Dear DG Families,

Celebrating Diwali!

This year, Diwali is being celebrated around the world on October 20th & 21st.   This week our DG student Culture Club will be helping us learn about Diwali by kicking off the week with an assembly on Monday morning, and by sharing music and information about Diwali during our morning announcements.    As Diwali is the “Festival of Lights”, everyone is encouraged to wear their sparkle on Monday!  Many of our students will be wearing their beautiful cultural festive clothing.  Bright colours, sequins, glitter, sparkly accessories, or anything shiny would also be great outfit choices to celebrate Diwali!   Students who are wearing special outfits may also wish to bring another set of clothing so they can change before going out for recess.    A huge thank you to the student leaders of our Culture Club (and their teacher sponsor, Mme Santos), for helping us learn about and celebrate diversity!

Photo Retakes are Tuesday

School photographers will be here on Tuesday morning for photo retakes.  If your child missed the original photo day last month, or if you would like them to have their photo retaken, please complete the retake form and have them bring it with them to school on Tuesday.   You should have already received a photo retake form from your child’s teacher.  If not, or if you need another copy, you can print one here

Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner!   We will be having a Halloween Parade on the morning of October 31st, at approximately 9:30 am.   In preparation for the Halloween parade, we want to remind everyone of the importance of choosing costumes that are fun and respectful.

 Guidelines for Halloween Costumes at School

Costumes:

• should not be too scary or gory (some of our Kindergarten students have not yet turned 5)
• should be age appropriate
• 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!
• that include masks must not fully cover the face or limit vision (students may wear masks during the parade, provided they can safely see)
• must be appropriate for the learning environment and all school activities, including PE class, outdoor learning, recess and lunch (students need to be able to safely play outside and be appropriately dressed for the weather).
• that promote illegal activities, drugs/alcohol, could be offensive to others, or perpetuate a stereotype of someone’s culture, gender, heritage, religion, etc… are NOT ok for school
• that use traditional clothing, cultural symbols, or stereotypes can cause hurt and offense, even if unintentionally, and show disrespect to members of our school community
• that don’t use or make fun of someone else’s identity (culture, gender, heritage, religion, etc…)  demonstrates kindness, respect, and care for everyone in our school community

Also:

• toy weapons are not permitted at school, even on Halloween
• props and accessories such as magic wands, brooms, tiaras, etc… are ok as long as they are used safely (keep in mind these items are more likely to get lost/broken, so please consider this carefully before bringing them to school)
• not all students like to dress up and that’s ok, too! Students who don’t want to dress up, but still want to participate in Halloween, could wear Halloween colours (orange and black), or they can come in their everyday clothes!  That’s great, too!
• costumes worn to school may not survive the day intact, so consider a spare/alternate costume for the school Halloween parade and save the “real” one for trick or treating that night

If students have questions about if their costumes are OK for school, they should check with their teacher or Mme Greenhalgh, ahead of time.

Does your child have a full change of clothes at school? 

VERY IMPORTANT –  all students (yes, even Grade 7s!) are required to have a spare change of clothes (socks, pants, T-shirt) at school. That way, if a students gets wet/muddy or happens to slip on the wet field, they can change into dry, comfortable clothing for the remainder of the day.

Spare clothing should be in a ziplock bag, labelled with your child’s name   

Adult Crossing Guard Disruption 

Emergency Preparedness Fee

Last year, the school district introduced an annual $10 Emergency Preparedness Fee to help ensure every school is equipped with essential emergency supplies – such as food, water, and first aid items – in the event of a major incident like an earthquake (see letter from May 2024). As of mid-June, we have collected more than $125,000, which is already being used to ensure each school is stocked with emergency food and water reserves.

Our ultimate goal is to maintain at least a three-day supply of food and water for every student. This annual fee, due at the beginning of each school year, plays a vital role in helping us meet that goal and allows us to replace supplies as they expire.

For the 2025/2026 school year, families will be asked to pay this $10/student fee by the end of October.    For more information, please refer to the notice sent home with youngest/only children last week.  If you need another copy of the notice, you can find it, here.   If your family requires financial support in relation to this fee, please contact the school office. Discretion will be maintained.

For Fruit and Veggie Program

The PAC is in need of volunteers to assist with the Fruit and Veggie program.  This involves receiving, sorting and distributing the fruit and veggie order to classrooms, approximately once every 3-4 weeks.   If you can help, or for more information, please contact the PAC at pacdevongardens@gmail.com

PAC Fundraisers ongoing throughout the year

For information about the following fundraisers, please click the logos.

Questions?  Send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com.

Click image for more info

Use your personal Return-It account by clicking donate and looking up Devon Gardens Elementary

click image for more info

Mention Devon Gardens Elementary at checkout, 10% of your purchase becomes credit for the school

click image for more info

Use this link https://mabelslabels.ca/en-CA/fundraising/support to make a purchase and 20% of your purchase becomes goes back to our school

Fire Chief for a Day – Due October 23rd

Print your form here **as there is no school for students Oct 24th, please hand in forms no later than October 23rd

Monday, October 20th – Diwali assembly

Tuesday, October 21st – Photo retake day

Thursday, October 23rd – Fire Chief for a Day forms due to the office

Friday, October 24th – Provincial Pro-d day (no school for students)

Friday, October 31st – Emergency Prep fees due to the office

Friday, October 31st – Halloween Parade

For other upcoming events, please refer to the calendar on the school website:

https://dg.deltasd.bc.ca/news-events/monthly-calendar/