Mustang Memo - February 28, 2025

Pink Shirts, friendship bracelets, acts of kindness and a Grade 3 assembly that was wild about kindness  - what an inspirational week to support bullying awareness and belonging at DCE!

Did you know that students, staff and community wore our very own student-designed kindness pins for Pink Shirt Day? 

To end the week with a bang, our Grade 3 students wowed us with a fun assembly and taught us ways that we can show kindness such as listening, helping others, and giving out genuine compliments! We even had a visit from a wild robot! Mrs. Allen led the students in a moving song about kindness and we learned about how one community honoured a special senior citizen with a flash mob of people dancing the Hokey Pokey. You can watch it here:

Overall, it was a great week to really think about how we can make a difference in the lives of those around us through small acts of kindness. We create the culture of warmth and safety in our actions, words and deeds. Go, Mustangs!

Enjoy a great weekend!

Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson

Principal & Assistant Principal

You belong here!

Table of Contents

Week At a Glance

Action

• Dress for the Wet Weather
• Calling All Grade 4 Parents

Opportunity 

• Counselor's Corner
• WOW Wednesday
• March Book Madness

Information

• Running Club Wows at the Running Room Games
• Update to EIPS Administrative Procedure 146: Social Media
• Watch For Thin Ice
• Did you Know?
• Parents Make the Difference

WEEK AT A GLANCE

ACTION

Dress for the Wet Weather to Avoid Soggy Socks

It is a lake of mud outside on the school grounds! If you'd like to avoid phone calls to bring fresh clothes or the thrill of doing extra loads of laundry, consider send your child with splash pants and rubber boots! If you don't have those items, we recommend sending extra socks and pants just in case your child falls into a mud puddle!

Calling All Grade 4 Parents

Don't forget to check your child's back pack for a yellow paper with your unique QR random access code for the Alberta Education Assurance Survey. The survey is open until March 21, 2025. We highly encourage all families to fill it out as this information helps us to know what we are doing well and what are some areas for growth.

Not sure about a question? For example, if it asks you if your child is learning about First Nations, Metis an Inuit foundational knowledge but your can't remember hearing about it, check out our DCE Mid-Point Review as a resource to find out all of the great things happening at our school! 

OPPORTUNITY

Counselor's Corner

Not All Cartoons Are Kid-Friendly!

With the advent of streaming services, it can feel harder than ever to keep track of what our kids are tuning into. One tricky part of managing our children’s access to media on streaming services is keeping track of which any cartoons are meant for kids vs. adult audiences.

First, understanding TV ratings can help you choose appropriate content. Most TVs available today come with something called a V-chip (already installed), which blocks content based on these ratings and which you can activate yourself! Streaming services also offer parental controls to filter out unsuitable content.

• TV-Y & TV-Y7 – Suitable for young children
• TV-PG – Parental guidance suggested
• TV-14 – May not be suitable for children under 14
• TV-MA – Intended for mature audiences only

As parents of young children, we encourage you to be on the lookout for cartoons with TV-14 and TV-MA ratings. Below are some popular TV-MA animated shows currently available on streaming platforms in Canada. These shows are not intended for children and contain mature themes, strong language, and graphic content. Be aware this is not an exhaustive list and there are many cartoons in this category to keep an eye out for.

Netflix:

• Big Mouth (TV-MA)
• BoJack Horseman (TV-MA)
• F Is for Family (TV-MA)
• Castlevania (TV-MA)

Amazon Prime Video:

• Invincible (TV-MA)
• The Boys Presents: Diabolical (TV-MA)
• Undone (TV-MA)
• Hazbin Hotel (TV-MA)

For more guidance on setting healthy media habits, check out these resources:

Family Media Plan – Create a personalized screen time strategy.
KidsHealth Guide – Learn about setting boundaries and using parental controls.
Common Sense Media – Find trusted reviews to determine age-appropriate content.

Next WOW Wednesday is March 5

Right now the weather for our next WOW Wednesday is looking pretty good! It may just be the perfect day to get your kiddos to walk or wheel to school (and for you to join if you can!). For our students who bus to school, they will have the option to walk (or run!) around the back field during recess. Don't have time to walk the whole way to school? Park a little further from DCE's doors and walk in! As always, we'll be tallying the number of walk and wheel students for each class and they will earn more points towards the end of the year WOW Wednesday class prize!

Let's use every opportunity when the weather is favourable to stay active and soak in some sun and fresh air!

March Book Madness - Canadian Classics

We are excited to announce that March Book Madness is back! This year, the fun began on Thursday, February 27^th with our theme of Canadian Classics.

Throughout the event, students will engage with some of Canada's most beloved literary works, voting for their favorites in a bracket-style competition. This is a fantastic opportunity to foster a love of reading and celebrate the rich literary heritage of Canada.

Next time you pop by the school, make sure to check out the March Book Madness display on the library glass doors! You can see the incredible books that our students are reading throughout the month of March. Make sure to ask your children about which books they voted for!

INFORMATION

Running Club Wows at Running Room Games

Congratulations to all of our teams that competed at the Running Room Games at the Butterdome this week. Did you know that our two of our teams had the fastest times? We beat last year's Running Room Games winning time by 5 seconds! Thank you to our coaches, Mr. Robertson, Mr. Brouwer and Ms. Kotronis along with our amazing parents volunteers for supporting our student athletes. All of those early morning practices paid off! Go, Mustangs, go!

Update to Administrative Procedure 146: Social Media

Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) has updated EIPS Administrative Procedure 146: Social Media, as per the new legislation from the provincial government. The procedure includes rules for using personal devices at school and banned social media platforms. Learn more

Watch for Thin Ice

Remember, be aware of thin ice this time of year. Depending on changing temperatures, ice can form and melt to varying degrees on outdoor bodies of water. Try to remind your child about the dangers of thin ice, obey all posted signs, take proper care and remain a safe distance from the ice. 

For more information about ice safety, visit the Canadian Red Cross.

Did you know?

The colour of ice may be an indication of its strength. Clear blue ice is the strongest. White opaque is half as strong as blue ice. And, grey ice is unsafe—greyness indicates the presence of water.

Did you know?

EIPS is seeking two volunteer community members to serve on its Audit Committee. The Audit Committee reports to the Board of Trustees and is comprised of three elected trustees and two volunteers residing within EIPS boundaries. This opportunity provides valuable experience in the financial oversight of one of Alberta’s largest school divisions with an operating budget of approximately $210 million. The committee keeps EIPS accountable for every dollar spent to enhance student success. The closing date for this opportunity is March 7, 2025. For more information and to apply, visit the EIPS website.

Parents make the difference

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

A set of house rules can make discipline easy

Children who are expected to follow rules at home are much more likely to follow rules at school. And when students follow the rules, there is more time for learning.

To make rules memorable, create a short list of house rules. Focus on rules and consequences that govern the things that are your biggest concerns. In one family, it might be behavior toward siblings. In another, it might be helping out around the house.

Next, come up with a catchy phrase that sums up the rule and the consequence. For example:

• If you hit, you sit. Any physical action toward a sibling will result in a time out.
• If you partake, you take part. Every family member has responsibility for meal time—from setting the table to clearing the dishes.
• Pick up or pay up. If your child doesn’t put belongings away, place them in a closet. Once a week, your child can earn them back by completing a small chore.

Reprinted with permission from the February 2025 issue of Parents make the difference!^®  (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2025 The Parent Institute^®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.