Mark Your Calendars:
· Oct. 29, 2024: Student Photo Retakes in morning
· Oct. 30, 2024: Fun Lunch - Subway
· Oct. 31, 2024: Halloween Parade @ 9:30 and Halloween Howler (hosted by our School Council)
· Nov. 7, 2024: Remembrance Day Assembly 10:45am – families welcome
· Nov. 8, 2024: No School – Non-Instructional Day
· Nov. 9-13, 2024: Fall Break
· Nov. 19, 2024: School Council Meeting 6:30pm in the Learning Commons
· Nov. 21, 2024: Lockdown Drill 9:30am
· Nov. 22, 2024: Wonder Day #1, 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 4:00-7:30
· Nov. 29, 204 School Conferences 8:30 –1:00, No School for students
Dear Silver Springs School Parents and Guardians,
On Friday, October 25 our teachers spent the Professional Learning Day first learning more about how to use our robotics devices, Dash and Ozobots, to better support the computer science components of the new Alberta science curriculum. We thank Scott Blenkhorne, CBE Technology & Learning specialist, for leading us in this fun and hands-on learning experience. In the afternoon, we were joined by speech language pathologist, Leslie Kimmett and occupational therapist, Laura Addington, who led a collaborative conversation around neurodiversity affirming practices.
Staffing Updates: Last week, we announced the retirement of our school administrative secretary, Maureen Bouchart. Her last day with us will be Friday, November 1, 2024. Mrs. Noreen Bajwa will be helping out in the office until Nov. 7. On Thursday, November 14, after the fall break, our new administrative secretary, Khatira Bayram, will be joining our school team. Additionally, with an increase in student enrollment this September, we are able to re-hire Mrs. Laree Lake as an intervention teacher. She will be rejoining our staff on November 4, 2024 and start working to support small literacy groups from grades 3-6.
Spirit Wear Order Deadline – November 3rd: Silver Springs School spirit wear is now available for a limited time. This year we have expanded our selection to include t-shirts in a range of colours (special days and buddy class colours), hoodies with our school mural on the back, sweatpants, and toques/ beanies. Our supplier, Mad Monkey, is offering a package deal on the pink and orange t-shirts, as students may want to wear these on our Orange and Pink Shirt days. Click here to check out the online store and place your order:
https://stores.inksoft.com/silver_springs_school/shop/home
Jacket Racket: Silver Springs School will be supporting Jacket Racket this year by collecting donated items between Monday October 28 and Wed November 6. We will accept donations of winter outdoor clothing so that they can be redistributed to children who need winter clothing in schools across the city. Jacket Racket accepts gently used/clean or new winter jackets, snow pants, hats, mittens and scarves. Boots are not included. You can send donated items to Silver Springs School during the time window mentioned above. Some of our Grade 5/6 students who are members of the Peace Ambassadors will be participating in this community service endeavor by providing information about the program to families and students and collecting and organizing donated items
We will also need 1 or 2 parent volunteers to help us. Please contact Danica Burrows dsburrows@cbe.ab.ca if you are interested in helping to drive the donated bags of clothing to Sir James Lougheed School during our off time on Friday November 15 between 10:00 and 12:00. Thank you ahead of time for your generosity.
Halloween: Halloween is Thursday! We look forward to celebrating this fun and festive day as a school community. Children are invited to wear their costumes to school for the full day. The following two guidelines should be considered when selecting costumes that will be worn at school:
· Be kind and consider the school community: costumes that are revealing or could be offensive or perpetuate the stereotype of someone’s gender identity, culture, race, religion, age, or disability must not be worn.
· Be thoughtful and safe: costumes that depict violence, alcohol or drugs are not appropriate. Similarly, replica weapons (e.g. gun, knives, etc.) must not be brought to school. Please leave any masks at home.
If your child chooses to wear a costume, consider this his/her contribution to a wonderful day full of fun events that promote friendship and cooperation. As students will be wearing costumes for the entire day, please ensure that your child is able to sit comfortably in their costume, participate in gym class, and go outside for recess and lunch break. No costume - No worries! You are welcome to wear orange or black or your favourite T-shirt!
Halloween Howler: Parent volunteers from our School Council are coordinating the Halloween Howler. During the afternoon, grade level groupings will come to the gym to participate in cooperative fun Halloween themed activities. We are excited to have our students connect and develop a sense of belonging on this special day.
Costume Parade: At 9:30am, we will be holding a school-wide costume parade. Parents are invited to be a part of this by viewing the students parade through the learning commons. We ask families to sit at the tables or stand along the walls to allow for students to pass easily through the area. If you are bringing along younger siblings, please make sure they are supervised and kept close. We will open the front doors for families to enter the school at 9:15am.
Lunchroom Registration: If your child stays at school for lunch, you must register for the Lunchroom Supervision Service. Please do so by logging into to your MyCBE parent account https://sis.cbe.ab.ca/public and register your child for the Lunch Supervision service. Please ensure you do so by October 31, 2024.
Scholastic Book Fair: Get ready! The Book Fair is coming our way November 25-29, 2024. Allowing students to choose their own books empowers them and inspires them on their journey to becoming lifelong readers. We can't wait to see you! Students will have time to browse and shop during the school day and at School Conference time.
Sincerely,
Michelle Ryskamp,
Principal, Silver Springs School
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SCHOOL COUNCIL UPDATES
Special Events:
· The Halloween Howler falls on Thursday October 31st! Are you planning to come for the Costume Parade on Thursday October 31 at 9:30? We could use your help setting up the gym for the Halloween Howler from 8:30-9:15am. Sign up below if you can! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FADAB28A0FF2-52267430-halloween#/
Thank you to all the volunteers that have already signed their life away!
· Santa's Workshop on December 17th is an opportunity for students to choose gifts for their family members. Donated items are set up like a garage sale. A donation drive will be happening soon!
Healthy Hunger:
· More fun lunches and snacks have been added to the calendar for the 2024 / 2025 year! If you don't already have a Healthy Hunger account, you can register at https://healthyhunger.ca/parent-register.
· 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.
Fundraising:
· Look for our next fundraiser, Sweets & Meats (Purdy’s and Fill your Freezer). This is the only other fundraising event for the year, coming just in time for Christmas!
· And don't forget to share your Silver Springs School pride with our Spirit Wear, on sale until Nov 3rd! https://stores.inksoft.com/silver_springs_school/shop/home
Volunteer Call:
· We need volunteers to assist with Fun Lunches - please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FADAB28A0FF2-51215901-funlunchsnack
· We are looking for volunteers in the morning and afternoon to help set up and run the stations for the Halloween Howler!
· Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090E4FADAB28A0FF2-52267430-halloween
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)