Mark Your Calendars:
· Nov. 19, 2024: School Council Meeting 6:30pm in the Learning Commons or online at Join the meeting now
· Nov. 21, 2024: Lockdown Drill 9:30am
· Nov. 22, 2024: Wonder Day #1 9:00 -10:30am, Deadline to order Fun Lunch
· Nov. 25-29, 2024: Scholastic Book Fair
· Nov. 27, 2024: Fun Lunch – Mucho Burrito
· Nov. 28, 2024: Storytelling Residency Starts
· Nov. 28, 2024: School Conferences 4:00-7:30pm
· Nov. 29, 2024: School Conferences 8:30 –1:00pm, No School for students
· Dec. 2-5, 2024: Storytelling Residency with Jeff Stockton
· Dec. 5, 2024: Family Storytelling evening 6:00 –8:00pm
· Dec. 11, 2024: Grade 5/ 6 Bow Habitat Field Trip
· Dec. 17, 2024: Santa’s Workshop
· Dec. 18, 2024: Fun Lunch
· Dec. 18-20, 2024: 8:30 –9:00am Carol Singing in gym
Dear Silver Springs School Parents and Guardians,
Upcoming School Conferences: On Thursday, November 28th from 4:00 – 7:30 and Friday, November 29th from 8:30 –1:00, we will be holding School Conferences. The booking system will open to parents at 4:00pm on Monday, November 18. To allow for greater flexibility for our families' schedules, we will be offering conferences both in-person and online using Microsoft Teams. In-person meetings will be held on Thursday evening and both in-person and on-line meetings will be available on Friday. To book a School Conference, please login to your MyCBE/PowerSchool parent account and click the link for School Conferences.
Teachers look forward to this opportunity to communicate openly about student learning, especially with respect to your child's areas of strength and areas of growth. We also see this as an opportunity to build and sustain respectful relationships that allow both parties to share information and develop strategies to support student success. These 15-minute conferences are important for families to attend, along with your child, as they form part of the ongoing communication regarding student progress throughout the year. Please note that if you ever have questions about your child’s learning, we invite you to contact your child’s teacher directly – communication is not just at conference time.
Scholastic Book Fair: The excitement of a Scholastic Book Fair is coming to our school next week! Students will be invited to browse the book fair on Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon when they will be creating a wish list. Buying begins on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8:45 –11:45 and will continue Thursday evening from 4:00 –6:30 and Friday morning from 8:45 – 11:45 during our School Conference times. All purchases benefit our school and earn rewards that can be redeemed for books and educational resources for our classrooms and library collection.
CBE Child & Youth Well-Being Family & Caregiver Series: Well-being is a precondition for student achievement. Students need to be well to succeed. Currently, students face a wide range of mental health challenges, including stress, anxiety, and depression. This trend is alarming and requires our attention. The Calgary Board of Education invites all parents and guardians to join us in a pre-recorded and live online series focusing on child and youth well-being. These sessions will be hosted in partnership with experts from Alberta Health Services and Recovery Alberta and will explore topics such as Peer Pressure, Healthy Relationships, Mental Health for Highly Sensitive Teens, and navigating Parent-Teen relationships. Acting on feedback from participants who joined during live online sessions over the past two years, moving forward all guardians and parents are invited to listen to the pre-recorded or live sessions at their convenience. These sessions will be free and provide information, resources, helplines, and services to support healthy child and youth development. More information is available on the CBE website.
CBE Indigenous Education Professional Learning Day: On Friday, November 8, Silver Springs School staff took part in a system-wide professional learning day focused on Indigenous Education. This session centred around the concept of creating “ethical space” in teaching - an approach that blends Indigenous and Western knowledge systems to foster mutual respect and collaboration. Teachers explored how to incorporate Indigenous ways of being, belonging, doing, and knowing into their lesson planning, and designed learning tasks to bridge these perspectives with outcomes from Alberta’s new curriculum. Through activities that highlighted language revitalization, land acknowledgements, and holistic educational practices, staff engaged in discussions on designing learning experiences that respect and reflect Indigenous knowledge. This work underscores the school’s commitment to inclusivity and cultural understanding, helping students connect with broader perspectives and deepen their learning journey.
Silver Springs School Instagram: Follow our new official school Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/silverspringscbe/ to stay updated on school activities and student learning.
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp,
Principal, Silver Springs School
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We have lots to share this week. In addition to all the information below, we would also like to invite you to our November School Council meeting on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 from 6:30-8:30pm. Please join us in-person in the school learning commons, or online using the Microsoft Teams link: Join the meeting now
Fundraising:
· We need to make a correction to last weeks e-mail and our handout - the WINTER MEATS Fill your Freezer Fundraiser this year is from Gordons Food, and includes a wide variety of selections including bacon, chicken, steak, Spolumbos sausages, perogies and more!
· Our WINTER MEATS AND SWEETS FUNDRAISER is open for online orders until November 20th at 11pm. Online ordering information is below!
· WINTER MEATS - FILL YOUR FREEZER - https://silverspringsschoolcouncil.myteamfund.ca
· SWEETS - Purdys Chocolate - http://fundraising.purdys.com (Customer number: 60089)
Healthy Hunger & Fun Lunches:
· Fun lunches are a great way to help fundraise for our school and give parents a reprieve from making lunches one day a week. Our council however does not want students to be left out of this fun opportunity if families are experiencing financial constraints. Since we have generous families who make donations to our Healthy Hunger account, we are able to donate lunches if required. If you feel that your families may be in need of a donated lunch we ask you to please email Mrs. Ryskamp at mcryskamp@cbe.ab.ca two weeks prior to any upcoming fun lunch with this request and your child's order.
· The full list of Fun Lunches for the 2024/2025 year, and the order deadlines, can be found on your Healthy Hunger account. If you don't already have a Healthy Hunger account, you can register at https://healthyhunger.ca/parent-register.
Special Events:
· Santa's Workshop Donation Drive- Are you decluttering in preparation for the holidays?? We would gratefully accept your gently used, new or crafted gift items for Santa's Workshop! We are looking for games, puzzles, toys, jewelry, key chains, books, knick-knacks, non-breakable home decor, ornaments, mugs and other suitable giftware. Wrapping paper, gift bags and tissue paper are also needed. Please NO sharp items like tools or kitchen gear
· We will be collecting donation items during Teacher Conferences on Thursday, Nov 28 and Friday, Nov 29. Look for the marked bins in the hallway next to the gym.
· If you miss the first round of collection, the donation drive will continue the week of December 9th, so hang on to your treasures. We will also need volunteers to help sort the treasures https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FADAB28A0FF2-53187124-santas#/
About Santa's Workshop: This tradition is a special one for students. It will be held on Tuesday, December 17. School Council will set up tables in the gym similar to a garage sale. Your child will be given a chance to shop (for free!) for gifts for their immediate family members. We will send more information home with students in a couple weeks. We need a lot of elves/volunteers to make this magical event happen for our students. Sign up to help sort the donations as well as wrap during the workshop here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FADAB28A0FF2-53187124-santas#/ If you have any questions or would like to help with organizing this amazing event, please contact Erin B at sssparentcouncil@gmail.com
Volunteer Call:
· We need volunteers to assist with Fun Lunches - please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FADAB28A0FF2-51215901-funlunchsnack. These are a fun way to see a snapshot of the school in action and is usually only around 1.5hrs of your time!
· We need lots of Santas Workshop volunteers to make this wonderful event happen!: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FADAB28A0FF2-53187124-santas#/
School Council Communication: Beginning January 2025, your School Council and Parent Association will be sending emails and communication out to parents via their own newsletter. To ensure you don’t miss out on information on school fundraisers, events and other activities, please add you email to our list here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmgHooW3c5LPJxpfP7aFDbBVVQScFJatbHToWR7_sMH6mbnw/viewform
Thank you for your support! For any questions about the above, or your School Council and Parent Association in general - please email sssparentcouncil@gmail.com
Celeste Howard and Erin Olesen (School Council Chair and Vice Chair)