Dear DG Families,
Elections Canada
Our school will be an Elections Canada polling station on Monday, September 20th. As such, please expect extra traffic at our school during drop off and pick up time. If possible, consider walking to school that day to help ease congestion around our school.
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 across the street from the school
- 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
- 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. 
DG Open House
At this time, we are unable to still welcome families into our school for our DG Open House which was scheduled for Thursday, September 23rd. Please check your email as we will be sending you a video to introduce you to our staff this year.
Reporting Absences
If your child will be absent from school, please remember to call our office at 604-581-6185 to let us know. In your message, please also let us know the reason of your child’s absence. If your child is away due to illness, please also let us know your child’s symptoms; particularly in the case of communicable diseases such as respiratory infections, strep throat, chickenpox,stomach flu, etc…
While not a requirement, we do also appreciate families letting us know about anything Covid related, such as students who have been asked to self-isolate or have tested positive. Fraser Health will notify the school about positive cases if they feel it’s appropriate however, given the volume of cases they are processing, we tend to first hear from families directly. This information is always treated as confidential. Should you have any questions about this, or would like more information, feel free to contact Mme Greenhalgh.
Emails
Please check our staff list if you are needing to contact your child’s classroom teacher or any other staff member. Our staff emails have switched to @deltaschools.ca at the end of last year so please ensure that you are using our correct emails so that we receive your email.
https://dg.deltasd.bc.ca/staff/staff-directory/
COPS For Cancer
Cops for Cancer is an exciting annual event that takes place each fall, when law enforcement and emergency services personnel brave all types of weather as they cycle hundreds of kilometers, over several days. Fundraising money raised through Cops for Cancer is used to fund life-saving cancer research and caring support programs, like “Camp Good Times”.
This year, we are so excited that our school will be an official stop on the Cops for Cancer Tour! In fact, we are the first stop!
On Monday morning, the Cops Team riders will be stopping by our school just after 10am. Due to Covid restrictions, we will be welcoming them outside on the field (rain or shine, so please ensure your child comes dressed for the weather). We are excited to be able to cheer on this year’s Cops Team as they begin their 500 km ride.
We will also be doing some fundraising to help support this amazing initiative. Stay tuned for more information about the fundraising initiatives, coming your way!
To learn more about Cops for Cancer, check out this video (filmed pre-Covid … hence all the hugging & high-5ing)
Student Planners Grades 1 – 7 Students
Student Planners are now Here!
At Devon Gardens all students in Grades 1 to 7 use a School Planner (also referred to as an “agenda”). These are printed in English and French, for our students in the Immersion program.
The planner is a valuable daily companion that helps students with time management and organization (creating timelines, setting goals, monitoring progress, respecting deadlines, etc…). In addition to being an important learning tool, the planner is also a communication book between home and school. It’s a place where you can send a note to the teacher, and vice versa.
At the start of this first term, teachers will be using the planner as a teaching tool, to help students get into the habit of recording their assignments and other important reminders. Planners are used on a daily basis at school, and parents are asked to please check your child’s planner daily, at home, as well.
Planners are $6.75 each. Our preference is for you to please pay by cheque, payable to Devon Gardens Elementary. However, we will also accept cash payments. When sending in your payment, please make sure you send it in an envelope or a ziploc bag clearly labeled with your child’s first and last name, as well as their division number.
If you have more than 1 child in Grades 1-7, you can pay for all planners with one cheque. Just make sure again to clearly label the names of ALL the children you are paying for.
School Calendar Magnets
We will be sending each family a school calendar magnet on Thursday, September 23rd. These magnets will be sent home with the youngest and/or only child in each family.
Parent Connect
Please take the time to log in to Parent Connect and to update your forms. It is important that the 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.
EC_ER for parent connect forms
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 – As access to our building is still limited, we are unable to accept mid-day drop offs of items from home (including dry clothes), 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, labeled with your child’s name
Crossing Guard
We are looking for an adult crossing guard for the intersection at Nordel and 112th. This is a paid 1 hour a day position (half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon) while school is in session. This is a great position for someone retired or someone who might be looking to work part-time If you or someone you know (a neighbour? family member?) would be interested in this job, please email stee@deltaschools.ca
COVID-19 Exposures
In the event that a family experiences testing protocols, or a self-isolation notice related to the COVID-19 virus, we are encouraging families to contact the school to inform us. We would like to centralize the collection of this information so that we can effectively follow up as necessary in an effort to keep our community safe. Please call the school 604-581-6185 or email Mme Greenhalgh directly at egreenhalgh@deltaschools.ca
Please note: If an individual tests positive and contact tracers determine they may have been infectious while at school:
- Parents, caregivers and staff will be notified by Fraser Health if their child is determined to be a close contact of a COVID-19 positive person.
- Students and staff determined by Fraser Health as close contacts may be asked to self-isolate or self-monitor.
- Individuals who are not close contacts are not at increased risk, so don’t need to take any additional actions beyond continuing to follow general public health recommendations.
School notifications to the broader school community, such as letters or exposure notices on regional health authority websites, will be used when public health deems them necessary to support contact tracing or outbreak management. This is a change in procedure from last year. For more information on the province’s plan, please see https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/covid-19-safe-schools
The PAC has vacancies for a DPAC representative and an emergency prep representative. Please email the PAC at pacdevongardens@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering for these positions.
https://dg.deltasd.bc.ca/parent-community/pac/
Canadian Parents Fore French
Dr. MacNamara – Adolescence Sept 22 – September 22nd 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Monday, September 20th: Canada Elections (DG is a polling station)
Monday, September 20th: COPS for Cancer
Thursday, September 23rd: DG Open House video sent home via email
Thursday, September 23rd: Term 1 previews sent home electronically
Friday, September 24th: Professional Development day (school is not in session)
Tuesday, September 28th: Terry Fox Run
Wednesday, September 29th: Orange Shirt Day
Thursday, September 30th: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (School is closed)
Monday, October 11: Thanksgiving Day
Other dates and events are listed on our school calendar on our website: https://dg.deltasd.bc.ca/events-calendar/