Dear Parents & Guardians:
In this post you will find information for the following:
· Important Dates
· Spirit Days next week
· Hampers & Ornaments
· Winter Concert & Food Bank
· Digital Citizenship – Online Safety
· Mountain of Warmth Clothing Drive – Thank you!
· Request: Recess Toys
· Fun Lunches (details on our Lunchtime webpage)
· School Fees & Lunch Supervision Fees Now Due
Important Dates –
· Dec 17 – Dress Rehearsal: Winter Concert for extended family viewing (9:00-10:00 a.m.) No Tickets Required
· Dec 17 – Winter Concert Evening Performance (6:30-7:30 p.m.) Tickets Required (2/family) details below.
· Dec 19 – Last Day of Classes prior to Winter Break
· Dec 22 – Jan 4 Winter Break (No Classes)
· Jan 5 – Classes Resume
· Subscribe to our updated Web Calendar (link on bottom left)
Spirit Days
We are having a “spirit week” next week to get ready for the holidays. Students are invited to join in the fun by dressing according to each day’s theme and showing some holiday spirit.
· Monday – Holiday or Cozy Sweater Day
· Tuesday – Jersey Day (wear a top with your favorite team or club)
· Wednesday – Winter Concert Outfits
· Thursday – Festive Hats / Headwear
· Friday – Pajama Day
James Short Christmas Hampers & Ornament Decorating
Today our students decorated ornaments to share with their buddy-classes at James Short. Our students will receive ornaments back from their school next week. We will then initiate a pen-pal writing exchange sharing holiday traditions that are celebrated by different cultures in the next two months. We are excited for our students to learn about different upcoming holidays like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year and Ramadan. A HUGE thank you to our parent volunteers today who managed the craft supplies and made this a very engaging activity.
Our tradition continues where our learning community rallies together and supports families in need at James Short Memorial School. This year our ten homeroom classes are each supporting a family by donating a hamper that includes family games and treats, and gift cards for Walmart and Superstore. The gift cards give receiving parents the opportunity to purchase gifts for their own children and to provide support to their family as best needed. We thank everyone for opening their hearts in these challenging times.
Through this event, our students will be taking classroom time to learn about the meaning of giving and helping others in our community of Calgary. They are being asked to think about needs versus wants and to then understand what basic needs would be met through a hamper. They are being asked to reflect on why that need exists and why it is important to help those in need.
Winter Concert & Food Bank
Our annual winter concert will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. Families will be limited to two seats per family for the evening concert due to seating capacity. You will be receiving an email from your Room Parent with your ticket numbers.
There will be a full dress rehearsal at 9:00 a.m. that morning and extended family is welcome to attend this show.
If you know your family will be absent for this concert, please inform the office this coming week so that your child’s absence will be accounted for in the performance for planning purposes.
If you have not signed up to receive emails from your Room Parent, please download the “EPS Council Room Parent Email Request” form from our School Council webpage. These forms were sent home in opening packages in September. Return the form to the office and contact Mrs. Hodgson for your tickets via phone (403-817-3408 ext.0) or email (mahodgson@cbe.ab.ca).
Donations of non-perishable food items are still being collected for the Calgary Food Bank next week.
We will continue to have “paparazzi row” in front of the stage for photographs. As each homeroom takes the stage, one parent from each child on stage may walk to the front row to take images of the performance.
Students need to be in their homerooms for 6:15 and our concert begins at 6:30 p.m. Doors will open at 6:10.
Digital Citizenship – Online Safety
Our students are beginning to learn about online safety with our learning outcome being that learners will demonstrate respectful and inclusive behaviour while using digital tools. Students are using a variety of age-appropriate resources either guided by the homeroom teacher or with instruction and individual time using the provided resources.
Parents may view and access the resources on our Digital Citizenship Plan that is available in the “Related Information” section on our Digital Citizenship webpage.
Mountain of Warmth – Clothing Drive
Thank you so much for the generosity shown towards our winter clothing drive for James Short Memorial School. Many students have directly benefitted from your donations.
At this point, they are not requiring any further donations.
Request: Old Pots, Pans and Metal Kitchen Ladles
Our students love digging in the snow at recess. Our plastic shovels are great with fresh snow, but when things harden up, they break easily. Students love digging out forts and so we are requesting any old/used fry pans, pots or large metal soup ladles that would facilitate scraping and digging into snowbanks. Any donations would be accepted in the office.
Fun Lunches
Our Fun Lunch program has resumed for Dec. 3 with Mucho Burrito. Many families had not yet signed up for this week’s lunch. You are able to sign up for all of these in advance for the school year and details can be found on our Lunchtime webpage.
Our fun lunch dates are:
· Jan. 21 - Subway
· Feb. 25 -Papa Johns
· Mar. 18 - Edo
· Apr. 15 - Opa
· May 20 - McDonald’s
School Fees & Noon Supervision Fees Now Due
School fees for Noon Supervision and school supplies are now posted in SchoolEngage. Please log in to your MyCBE account for payment