Colts Connection for Parents

Due to the November break we are hosting our Remembrance Ceremony on November 5th at 10:45 am. As Remembrance Day is about honouring those who fought and died for our country, we ask that students dress nicely on this day.

The results from the government mandated Numeracy and Literacy screening assessments have been returned. We will be sharing the results with families in Grade 1-5. It is important to note that this is a screening assessment and that we use the results, along with teacher assessments and observations to determine in-class supports for students. The screeners, although they provide valuable information, are not the "be all, end all", and thus the context of the assessment and the information is important for parents/guardians to know. For example, the screeners, do not determine whether a student is "at grade level" or not. Also, knowing information like, the cut-score (the number of questions right a student needs to get in order for them to "Not Require Additional Support") in the Grade 1 Numeracy screener in the addition and subtractions categories is 0 because students at the beginning of Grade 1 aren't expected to know how to add or subtract. Information such as this is important for parents/guardians to know, so we will be intentional about providing as much information as possible, in the most efficient manner possible, when sharing the screening results.

Thank you to all who were able to make it to our Parent Teacher Interview evening. We had over 300 interviews scheduled with our teachers which is awesome. The Grade 6 camp chili supper fundraiser was also a success raising almost $500 for Grade 6 camp.

A reminder that a November break was planned in our calendar this year. There is no school the week of November 9-13th.

October was the start of our Awesome Awards. Each day teachers recognize different students from their class to be recognized on the announcements. The student who is given an award gets to call home with either Mr. McEntee, Mrs. KJ, or Mrs. Williams to celebrate their award. The intention of our Awesome Awards to recognize our students for their work and what they contribute in connection to being COLTS.

At the beginning of the following month, all of the winners from the previous month get to have Pizza with the Principals over the lunch hour. A huge shout out to our local Boston Pizza for supporting Pizza with the Principals through a generous discount on our orders.

The next School Council Meeting is set for November 17th at 6:00 pm in the Community Commons of the school. All parents/guardians of students at Ponoka Elementary are welcome to attend.

Mark your calendars! The Ponoka Elementary Christmas Concert is scheduled for Thursday, December 17th. We will have two performances again this year. The morning performance is scheduled for 10:00 am, with afternoon performance (repeat of the morning performance) scheduled for 1:00 pm.

The mandatory Numeracy and Literacy assessments from Alberta Education have seen some adjustments again this year. They have expanded to include Grade 4 and 5. The Literacy assessment is a reading comprehension assessment, while the numeracy assessment is similar in style to that of the Grade 1-3 assessment. As a school division, all Grade 4-6 students do the STAR reading assessment as well as the Elk Island Numeracy Assessment (these do not have the same early October deadline for completion). There is some valuable information that can come from the assessments to help with student intervention planning; however, it takes over 3 weeks for us to be able to see the results. Our teachers will use this information along with their own classroom assessments and observations to create our literacy intervention groups that will get started after Thanksgiving.

School Council's Purdy's Chocolate is currently under way. Orders are due November 5th. Orders can be made online (see image below for details) or through a student of Ponoka Elementary.

𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 & 𝗣𝗮𝘆 𝗕𝘆: November 5, 2026

𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽: Monday, November 30, from 3:30–6:00 PM at Ponoka Elementary School.

𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣 𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘:
Fundraising | Ponoka Elementary School 2026 | Purdys chocolate fundraiser

𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗜𝗗: 000040904

Our Cross Country running season wrapped up in October with all of our Grade 4-6 runners heading to New Norway for the Spartan Run. All of the runners had a great season! A special shoutout to our Grade 6 runners, Mav M., Davis A., Miller S. who particpated in the CWAJHAA race in Coronation! They had great performances and finished in 31st, 12th, and 5th respectively. Great job gentlemen!

A big "thank you" to Mrs. Topham, Mrs. Cindy, Mrs. Palsma, and Miss Ancion (student teacher) for coaching our Cross Country team.

Grade 5/6 after school volleyball kicked off in October. We have about 20 students who have been practicing hard all month and will continue practices into November with the plan to show off their skills in some exhibition games to wrap up the season. More details will be sent to players' families closer to the date. Thank you to Mrs. Levesque (our School Social Worker) and Miss Jenna Abt for coaching our volleyball team this year.

This section highlights some important dates in the month but is not exhaustive. Please see our school calendar page here as this is kept up to date with all the school-wide events that occur throughout the year.

November 3 - Orders Due for Boston Pizza Hot Lunch

November 4 - Picture Retake Day

November 5 - Purdy's Chocolate orders due

November 5 - Remembrance Day Ceremony

November 9-13 - November Break (No school)

November 17 - School Council Meeting

November 18 - Boston Pizza Hot Lunch

November 18/19 - Kindergarten and BFPA Parent Teacher Interviews

November 27 - Staff Collaboration Day (no school for students)

November 30 - November Assembly

November 30 - Purdy's Chocolate Order Pick Up