School year set to begin. As the school routine begins, remember that students will be walking, cycling or riding on a bus or in a family car to school

September is here, which means cooler weather, leaves changing colors, and the start of the new school year on Sept. 7.

As the school routine begins, remember that students will be walking, cycling, riding on a bus, or in a family car to school. It is a strategic time to remind all motorists that children can get to school and back home safely with awareness and education.

For the second year in a row, parents do not have to purchase school supplies for students from kindergarten to Grade 9. Parents are reminded that students need to bring their own indoor shoes, backpacks, lunch bags, and, where applicable, calculators and headphones.

Meet-the-Teacher evening sessions are planned for the beginning of the school year. It’s an informal opportunity to chat face-to-face, say hi and become acquainted with their child’s teacher. Dates are available on school websites.

Home and Schools play an integral role in bridging the gap between parents/guardians, students, teachers, staff, and administration to ensure connection and collaboration in supporting students’ needs. Together, we can do more rather than work alone. Every school on the Island has a local parent voice or Home and School Association, a group that includes parents and staff in its membership and seeks to improve the total well-being of every student, working to support educators in their work, to engage parents in the school, and to shine a light on challenges faced by Island families that stand in the way of every student meeting their potential.

The volunteer work of a Home and School organization can take on many forms, from organizing speakers and activities that support educating parents about P.E.I.’s school system and working to improve communication between home and school to helping parents understand how to best get answers to questions they might have about the school and their child’s education. Associations often raise funds for school projects, and while this can be an important role for associations, the focus is always on supplementing education and not on filling a gap in education funding.

Participating in Home and School doesn’t necessarily involve only attending meetings or volunteering to sell raffle tickets. Home and school groups need organizers, writers, artists, trainers, money people, computer people, translators, people to build playgrounds, and people to write resolutions. There are plenty of opportunities for parents and guardians to participate.

There will be school trustee by-elections in Public Schools Branch (Zone 7), and CFLS (Zone 2) in September. Residents in these zones can run as candidates Sept. 5-22, and voters ca apply online for mail-in ballots between Sept. 5 and Oct. 1.

For more information see: https://www.electionspei.ca/school-board-trustee-elections and https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/topic/school-board-elections.

Mark Oct. 23, 6 p.m., as the date for the Semi-Annual Home and School meeting at Central Queens Elementary School, Hunter River. Speaker’s topics will include screens in schools: simple ways to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms, home and school 101 and Student Health Survey. Also, volunteer training workshops will be Nov 6 and 7, with school locations to be announced.

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Dionne Tuplin, president of the P.E.I. Home and School Federation, lives in the Tyne Valley area, with her husband and four children, who attend Ellerslie Elementary School, Hernewood Intermediate and Westisle Composite High School. A Home and School column appears in The Guardian during the school year on the first Friday of the month. For questions about this column or to find out more about the work of the P.E.I. Home and School Federation, contact peihsf@gov.pe.ca or 902-620-3186/1-800-916-0664.