Mark Your Calendars:
· June 17 – 22, 2024: Swim Lessons
· June 19, 2024: Gr 6 Social Studies PAT 9-10am
· June 20, 2024: Gr 6 Science PAT 9-10am
· June 24, 2024: Buddy Fort & Reading Day – more information coming
· June 26, 2024: Grade 6 Farewell and Year-End Assembly 9:15am
· June 26, 2024: Gr 5/6 Swim at Silver Springs Pool 1:30-2:30
· June 27, 2024: Last Day of School (Early Dismissal at 12:35pm for Gr 1-6 & 11:16am for Kindergarten students)
Dear Silver Springs School Parents and Guardians,
Swimming Update: With the city-wide water restrictions announced on Thursday, June 6, The City of Calgary shut down all aquatic facilities until further notice. With this and previous delays due to repairs, the Silver Springs Community Pool will not be able to fill the pool to offer lessons by the end of next week. Although we are disappointed, we understand the importance of pool maintenance and water safety. We remain hopeful that swimming lessons will begin on Monday, June 17, 2024. Please stay tuned for further information confirming the start day. Please note, Silver Springs Pool provides our school with discounted pricing for the Life Saving Society Swim programs. Typically, these lessons are completed over 5 days in the summer, rather than the 10 days we had scheduled through our school.
Sports Day: What a perfect day! Our students thoroughly enjoyed themselves on Friday as they explored various stations and activities. It was heartwarming to see students connecting with younger and older buddies, spending time with friends, and simply enjoying the freedom of the day. We are so thankful to Erin Benner and her team of amazing parent volunteers who helped plan and run this event.
Planning for Next Year: As new student registrations continue to come in and some existing families identifying that they are moving outside of our community over the summer, our student numbers continue to fluctuate for the 2024-2025 school year. Currently, we are planning our staffing on conservatively. We have changed our classroom numbers at some of our grade levels based on these changes; One AM kindergarten classes, three classes of grade 1 / 2, three classes of grades 3/4, and three classes of grades 5/ 6. With these changes and the need to create an improved balance in classrooms, please be aware that there may be shifts of students to a different classroom/ teacher for the coming year. Our grade 2 students will be most significantly impacted as we endeavor to create three balanced classroom communities from the four existing groups.
Please note that we are no longer taking classroom requests. A significant amount of time and energy has been dedicated to creating balanced classrooms this past week. When creating classes, we consider several factors including ratio of boys to girls, students with complex learning needs, students with English as an additional language, as well as the social and emotional needs of students. As staffing within CBE is ongoing throughout the spring and summer, we are unable to announce student placements until the return to school at the end of August. Over the next several weeks we will share any staffing changes for the 2024-25 school year. As student numbers change over the coming months, we must remain flexible and have several other scenarios planned in the event we need to make changes to our classroom configurations in September.
Grade 6 and Year-End Farewell: Our staff and a small parent committee are busy planning for our Grade 6 and Year-End Farewell that will be held on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Families are invited to join us for this assembly at 9:15am. We then invite the families of our grade 6 students to attend a short stand-up reception in our Learning Commons, where students and parents can visit, take photos, and celebrate this special occasion.
Library Book Returns: With the end of the school year quickly approaching, we need to make sure that our library books are returned and accounted for. Please take some time to look around the house and return any overdue books that belong to the school. The final week for book exchanges will be June 2 –7, with all books needing to be back at school no later than June 14.
School Fees: If you have not yet paid your school fees, please log into your PowerSchool parent account and pay any outstanding fees. If you need to apply for a fee waiver, you must do so before the end of the current school year. If you wait until September, it will be too late. More information about fee waivers can be found at How to Apply for a Fee Waiver .
Before and After School Care at Silver Springs School – Registration open: TOPP KIDS has been chosen as our new childcare provider located at Silver Springs School. Before Care begins at 7:00 AM. After Care is offered until 6:00 PM. They will be open for PD Days, Teachers Convention and Spring Break! Choose Part-Time, Full-Time or Drop-In Care. All families must attend Silver Springs School! Their program is not just for those who need care but for every family that wants to see their child grow outside of school during those critical hours. To register, please visit www.TOPPKIDS.com and complete their online application form. For additional information please email registrations@toppkids.com or call us at (403) 452-8677
Michelle Ryskamp,
Principal, Silver Springs School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL UPDATES
School Council Meeting: There will be no council meeting on June 11 due to limited availability of council members. Any questions or suggestions can be forwarded to the parent council email: sssparentcouncil@gmail.com.