Dear DG Families,

We really enjoyed celebrating our awesome DG Parent community Friday morning during our parent appreciation event.   Thanks so much for attending!

Our staff would also like to send a big thank you to our PAC for the delicious staff appreciation lunch they provided, also on Friday (it was a busy day of appreciation all around!)

How is it already the end of May?!!?  As we head into the last month of school, there will be lots on the go!  In addition to these weekly updates, keep an eye out for communication/emails from your child’s teacher, as well as from the office, and be sure to regularly check the calendar on our website.  It’s frequently updated as new events are added

Reminder – Last Week for Family Fun Night Raffle Baskets Donations

Family Fun Night is just around the corner (Thursday, June 15th!).  Not only is Family Fun Night a great community building event, it’s also a major fundraiser for the PAC.  Funds generated through Family Fun Night help support a variety of initiatives at our school (eg. library books, equipment for our playground pals bin, classroom funds for “extras”, school jerseys, technology purchases, and MORE!). 

One of the main events at Family Fun Night is the basket raffle.  For the past month, students have been asked to bring in donations that will make up the various baskets. 

Each class has been assigned a theme and students are asked to bring in donations that fit their theme.  If you’re not sure which theme your child’s classroom has been given, please refer to the Raffle Basket letters sent home at the beginning of May.  If you have misplaced the letter that went home, copies of the letters can be found under the “notices” section of our website.  Scroll down until you find the division you’re looking for (see lower right corner of the letters).

Thank you to all those families who have already donated items.  At the moment there are fewer donations than anticipated so we’re hoping that more items will come in this week.  As an incentive, the classes who bring in the most items (top primary and top intermediate), will win ice cream treats, courtesy of the PAC!

Donations will be collected until Friday, June 2nd.  If you’d prefer to make a cash donation rather than sending in an “item” that’s ok, too! Please send your donation in an envelope clearly marked with your child’s name, division and a brief description (something like: Attention DGPAC –  Family Fun Night donation for Div ____ basket)

Your contribution is important! The proceeds from the basket raffle go directly back to the school.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the PAC at
pacdevongardens@gmail.com 

 The PAC is also looking for volunteers for Family Fun Night (and Sports Day).  See the sign-up info under the PAC section, below.

2023-24 School Calendar

Next year’s school calendar is now on our website.  You will notice a slight adjustment to our daily schedule with respect to recess and lunch times.  This was necessary to accommodate an increase in teacher prep time for next year.   Morning entry and dismissal times have not changed.

And, speaking of next year ….

Welcome to Kindergarten

We are looking forward to welcoming our incoming Kindergarten students, and their parents, on Wednesday afternoon!   Groups of soon-to-be Ks and their parents will be arriving shortly after dismissal on Wednesday.   They may be nervous coming for the first time, so please give them a friendly wave and hello if you see them at dismissal time.

Summer Volunteers Needed to Water our Garden Area!

You may have seen the Western Red Cedar tree and the planter boxes on the front grass area of the school.  This area is well-used as an outdoor learning space during the school year and both the tree and the garden boxes require regular watering.   While school is in session, teachers and students take care of this.  During the summer, though, we need your help.   For the past two summers we have had families volunteer to water the garden boxes and cedar tree and we need to do the same, this summer.

As we’ve done for the past two summers, we will put together a schedule of volunteers to take turns doing the watering so that it’s a manageable task (many hands make light work).  You will have access to water and a hose at the school, and we will show you exactly what needs to be done before the end of the school year.

 If you are willing to help out with watering this summer (particularly if you live nearby!), please email Ms Grund at bgrund@deltaschools.ca And, if you helped with this last summer, you’re now an expert, so we’d love to have you on the team again this year!  

Thank you for your help with this; we’ve already noticed an improvement ….

Students Leaving Early for Appointments

Whenever possible, please schedule your child’s appointments outside of the regular school day.   We know, however, this isn’t always possible.  So, if your child does needs to leave early for an appointment, please let the teacher know head of time by sending a note in your child’s planner.   As the end of the school day is very busy, we ask that students needing to leave for an afternoon appointment be picked up no later than 30 min before dismissal (eg. before 2:30pm –  M, T, Th & Fri, and before 1:15pm on Wed), or that they wait until the regular dismissal time.

Messages for Students and End of Day Pick-up Routines

Lately there has been a significant increase in the number of daily phone calls asking us to pass messages along to students, usually regarding end of day pick-up routines.  This is not sustainable and we are asking for your assistance.  When the office calls into classrooms with messages for students (or having students called out of class to come to the office for a message) it interrupts teaching and learning time for all students in that classroom.  Also, when phone calls come close to the end of the day, it leaves us very little time to even get the message to the student. Classes often spend extra time outside before dismissal, especially when the weather is nice, and it not always possible to get a last minute message to your child about pick-up plans.

In an extenuating circumstance or true emergency please contact the school to advise us of changes to your child’s pick up routine.  Otherwise, these plans need to made ahead of time.   Please plan your child’s day before they get to school and ensure that your child knows, ahead of time, what the end of day pick-up routine will be.

The office will, of course, take messages for students when there is an emergency or when it is essential that the student receive the information, whether about pick-up routines or about something else.  

Student Crossing Guard Schedule:

Thank you for your continued support of the crossing guard program at Devon Gardens. This important leadership role helps keep the students safe. If you know you are going to be away for an extended period because of a planned vacation, please encourage your child to find their own replacements and to let Ms. Grund know.   All Crossing Guards have been provided the schedule.

Updated Crossing Guard Schedule 

Volunteer Sign-Up for Family Fun Night & Sports Day

PAC EXECUTIVE ELECTIONS

At our next meeting on June 5, we will be holding our elections for the 2023-2024 Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Executive Committee. The meeting and the elections will be held online via Zoom. To view the Executive Officer positions available and their respective duties, refer to the PAC constitution.

The Devon Gardens PAC cannot function without dedicated volunteers. We welcome nominations for all elected positions and hope you will join us in fulfilling our mandate to represent the parent voice and support our school. Below is a list of the PAC executive positions, name of the current appointed representative, with years served and intention to continue for the 2023-2024 school year.

All Parents and Guardians of the students currently registered at Devon Gardens Elementary may be Voting Members of the PAC, except for employees or elected officials of the School Board District or Ministry Of Education. The Executive Officers shall be elected by the Voting Members at the AGM held in June each year. The term of office shall commence in September of each year and shall be held for one year. Any Elected Member of the PAC may serve on the Executive for as many years as is elected to a position.

NOMINATION Process 

To express your interest, agreement to serve, and confirm your qualifications for the position you would like to nominate yourself for, please email send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com with the following information:

• Full name
• Contact information
• Position interested in

Nominations will also be accepted from the floor during the AGM.

We hope you will consider running for a position on the 2023-2024 DG PAC Executive Committee.

Thank you,

Devon Gardens PAC

NEUFELD FARMS FUNDRAISER

PAC Fundraisers ongoing throughout the year

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 (com) 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 DGPAC and our PAC will earn $5 from each registration. For details, available course dates and online registration, please refer to this flyer:

 

Questions? Send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com

Thank you,

Your Devon Gardens PAC

Other Opportunities and Education for Families

ELL summer school is now open. This is free for all Delta students and is geared towards English Language Learners.

There are 2 options (select only one):

McCloskey Elementary  (North Delta)

• Session 1 – July 4th – July 14th 9:00 – 1:30pm
• Session 2 – July 17th – July 28th 9:00 – 1:00pm

 The link for more info/registration can be found here:

https://www.deltasd.bc.ca/programs/continuing-education/summer-learning-registration/