Mark Your Calendars:
· Nov. 26, 2025: Crazy Hair Day
· 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 –1:00, No School for students
· Dec. 2-5, 2024: Storytelling Residency with Jeff Stockton
· Dec. 3, 2024: Sweets and Meats Fundraiser Pick-up 3:00-4:00pm
· Dec. 5, 2024: Family Storytelling evening 6:00 –7:30pm
· Dec. 11, 2024: Grade 5/ 6 Bow Habitat Field Trip
· Dec. 13, 2024: Fun Lunch order deadline
· Dec. 17, 2024: Santa’s Workshop
· Dec. 18, 2024: Fun Lunch –Little Ceasar’s
· Dec. 18-20, 2024: 8:30 –9:00am Carol Singing in gym
· Dec. 21 – Jan. 5, 2025: Winter Break
· Jan. 6 –10, 2025: Calgary West Football Club Soccer Residency
· Jan. 14, 2025: School Council Meeting 6:30pm in the Learning Commons
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. 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. 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.
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.
SAVE THE DATE- Dec. 5th! Family Storytelling Night: As a culmination to our storytelling artist-in-residency with Jeff Stockton, we are holding a special family night on Thursday, December 5 from 6:00-7:30pm. On this evening, we will start off together in the gym listening to Jeff tell us a story and then set us up for a storytelling scavenger hunt. After this, families will be given 15-20 minutes to move throughout the school and gather story elements. Finally, families will take these ideas, curl up together somewhere throughout the school, and create their very own original family story. Families will leave with this story that they can tell over and over again building traditions of oral storytelling.
Crazy Hair Day: Tuesday, November 26 is our spirit day for the month. This was one of many spirit day ideas shared by our Principal’s Student Advisory Group. Show us how creative you can be with your hair. Spike it up, braid it, colour it, wear something fun in your hair. Stay tuned for more fun and festive spirit days in December.
Wonder Days: On Friday, November 22 we held our first of four Wonder Days at Silver Springs School from 9:00-10:30pm. On this day, our teachers got to share some of their interests and passions, allowing our students to explore some of their own. Through these opportunities, we hope that our students will create new connections and friendships in the context of learning. There will be 12 different activities offered where students will be learning, creating, and exploring with students from Kindergarten to Grade 6. Students were placed in a group from one of their top choices of activities. Students will have the opportunity to explore a different activity for each of the coming Wonder Days in January, March and May.
Spirit Wear Delivery: Thanks to many of our families for placing orders for our school spirit wear. Orders should be delivered to the school during the first week in December and distributed to our families shortly thereafter. We will keep you posted once we have more information.\
December’s Generosity Initiatives: This year we will be shifting away from the Giving Tree project to two different initiatives that will help support those who are experiencing need in our city. During the first week of Decemeber we will be holding a school-wide food back drive. During the second week of December, we will shift to collecting items to stuff-a-sock for the Mustard Seed. Stay tuned for more information in next week’s message.
Jacket Racket Update: Thank you to our community for your generosity in donating items to this cause. Our Peace Ambassador leadership group collected 42 jackets, 11 snowpants, 17 pairs of mittens, 30 hats and 6 scarves – a total of 106 items!
Lunch Supervision, Bus Fees, and Student Supply Fees: These fees have been added to MyCBE parent accounts. The lunch supervision fee is $305/year. The bus fee is $260/year. The student supply fee is $40 (grade 1-6 students) and $20 for Kindergarten students. You can login and pay all or part of your fees. If you need to apply for a fee waiver, it is better to do it sooner rather than later. Here is a link to information on fee waivers https://www.cbe.ab.ca/registration/fees-and-waivers/Pages/Waivers.aspx
Contacting our Front Office: We kindly ask that if you have inquiries about fees and payments, fun lunches (picking up or donating orders when your child is absent), lost and found items, attendance, volunteering, police checks, or notices, that you contact Ms. Khatira Bayram directly in our front office at 403-777-6070 or khbayram@cbe.ab.ca
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Fundraising:
· Thank you for your support of our Winter Meats & Sweets fundraiser!
Healthy Hunger & Fun Lunches:
· We still have a couple Fun Lunches before Winter break - check your Health Hunger account to find all the details.
· 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.
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 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)