Have You 'Herd'?

Email: kn@spschools.org
Website: https://kino.spschools.org/
Phone: (780)459-3114
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KinosayoElementary

With a change in weather, we want to remind our families to please ensure students are prepared to head outside as much as possible as the weather begins to cool. Keeping an extra sweater and change of clothes in lockers is a great way to be prepared and please ensure students are arriving with mitts and toques so we can head outside and have fun!

Next Thursday, our school will be completing a lock down drill to meet annual requirements for Occupational Health and Safety. As our school division continues to partner with the RCMP and Fire Services in St Albert, all schools will have Fire and RCMP team members on site to observe and ask questions for a practice drill this fall. We want to reassure families that this is a gentle drill where our staff do a lovely job of preparing students ahead of time and debriefing with them afterwards.

Don't forget that next Wednesday is Crazy Hair Day! We look forward to seeing the creativity that our students and staff come up with.

Wishing everyone a wonderful long weekend and for those celebrating, we wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a gentle reminder to please review our school's Personal Digital Device Policy linked here. Recently, our admin team has had a few conversations with students who were accessing devices during the school day or wearing smartwatches that were not placed in "School Mode."

To minimize distractions, any personal digital devices brought to school must be turned off and kept in backpacks while on school property. Smartwatches may be worn, but must have notifications disabled. As we believe in education first, students are always given a warning when they forget this routine; however, continued violation of the policy will result in the device being held in the office for the remainder of the day. We deeply appreciate your support in keeping our classrooms focused on learning!

Halloween is an exciting time for our children, a time when they get to dress up as their favorite characters and enjoy some fun. Our school is committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for every student. It is essential that we approach Halloween costume choices for school with sensitivity and respect for our diverse community. We ask that you refrain from sending toy weapons and costumes that are overly terrifying as these items are best saved for at-home trick or treating. While we want our students to have fun with costumes, it's important to remember that some children may be easily frightened, especially students that are celebrating Halloween for the very first time.

Students will be in their costumes for the full school day. This means they need to arrive at school in their costume. Students need to be able to function in their classroom environment in their costume - sitting, writing, playing (recess and Phys. Ed). If your costume has accessories, it is helpful if you label them. It is also important that students are able to dress warmly for recess as they will be outside. More information will be shared about the Halloween Costume Parade closer to October 30.

We are excited to share that right after Thanksgiving weekend, our K-3 students will begin UFLI instruction at Kino!

UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Institute) is a systematic, explicit phonics program that teaches students the skills they need to read and spell. It follows a carefully planned sequence, moving from simpler sound and letter patterns to more complex phonics skills.

How will this work at Kino?

At Kino, we use the UFLI sequence as the foundation for our phonics instruction:

• Targeted Starting Points: Students do not all start at the same lesson. Instead, we look at the skills each student has already learned and choose a starting point that matches the skills they are ready to work on next.

• Flexible Skill Groups: Students are grouped with others who are working on similar skills so we can provide targeted instruction. We can make adjustments to groups and instruction as students learn and grow.

• Team Teaching: Your child’s UFLI teacher will reach out to let you know who will be teaching their UFLI instruction. This may be their regular homeroom teacher or another K–3 teacher at Kino.

Our goal is to provide consistent, systematic phonics instruction while meeting each student where they are in their reading development.

We are excited to announce that our Division 1 showcase will be on Friday, December 4th!

In The Night Garden will showcase the music, art and drama of all of our students from PreK to Grade 3, as well as the Kino Choir.

We will be hosting 2 shows, one at 11:00 am and one at 2:00 pm and each will be just over an hour.

**Please note that AM Kindergarten and Sprouts students will only perform in the 11:00am show.**

There is no need to purchase tickets for this event. We can't wait to show you what our littles have been working on so far this year!

• Monday, October 12: Thanksgiving Day (No School)
• Wednesday, October 14: Kino Spirit Day (Crazy Hair)
• Monday, October 19: Staff PD Day (No School)
• Thursday, October 22: School Photo Retake Day (am)
• Friday, October 23: Halloween Dance (6:00pm)
• Monday, November 02: School Council Meeting (7:00pm)
• Monday, November 02: KPA Meeting (8:00pm)

• Wednesday & Thursday, November 04 & 05: Parent-Teacher Interviews (5:00-8:00pm)