February 4th, 2019

February is healthy heart month. Let’s start the month by making a renewed commitment to physical fitness by walking to school.

Provincial Walk to School Wednesday is this week, February 6th! Plan your morning so that your child can walk to school. At MJ, we are working together with Student Transportation, the Walking School Bus- Canadian Cancer Society City of Waterloo Bylaw and a parent volunteer to look at the different ways we can reduce traffic and improve safety at drop off and pick up.

Last week was a tough one as the cold weather brought many more drivers to the school, causing a lot of chaos on Brynhurst Blvd. There were a few near misses, where drivers were not looking out for students crossing the road. We are so thankful that no one was injured. When dropping off, safety first!  Did you know that we have a drop off zone? There is an area directly in front of the Bus zone where you can pull up and do a kiss and drop. Please don’t park in this area.

Student Transportation is dedicated to help us improve our situation. Please take a moment to complete this short survey about how your children get to school: Student Transportation Family Survey

Our Walking School Bus has been a GREAT way for students to walk in a group, supervised by an adult. At this time we have two routes up and running almost everyday. We are always looking for volunteers, even for one walk per week!

Four of our MJ students are participating in https://technovationchallenge.org. The challenge invites teams of girls from all over the world to learn and apply the skills needed to solve real-world problems through technology.
The group has decided that they would like to develop an App to help with the Walking School Bus. Their first step is to conduct a survey. The purpose of this survey is so they can learn how to improve the walking school bus for parents, students, and volunteers. Please help them gather data by completing this short survey! Walking School Bus Student Survey

Thanks for taking the time to help these students gather data for their App.

Weather – MJ students LOVE their outdoor time. It’s been tricky to get out in the cold and the wet. Thank you to families for sending your kids with proper clothing. Please pack an extra pair of socks as we are going to get outside as much as possible!

School Council – Our next council meeting is February 20th. Come on out to take part in discussions about replacing our school sign as well as to hear about plans for our upcoming Moveathon.