Dear Parents & Guardians:
In this post you will find information for the following:
· Important Dates
· Winter Concert & Food Drive
· Mountain of Warmth Clothing Drive
· James Short Christmas Hampers
· River/Ice Safety
· Request: Recess Toys
· Fun Lunches (details on our Lunchtime webpage)
· School Fees & Lunch Supervision Fees Now Due
Important Dates –
· Dec 12 – James Short Hamper Wrap-Up (8:30-noon)
· 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)
Winter Concert & Food Drive
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. 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.
Tickets for the performance will be distributed via email to the youngest sibling through the Room Parent Representatives next week (week of Dec. 8). 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 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.
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. As we remain in direct contact with the school, the requests are specifically needs-driven and this is not a call for general donations.
At this point, they are still in need of indoor shoes and boots:
· both genders,
· sizes: child 11 & 12, youth 1 & 2
James Short Christmas Hampers
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.
EPPS Society AGM Minutes
Election results and minutes from our November 25 meeting our now posted on our Society webpage. Thank you so much to our outgoing president, Risa Desa who remains on as Vice President. Thank you to Melissa Schuster for stepping up into the role of President, and Natalie Carleton for taking over the treasurer role. Thank you to Trevor Sawatzy for his diligence with the books in the last school year.
River & Ice Safety
Every year around this time, we are made aware that students go on the ice on the Elbow River after school and on the weekends. We wanted to draw attention to this so that together, we can all work to ensure the safety of all students.
More information about ice safety can be found on the City of Calgary website, including what to do if someone falls through ice into water.
I would encourage you to speak with your child about the potential dangers and importance of staying off the ice on the river.
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