Dear DG Families,

Did you know that this week is Emergency Preparedness Week?

This is a great time to review your family’s emergency plan. Don’t have one?  The video below can help get you started.

By taking a few simple steps, you can become better prepared to face a range of emergencies – anytime, anywhere. It is important to:

• Know the risks – Although the consequences of disasters can be similar, knowing the risks specific to your community and our region can help you better prepare.
• Make a plan – It will help you and your family know what to do
• Get an emergency kit – During an emergency, we will all need some basic supplies. We may need to get by without power or tap water. Be prepared to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours in an emergency.

Making a Family Emergency Plan – Be Prepared, Not Scared!

Learn more through this webinar

Join the BC Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness staff for a 45-minute webinar on May 9 to learn about three steps to preparedness:

– Know the hazards in your community
– Make your emergency plan
– Build your emergency kit and grab-and-go bags

All participants will also be entered to win a 4-person emergency kit!

This 45 min webinar, starting at 5:30 PM, will help you learn how to prepare for emergencies, as well as some of the ways you can use technology to help.

Deadline to register for the webinar on Zoom is May 8 at 11:59 PM.

North Delta Regional Track Meet

Just a reminder that many of our grades 4 – 7 students will be heading off to North Delta Secondary for the track meet on Thursday, May 9th. If your child is going, please make sure that you return (TOMORROW!) the permission forms sent home last week.   This notice also includes other important information like what time to be at school Thursday morning and what items should, and should not, be brought to the Track Meet.  Please make sure you, and your child, have carefully read over the notice.  Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions

Please also watch for a few more details yet to come from the Track Meet organizers (eg. where our school will be sitting). 

Welcome to Kindergarten

If you have an incoming kindergarten student joining us at Devon Gardens in September, please save the afternoon of Wednesday, May 29th for our Welcome to Kindergarten event!  More information will be sent out directly to our incoming Kindergarten families, soon.  Please keep an eye out for that

2024-2025 School Year

Will you be somewhere else 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

Optional School Supplies Ordering through SchoolStart for 24/25

We are trying something new for school supplies for next year and are offering parents the opportunity to purchase quality standardized school supplies through School Start for the 2024/2025 school year.

This is optional and orders will not be handled through the school, but rather with this company directly.

3 WAYS TO ORDER:

1. ONLINE: You can place your order online at www.schoolstart.ca.
   

   Our site is best compatible with Firefox or Chrome.

2. PHONE: You can call our customer service centre at 1-800-580-1868 to place your order over the phone.

3. EMAIL:   You can print and fill out the order form and return to our office via email to: info@schoolstart.ca.

HOME DELIVERY:

The supplies will be packaged and delivered directly to your house. If you have a P.O. Box, please use your street address (the address you would give 911 in an emergency).

Because the kit (s) are delivered to your home, you will have the ability to:

Pre-label your child’s supplies

Add supplies to your order for home use or for your child in another school

SCHOOL START CALL CENTRE IS AVAILABLE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR NEED ANY ASSISTANCE WITH ORDERING: 1-800-580-1868 Email: info@schoolstart.ca

The Next PAC Meeting is …

Monday, May 6th (tomorrow) at 7:00pm.   This will be a virtual meeting, via Zoom.  Please watch for the meeting link, via email, tomorrow.

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 Voucher Pick-up

If you pre-ordered hanging baskets, please pick up your vouchers tomorrow (Monday, May 6th), from 3:00 – 3:30 in the undercover area.

QUESTIONS? Send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com

Neufeld Farms Fundraiser – Deadline is tomorrow (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 – MUSICAL CAKES EVENT!

What is musical cakes you ask?  It’s like musical chairs … but with cakes (cookies, pies, cupcakes, etc…)!

Stay tune for more Family Fun Night updates!

 

 

 

 

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

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.

Public Education Event – Child Safety

The Delta Police Department in partnership with The Delta School District is holding a public education at North Delta Secondary from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on the topics of child exploitation, human trafficking, and gangs.

Supporting Children to have a Positive Relationship with Food

Community Supports for Parents and Families

FamilySmart!

Kim Barthel is a guest speaker for National Child & Youth Mental Health Day! 

Registration for virtual event: Connecting with Kids

Date: May 7th 6pm-8pm PST

Description: We know that having caring, connected conversations can significantly impact the mental health of children and youth. Join us to listen to Kim Barthel talk about having more self-compassion, self-awareness and knowledge about the art and science of relationships. Our kids mean so much to us, and yet disconnection, dissociation and even the potential for self-harm is very real. A holistic and engaging storyteller, Kim will introduce the basics of attunement, attachment theory, trauma-sensitive practice, sustainable self-care and above all the power of connection and inclusion.

FamilySmart National Child & Youth Mental Health Day website – may7icare.ca for more information and resources.

Summary of services/supports and Parent/Caregiver Monthly Events.:

We are a team of FamilySmart Parent Peer Support Workers for Surrey, Delta, and White Rock. We support parents and caregivers whose children (0 to 24+ years old) struggle with mental health and/or substance use. We have no waitlist, no diagnosis is needed, and our services are free. We provide the following:

Peer Support – We can meet with parents by video chat or phone. We listen, to better understand what might help, and offer resources and information to support what a family may need now. Here is a link: FamilySmart Parent Peer Support Video.

Monthly Events – Each month, we host online events for parents and caregivers on topics important to many families. We watch a video by an expert speaker, then open it up to discussion and questions: Parent/Caregiver Monthly Events.

We also have a video library available for anyone: Our Video Library.

Workshop “Help for the Hard Times” – A monthly workshop for families and caregivers whose child or youth has had an inpatient stay or has had ER visits due to a mental health concern: HHT Info & Registration. We have attached a poster on this program.

Surrey, White Rock, Delta

Parent Peer Support Workers – Surrey, White Rock, Delta

604-607-9587

www.familysmart.ca

Typically reply within a few business days.

Languages: Currently, provide support in English, Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu