Newsletter #3 December 2, School Goal: To improve in the area of Social Responsibility

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1 W Don Christian Elementary School Street Surrey, B.C. V3S 8E6 Phone: (604) Fax: (604) Newsletter #3 December 2, 2015 School Goal: To improve in the area of Social Responsibility Principal: Mr. M. Bobik PAC President: Mrs. J. Jordan Message from Mr. Bobik The Christmas spirit is certainly growing at Don Christian. Thank you to all of the families who have brought in items for the Cloverdale Christmas Hamper Drive. Donated items will be picked up on December 14th and will go a long way to help make a positive difference to the holidays for local families in need. We are in preparations for our Christmas Concert, with two planned performances and we are organizing a Christmas Sing-A-Long as well. December looks to be an exciting month at Don Christian. Cloverdale Christmas Hamper Program Communities all over take advantage of the Christmas season to reach out and help those less fortunate. The Cloverdale Christmas Hamper Program is a program that has run for a number of years in the Cloverdale area. The program reaches out to families that need something a little extra to get them through Christmas. For the past several years, our Don Christian community has most generously given to make the holiday season a little more cheerful for those who are less fortunate. Once again this year, Don Christian Elementary will be supporting local families with non-perishable food items, as well as appropriate clothing and gifts. We will also gratefully accept cheques or cash donations to cover the costs of specific gifts and gift certificates for Christmas dinner shopping. (Please make cheques out to the Pacific Community Church). Boxes for collection are located throughout the school. This outreach collection will run from Monday, November 16 to Friday, December 11th. Thank you for noting the timelines and for considering your donation ahead of time.

2 Wondering how to donate to the Hamper Program? Donation Suggestions: Non-perishable food items (canned veg & fruit, soup, crackers, snacks, canned meat/fish, condiments, pasta, rice, breakfast items, etc) Grocery & food gift cards Christmas candies Toiletries & personal care items New gloves, socks & scarves Gift items for children ages birth 12. There is also a need for mall or store gift cards for youth ages as well. New unwrapped children s toys & gifts Please no alcohol, homemade or home canned food items, expired or opened packages. For more detailed information, you can the Cloverdale Christmas Hamper Program at cloverdalechristmashampers@gmail.com or call Ext 107. Winter Concert Once again this year at Don Christian, we will be hosting a Winter Concert, The Snowman at Night. There will be two performances, the first, and afternoon performance at 1:00 pm on Thursday, December 17 th and an evening performance at 7:00 pm on Thursday, December 17 th. Each family at the school will have the opportunity to purchase two tickets, for one dollar each, to the evening performance. Tickets will go on sale at the office only, on Monday, December 7 th. Each family will also be limited with the number of tickets they can purchase for the afternoon performance. Doors for the afternoon performance will open at 12:30 pm and at 6:30 pm for the evening performance. Students are asked to arrive at school by 6:45 pm. The profit from the ticket sales will help cover the rental cost of the chairs for the performance. Sing-a-long On Friday, December 18 th at 9:00 am in the gym, students and staff will come together raise our voices in seasonal sing-a-long. As always, our community is most welcome to join us! Student Absences If your child is going to be away from school, it is greatly appreciated if you would inform the school. Please call the school at This is a 24-hour line. If it is after school hours, please leave a clear message stating the absent student s name and division. If your child is going to be away from school for an extended time, please inform both the teacher and the office in writing.

3 Sign-Out Procedures Occasionally, parents come to school to take their child(ren) out of school early for appointments, etc. Parents are asked to write a note to inform the teacher(s) affected, and are also reminded that they should visit the office to sign out their child(ren) formally. This way, we are able to track children and know their whereabouts. Telephones Our telephones are business phones. Therefore, only in an emergency and with staff permission will children be allowed to use phones. Please encourage your child to make after school arrangements and play dates in advance. They will not be able to use the school phone to do so. Please also note that all student cell phones are to be turned off and kept in backpacks or given to teachers for safe keeping during instructional hours. Office staff will pass on messages to students in an emergency, but parents are requested to deal with family concerns and normal arrangements prior to the school day. Our secretary will make every attempt to pass messages on to your child; however, due to the number of students at the school, we cannot be held responsible or accountable as a messenger. Thank you in advance for your understanding. Teachers cannot leave pupils unattended during instructional time to take calls. Should you wish to speak to a teacher, please call during non-instructional time before and/or after school or leave a message on voic , to have the teacher return a call. They will do so the same day if at all possible. Student Drop-Off and Pick-Up / Parking Lot The safety of children walking or being dropped off at school is everybody s responsibility. It is important to note that there is NO drop-off or pick-up in the staff parking lot. With all the staff traffic at these times of day, it is not safe for students to be walking through this area. We thank you in advance for following the posted signs and for reinforcing this with your child(ren). Please also advise any friends and/or relatives that may be picking up your child(ren) throughout the year. School Website and School Newsletters for 2015/2016 Please bookmark the address and visit our website regularly for updated information. In order to remain as green as possible and in the interest of saving school funds, newsletters will only be published online. Please come by the office if you require a paper copy. You may sign up on our website to receive our newsletters and notices via . The address is:

4 STAY CONNECTED with the School Link app You can get a free app on your iphone/ipad or Android device that keeps you connected with all the latest information from our school. Go to the app store, find school link then once downloaded add Don Christian to your school list and you will receive a newsfeed of anything posted on our website directly to your personal device. A great way to stay up to date with school information! Visitor Badges Parents and family members, please return any visitor badges to the office that you may have brought home inadvertently. Thank you. Christmas Dance This year, the Grade 7s are throwing a Christmas Dance on Thursday, December 10 th from 6:00-8:30 pm (complete with pictures with Santa) for the whole school, to help raise money for camp, and their year-end activities. There will be pizza, treats, dancing, contests with prizes, door prizes, Santa, and a lot of fun for everyone! You could win tickets for 4 to a Vancouver Giants Hockey Game! The Grade 7s are busy planning the set list and are excited to DJ the event. We are hoping you can attend! Pre-order your tickets and not only will you save money, but all ticket orders received by Tuesday, December 7 will be entered into a prize draw. (Draw will be held at dance). Ticket prices go up on December 8. We cannot guarantee tickets will be available at the door, so don t be disappointed and pre-order. You may also preorder your pizza too! Information going home soon, and extra order forms will be available at the office. All children must be accompanied by an adult at the dance. Upcoming Dates to Remember Friday, December 4 - Formal Report Card #1 Tuesday, December 8 - CATS recognition assembly (10:45 am) Wednesday, December 9 - Early Dismissal-Parent/Teacher conferences (1:38 pm) Wednesday, December 9 - PAC meeting (7:00 pm) Thursday, December 10 - Christmas dance and photos with Santa (6:00 8:30 pm) Friday, December 11 - Last day for Christmas Hamper donations Thursday, December 17 - Winter Musical (1:00 pm and 7:00 pm) Friday, December 18 - Last day before Winter Break December 19 - January 3 - Winter Break Monday, January 4 - School re-opens after Winter Break Additions Grade 7 Fundraising Information COPEing with Toddler Behaviour

5 Grade 7 Fundraisers A few reminders: Neufeld Farms order PICKUP is: December 11th at 2:30pm Regal Website/Catalog orders Open Now until December 31. The website for orders is: Bottle Drive ongoing take your empties to Regional th Street (across from the Furniture Barn) the account is under: Don Christian Elementary Grad 7 Grad Fundraiser. Or you can save them up until the spring when we will be collecting them at the school. Raffle Tickets Information coming home in the next couple of days. Raffle Tickets will be on sale from Tuesday, December 1st to Thursday, December 17th. The prizes are: First Prize: $500 Gift Card to Berezan Hospitality Group (they own the liquor store by Little Caesars Pizza, and Hemlock Resort). Second Prize: Gift Card Basket valued at $350 and includes $200 Gift Card to Willowbrook Mall, $100 to the Boathouse and $50 to Berezan Group. Third Prize: $150 to Save On Foods. Fourth Prize is 2 one day lift pass to Hemlock Mountain. The tickets are $2 each and details of how you can purchase your ticket will come home very soon. Or you can contact Lori Adlem at ladlem@shaw.ca to get your ticket(s). Draw Date is Thursday, Dec. 17. Candy Canes will be on sale at lunch for a couple of days each week starting December 3rd and will cost $1.00. Make sure you bring a Loonie to get yours!

6 COPEing with Toddler Behaviour An 8 week parenting course designed to help parents of month old children with effective parenting strategies using an active learning model. Winter January - March 2016 DATES LOCATION TIME Wednesday s Jan 20 - March 9, 2016 Don Christian Elementary St Cloverdale 6:00-8:00 pm COPEing with Toddler Behavior is an 8-session course for parents of month olds that is designed to help parents in effective parenting strategies for toddlers using an active learning model. Parents learn how to foster a positive parent-child relationship, use an authoritative backbone parenting style, have appropriate developmental expectations, tailor their parenting to their child s temperament, and use strategies to prevent and respond to challenging behaviors. This course is for everyone who wants to be the best possible parent they can be. ***********There is no cost to take this course*********** Child minding will be provided on a limited basis, bus tickets will be provided for those with transportation issues, and refreshments will be available. To register please contact The Children s Foundation on line: (Communities Caring For Children)