Weekly Staff Memo

Indoor - Spikeball K-2 3-5

Passing Challenges Spiking Challenges

Oct 19 - 23 - Digital Citizenship Week

• Morning Messages will have Digital Safety Tips each day

Scare away hunger food drive will continue for one more week.
Flex starts this week.

Monday, Oct 19 - Alberta Elections Referendum -GYM & MP closed for Polling and RDCC - Don't forget to vote.

Tuesday, October 20 - Admin meeting - pm Crystal and Jeff away -

Wednesday, October 21 -

Thursday, October 22 - Coyote 7 will host lunch for staff

Friday, October 23

• Pack Time - Teacher Collaboration
• Time Photo Retakes & Last Day for House Points Challenge #2

Please add any class or grade presentations, or field trips to the DCE internal calendar. Here is a video on how to do that if you are not sure. This allows us to stay organized and aware of who is in our building.

Coming Soon:

Oct 26 - Spooky Challenge Winners 2:45 - until dismissal

Oct 29 Boston Pizza Hot Lunch

Oct 30 - Halloween Dress up - Pack time Parade.

Nov 5 Remembrance Day Ceremony

Nov 9-11 Fall Break

Nov 18 Popeyes Hot Lunch

Nov 26 Conferences

Flex Time

Flex Time begins this week! Please refer to the schedule.

The goal of adding this time for you is to support you with time for Visible Learning planning, Powerschool Collaboration and time for Powerschool. Please use this first Flex Time to collaborate with your grade partners and work in PowerSchool. Take some time to look at the number of assessments you have in each subject area and consider the following:

• How many assessments do you have for each subject?

• Does it meet the Districts expected numbers?

• How can you or are you maintaining some consistency as a grade team?

• Are there subject areas where you have no assessments or not enough assessments?

• Do your grade partner have assessments that you could use?

• What ideas can you brainstorm for future assessments together? Example: Looking ahead how can you connect your Halloween writing, to your science and math so that you can assess multiple subjects and outcomes.

• OR simple Exit passes - https://www.teachcreatemotivate.com/exit-tickets/ - love the instagram exit pass.

• https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Exit-Ticket-2973562

Referendum Day — Gym and Building Procedures

As our school will be serving as a voting station on referendum day, please be aware of the following arrangements:

• The gym will not be available for PE.

• The multipurpose room will be used for before- and after-school care.

• Voters will only use the outside gym door as directed.

• Please keep the orange doors closed. Students may enter and exit , but the doors must remain closed so that voters do not assume they can enter the school.

Thank you for your flexibility and for helping us maintain safe and clear procedures while our school serves as a voting station.

School Council Meeting Report

Here are a few updates from our recent School Council meeting.

Fundraising and Student Allocation

• Parents are planning to do the raffle this year. School Council will be taking the job on instead of Teresa. They decided to go with the raffle as it is 1 and done. Other schools are running up to 7 small fundrasiers. We want to avoid that.

• Parent council will help fund classroom budgets again this year. The allocation is $10 per student, based on the September 30 enrolment cutoff. So if you had 20 students you will have $200 for the year. Please remember if you need anything for Science experiments, math manipulatives please check with me and we can look at our Science and Math budget to help support some of that.

Drumming is Happening!

Drumming is being funded through a combination of Parent Council funds and school funds generated last year, with approximately $4,000 from each source.

Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop is receiving $2,000 from Parent Council and school funds.

Winter Carnival

The Winter Carnival is moving forward again, with the end of January being the likely timeframe. A formal date has not yet been confirmed. No Christms cookies as they will dodecorating with this event again.

Spring Dance

There is talk of them hosting a Spring Dance however it is still being considered. More information will be shared as/if plans develop.

School Council Meeting — Teacher Needed

We are looking for a teacher to attend the School Council meeting on November 18 at 7:00 p.m. Please let me know if you are available to attend.

Breakfast Program Volunteers

Some of the school council has volunteered to help with the breakfast program!

Monday and Friday are covered, but we still need volunteers for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If you know a great, responsible parent who might want to help on one of these days, please let them know.

ACIP Update

The ACIP government complexity tool required report has been completed. It took hours to work through all the requirments from the government! Thank you for your help with this process and going through your class list at the staff meeting. Thank you Teresa and Jeff as well.

Classroom and Storage Areas

Jackie is scheduled to come in next week or the week after. Please take some time to check your classroom and storage areas before then.

ISP

I will be reviewing the ISPs that have been sent to me this weekend. If they look good, I will send them to parents.

If you have not sent yours in yet, please do so. The deadline is October 30 for me to have signed off on them all so please give me a day or two as well.

PackTime — Focused on Community

We had Christana from the Food Bank come in and speak with us, and it was great!

Here is our PackTime slideshow: Focused on Community.

As a reminder, this slideshow is also included in the Ultimate Document.

We are continuing to look for presenters for PackTime, specifically:

• Nutrition: A nutritionist who would be willing to come in and speak with our students.

• Dental Health: A dentist or dental hygienist who could present on April 4. We are also looking for donations of prizes, such as toothbrushes.

If you know anyone who might be interested in presenting or helping with either of these topics, please let me know. New connections are always welcome!

Movie Policy

A reminder that movies rated PG and up require a parent permission form, in accordance with district policy.

If you know in advance that you will be showing three movies throughout the year, you can include all three on one permission form. You could word it like this:

Throughout the year, we plan to watch the following three PG-rated movies, as they support learning connected to novels we have read:

1. [Movie title]

2. [Movie title]

3. [Movie title]

We will notify parents by email when we get closer to the actual showing date for each movie.

I know we have allowed some exceptions in the past, but we need to ensure the policy is followed consistently by everyone and across all schools. I do not write the policies but I do have to make sure we are following them, thank you for helping me do this.

Peanut and Nut Awareness

We have several students with very severe nut allergies. Please be diligent about avoiding peanut and nut products, even if you do not have a student with a known allergy in your classroom.

For some students, even small amounts of residue on surfaces, such as sink handles, can pose a serious risk. Thank you for taking this seriously and helping us maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all students.

WITS Crew

The WITS Crew starts next week!

• Lunch Recess: The WITS Crew will provide games. There will be no patrols during this time.

• Afternoon Recess: The WITS Crew will provide patrols. There will be no games during this time.

Once we get rolling, we can continue looking at ways to support students who are struggling with behaviour.

• ISP Mania! Thank you to all the teachers, Shannon, and Kelly M. as you continue working hard to get ISPs completed. I know they are a lot of work, and I truly appreciate the time, effort, and dedication you are putting into them!

• District Wellness Meeting: Thank you, Jeff, for attending our District Wellness meeting. I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas and seeing what new opportunities come from it!

• Building Relationships: Aryn Court, I overheard you calling parents to check in and see how the year was going so far! What a great way to stay connected, build relationships, and stay on top of any concerns that may arise. Thank you for being so proactive!

• Food Bank Donations: Thank you to all the staff who have brought in food donations for the food bank. Your generosity and kindness make a difference in our community!

• A Heartwarming Visit: Kinder Academy visited Harmony House to spend some time with the residents and share books. Absolutely adorable! What a wonderful way to connect generations and bring smiles to everyone involved. ❤️

• As always, if you see something that deserves a shout-out or celebration, please send it my way! I love hearing about the wonderful things happening throughout our school and celebrating the amazing work happening every day.