November 20th, 2017

Hello everyone,

Thanks to all families who came for interviews over the last week.  Your support in improving student engagement and achievement is necessary and greatly valued!

Staff had a great PD session on Friday.  Many chose to attend a webinar on mindfulness!  We all celebrated our good fortune to be working with your children and were grateful to have Superintendent Ron DeBoer join us.  We took a close look at some new math resources.  Our dynamic SERT team, Mrs. Baxter and Mrs. Lawson, are beginning to support students in math and worked closely with Miss Dunbar, Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Williamson to make plans for this week.

Please complete the DreamBox parent survey, especially if your child does not have access to the needed technology at home.  Our wonderful teachers led by Mrs. Lawson are planning to offer DreamBox time during one break each week to interested students – our priority will be for students who do not have access at home.  I have been impressed to see how hard our students work to solve the math challenges posed.  I am visiting all math classes this week – if you want to learn along with me follow us on Twitter @alpwrdsb!

School Council has two important dates this week:

  • Thursday, November 24 is the Sing movie night – you can order tickets and food on SchoolDay but don’t forget to bring change for the bake sale.  Donations for the bake sale are welcome!
  • Friday, November 25 all MacMillan’s orders are due to the office.   All proceeds go to the playground fund.  We are hoping to have tremendous support this year as our goal is to get the playground in by the end of July.  Yikes – it is scary to say that but if we work together we can do it!  Thanks to those students who have already brought in orders!

Late arrivals and needing to call home when students are absent but parents have not called have been taking up a great deal of Mrs. Mahon’s time each morning.  Please try to be on time. Parents or guardians must call the attendance line each time a child will be absent or late.  We need Mrs. Mahon to be able to check attendance accurately and efficiently so she can react quickly if one of our students is missing. I had a lovely high five from a student in grade 5 today who was beaming when she told me that she has only been late once this year which is a remarkable improvement – setting and reaching goals feels great!  Students who are late miss their important learning time.

Miss Whistance and our student have begun preparing for the holiday concerts – it’s going to be beautiful, you won’t want to miss out!

Fall is changing to winter. A reminder to all that the creative playground is closed for the season. Mrs. Fairhurst does a great job of salting when necessary but please do be careful when walking.  Extra mitts and pants are great items to keep in backpacks at this time of year.

Thanks for your continued support.  Please feel free to give me a call if you have any questions or concerns.

Ms. Givlin