Week at a Glance Oct 4 – 8

Dear DG Families,

 

World Teacher’s Day is on Tuesday, October 5th. Please join us in thanking all of our dedicated educators who work so hard to make a positive difference in the lives of our students.

 

 

 

 

 

Mask Mandate (Updated)

On Friday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Education Jennifer Whiteside announced updates to the K-12 health and safety guidelines. The existing mask mandate is being expanded to include Kindergarten to Grade 3 students in response to the evolving situation with the Delta variant and increasing levels of concern among some parents, students, teachers and boards of education. Beginning Monday, October 4, 2021, all students and staff will be required to wear a mask when inside a school building, including while at their desks and on buses.

Please see the letter to families from Superintendent Sheppard, sent electronically on Friday, Oct 1st.

Letter to Families – October 1, 2021

Please remember to send your child to school with a mask. We are experiencing a high number of students coming to the office, on a daily basis, requesting a mask.  We have nearly depleted all of our “in case of emergencies” supply of masks.

Although (until now) masks have only been required for students in Grades 4-7, many of our K-3 students have also already been wearing masks to school.   For those families where this will be a new experience, here are a couple of videos you may find helpful in preparing your child to wear a mask at school.

 

Parent Teacher Conferences – PLEASE SIGN UP FOR A TIME

Parent teacher conferences will take place virtually on Wednesday, October 13th and Thursday, October 14th. To accommodate parent teacher conferences, students will be dismissed 1 hour earlier on both Wednesday, October 13th (dismissal at noon) and Thursday, October 14th (dismissal at 2:00 p.m.).  Please make a note of this in your calendars and advise daycare providers or other family members who pick up your child from school.

Parent Teacher Conferences are an important opportunity for parents/guardians to have a one to one conversation with the teacher about their child’s progress.

This year, parent teacher conferences will take place via MS Teams.  All parents are encouraged to book an appointment.

Parent teacher conferences are booked through parent connect and is open for booking now!  https://cimsweb.deltasd.bc.ca/schoolconnect/parentsignone.aspx

The last day for  parents to sign up for a conference time is Thursday, October 7th. 

Once the online bookings have closed, parents will receive more information, and a MS Teams invite, from their child’s teacher.   Please ensure that prior to October 7th, you have gone onto Parent Connect to book your appointment. 

Interview Sign-up instructions can be found here
(ignore the line that references “walking to your appointment”, or think of it as “walking to your computer”).

If you have any trouble signing up, please contact Ms. Huffington in the school office or email your child’s teacher.

Here is a helpful guide for parents when using MS Teams.  We suggest that you read through this prior to conferences, and keep it handy for easy reference for your scheduled appointment.

P_T TEAMS conference guide for parents

CPP BAC on Twitter: "Hey #calpolypomona students: Don't forget to update your emergency contact info in your Student Center by tomorrow at 5 p.m. Avoid a hold!… https://t.co/VeyNP0KB1R"

Very Important – Is Your Child’s Information Up to date?

On Friday, each student took home a print out of the current demographic and emergency information we have on file for them (eg. address, parent/guardian contact numbers, medical alert/allergy information, designated emergency release adults, etc….).

Please take the time to:

  • review the information carefully – all sections of the form
  • make any necessary corrections right on the paper (or confirm that the information listed is correct)
  • fill in any missing information (blank spaces)
  • sign, and return the paper to your child’s classroom teacher by Tuesday, October 5th.

All students must return this form to the school, even if there are no changes to the information we have on file.

Please check each section of your child’s form.   It is very important that, in case of emergency, we have accurate information for your child.   Also, in order to ensure you are receiving emails from the school, please double check the email addresses we have on file for you.   If there are blank sections on your child’s profile sheet, this means the information is missing/has not yet been provided.

If you have more than one child at the school, please provide the missing/updated information on each child’s form. 

For your reference, this information sheet  provides an explanation about and the important for each section of your child’s profile.   At the bottom of the sheet there is also a live link  to log into parent connect to review and authorize permission forms (photo permission, fruit and veggie program, walking field trip, etc…).   Please ensure you have completed this section.

For a reminder/overview of this information, please refer to the parent connect instructions previously sent home

If you have any questions about this, please contact Ms. Huffington in the school office

 

 

Students participated in our Terry Fox Run last Tuesday.  Thank you to all those who donated a toonie for Terry already! We will continue to collect toonies for Terry this week as well.

 

Cops for Cancer – Guessing Jar Challengeguess sweets in the jar - Clip Art Library

This week we will be kicking off our first Cops for Cancer fundraiser – “The Guessing Jar Challenge”.   We have prepared a variety of jars containing different amounts of fun stuff (individually wrapped candies, toys, etc….).  For only $2 a guess, students may buy a ticket to guess how many objects they think are in a “jar” for a chance to win!   There are a variety of jars to choose from and students may enter as many times as they wish.  The closest guess for each jar, wins!     This is a great way for students to practice their estimation skills and help the Cops for Cancer Team raise funds for pediatric cancer research, all at the same time!

 

Student Crossing Guards Grades 4 – 7

Our school liaison officer has trained one group of students who would like to volunteer as student crossing guards. Cstbl Hilliard will be coming again this week to train the remaining students who would also like to be crossing guards. If your child is interested in being a crossing guard, he/she will be taking home a permission slip form for you to sign. We will also upload the permission form to our notices page on the website.

Did you know that as a parent of a student at Devon Gardens you are already a member of the PAC (parent advisory council)?  The PAC is the officially recognized collective voice of parents of their school and is represented by its elected officers (the PAC executive). PACs are forums within each school community to discuss matters relating to the school and the educational experiences of the students.  The PAC provides important financial support for various initiatives and purchases benefiting students and sets goals and priorities for how to use PAC funds.  That said, PACs are not just about fundraising!  Parents’ voices are a tremendous value to our school and offer a wealth of ideas and support to enrich opportunities for students.    PACs also provide meaningful opportunities for parents through parent education events, volunteer opportunities and by promoting co-operation between home and school.

The first DGPAC meeting of the year will be on Monday, October 4th at 7:30 p.m. (via Zoom), and we hope you will join us!   A zoom invite and the agenda will be sent to all parents on Monday morning.

 

 

 

 

At our school level, we have a duolingo class for parents. Right now we have 12 parents registered, this past week alone we’ve collectively spent over 4 hours improving our skills. You can come join us too!
Here is the lnk to join:  www.duolingo.com/classroom/ffkjhc

 

 

 

October 2nd – 7th:  book parent teacher conference appointments, via parent connect

Monday, October 4th: PAC meeting via Zoom 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, October 7th: Picture orders due

Thursday, October 7th: last day to book parent teacher conference appointments

Monday, October 11: Thanksgiving Day (schools are closed)

Wednesday, October 13: Parent Teacher Conferences via MS Teams  (NOON dismissal)

Thursday, October 14: Parent Teacher Conferences via MS Teams (2 p.m. dismissal)

Thursday, October 21: Great Shakeout BC (Earthquake drill)

Friday, October 22: Pro-D Day (school is not in session)

Thursday, October 28: Individual Photo retake day

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