November 9, 2011 – Trustee All-Candidates Meeting

/ Ross Road PAC

Posted on behalf of the North Vancouver Parent Advisory Council

The North Vancouver PAC invites all North Vancouver City and District parents to attend a School Trustee all-candidates meeting on November 9, 2011.

North Vancouver District and City
School Trustee All-Candidates Meeting
• Wednesday, November 9th
• 7pm to 9pm
• Sutherland Secondary School Theatre
• 1860 Sutherland Avenue
• Map http://g.co/maps/yzfcj

This is your chance to meet and ask questions of the candidates that will be deciding the direction of the North Vancouver School District over the next three years.

Seating is limited.  If you plan to attend, please RSVP to rsvp@northvanpac.org

More info on School District issues from NVPAC http://blog.northvanpac.org/

For more information about the upcoming Local Government Elections, please visit the Advocacy Ross Road section of this website:
https://rossroadpac.ca/advocacy-ross-road/local-election-2011/

Ross Road Parents’ Night Out – tickets on sale now!

/ Ross Road PAC

Parents, are you ready for a night of FUN? Book your babysitter and come with your dancing shoes! When is this unforgettable night, you ask?
Here are the details:

  • What: Ross Parents’ Night Out! Enjoy a Burger & Beverage for only $20! There will be lots of dancing, fun games and silent auction.
  • When:  Saturday, November 19th, 6:30 PM
  • Where:  Mosquito Creek Bar & Grill (at Westview Plaza)
  • Why:  To raise money for Ross Road to purchase computers, iPad2’s, Smart Boards and laptops (*see below for more info)

Mark your calendars and get your tickets…now on sale!
Tickets are $20 per person (includes burger & beverage)
To purchase tickets, please contact:
• Judy Campardo at judycampardo@shaw.ca or call 604-505-4556
• Michele Ferguson at mtjs@telus.net or call 778-389-5017

To let you know what kind of night you will have, read about what some Ross Road parents have to say…

We always make sure to book a babysitter early – this is a great parent gathering that is not to be missed!  Great music for dancing later too!
—Jen VanderMye

I love walking into a pub and knowing everyone there! It is fun to see parents (without kids) out having a good time… no soccer balls, no hockey rinks, not a back pack in sight! Just adult beverages and burgers… who knew these people could be this fun when their kids aren’t around!!
—Jane Ince

I never knew what a Toonie Toss was!  But the men sure do get competitive!  Given the prize… What a night!
—Judy C.

Thanks so much for helping us support our kids!
See you on November 19th!
—Judy and Michele

*Information Technology (IT) Committee
The PAC has made the decision to purchase suitable computers and other technological devices for our classrooms. This is a large project that is directed by an Information Technology (IT) Committee. All stakeholders (teachers, administrators, School Board representatives and parents) are represented on the Committee. More information about IT purchases will be coming home to families soon. To assist in the purchases planned for this school year, funds raised at the Parents’ Night Out will go towards computers, iPad2’s, Smart Boards and laptops.

For more information about the IT Committee and the planned purchases, please contact Jane Ince or Carolann Fraenkel:
Jane Ince:  jane@jimediaconnections.com
Carolann Fraenkel: CFraenkel@nvsd44.bc.ca

A summary of recent PAC posts

/ Ross Road PAC

As you know, we are no longer publishing monthly PAC newsletters. Instead we are focusing on keeping the PAC website up-to-date and full of useful information! As we add new items, older items tend to get hidden so we thought that each month we would publish a summary of recent posts.

Click on a bulleted item to read more:

Upcoming PAC Events

PAC Updates

School events/activities

Parent Resources

Community News

You can also view the posts for each month by clicking on a particular month in the “View posts by month” drop-down menu in the right sidebar.

Food Day orders – new deadline: Friday, November 4th

/ Ross Road PAC

Dear Ross Road Parents:

MunchALunch is open for Food Day ordering until Friday, November 4th at midnight.  This will allow you to order for November, January and February. For those parents who missed the initial ordering deadline or would like to add to an existing order, you are welcome to go to MunchALunch to do so until this new deadline.

Click here, or on the MunchALunch logo at the top right of this website, to go to the Food Days page where you will find the MunchALunch buttons to either log in or to register your children.

If you want to view what you have already ordered for your child, look under the menu options for My Account and then View My Order.

Any questions, please contact me at liv2play@telus.net.

Tammy Stothers
604 986 9575

Last chance to be included in the Ross Road School Directory!

/ Ross Road PAC

Click on the image to download the PAC Contact Permission Form

At the beginning of the school year, the PAC sent out a Contact Permission Form  to every Ross Road family, via the school office email system. The contact information collected from each form is used to create the 2011-12 School Directory, which is approaching the final stages of production. We have had a great response and would like to thank everyone who took the time to fill out the form.

There are still a few families who have not submitted their forms, and while inclusion in the directory is completely optional, we just wanted to make sure that we weren’t leaving out anyone!

There has been some confusion about the similarities of the school’s consent form and the PAC Contact Permission Form. Ross Road School and the Ross Road PAC use different communication networks and, for privacy reasons, we have to collect contact information separately.

Please click here to download the PAC Contact Permission Form. Fill it out and drop it off in the PAC Drop-Box (under the down stairs in the school lobby).
Hard copies are also available on the shelf next to the office window in the school lobby.

If you could return the form by Friday, November 4th at the very latest, that would fantastic! Even if you DO NOT want to be included in the 2011 School Directory, we would appreciate it if you could return your form and indicate this preference!

For more information, please send an email to this address:
rrpacdirectory@gmail.com

Interested in advertising in the School Directory? Click here for more information!

Thank you!
—Ross Road PAC/School Directory Committee

Environment Club News, Fall 2011

/ Ross Road PAC

On October 20th, the Environment Club held an assembly at Ross Road to launch the composting program again this year.  The students were reminded about the importance of composting and enjoyed a presentation from a group of students from Carson Graham  called “Tap Bottles” whose mission is to eliminate all plastic water bottles from the North Shore schools.  On the following Monday some of the Environment Club members went into all of the classrooms to educate the students on the “who, what, where, why and hows of composting.

On another note,  you may have noticed over the past few weeks that the garden beds have been installed by the swing set in the primary playground.  For all of you MINECRAFT fans I will say that we have been very busy “diggy diggy hole” and mining and crafting for the Environment Club’s Edible Garden at Ross Road.  Although they look like giant graves at the moment, just in time for Halloween, the Club will be planting garlic over the next few weeks which will be ready for harvesting in the spring.  Perhaps the garlic will keep the vampires away during this ghostly season.

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I would like to welcome Jill Mackay, a parent at Ross Road, to the Environment Club and thank her for all of her expertise and hard work in the installing and digging of the garden beds.  Jill comes to us as a Landscape Designer who was involved in setting up wildlife and edible gardens in the UK.  I would also like to thank Jim Gorton, my husband, for constructing the garden beds and for being such a wonderful provider and husband.  He made me write that. :-)

Many hands make light work and I hope you will enjoy watching the garden grow.

—Gillian Gorton

 

Food Day Friday, October 28th, plus a few other reminders

/ Ross Road PAC

Just a reminder that Friday, October 28th is our first Food Day for 2011-12! Yay, a day off from packing lunches! Flying Wedge pizza is on the menu this Friday.

A few other reminders:

  • Last chance to be included in the Ross Road School Directory! Please submit your PAC Contact Permission Form by Monday, October 31st. Click here for more details.
  • If you’d like to advertise in the Ross Road School Directory, please submit your ad by Monday, October 31st. Click here for more details.
  • CPF Membership drive wraps up on Monday, October 31st. You can join anytime, but this is the last chance to be entered in the contest for fabulous prizes! Click here for more details.

And a note from the office about the Halloween Parade:

On Monday October 31st we will be holding our annual Halloween Parade, starting at 2:00pm.  Parents are welcome to come and join in the fun.  Please be aware that we need to keep the parade route clear for students, consequently, we are asking that parents take up position either in the gym outside the cones, or on the office side of the Foyer behind the cones.  Please do not stand in the hallways or by the front door as this will block the student’s progress.

Children may come to school in their costumes or dressed in black and orange.  Just a reminder that if fake weapons or any other sharp objects are part of the costume, we would ask that students leave those at home.

Many of you will be taking photos so just a reminder that we cannot post photos of students at school events on blogs or facebook etc. without their parents’ express consent.

Thanks so much for your cooperation in these matters
Have a spooky day!
–Eileen Hood

Local Government Elections, Saturday November 19th

/ Ross Road PAC

Dear Parents,

It’s time to make our votes count. The most meaningful levels of government to our daily lives are our local governments (city councillors and school trustees) and yet, we usually have to work the hardest to become educated voters about local politics due to inadequate media coverage. This posting is an effort to distill the information so that we can make an informed choice on Election Day, November 19, 2011.

On Wednesday, November 9th, there will be an all-candidates debate for the school trustees brought to you by the North Vancouver PAC (District PAC). An all-candidates debate is an excellent forum to learn more about the candidates and is open the public.

ALL-CANDIDATES DEBATE (School Trustees)
Wednesday, November 9th
7 pm at Sutherland Secondary School

Trustees have an active and important role in setting direction for our schools. Over this last term Trustees have dealt with $10 million in district budget cuts, closed schools, renovated schools, re-organized special programs and set in place a new strategic plan for the School District. This is your chance to meet and ask questions of the candidates that could be deciding the direction of the school district for the next three years.

Please click here to visit the Advocacy Ross Road section of the PAC website, where you will find much more information on:

  • The NVPAC All-candidates school trustees debate (November 9th, Sutherland Secondary School)
  • The role of the Board of Education
  • Candidate Nominations (school trustees)
  • Other resources

Thank you,
Janice Sardari
Advocacy Ross Road

Ross Road Food Bank Initiative: November 1st-15th

/ Ross Road PAC

This year Ross Road will be collecting food for the Food Bank.  Unlike most years, we are starting the collection early: November 1st to 15th, in order to get the collected food to the Food Bank in time for the Christmas rush.  Below is a list of the food they will and will not accept.  Everything donated is very much appreciated and needed.  The Food Bank has had a 20% increase in demand this year alone.  40% of the Food Bank users are children.

Each class will receive 4 boxes to fill.  If you are out shopping and can pick up some extra items to donate, that would be wonderful.

Here is a list of the food items that are most needed:

  • Canned meat/fish
  • Peanut butter
  • Bags of whole wheat pasta/rice
  • Pasta sauce
  • Canned fruit/vegetables
  • Cereal
  • Baby formula
  • Baby food

The following items are NOT accepted:

  • Homemade items
  • Expired baby food
  • Products containing alcohol
  • Open packages of food

Note to Class Reps:  Could you please keep an eye on the boxes in your class?  If it is full, I have extra boxes to put in the class.  I will pick up the boxes and move them to a spot where they can be sorted/packaged for pick up.  Can you please let me know asap when you need a box as I don’t want the teachers to feel that they are now responsible for this “fundraising” while they are in a job action situation.  I have arranged a pick up date for November 18th at the school so we need to have everything organized by then.  If you can’t keep an eye on the boxes, can you please find a parent to help.  If no parent helps, please let me know and I will figure out what to do.

Thanks in advance,
Susan Chalmers
susananddale@shaw.ca