Dear DG Families,

With Spring in the air, and it being Earth Day tomorrow, this is a good time to remind ourselves of little steps we can all take to help the environment.   Turning off the lights when leaving a room/the house, shutting off the tap while brushing teeth, walking/biking (rather than driving) for short trips, and bringing a water bottle from home when you’re out and about, rather than buying water in single use plastic, all help.  Another thing we can do is pack a “litterless lunch” for work/school.

A litterless lunch encourages reducing the waste that goes to the landfill.  If we focus on HOW we pack our lunch for work or school, we can reduce garbage.  Here are a few tips to try:

Wear Your Earth Day Colours

To celebrate Earth Day, students are invited to wear blue/green/brown (or whatever colours remind them of “earth”!) on Monday.

2024-2025 School Year

We are beginning the process of planning for next school year.   If you are moving and are not planning to return to Devon Gardens in the fall, please make sure that you let our office know.

2024-2025 Class Placement Information

In the coming weeks, we will start to tentatively look at next year’s organization and possible class placements for students.

Some Things to Know about Our Process:

Class placements are important decisions and something that teachers consider very carefully.

FACTORS & CONSIDERATIONS: Assigning students to classes is a very complex task that takes into consideration a variety of factors, including: learning styles and strengths, what a student is able to achieve in relation to the goals of the curriculum, degree of independence in work habits, social and personal needs, age and physical maturity, previous placements, gender balance of class, etc….

The number of staff members assigned to our school is decided by the Superintendent’s Office and is based on projected student enrolment. Enrolment estimates and class size guidelines affect the configuration of classes, which may also necessitate a particular organizational configuration (i.e. whether or not we have combined or “split” classes and the number of students, per grade, in the class).

SCHOOL-BASED DECISIONS: The professional staff is in contact with children in the school setting for 30 hours a week. Your child’s present teacher, along with other educators who work with your child, have a year’s worth of current, rich information and insight about the conditions under which your child learns best. Therefore, decisions around where to place students are determined through school-based, team decisions, based on their recommendations.

INPUT FROM PARENTS: As our partners in education, parents may also have important information to assist us with the placement of students. Parents are welcome to share with the school personal, educational, or social information that could affect their child’s placement. Our staff will keep in mind this information, along with the above considerations, when building classes.

If you have information about your child and the kind of learning environment in which she/he best works and learns, and you would like to share this information with our staff, please fill in the “Parent Information” form by clicking on the link below.  This is optional.     Please complete the form no later than Friday, May 24, 2024  

It is important to note that it is not possible for parents to choose their child’s teacher or make requests regarding other students. Teachers who are currently on staff may not be here next year, may not be assigned the same grade, or may not teach a class configuration that meets your child’s learning needs. Whatever the scenario, we strive to place your child in a warm, caring environment that will maximize his/her learning potential.

Should you have information you wish to share with us, please fill in the form by Friday, May 24, 2024.  Please fill in 1 form for every child.

Please note, parents are not required to do this.  It’s optional.

https://forms.gle/YX6xhj4ULh1tq9ec7

Reminder – Popcorn Sale on Wed!

The PAC will be selling popcorn at recess on Wednesday.  Bags are $1.00 each

Canadian Parents for French

Our PAC is looking for a DG representative for Canadian Parents for French. For more information on CPF, please check out their website: https://cpf.ca/en/

If you’re interested, or would like more information, please contact the PAC at pacdevongardens@gmail.com.

PAC Hanging Basket Fundraiser

This year we are trying something new… Our PAC has partnered up with Clearview Nursery in Langley

12″ hanging baskets! For every one purchased Devon Gardens PAC receives $10 in fundraising money!

Fundraiser closes on May 1st, so order now before you forget!

This fundraiser is for hanging baskets only. There is an assortment of baskets to choose from including fuchsias, new guinea impatiens, and mixed baskets with lots of colour choices.

Vouchers will be available for pick-up on Monday May 6^th after school in the undercover area.  Once you have the voucher, it must be exchanged at the store (located at 26350 56 Ave, Langley) for the basket of your choice.

To order click on the link below:

https://clearviewgardenshop.com/product/devon-gardens-elementary-pac-12-hanging-basket-fundraiser/

Please feel free to share this link with your family and friends!

Questions???  Please send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com.

Neufeld Farms Fundraiser – Orders Due May 6th

Looking forward to BBQ season?  Then don’t miss out on this great opportunity to stock up on supplies! 

Fill up your freezer with options from Neufeld Farms that will help you get grilling!

Orders are due May 6th (link to order is below)

Orders will be delivered to the school for you to pick up, Wednesday May 15th at 4pm, just in time for Victoria Day Long Weekend!

Between $3-$10 from each sale will come back to the PAC to help support the school community in a variety of ways.

Link to order: https://app.neufeldfarms.ca/fundraising/2024-devon-gardens-elementary-pac/ref/em

 

Family Fun Night is BACK!!

Family Fun Night is scheduled for 5-8 PM on June 13, 2024! This is an event the PAC puts on annually and is the largest fundraiser we do.

This is a celebration of our community so everyone is welcome!

There will be a lot of fun activities including: bouncy castles, basket raffles and the much loved musical cakes! This year we will have a variety of food trucks as well as a concession. The concession will serve some snack foods and drinks.

There is no entrance fee, however, you will need to purchase an arm bracelet to have unlimited access to the bouncy castles. Tickets for musical cakes and basket raffles will also be available to purchase. Prices will be posted in advance. This is a cash only event.

This is a great event for our school and a great way to celebrate another fantastic year at Devon Gardens.

Leading up to the event there will be lots of ways for the school community to get involved so stay tuned for more information coming soon!

 

 

 

 

Kinder Books

Introducing the Kinder Books Loyalty Program for schools! This year-long fundraising program is designed to help schools earn credit towards purchasing books for their school library.

Here’s how it works: for every net book purchase made at Kinder Books, the school will earn 10% of the purchase amount towards a credit at our store. At the end of the fundraiser, we will notify the school of their credit amount. The school can then decide to use the credit at the beginning of the new school year or at the end of the calendar year.

The best part? This program applies to all book purchases at our store, including special orders for kids and books for adults. Plus, orders can be placed online at www.kinderbooks.ca, making it easy for grandparents or other family members who live out of town to participate. Simply mention your school’s name at checkout, and we’ll credit your school accordingly.

Online orders can be picked up at the store during business hours or shipped through Canada Post

 

Return-it Express

PAC has created a school fundraising account. To participate, simply bring your containers to the depot in sealed, clear bags, and enter the registered phone number, 604-581-6185, into the Express kiosk. You will be prompted to select the number of bags you’re dropping off, the kiosk will automatically print the same number of sticker tags displaying our PACs unique Express account code. Tag each of your bags with a sticker tag and drop the bags off in the designated Express drop-off area to be counted. For a list of Return-it Express location visit https://www.return-it.ca/locations/express/

Cobs Bread Dough Raiser Program

This program enables us to raise money for our school throughout the year! Be sure to mention Devon Gardens Elementary (or code 7806) each time you make a purchase at COBS Bread Scott 72 Centre; they will donate 10% of your purchase back to our school.

Level Ground Trading

Level Ground is a BC business that works with fair trade coffee, tea, dried fruit and spice producers.

Supporters enter the code devongardens in the ‘discount code’ field at the checkout.
All products on our web store qualify for the fundraiser. Orders must be $40 or more. These orders also qualify for free shipping to most addresses in Canada (there is a shipping fee on all orders shipped to NU/NT/YK). All orders are paid for through our web site and shipped directly to your supporters. No need to collect orders or distribute products to households.
Your fundraising amount is 20% of total sales.  So on a $100 order your school will receive $20.

Online Stay Safe & Babysitting Courses

Offered through First Aid Hero. When registering use promo/coupon code “DevGardens24” and our PAC will earn $5.00 from each registration. For details, available course dates and online registration, please follow the link: www.FirstAidHero.com

Questions? Send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com

2024/2025 Draft Budget Recommendations

Phase 1 of this year’s budget public consultation process resulted in more than 180 online survey responses from parents/caregivers on their priorities for the upcoming school year. Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback.

Following a review of this feedback and the Ministry’s funding announcement, the draft budget recommendations were released on Thursday, April 18 on the district’s website and in the local media.

The Delta Board of Education is now inviting you to provide feedback on the draft budget recommendations via this online survey (https://forms.gle/69ZdPF9LcrQXhVdX9) or by sending an email to budget@deltaschools.ca, or attending the public board meeting at 7:30p.m. on Tuesday, April 23.

The deadline for completing the survey or sending an email is noon on Monday, April 22 so that the information can be shared with the board prior to the public board meeting.

Also, if you would like to speak at the public board meeting on April 23, please email rsonsalla@deltaschools.ca by noon on April 22.

Are you interested in hosting an International Student?  Or, do you know of a family who might be?  Delta School District International Programs is currently recruiting homestay families for international students coming to Delta School District for September 2024. They will arrive from all over the world and have a strong desire to be in Delta.

The reimbursement for hosting will be increasing to $1,150 per month as of September 2024. Multiple students from different nationalities can be hosted in one home. The majority of students in the homestay program are from Germany, Japan, Spain, Italy, and Brazil. At the moment, more that 20 different countries are represented in the homestay program.

Many are looking for a family connection and being a part of a family during their stay in Delta. Their study periods range from 3 months to half a school year, to a full school year, to multiple years.

We have two 3-week summer programs where host parents welcome younger English learners into their home. It is a great way for students to see what school (and life) in Delta is like and for new homestay families to get a small sample of what hosting is like. Reimbursement for each 3-week program is $850 per student.

If you are interested in hosting, please reach out to homestay@godelta.ca. If you are not able to host but know of a family who can, please send them our way. There are referral bonuses available for referring families.

Other Opportunities, Events & Activities

2024 Delview Park Spring Cleanup Competition.

The  Delview Leos Club is hosting their second annual Spring Cleanup Earth Day Event with earth day related games for families, a concession stand, and chances to win gift baskets and prizes.

The event will occur on Monday, April 22nd from 3-6pmat Delview Park (9098 116 St., Delta, BC), and families are welcome to attend

City of Delta Mayor for a Day Contest – Grades 5 to 7

The City of Delta is pleased to once again be launching their annual Mayor for a Day Contest—an exciting opportunity for local students in grades 5-7. The Mayor for a Day contest is a chance for Delta’s youth to immerse themselves in a day of civic leadership. It aims to foster a deeper connection with the community and inspire future leaders, in addition to providing a memorable educational experience.

Applications for the contest open on April 3, and students can apply for the program at delta.ca/MayorForADay. The application deadline is Friday, April 26, after which, two students will be invited to serve alongside me as Mayor for a Day. The winning students will be notified of the date upon selection.

Royal Soccer Club Summer Camps

The Royal Soccer Club is a registered non-profit community organization that offers summer day camps that promote a healthy and active lifestyle, and also encourage and teach personal development, team building, and leadership. Their program promotes inclusivity for all children aged 5 to 13 (kindergarten to Grade 8).