The Lost and Found is piling up! Teachers will walk their classes by the items this week. Parents are welcome to take a look. The items will be donated to charity on Monday, November 4. Moving forward, we will donate left over items every month.

Here's what's coming up at JJ: