Dear DG Families,

REMINDER – NEW RESTRICTIONS TO PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN SCHOOLS

Please be reminded that, as required by the Provincial Government, the School District implemented updated restrictions on the use of cellphones and other personal digital devices came into effect on July 1, 2024.

Please note that earbuds, headphones and smartwatches are included in the updated restrictions.   These items should not be coming to school.

Parent Connect

Please take the time to log in to Parent Connect and to update your forms.

Each year, the Delta School District requires that parents approve, through Parent Connect, various permission forms (eg. walking field trip, Fruit & Veggie program, Photo & Media consent, Google Apps).

What happens if these forms are not filled in?  Only students who have permission will be able to participate in walking field trips, the fruit and veggie program, have their photo in the yearbook, etc…

It is important that the contact information that we have for you is up to date.

As well, parent connect is the portal that you will need to use when booking parent teacher interviews.  Please see the link for details.

https://dg.deltasd.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2024/09/parent-connect-instructions-.pdf

If you are having difficulty accessing Parent Connect, please call the office.

STUDENT SAFETY

Road Safety

Pick up times can be very busy, and Russell Drive and 112th are very busy roads.  As such, we encourage families to walk to and from school if possible, or to even park a little further away and walk the rest of the way .  Parents can continue to help us keep our students safe during pickup and drop off times, by doing the following.

• Use the designated parent parking lot (safely and courteously!) across the street from the school.   Please do not double park or block the entry/exit to the parking lot
• Follow the directions of crossing guards
• Use the cross walk to cross Russell Drive and encourage your children to do the same (it’s not safe for kids to run across Russell Drive)
• Keep our staff parking lot clear of parent vehicles and pedestrians (lately we’ve noticed an increase in parent vehicles driving through, and even parking in, the staff lot; please don’t do this)
• Stress to your children that they should not hang out in or run across the staff parking lot.  Use the path across the front grass areas, rather than cutting through the staff parking lot.
• Keep vehicles clear of Downs Road – there is NO student drop off/pick up, here
  
• Do not block private driveways of houses near our school
• Encourage older students to walk or bike to school
• If possible, walk younger students to school
• Drive slowly and cautiously

Here’s a link to the traffic reminders/parking map on our website.  ‘

Managing Life Threatening Allergies at school

While many people suffer from bothersome but manageable allergies (eg. pet dander, seasonal allergies, etc…), a small number of people have severe, life threatening allergies. 

At Devon Gardens, we have students and staff who have severe allergies to nuts, seafood/fish and onions.   Their allergies are so severe that these items cannot be brought to school, at all.

In addition to this, if your child is in a class with a student who has a severe allergy, you will have received a letter from the school outlining if certain food/products need to be avoided by students in the class in order to create a safe environment. Thank you for your cooperation.  With your help, we can do our best to prevent a reaction and to make sure that all of our students are safe, healthy, and able to concentrate on learning. Anyone wishing further explanation or information on this type of allergy may contact the school.

If your child has life-threatening allergies, please ensure you have informed the school by calling the school office 604-581-6185.

Please ensure your child’s lunch does not include:

onions

seafood/fish

nuts

MEDICATION AT SCHOOL

If your child has any serious allergies or medical conditions, and/or needs to have access to medication such as an inhaler or epipen at school, it is imperative that the school be made aware to ensure we have all the required information, as well as your child’s medication, at school.  We have already contacted families of returning students who had medication at school last year, to request that their medication be brought back. If you have not already sent this in, please do so asap.  This is especially important if your child requires an epipen for allergies resulting in an anaphylactic reaction.  

If you are new to us this year, and your child requires medication at school, please contact the office promptly.

Terry Fox Run

Devon Gardens will be participating in the annual Terry Fox Run again this year!  Our run date is Wednesday, September 18th! Please have your child wear running shoes and clothes that allow for easy movement on this day. We also encourage students to each bring in a “Toonie for Terry” which will go toward cancer research. Thank you for your support!

DG Open House

Our Open House will be from 5:30 – 6:30 pm, this Thursday. This is a chance for students and parents to come tour the school and meet the teachers.   The PAC will also have an information table set up. We hope to see you there!   As the intent of this evening is not to discuss student progress, parents will have an opportunity to ask more specific questions about their child’s learning at parent/teacher conferences in October.

Snack, Lunch, and Water Bottles

Please ensure that your child comes to school with all that they need for the day, including their snack, lunch and water bottle.  These items should come to school with your child in the morning, packed in their backpack.   Please refrain from dropping items off mid-day for your child.     We do have some items on hand for students who forget their lunch.

Fall weather

Just a reminder that as the weather gets cold and wet, please make sure that kids come dressed appropriately for the outdoors in all sorts of weather (eg. jacket, waterproof/water resistant footwear, hat, gloves, etc…) . Please expect that kids will go out for recess and lunch, unless there is extreme weather.

VERY IMPORTANT –  all students (even Grade 7s!) are required to have a spare change of clothes (socks, pants, T-shirt) at school.  Spare clothing should be in a ziplock bag, labelled with your child’s name.

What exactly is PAC?   Check out their one-pager, here

Devon Gardens PAC Fundraiser – Hot Lunches and Snack Days

Deadline for term 1 ordering is WEDNESDAY!

Term 1 special lunch & snack days:

Subway Sandwiches Lunch  – Thurs Sep 26 and Dec 5

(Gluten-free bread option available)

Panago Pizza Lunch – Thurs Oct 10, Nov 21 and Dec 19

(Gluten-free crust available)

Whitespot Lunch – Thurs Oct 24 and Nov 7

TCBY Frozen Yogurt Snack (for recess) – Wed Oct 16 and Nov 27

Booster Juice Smoothies (for recess) – Wed Oct 30

Cobs Buns and Cinnamon Buns Snack (for recess) – Wed Nov 13

Online ordering opens – Monday September 9^th

Deadline to submit online orders – Wednesday, September 18^th

*Please note that hot lunches are Thursdays and snack days are Wednesdays

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
• 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.
• Nutritional information:
  • Subway Nutritional Information and Ingredient Guide
  • Cobs
  • Panago
  • Whitespot
  •  TCBY
  • Booster Juice info still to come.
• Please be mindful of known absences/vacations when placing orders.
• If your child is absent on the day of the hot lunch, the meal will be automatically donated to someone else. Please email your child’s teacher if you want to pick up their food. Pick up is between 1:30-2:15PM at the office on the day of the hot lunch

Questions???  Please send an email to pacdevongardens@gmail.com before ordering.

Thank you,

Your Devon Gardens PAC

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

Online Stay Safe & Babysitting Courses

Offered through First Aid Hero. When registering use promo/coupon code “DevGardens25” and our PAC will earn $5 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

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

Tuesday, September 17th: planner money is due

Wednesday, September 18th: Terry Fox Run ($2.00 donation per student)

Wednesday, September 18th: Deadline to submit PAC special lunch orders for term 1 (online ordering only)

Thursday, September 19th: Term 1 previews sent home electronically

Thursday, September 19th: DG Open House 5:30 – 6:30 pm

Friday, September 20th: Professional Development day (school is not in session)

Wednesday, September 25th: Individual School Photos

Thursday, September 26th: Special Lunch Day (Subway)

Friday, September 27th: Orange Shirt Day observed at school

Monday, September 30th: Day for Truth and Reconciliation (schools are closed)

Other dates and events are listed on our school calendar on our website: https://dg.deltasd.bc.ca/events-calendar/