Week Ahead | September 4 - 8, 2023
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Mark Your Calendars:
Dear Silver Springs School Parents and Guardians, Welcome to the new school year at Silver Springs School. The staff and I were so excited to welcome your children to the school on Thursday morning. With their return, the joy of seeing friends and excitement of the new year were palpable. As a staff, we are looking forward to the possibilities and opportunities that this year will bring. You may have noticed that our outdoor learning circle has been completed. Many thanks to our School Council for funding this project. We look forward to utilizing this space to support our commitment to learning and sharing in circle together. During the first three days together as a staff last week, we spent time discussing the importance of who we are, how we belong and our hopes and plans for the coming year at Silver Springs School. This year, we will strive to nurture a sense of belonging in our school community, work hard to engage our students in exciting learning tasks, and hold high standards for learning and behavior as we support each child in their learning journey. Thank you so much for entrusting your children’s education to us at Silver Springs School. We have an incredibly strong, connected, and committed staff. I am confident that we can work together on behalf of your children, to provide them with opportunities for success. At this time of year, our teachers are busy getting to know your children, their strengths, interests, and areas for growth. By doing so, they will meet your children where they are at and move their learning forward throughout the year ahead. School Hours: Start of Day: Supervision will be provided starting at 8:11 each morning. Students are asked to line up at their entry doors. The entry bell will ring at 8:23 and students will be welcomed into their classrooms. Instruction begins at 8:26. Any student arriving after 8:30 are considered late and must check in at the main office. Dismissal: Monday – Thursday 3:00 and Fridays at 12:35 Recess for all Students: Monday – Thursday: All Grade 1-6 students 10:30 – 10:45 Friday: Flexible recess Lunch: Grade 1-4: 12:00 – 12: 45 (Eat 12:00-12:22, Outside 12:22 – 12:45) Grade 5-6: 12:22 – 1:07 (Outside 12:22 -12:53, Eat 12:45-1:07) Fridays: No lunch as dismissal is at 12:35 pm Students in Grades 1 / 2 and 5 / 6 will eat in their classrooms. Students in Grades 3 /4 will eat in the library. Kindergarten: Monday-Thursday Kindergarten AM: 8:26 -11:16,Kindergarten PM: 12:10 -3:00 Fridays: Kindergarten AM & PM: Alternating Fridays 8:26 – 12:35 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. School Communication: Families should expect a Week Ahead message sent through School Messenger, from me each Sunday evening. Starting next week, teachers will be sending home their weekly messages that include a summary of the learning activities that occurred during the week, reminders for the week to come, and any requests for volunteers or needed project items. 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, field 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 Volunteers Needed for Terry Fox Run: Silver Springs School staff and students will be participating in the Terry Fox Run on Friday September 15, 2023. We will kick off the race with a short assembly and the students will run the race from 10:00 am to recess time. The run will take place on the school ground and soccer fields south of the school.We would appreciate parent volunteer help with this event. Your presence will provide safety and motivation for our runners. Parents will be outside, standing at strategic points along the route to help the children along. 8 volunteers are required. Please use this Sign UP Genius link to register as a volunteer for this event. A current valid Police Security Clearance is required as well as a current year Volunteer form (Connect with Mrs. Bouchart by email in the office for this form) SIGN UP GENIUS LINK: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090B45AAA829A7F49-terry Student Belongings: Please remember to label your child’s lunch kit, water bottle, indoor shoes and outdoor clothing. As this makes it very helpful when these items inevitably go missing and need to be returned to their owner. For our younger students, it would be important to put an extra set of clothing in a plastic bag in the bottom of your child’s backpack, in the event of an accident or getting wet outside. 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). Updating Your Volunteer Status: If you are interested and able to volunteer this year in helping with community walks, the Terry Fox Run, Sports Day, field trips, and more, you need to update your volunteer status, please email the school at SilverSprings@cbe.ab.ca. In your email, please express your interest in volunteering and attach a clear photo of your current driver’s license. Once the office receives this information, Maureen Bouchart will contact you with a generated letter that you will need to take to a police station to complete the security clearance process. If you are unsure of your volunteer status, please contact Maureen Bouchart, our administrative secretary, by email at mlbouchart@cbe.ab.ca. Please note that her response may take several days as we work hard to process many volunteer inquiries at this time. Please note that the CPS has contracted a new authorization vendor and there is now a cost of $21.25 ($15.00 for police clearance and 5.95+GST service fee) which is charged during the online ePIC application. This fee is no longer covered by the CBE. Your clearance is valid for five years. This process is taking up to three to four weeks at this time. We will also need to have all interested volunteers complete an Annual Volunteer Authorization form. School Council Meeting: Our first School Council Meeting is on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 6:30 – 8:30pm. All parents are welcome to attend these meetings. In doing so, you can hear more about what is happening in the school, as well as be part of the conversation and work that our council volunteers take on to support our school. Our meetings will be held in-person in the school library. If you are unable to attend in-person, we will also provide a Teams link so that you can join us from home. Sincerely, Michelle Ryskamp, Principal, Silver Springs School |