Mustang Memo - October 3, 2024

Today was the perfect weather for our Terry Fox school run!

Our Grade 5 students did a great job in leading our school during the Terry Fox Assembly. We learned about the significance of this important event before we all went outside for a nice walk or run in honour of Terry Fox.

Thank you to all of the families who joined us for this event!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson

Principal & Assistant Principal

A place where you belong!

Table of Contents

Week At a Glance

Action

• Parent/student/teacher conferences - Save the Date
• Read In Week Activities
• Pay School Fees Online

Opportunity 

• Family Read In Lunch Event
• No Such Thing as a Bad Kid Session

Information

• Celebrating World Teachers' Day: October 5
• Did you know?
• Parents Make the Difference

WEEK AT A GLANCE

ACTION

Parent/student/teacher conferences - Save the date!

It is almost time for parents and teachers to get together to celebrate your child's learning! 

Save the date for our first round of parent/student/teacher conferences on October 23 and 24 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Based on feedback from our parent community and our teachers, we will be offering a sit down interview-style conference of around 10 minutes.

Teachers will have an opportunity to share some key highlights of student achievement so far and parents are able to ask questions. We also encourage families to bring their child to the conference so that students have a chance to be a part of the conversation. We will also be hosting our ever popular Scholastic Book Fair over those two evenings as well!

We will be opening up our online booking form next week so keep your eye on the Memo to sign up in the near future!

Read In Week Comes to DCE

Read In Week 2024 is taking place October 7-11.

Read In Week is a divisionwide initiative held annually to encourage a lifelong love of reading and to enhance literacy awareness among students, staff, families and community members. This year’s theme: “Reading is for everyone.” Some of our activities planned for Read In Week include:

• daily "window book" read aloud - a window book is a term used in literature to describe a book that gives readers a view into experiences, cultures, or perspectives that are different from their own. The "window" allows readers to see and learn about lives, traditions, or viewpoints they may not be familiar with, fostering understanding and empathy. 
• Tuesday Teacher Storytime Switcheroo - teachers swap classes for 10 minutes to do a read aloud!
• Read to Your Stuffy Day - bring your stuffy and your favourite window book!
• Show Your Culture Day - wear something that displays your ethnic background: a piece of jewelry, a scarf, a hat, a t-shirt or other clothing that is connected to your family roots.
• Family Read in Lunch event - come to school on Friday to read while eating lunch as a family!
• Match the Languages Contest - students can participate in this contest during their weekly library period

Davidson Creek Elementary invites all families to participate in Read In Week by reading yourself, with your child or with someone in the community. For more information, visit the Read In Week website.

Pay School Fees Online!

School fee information for the 2024-25 school year is now posted on the PowerSchool Parent Portal. All fees are due within 30 days of being posted. To access your fee information, simply log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal and go to “Student Fees.” There you can view your fees and pay them online. If you’re unable to pay your school fees, you can apply to have certain fees waived. The application deadline is Dec. 16, 2024.

NOTE: Don’t forget to also log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal regularly throughout the year. Fees are often added to your child’s account to cover the cost of various school activities such as field trips, class projects, extracurricular activities fees and more.

For more information, visit our fees page on the school website. Alternatively, contact Christa Gawron at Davidson Creek at 780-467-5557.

OPPORTUNITY

Family Read In Lunch - this Friday!

Why not celebrate the end of Read In Week with a fun family event over the lunch hour?

Come to school and read a good book or two while sharing lunch with your children! You can eat in the gym, the hallways, the playground or the foyer! Bring a tasty lunch and enjoy the power of reading a great book together! Our library will be closed to the lunch reading event, however, we will have books available for people to use if needed! Hope to see you there!

No Such Thing as a Bad Kid: For Parents and Caregivers

Most parent may feel puzzled by their children's feeling and behaviours at some point in their parenting journey. Join the Family Resource Network for a presentation that helps parents understand what's behind children's behaviours and learn how to support children with emotional and behavioural challenges

Date: November 19, 2024

Time: 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.

Location: Ardrossan Elementary School

Audience: Parents and caregivers

Cost: Free!

You can register for the event through this link: https://www.trumba.com/eareg.aspx?ea=Rsvp&invite=0d7s1tke9ek97pr2ws3xck3bf52zmf44msj4d04jkbybndb0aw0m

INFORMATION

Celebrating World Teachers’ Day: October 5

October 5 is World Teachers’ Day! World Teachers’ Day recognizes the integral role teachers play in providing quality education to students. On October 5, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) encourages all of its students, parents, caregivers and community members to show their appreciation for their teachers and the positive impact they make on our lives. EIPS extends its heartfelt thank you to all Division teachers for their dedication, hard work and commitment in guiding and educating students through their kindergarten to Grade 12 years.

Did you know?

EIPS is committed to a productive and collaborative relationship with parents and caregivers. As such, the Division has a Committee of School Councils (COSC) comprised of representatives from school councils across EIPS. From October to May, COSC members meet monthly with the Board of Trustees and senior EIPS administration to discuss educational issues and trends, while sharing valuable information with one another to best enhance student success. In recognition of the effort and dedication of EIPS families and staff in engaging with their school communities, the Division was honoured to receive the Division School Council Engagement Award from the Alberta School Councils’ Association last April. To learn more, visit the EIPS website.

Parents Make the Difference

Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:

Make your family read-aloud time a success with these tips

Some families stop reading aloud together as soon as their children learn to read. But reading aloud can continue to be fun,  and it builds reading skills, too.

To make your read-aloud time successful:

• Do it every day. When you read aloud with your child daily, you demonstrate that reading time is much too important to miss.
• Pick a regular time. When reading is already part of your daily routine, you won’t have to think about trying to fit it into a hectic day. Choose a time when your child will be most receptive, such as after playing outside or before bed.
• Read the book first—before you read it aloud. Reading aloud is performing. You’ll do a better job if you’re familiar with what you’re going to read. Previewing a book may also keep you from getting bogged down in a book that neither you nor your child enjoys.
• Read books you like. If you like a book, odds are your child will, too. Start by reading books you enjoyed as a child. Often, your enjoyment will be contagious!
• Emphasize the first line. The first line of any great story will grab the reader’s attention.
• Use facial expressions. Widen your eyes to show surprise. Squint a bit to show you’re thinking.
• Leave your child wanting more. Stop your day’s reading at a point where you are both eager to hear what happens next.

Reprinted with permission from the September 2024 issue of Parents make the difference!®  (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2024 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.