Taradale School 170 Taravista Drive N.E., Calgary, AB T3J 5B1 t 403-777-6270 f 403-777-6272 e taradale@cbe.ab.ca w cbe.ab.ca/b398 Newsletter December 2014/January 2015 Principal s Message Dear Parents, Learning is energizing and, along with the students, the adults are learning as a collective endeavor during the scheduled early dismissal and professional days. Friday Early Dismissals and Professional Days Every Friday early dismissal afternoon begins with a staff meeting for all teachers and support staff. This is an excellent opportunity for the whole staff to all meet together in creating hopes and dreams for Taradale School and in developing goals for the school year. The rest of the afternoons are dedicated to professional development, system work and professional learning communities. October 31 November 7 November 14 November 21 November 28 December 5 December 12 December 19 January 9 January 16 January 23 January 30 Professional Day Student Learning Assessment Provincial Technology Student Services Specialist - Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy Team Planning School Development Planning Professional Learning Communities Celebration of Learning - Student Led Conferences Team Meeting and Planning Professional Day Task Design Planning Discipline Based Inquiry Rubic Reporting and Assessing Professional Learning Communities Building Community Early Years Assessment Team Meeting and Planning Professional Learning Communities Team Meeting and Planning Professional Development Day The support for Friday Early Dismissals continues to be appreciated! The time to meet, work and dream together with the whole staff is invaluable. Teachers also meet in Professional Learning Communities, on Friday afternoons, to create student learning goals and to focus on inquiry related to the Literacy School Development Goal. We continue to Page 1 8
thank our Taradale community for adjusting your schedules to accommodate Friday early dismissals. Parent / Teacher Conferences Wow, Wow, Wow! On November 20 th Conferences. and 21 st, approximately 80% of our community scheduled We were very excited to go live with our online booking! Thank you to our parents who provided us with the information required to activate their accounts. This new booking process gives parents the opportunity to book their appointments when convenient for them. If you are not registered and would like to learn how, do not hesitate to phone the office. It will be our pleasure to help you get started. This was a great demonstration of our Circle of Courage; independence parents showed their independence by booking their own appointments! mastery again, parents took the initiative to activate their accounts! generosity our staff gave of their time to help our parents create their accounts and our families gave their time to celebrate! belonging Taradale School and Taradale Community coming together for our Celebration of Learning! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! With Student Led Conferences being an integral part of our communication plan, we were very appreciative to meet with 80% of our students and their parents at our conferences. Thank you so much for being an active participant in your child s learning. During conferences, we have had another wonderful opportunity to build relationships with our Taradale Community. Page 2 8
Taradale School Program Enhancement Our students were moving and creating to the instruction and music of SoundKreations, our Artist in Residency program, this term. We want to say, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, to our Taradale Parents for supporting our Program Enhancement opportunities. Our students were soooooooo excited and demonstrated wonderful participation throughout the 3 week program. SoundKreations highlighted the program with 3 CELEBRATIONS, which featured all 690 students who performed the moves that they learned. Approximately 150 parents attended each celebration, totaling 450 parents!! WOW!! We are so grateful for your support! Page 3 8
Winter Celebration Family Evening Celebrating Family, Celebrating Literacy and Celebrating Chapters/Indigo Please join us on the evening of Thursday, December 11 as we create an atmosphere for relationship building. We will build community and celebrate our families by spending time together. We will send a notice home inviting everyone to our evening and requesting a reply. We ask everyone to watch for the notice and return the RSVP as soon as possible. We are excited about the evening and we look forward to spending time with you and your families on Thursday, December 11. Families may arrive between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm. The Winter Celebration evening will close at 8:00 pm. We hope you will be able to join us...and it is my greatest pleasure, on behalf of all our staff at Taradale, to wish our community a very special winter break, celebrating time with your families. Remember to take a moment to pause and reflect. I m in Charge of Celebrations Byrd Baylor Most sincerely, J. McLaren, Principal Kindergarten Registration Our Kindergarten registration will begin on Monday, January 12, 2015. The following documents are required to process your registration: Canadian Birth Certificate or Canadian Passport (originals only) Proof of Government issued address (I.E. GST rebate, Income Tax return, Property Tax, etc.) Please note that we do not accept lease agreements. Vaccination Record (if available). Please note: if your child was born outside of Canada, an intake meeting must be booked at our Kingsland Centre. An information sheet will be distributed to those families. The school will be open at 8:00 am for registration. Please note that priority will be given to siblings in order to keep our families together. An information letter will be sent home describing the registration process due to limited space at Taradale School. Page 4 8
Only parents or legal guardians can register a student. Registration forms are numbered and will not leave the premises. If you have family members or neighbors who may qualify for kindergarten registration, please have them call Mrs. Nelson or Ms. Cleroux at 777-6270, ext. 0. School Council The following items were discussed at the School Council Meetings in October and November: Calgary Board of Education Reporting Process Student Led Conferences Alex Dental Health Bus Annual Donation Program Program Enhancement SoundKreations and Quest Theatre Calendar Professional Development Nominations Elections Student Learning Assessment Provincial The Joy of Reading One of the most under-appreciated joys of the holiday season is having enough unscheduled time to curl up and really lose yourself in a good book. Even better if you can do so in your pyjamas at 2:00 in the afternoon! But, how many families actually take the time to indulge in this luxurious and truly meaningful and rewarding activity? Far too often we get caught up in the holiday juggernaut and find ourselves bustling from one social engagement or shopping expedition to the next. Instead of returning refreshed and rejuvenated to the real world in January, we are often burned-out, broke, and in need of a holiday just to recover from the holiday we just had. This year, why not change this? Why not schedule a Reading Day into your family break? Let everyone in the family stay in their pyjamas for the day. Pile blankets and pillows onto the couch and easy chairs and let everyone create their own reading fort, complete with to-be-read book piles. Put out a plate of festive goodies and make hot chocolate together. This would be a great time to crack open the covers of any books that were under the tree this year. Or plan ahead, and make a trip to the library the day before to stock up on enough books to keep everyone reading all day long. There are great benefits to our own personal reading... and to reading aloud to children. It s also relaxing, fun and you may just start a new family holiday tradition. For great children s book lists by age, literacy-building resources, read aloud tips, videos, games and more visit: calgaryreads.com Annual General Meeting Congratulations to the following candidates who were nominated and elected at the Annual General Meeting: Vice Chairperson Viraj Shah Page 5 8
Secretary Treasurer Key Communicator Lua McKeever Crystal Smith Kathy Grigor Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! The position of Chairperson is VACANT at this time! We would like to welcome all of our parents to our next school council meeting on December 17, at 6:45 in the library. Library News Thank you to all the students and families who visited the Scholastic Book Fair that was held alongside the Student Led Conferences. The Book Fair was such a HUGE SUCCESS! Approximately $1650.00 worth of new books and materials will be added to the library collection, as a result of the profit from the book fair. The total sales was approximately $3400.00. Thank you Taradale Community! Mrs. Campbell Library Assistant Lunch Room Reminders Now that the weather is getting colder and the snow is upon us, please ensure your child is dressed to go outside during the lunch period. They would benefit from having a hat, mitts, scarf, snow pants, boots and a warm jacket. Within the health curriculum the students learn about healthy eating. Having a lunch filled with fruits, vegetables, sandwiches, juice/water and other healthy foods will ensure your child is able to focus on his/her studies for the afternoon classes. Please assist us with educating the students with regards to healthy eating by providing a well-balanced lunch. Please restrict candy and other sugar filled snacks to special occasions only. Page 6 8
Have a Wonderful Winter Break! See you at school, Next year on January 7 th, 2015! Page 7 8
Page 8 8