Squamish Elementary Communicator » December 2023

December 2023

 
We had a very fun week here at ESQE, the festive spirit was definitely in the air! We hope everyone enjoys their winter break with family and friends! Please check out the action-packed newsletter below, including important changes to the registration process for Kindergarten starting near the end of January. Have a safe and fun holiday! We will see you in the New Year!
 
Sincerely, 
Ms. Hain 

Upcoming Dates
  • dfJan 8th, First Day back after winter break 
  • Jan 9th PAC Meeting 6:30pm ESQE Library 
  • Jan 12th PAC hosted Pancake Breakfast & Pajama Day
  • Jan 12th Hot Lunch - Subway & Tacofino 
  • Jan 12th Hot lunch orders due (for Jan 25th)
  • Jan 15 - 19th ESQE Literacy Week 
  • Jan 16th Kindergarten Hearing and Dental Screening 
  • Jan 17th Board Meeting 
      • Click HERE for more details
  • Jan 19th Hot Lunch Day
  • Jan 19th Spirit Day - Movie Character Day 
  • Jan 23rd Fire Drill 
  • Jan 26th Professional Development Day, School is closed to students 
 
 
Reminders
  • For any absences or early pick-ups: please email [email protected] as this is more efficient than calling in. 
  • Please send your child to school with appropriate clothing and shoes for the weather, the rain is here!!
  • Please remember to send a water bottle with your child 
  • We still need your help to keep our students and staff save in our parking lot. Please find a proper spot to park and do not park or idle in the bus loop or round about.
  • If your child is sick, please keep them at home. 
 
 
School Registration
School Registration for the 2024/2025 School year opens January 23rd-26th, 2024
Kindergarten, French Immersion Programs, and All New Students to the District
 
What you need to know:
  1. School District No. 48 (SD48) is welcoming registrations for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year starting January 23rd, 2024 at 8:00am and ending January 26th, 2024, at 4:00pm
There will be TWO key steps: 
  • Step one: Parents and Guardians will be asked to fill out an online webform through the school district website. This includes basic contact information such as a name, email address, physical address, and student name and grade. 
 
  • Step Two: Once the webform is closed, make an appointment to complete your registration at your English catchment school in person by booking online through our district website, or by contacting the school directly. 
 
  • Note- French Immersion registrations must be completed through your English catchment school, not the French catchment school. For Cultural Journeys and Learning Expeditions, complete your registrations directly at St'a7mes School.
 
Please Note the Following Important Information and New Changes for this Year: 
 
  • NEW -  A lottery system will be used to determine placement order for all pre-registration on the webform. This will provide a more equitable process to determine placement prioritt where spsace may be limited. This process allows easer access to the webform. 
 
  • Parents and guardians will have 10 days to complete the registration process at their catchment school AFTER the webform closes. After 10 days, the priority placement order obtained from the lottery will be forfeited.
 
  • Parents and guardians who miss the window of the webform can register by contacting their English catchment school to book an appointment. In this case, a time and date stamp on the registration form will determine priority placement order. 
 
  • For all students who registered before the deadline of the webform, but who were not accommodated, a waitlist will be maintained. As space becomes available throughout the year at that school, the students will be offered a placement in priority order according to the pre-registration lottery, or date and time stamp of their application. If the placement is not taken at the time it is offered, the student will be removed from the waitlist. 
 
MORE INFORMATION TO COME IN JANUARY
 
 
 
Written Learning Updates sdf
As we shared earlier in the year, the BC Ministry of Education has adopted a new Reporting Order for the province. This crease so changes in how teachers will report or Communicate Student Learning. School District #48 is providing teachers with three options as a roll out of the Reporting Order.
 
What this means:
  • Evidence in all, some or Math and Language Arts has been shared throughout the term (depending on the roll out option your child's teacher is doing. Your Child's teacher will have communicated that option and what to expect earlier in the year). 
  • Evidence is shared in a variety of ways such as a digital portfolio, conferencing, physical evidence sent home, etc. 
  • If evidence was shared prior to the Written Learning Update (formally known as a report card), then only a recap and/or proficiency scale will be on the Written Learning Update in the subject areas. 
  • You will see more information in subject areas that you have not yet seen evidence for prior. 
  • Every Written Learning Update will have a term/global comment unique to your child. 
  • All Written Learning Updates will be accessible through the MyEd Parent Portal (see below for more info). If you prefer or do not have access to the online portal, you can request a printed copy from your child's teacher.
  • If they have not already done so, your child's teacher will communicate if you should expect your Written Learning Update in MyEd before or after the break as the first term Written Learning Update has a cut off date of January 15th.
  • If you have more than one child in the school, you may see a bit of a difference in reporting depending on what option the teacher has decided on for this year, that said, if you are ever unsure on how your child is doing in a specific area, please reach out to the teacher for clarification.
  • Many of the teachers at our school have been part of this learning for the last few years so although the changes are now mandated by the Reporting Order, many of the changes will be familiar to our families in grades 1 and up. 

We are all learning together so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact your teacher directly for more information. 
 
 
Celebrating ESQE
We have had quite a busy month here at Squamish Elementary! We hope you enjoy these snap shots of exciting from all the learning and fun had as we wrap up 2023!
 
We were so excited to have families join in for some winter festivities. This year we had both an open house, and a winter concert. A huge shout out to our teachers for all their hard work organizing the crafts many of you participated in, to our Sound Kreation leader, Lauren, for teaching the awesome hip-hop dances to our students, and finally, to our grade 6 helpers for creating the beautiful winter-inspired stage set up!
 
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We even hosted a sing-a-long, our teachers competed in festive activities, and we had a full school movie afternoon.
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And, you will never believe it, but Ms. Lapointe's class had a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Clause! And they made Ms. Hain an 'ugly sweater'
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Throughout the month of December and January many cultures celebrate in different ways. We were fortunate this year to have Jody Kramer come and teach us about Hanukkah. Students learned about the menorah and a traditional game played with a dreidel. Hanukkah, is a Jewish celebration that spans over the course of 8 days, reaffirming the ideals of Judaism. A candle is lit for each day. 
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Mme. Lazar and her family have a new puppy named Piper who came for a quick visit this month, the students were so excited. What a cute and fluffy addition to the class!
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Huge shout out to this years volleyball team! They practiced hard on their skills and even took on the teachers! Thank you Mr. Dion and Ms. Mazur for coaching!
 
   
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Mme. Goldman and Mme. Eade took their students skating this month! Who do you think had more fun, the teachers or the students?!
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Mme. Paquette and Mme. Hryhirchuk went on their own adventure with their students, travelling all the way to Vancouver to visit Science World. 
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Mme. Regnier took her grade 2/3 students to Howe Sound Secondary to participate in French Centers with a grade 10/11 class. What a fun way for them engage in learning French! 
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Mr. Georgy Embree's class got festive with their fun sweaters, and worked hard helping their little buddies with reading!
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Some of you may have heard that we had an Owl finding this month. Sadly an owl was injured and needed our help. Mr. Georgy-Embree and Ms. Dalzell came to the rescue, contacting OWL Rehab, an owl rehabilitation center in Delta. OWL was able to send one of their many volunteers to come pick up the owl. 
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Social Media Awareness, Digital Citizenship, & Cyberbullying - Parent event
Click Here to register -> Here
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Upcoming Surveys
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Parent Advisory Council (PAC) Updates
Important PAC Dates!
  • Jan 9th PAC Meeting 6:30pm ESQE Library 
  • Jan 12th PAC hosted Pancake Breakfast - Volunteers & Pancake Griddles NEEDED!
  • Jan 25th Hot Lunch - Volunteers Welcome! 
 
Interested in volunteering for any upcoming events, we all know that more hands make for less work!! Please contact the PAC at [email protected] 
 
This year was another successful Elf Workshop hosted by our PAC. Thank you so much to everyone who organized, donated, and volunteered their time!
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December Celebrations
  • Hanukkah (Dec 18th - 26th) An eight day Jewish holiday 
  • Kawanzaa (Dec 26th - to Jan 1st) An African-American Cultural Celebration created in 1966 to unite African Americans following the Wyatt Rebellion 
 
Happy Birthday December Birthdays!
This month Mme. Paquette and Mme. Ryan were celebrated. sdf  ok
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Happy Holidays & Happy New Year from Ms. Hain & Ms. Dalzell!
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