Dear DG Families,
Thank you to all of our families who came to meet with our teachers for parent teacher conferences, and for supporting last week’s Book Fair!
October Focus
This month, we are working on Sympathy, Empathy and Compassion. In addition to learning about this in their classrooms with their teachers, we also share information and reminders with students via our daily announcements and during small group assemblies. 
Great Shakeout
There are currently over 493,252 participants, and counting, in BC who are registered for “The Great ShakeOut”, taking place on October 20th. And, our school is among them! “The Great ShakeOut” is an annual opportunity to practice how to be safer in case of an earthquake (“Drop, Cover and Hold On”), although we don’t just do this once a year. We practice this emergency procedure, along with others such as fire drills and shelter in place procedures, several times throughout the school year.
In addition to participating in the Great ShakeOut, every fall we also review our school’s emergency plan and supplies. We also ask families for a small annual donation to help us keep our emergency bin (the big metal bin by the gravel field) well stocked. Please watch for this notice, coming home on Thursday. Thank you, in advance, for sending in your donations Your contributions are a vital part of our Emergency Prep program!
This is also a great time to review your own family’s Emergency Preparedness plan. Part of that plan should include who (an adult) would be able to pick up your children from school in the event that an emergency situation (eg. earthquake) prevented you from getting to the school. On parent connect, this person is your designated “emergency release” (you can have more than one) and is the only person(s), other than a parent or guardian, to whom we can legally release a child in the event of an emergency closure. A reminder that your “Emergency Release” is not necessarily the same person as your “Emergency Contact”, although it could be (ideally, your “Emergency Release” should be within walking distance of the school). To review, again, the difference between Emergency Release and Emergency Contact, and to add/update an “Emergency Release” contact, please refer to this page on our website. The “Emergency Release” information is one of the few sections on Parent Connect that parents can update themselves.
Thinking about Emergency Preparedness can be overwhelming. The “Get Prepared” website has some great information and a step-by-step guide for putting together your family’s Emergency Preparedness Plan, in about 20 minutes. The “Great ShakeOut” website also has some great information you might want to review, such as what to do if an earthquake hits while you are driving, and how to keep animals/pets safe during and after an earthquake.
Road Safety
When dropping off your child to school, please do not stop your car in the driving lanes of Russell Drive, or stop your car to drop off your child at the crosswalk. With one lane going in each direction of Russell Drive, it blocks the flow of traffic when cars stop in the driving lane to let children out. Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe at drop off and pick up times.
Please Be Considerate When Parking
We’ve received several complaints, lately, about cars double parking in the Parent/Visitor parking lot and blocking the entrance/exit to the parking lot. When parking at school, please do so safely and legally, and in a way that is considerate of others.
Crossing Guard Schedule
A huge thank you to our student crossing guards! We are sharing the crossing guard schedule with parents as we know that prior arrangements need to be made at home to ensure that your child can come to school earlier or stay a little bit later after school. Thank you to our crossing guard monitors for helping us! Ms Grund is in charge of our Student Crossing Guard program, so please contact her with any questions.
Here is the crossing guard schedule so far: Schedules – Crossing Guard
Diwali is October 24th
We will be celebrating Diwali at school by sharing music and information about Diwali during our morning announcements, in the lead up to the Diwali, and through a school assembly on the 24th, where students are encouraged to wear their finest traditional outfits. Thank you to Ms Arjun, Mme Jassal, Mme Turner, Mr. Mok, Mme Santos and Ms Chan for planning the Diwali celebration.
Halloween
Halloween is just around the corner! This year, Ms Grund will be organizing our Halloween Parade. Please stay tuned for more information, coming soon! In the meantime, as you/your child are costume planning, here are some guidelines for Halloween costumes at school
Halloween Costumes at School:
- should not be too scary
- should be age appropriate
- that promote illegal activities, drugs/alcohol, or could be offensive or perpetuate a stereotype of someone’s culture, gender, heritage, or religion are not ok for school
- must be safe & comfortable. Students must be able to sit, walk, breathe, see and hear. Anything that limits vision or restricts movement can lead to falling & other injuries. That’s no fun on Halloween! (students may wear masks during the parade, though)
- must be in line with our dress guidelines (students are sufficiently covered and dressed for the weather)
Also:
- toy weapons are not to be brought to school
- not all students like to dress up (and that’s ok, too!)
- since costumes worn to school may not survive the day intact, consider a spare/alternate costume and save the “real” one for trick or treating that night
Special Foods Days
Devon Gardens PAC Fundraiser
Hot Lunches are Up and Running!
Subway Sandwiches Lunch (Gluten-free bread option available) – Friday, Oct 28
Cobs Buns and Cinnamon Buns Lunch – Friday, Nov 18
Pizza Hut Lunch – Friday, December 16
Deadline to submit online orders – Thursday, October 20
How to Order
- Visit https://devonpac.hotlunches.net/ and register for an account (you must register for a new account each year, may use same login and password as previous years)
- Select items/order per child & pay (if credit card payment is an issue, please email PAC for alternate ordering instructions)
- For step-by-step instructions on registering and ordering/payment, click here.
Other information to note:
- Hot Lunch ordering is optional. Absolutely no-obligation to order.
- Proceeds from all hot lunch fundraising will be administered by the PAC and go towards the purchase of school/student/classroom needs/supplies/events, etc.
- No additional utensils or condiments will be provided. Please feel free to send a drink, etc. to supplement your child(s) order.
- If you have more than one child at the school, place orders for all children first and then proceed to final payment. This will save you transaction fees.
- Subway Nutritional Information and Ingredient Guide, Pizza Hut Nutrition Guide,
- COBS Bread Hot Lunch Nutritional Information
- Please be mindful of known absences/vacations when placing orders.
Questions??? Please send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com.
PAC FALL PHOTO SHOOT FUNDRAISER
Email pacdevongardens@gmail.com for sign-up information
Reminder – 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 devongardensin 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 $8 from each registration. For details, available course dates and online registration, please follow the links below: Babysitting – https://firstaidhero.com/babysitting-courses/online-babysitting-courses/ Stay Safe – https://firstaidhero.com/stay-safe/
Questions? Send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com
Thank you,
Your Devon Gardens PAC
Wednesday, October 19th: Div 5, 15 & 16 – Pumpkin Patch Field trip
Thursday, October 20th: Great Shakeout BC (Earthquake drill)
Thursday, October 20th: Deadline to register for special foods ordering
Friday, October 21st: Pro-D Day (school is not in session)
Saturday, October 22nd: PAC Photo Fundraiser
Monday, October 24th: Happy Diwali
Wednesday, October 26th: Cross-Country Run at Sunshine Hills Elementary, 3:30 – 5:15 pm
Monday, October 31st: Happy Halloween
Tuesday, November 1st: Pyjama day
Thursday, November 3rd: Photo retake day
Monday, November 7th: PAC meeting, 7:00pm