Mark Your Calendars:

·       Sept. 10, 2024: School Council Meeting at 6:30pm in the Learning Commons

·       Sept. 12, 2024: Meet-the-Teacher Open House 4:30 –7:30

·       Sept. 17, 2024: Class and Individual Photo Day

·       Sept. 20, 2024: Terry Fox Run 10:00am

·       Sept. 26, 2024: Orange Shirt Day and Assembly at Silver Springs School

·       Sept. 27, 2024: No School -  Non-Instructional Day

·       Sept. 30, 2024: No School – National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

·       Oct. 8, 2024: School Council Meeting at 6:30pm in the Learning Commons

·       Oct. 14, 2024: No School - Thanksgiving

·       Oct. 25, 2024:  No School – Non-Instructional Day

Dear Silver Springs School Parents and Guardians,

Silver Springs Meet-the-Teacher / Open House: This school year, we are hosting a Meet the Teacher evening / Open House on Thursday, September 12^th, 2024. This will replace our previous September school conferences and bring our school into greater alignment with other CBE school calendars. You will have the opportunity to hear about the grade team programming and plans for the year, see your child’s classroom, and connect with your child’s teacher. Throughout the evening, each grade team of teachers will host an information session in our gym in four 45-minute time slots:

-        4:30 Kindergarten & Supporting Literacy at Home presentation (Grade 1 & 2 families are also welcome to attend, if interested)

-        5:15 Grade 1 & 2

-        6:00 Grade 3 & 4

-        6:45 Grade 5 & 6

This presentation format will allow parents with more than one student in the school to attend multiple sessions and visit with multiple teachers. Grade team presentations will cover things like grade-specific curriculum, class communications, Google Classroom, routines and supplies. There will also be time for questions. Teachers will also be available in their classrooms to connect with families and answer any additional questions between 4:00 –7:30, when not involved in their grade team information sessions. 

As we continue to look to you to provide vital information about your child to set them up for greatest success in the coming year, we will be asking you to complete a Student Information form that was sent home on Thursday, Sept. 5. Please ensure these are returned to your child’s teacher by Thursday, Sept. 12.

2023-2024 Yearbooks: The 2023-24 Yearbooks have arrived, and they look great! Thank you to our parent volunteer, Locke Vincent, for taking on this project and creating a lovely keepsake. Thank you also to our staff for taking such great pictures of our students throughout the school year. Yearbooks will be ready for distribution next week. If you missed ordering one in the spring, we do have extras at a cost of $20 each. These will be available in the office for purchase after Monday, September 16. CASH ONLY please!

School Photos: Lifetouch will be at the school on Tuesday, September 17, 2024 to take individual students photos as well as class photos.  It would be appreciated if 2 or 3 parent volunteers were available to help organize students.  You would be needed from 8:30am to 1pm.  If you are available to help and have a valid police clearance, please email Maureen Bouchart mlbouchart@cbe.ab.ca .

Terry Fox Run: The 2024 Terry Fox School Run is set for Friday September 20, 2024 and we are so excited to be taking part! Students will be running with the whole school in the morning and we will begin with a kick-off assembly at 9:45 am. We ask that students wear their buddy group color if they can on this day (Blue, Red or Green).

·       BLUE – Mrs. Neufeld, Mr. T, Ms. Lee, Mrs. Wilkes

·       RED – Mrs. Ibbotson, Mrs. Downey, Mrs. Bates

·       GREEN – Mrs. Ballinger, Ms. Szczepanski, Mrs. Dechant

If your family wishes to participate in donating to The Terry Fox Foundation in support of cancer research, the Foundation has created an online fundraising page customized for our school. Please use this method to donate rather than sending cash to the school.

Donate online at: https://schools.terryfox.ca/72071

·       Click the link above to donate or search for our school name at terryfox.org

·       Receipts are issued immediately to donors by email from the Terry Fox Foundation

Annual CBE Online Forms Require Completion by Monday, September 16: Each year, schools have a variety of forms that parents / legal guardians are required to complete or review and update, some of which are paper and others online. In CBE, the forms that have now shifted to an online format (SchoolEngage) are:

·       Demographic Verification 2024-25: This form includes your child’s personal information as well as parent / legal guardian contact information.

·       Citizenship Information Update 2024-25: This form becomes available if you change your child’s citizenship information on the Demographic Verification form.

·       Annual Authorization 2024-25 – Combines the following forms:

o   School District Use of Personal Information - explains how CBE uses personal information in providing education services.

o   Consent for CBE Use of Student Information – provides an option to grant / not grant consent for additional use of student information by school/district and third parties.

o   Consent for Use of Student Information by News Media and Outside Groups (Third Party) - provides an option to grant / not grant consent for additional use of student information by outside groups and third parties

SchoolEngage is one of the applications found in your MyCBE account. This is the same account that you use to pay fees, view academic information, book school conferences, etc.

If you do not have a MyCBE account, on the MyCBE page click on Create a MyCBE Account. For online help refer, to MyCBE - Creating an Account (includes instructions and a video).

To complete these forms:

1.     sign in to your MyCBE account

2.     click on the SchoolEngage icon

3.     select the form

4.     complete or review and update the form

5.     click on Submit to send the form electronically to the school

6.     repeat steps 3-5 for each form

Please submit the Demographic Verification and Annual Authorization forms in SchoolEngage for your child by Monday, September 16.  These forms are mandatory every year for Alberta Education to confirm student funding.  

New Personal Mobile Device and Social Media use Policy: With this new policy that came into effect on August 29, cell phones and smart watches are considered personal mobile devices and must both be stored away for the day in student backpacks. If your child requires special accommodation due to medical needs or personalized learning plans, please contact your child’s teacher.

School Calendar: Please visit our website to access our updated school calendar to help you plan for the year ahead. Included are non-instructional days, holidays, school conference dates, and school hours.

Subscribe to Stay Informed: Due to Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), you need to subscribe online if you want to receive email or text messages on “commercial” school topics such as picture days, student fees, eld trip costs, yearbooks, fun lunches and more. If you do not subscribe, you will not receive these important messages (or any of my messages continuing such content) but you will receive emails on non-commercial topics such as absence and emergency notifications. In addition, if you want to receive any text messages from your school or the Calgary Board of Education, you need to opt-in for texts.

To receive all messages from your school and the Calgary Board of Education, complete these two steps: 1 | To subscribe to receive commercial messages, go to www.cbe.ab.ca/subscribe to enter your email address and click Subscribe. Use your primary email address on le at your school. 2 | To opt-in to receive text messages, use your cell phone to text the word YES to the six-digit number 978338. Your cell number must be on le with the school

Attendance: It is important that you communicate with the school office (attendance line) and the classroom teacher if your child will be away. We use an automated attendance notification system. That means if your child is away and we have not been notified, an automated message will be sent by both email and phone. Once you receive this message, we ask that you either call the school office 403-777-6070 or email silversprings@cbe.ab.ca. Make sure to include your child’s first and last name, homeroom teacher’s name, and reason for absence and if it will be for a half or full-day (or longer).  

 Sincerely,

Michelle Ryskamp,

Principal, Silver Springs School

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SCHOOL COUNCIL UPDATES

 Dear Silver Springs School Parents & Guardians,

Welcome back to another exciting school year! We hope you all had a restful and enjoyable summer. As we kick off this new school year, we’re thrilled to see the familiar faces of our returning students and extend a warm welcome to those who are joining us for the first time.

School Council Meeting: Our first School Council and Parent Association Meetings are on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 from 6:30-8:30pm and held in the school learning commons. All parents are welcome to attend these meetings and hear more about what is happening at the school, as well as the events and initiatives supported by the council volunteers that enrich our children's educational experience and strengthen our school community. At every meeting there will be an opportunity to speak and help us understand what matters to you as parents at our school. If you can't make these meetings in person but would like to attend, please use the following Teams link to join us online.  Join the meeting now

We look forward to your continued support and participation as we work together to create a vibrant, nurturing environment for our Silver Springs School students.

Celeste Howard and Erin Olesen (School Council Chair and Vice Chair)