Dear DG Families,

Just a reminder that Friday, February 16th is a Professional Development Day. There is no school for students.

All the staff at Devon Gardens wish each of you a very happy Family Day holiday on February 19th. The school will be closed that day. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, February 20th!

2024/2025 School Year Budget

In preparation for development of the 2024/2025 budget, the Delta Board of Education is encouraging parents/caregivers, staff, partners, and rights-holders to share their priorities for the upcoming school year.

For the last few years, the board has offered public input sessions via Zoom to gather feedback. As a result of limited participation, the board is taking a different approach with the aim of increasing engagement and gathering more feedback from the community. This new approach involves an online survey, as well as more traditional methods such as email, mail and through the school’s PAC.

Following the release of the draft budget recommendations on April 18, the board will again invite feedback from parents/caregivers, staff, partners, and rights-holders.

Please click here to learn more about this year’s consultation process and to access the first online survey. The deadline for completing this survey is 12 noon on March 18, 2024. 

Translation available: To view this information in a different language, please click here and select the ‘Language’ button in the top right-hand corner of the web-page.

A reminder to all drivers that the upper parking lot is for school district staff and emergency vehicles only. The lower parking lot is for student pick-up and drop-offs at all times, even when classes are in session and/or it’s raining or snowing. 

The school recognizes that the parking situation at DG is less than ideal, particularly for parents needing to park and walk with their child/ren to drop off and pick up at line up areas. When picking up and dropping off in the parent parking lot, please be respectful and mindful of others.

Thank you for parking only in parking stalls. Double parking and blocking in other vehicles who are parked in stalls creates frustration and is disrespectful. We have seen an increase in double parking and blocking in other vehicles. This can result in conflicts that could be avoided by parking only in appropriate areas.

In the past few weeks we have also seen an increase in people stopping just as they enter the parking lot, on the ramp, to let their children out of the vehicle, even when no one is in front of them and there is plenty of room to drive down to the parking area. This has resulted in some close calls as other vehicles begin to enter the lot, not expecting people to stop on the ramp. Please drive down the ramp into the parking lot to drop off your child/ren.

Ensuring Students come Dressed for the Weather

This week looks to be less rainy but our fields are still quite muddy. We are also expecting cooler temperatures towards the end of the week. Please expect that kids will go out for recess and lunch, unless there is extreme weather. Ensuring students come dressed for the weather isn’t just important for playing outside.  It’s also important in case of an emergency requiring evacuation of the building. 

In addition to ensuring your children come dressed for the weather, we ask that ALL students have a change of clothes at school (yes, even grade 7s). The field can be quite slippery and muddy.  In order to avoid us having to call you (possibly at work), to bring your child a change of clothes, please ensure that your child has spare clothes at school that they can change into, just in case. Your child’s spare clothing should be labelled with their name, in a ziplock bag, and left either in the classroom or in your child’s backpack.

Allergy Reminder

Due to very serious allergies, we ask that NO seafood/fish, onions or nuts be brought to school.   Please also keep this in mind whether it be a lunch prepared at home as well as if you are dropping off a commercially prepared lunch (eg. fast food) for your child.

Are you interested in the Late French Immersion Program for your child currently in Grade 5? Or, do you know a family who might be?

Please note and/or pass along this important information about French Immersion for the coming school year.

Our district offers both early (Kindergarten) and late (grade 6) French Immersion programs.  Both programs require an application prior to registration. 

Here are some other important reminders/dates about French Immersion:

1.  It’s important to attend a parent information session:

For Late French Immersion (entry in grade 6):

A pre-recorded Late French Immersion Information presentation is available here: https://vimeo.com/503206055

2.  An on-line application form needs to first be completed and submitted by the deadline. 

This demonstrates a commitment by the families to register their child in the designated program if their child is accepted and to understand that there is a commitment for the child to stay in the French Immersion program until Grade 12.

• Deadline for Late French Immersion program (Grade 6 entry) is February 12th at 4p.m. Link to LFI application form

3. ALL families hoping for a Grade 6 (Late Immersion) spot for September 2024 MUST apply, including families who already have children in the French Immersion program.

Having a child already in the French Immersion program does not guarantee you a spot for your upcoming child.   But, it does increase your chances!

4. Spots are given following a priority order (provided your application is submitted on time)

Find out more, here https://www.deltasd.bc.ca/programs/french-immersion/

5. There is more IMPORTANT information on the District website

Bingo Night

Unfortunately, the PAC Bingo night has been cancelled. Stay tuned for more exciting events coming up later this spring!

PAC Fundraisers ongoing throughout the year:

 

 

 

 

 

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

Family Summer French Camps