Dear DG Families,
French Immersion Application Deadlines are Quickly Approaching!
Early French Immersion Deadline is this Monday, January 22nd at 4pm! Details below.
Are you interested in:
- the Early French Immersion program for your soon-to-be-Kindergarten child?
- the Late French Immersion program for your currently-in-grade-5 child?
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 Early French Immersion (entry in Kindergarten):
A pre-recorded Early French Immersion Information presentation is available here: https://vimeo.com/649615646
For Late French Immersion (entry in grade 6):
A pre-recorded Late French Immersion Information presentation is available here: https://vimeo.com/503206055
Online Information Nights:
- Jan 24th 6:30pm
- Jan 25th 6:30pm.
Sign-up form to receive the meeting link:
Late French Immersion Parent Question and Answer Period Registration Form
In-person Information Nights:
- Feb 7th at 6:30pm at Chalmers Elementary
- Feb 8th at 6:30pm at Cliff Drive Elementary.
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 Early French Immersion program (Kindergarten entry) is January 22nd at 4p.m. Link to EFI application form
- 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 Kindergarten or 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
Professional Development Day January 26th
A reminder that this Friday, January 26th, is a PD Day. There is no school for students.
Ensuring Students come Dressed for the Weather
We are expecting a rainy week after last week’s snow. 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
A reminder that, due to very serious allergies, we ask that seafood/fish, onions and nuts not 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.
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Looking for Volunteer Basketball Coach
Are you interested in helping to coach grade 7 boys basketball?
Practices can be either at lunch or after school, and games are typically once a week, after school. Schedule yet to be determined.
If you are interested, please contact Ms Leveque via email at kleveque@deltaschools.ca
Early Dismissal February 1st and 2nd
Student led conferences are on Thursday, February 1st and Friday, February 2nd. To accommodate this, students will be dismissed at 2:00 pm on both February 1st and 2nd.
As teachers will be conducting conferences, students must be picked up, promptly, at 2:00 pm on these dates.
Please make a note of this in your calendars and advise daycare providers or other family members who pick up your child from school.
Student led conferences are on Thursday, February 1st and Friday, February 2nd. To accommodate this, students will be dismissed at 2:00 pm on both February 1st and 2nd. Please ensure that you make arrangements to pick-up your children promptly at 2:00 pm on these dates and/or notify your child’s daycare.
What is a Student-Led Conference? Just as it sounds, a student-led conference is a conference with parents, led by the student. The role of the classroom teacher is a facilitator in the conference process. Students lead parents through a discussion of their work and established academic and social goals. The process includes the teacher facilitating several conferences at the same time. Conference appointments will be 20 min long (some students/parents may require less time, which is fine), and several sets of parents may sign up for each appointment time.
Appointments for Student Led Conferences will be booked through Parent Connect. Please watch for an email coming home soon letting you know the online booking system has been opened. In the meantime, please make sure you are able to log onto to Parent Connect so that you will be able to book your appointment when the time comes.
Instructions for Parent Connect can be found here
If you are having difficulty, please contact Ms Labrosse in the office.
When students have the opportunity to show, explain and demonstrate their learning, they are not only communicating their accomplishments and understanding, but also sharing with you what and how they are learning, and the criteria for success. In addition, giving students this opportunity:
- develops your child’s self-assessment and communication skills
- helps build the independence, confidence, self-esteem and pride of your child
- provides an opportunity for your child to receive supportive feedback to further their learning
- provides an opportunity to celebrate your child’s learning. While your child is leading you through the conference, the teacher will be available to join you for part of the time.
Roles and Responsibilities of Student-Led Conferences
Dogs on School Grounds
For many of us, dogs are important members of the family and we even have a canine member on staff. We know that many of our families enjoy bringing their dogs along when they walk their children to and from school.
Some important reminders about dogs at school:
- Dogs must be leashed at all times – ourschool grounds are not an off-leash area (this includes the gravel field). While there is an off-leash dog park called “Devon Gardens Park” (an unfortunate and confusing coincidence), it’s not at Devon Gardens Elementary School. The “Devon Gardens off-leash park” is located at 11011 McAdam Road.
- Not everyone is comfortable around dogs. Keep your dog close to you and stay alert to others.
- Please make sure you/your dog practice best manners, especially if they accompany you while walking your children to/from school.
- Please ensure you give everyone their space and don’t allow your dog to greet people unless they ask (and you agree).
- Your leash should be short enough to prevent your dog from contacting or jumping on a passersby.
- Please clean up after your dog. If you have forgotten/run out of dog poop bags, we have some! Many of our staff members carry these with them (eg. Mme Greenhalgh) and we also have dog poop bags at the office. We’re happy to give you one, so please just ask!
- If you are walking your leashed dog on school property (more that just to/from school with your children), please do so outside of instructional hours. Not everyone is comfortable with dogs, so we ask that dog owners not use our grounds during the school day when students/staff might be outside (eg. PE classes, at recess/lunch, etc…).
Please also share these reminders with any of your friends & family members who might also bring their dogs to our school grounds in the evenings/on weekends.
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
Monday, January 22nd: Application Deadline K French Immersion, 4:00pm
Thursday, January 25th: PAC Special Lunch Day – Boston Pizza Lunch
Thursday, January 25th: Term 2 Previews sent home
Thursday, January 25th: French Immersion Gr 7 parents night at Burnsview 7:00pm
Friday, January 26th: Pro-D day (no school for students)
Tuesday, January 30th: Gr 7 parents night at Delview 6:30 pm AND Gr 7 English parents night at Burnsview 7:00pm
Wednesday, January 31st: PAC popcorn sale at recess
Wednesday, January 31st: Gr 7 parents night at Sands 6:00pm
Thursday, February 1st: 2:00 pm Early Dismissal for Student Led Conferences
Friday, February 2nd: 2:00 pm Early Dismissal for Student Led Conferences
Please note, not all important dates are listed here. Other dates and events are listed on our school calendar on our website: https://dg.deltasd.bc.ca/events-calendar/