January 11th, 2016

École Rocky Elementary News 4703—50 Avenue, Rocky Mountain House, AB T4T 1S4

PH: (403) 845-3541 FAX: (403) 845-5480

Kindergarten Registration/Information Night for the 2016-2017 School Year Thursday, January 21st from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. École Rocky Elementary School is a dual-track school offering both English and French Immersion Kindergarten programs to our students. All parents considering enrolling their children in one of next year’s E.C.S. programs are encouraged to attend our information/registration night on Thursday, January 21st. Children must be five (5) years of age on or before December 31, 2016 to be eligible to register for Kindergarten for the coming school year. We will require a copy of your child’s Birth Certificate before your child starts school in September. For your convenience, a photocopy can be made for you at the school. If you do not have your child’s birth certificate you must sign a Temporary Declaration of Legal Name And Age form. The approximate cost of obtaining a birth certificate in Canada is $36.00. The parent/guardian requesting the birth certificate must have one piece of identification (their own birth certificate, driver’s license or passport). Once ordered, it will take approximately two weeks to arrive. Application forms are available at the office. We invite you to attend a presentation on the French Immersion program at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 21st:  

English Kindergarten French Immersion Kindergarten

Learning Commons (Library) McCabe Room

You are invited to drop in and register your child anytime during the school day or on January 21st between 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. in the Library/McCabe Room.

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING You are cordially invited to attend our next School Council Meeting Thursday, January 21st at 2:00 p.m. in Room 32. The school is eager to have your support in helping make decisions regarding your child’s education. Please feel free to bring your younger children with you to the meeting. Should you require further information, please contact the school at (403) 845-3541.

ÉRE School Council

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DATES TO REMEMBER January 21 January 21 January 27 January 29 February 4 February 15 February 18 & 19 February 25 February 26 Mar. 2-Apr. 6 March 7 March 13 March 17 March 18 March 22 & 23 March 23 March 24 March 25 March 28 March 29-April 1 April 4 April 15 April 21 April 21 April 28 May 3,4 & 5 May 6 May 12-13 May 17 May 19-20 May 23 May 24 May 26 May 30 June 17 June 23 June 28 June 28

ECS (Kindergarten) Registration Night 6:30-8:00 p.m. (English & French)

School Council Meeting 2:00 p.m. Room #32 School Assembly 11:55 a.m. Professional Development Day—No School for Students Town Hall Meetings Family Day—No School for Students & Staff Teachers’ Convention—No School for Students School Council Meeting 2:00 p.m. Room #32 School Assembly 11:55 a.m. “Bird Frieze” Art Exhibit Professional Development Day—No School for Students Daylight Savings Time 2:00 a.m. (set clocks forward) Spring Ahead School Council Meeting 2:00 p.m. Room #32 Report Cards Go Home Parent/Teacher Interviews 4:30- 7:30 p.m. School Assembly 11:55 a.m. No School for Students & Staff Good Friday- No School for Students & Staff Easter Monday- No School for Students & Staff Spring Break Back To School Professional Development Day—No School for Students School Council Meeting 2:00 p.m. Room #32 Umbrella School Council Meeting School Assembly 11:55 a.m. French & English Book Fair Professional Development Day—No School for Students Fieldtrip: Grade 5 to Calgary ECS (Kindergarten Open House) 6:00—7:30 p.m. (English & French)

No School for Students or Staff Victoria Day—No School Fieldtrip: Grade 5 Wetlands at Crimson School Council Meeting 2:00 p.m. Room #32 School Assembly 11:55 a.m. Fieldtrip: 2GO, 2K and Grade 4’s Historic Park School Assembly 11:55 a.m. Last Day of School for Students Awards Celebration Please note dates subject to change throughout the year.

ÉCOLE ROCKY ELEMENTA RY NEWS

SAFE ARRIVAL PROGRAM FOR ATTENDANCE 1-855-756-2797 or http://wrsd.schoolconnects.com Just a reminder École Rocky Elementary has an automated service for reporting student attendance.

We are asking parents/guardians to report student absences prior to 9:00 a.m. for the current day, as well as planned future absences via the internet or telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (i.e. medical appointments, vacation, etc.). If you child is going to be late, please call it in as an absence. When he/she arrives at school your child must come to the office for a late slip at which time their absence will be changed to “late.” This program allows parents/guardians to report their child’s absence in advance, or before a cutoff time of 9:00 a.m. for the current day in one of two ways: 1. 2.

Logging onto the Safe Arrival Parent Portal website: http://wrsd/schoolconnects.com Calling the Safe Arrival toll free phone number: 1-855-756-2797 The school’s answering machine is no longer used to communicate messages from parents/guardians about attendance. Parents/guardians calling into the school with an attendance will be asked to call the Safe Arrival line. Please use one of the two methods mentioned to report your child(ren)’s absence.

The Safe Arrival Program uses an automated notification system to contact parents/guardians who have not reported their child absent. The automated notification system will contact parents/ guardians at multiple contact numbers until one of the designated contact is reached. By reporting your child(ren)’s absent in advance using the 1-855-756-2797 number or http://wrsd/ schoolconnects.com, you will not r eceive a call. Should you have any questions or concer ns, please contact the school

STUDENT LATES If your child arrives late, they must report to the office for a late slip before going into class. Attendance is taken by teachers shortly after announcements which just after the second bell (8:40 a.m.). Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

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A big thank you to the following people and organizations for their generous monetary donations or gift of time:                    

on behalf of all the staff for the Christmas wishes and goodies received during the holiday season. They were greatly appreciated by all. deb Swainger and Jordan for picking up milk cartons, cans and bottle and taking them to the bottle depot for recycling. Sr. Margie for her ongoing role as a Peace Educator in our school and training our grade five students in conflict management. to Domino’s Pizza (Tamara Borley) for the donation of Student VIP Pizza cards. to those who donated towards the milk program for students. to those who supported the Hope Gram fundraiser before Christmas. The Grade four team raised $325. This money went to help support The Food Bank. to those who donated at the Christmas Concert for The Food Bank—$96.80 raised. to all those students who participated in our choirs. to Mrs. Lougheed for her dedication to the singing and handbell choir. to Madam Gagnon for leading the drama club and helping the students put on a great performance. to the Kindergarten and Grade 1 teachers for putting on a successful Christmas Concert. to all the parents who went carolling with the ÉRE Choir. Also, a big thank you to all the parents who brought snacks. to those who have brought in children’s clothing, shoes, boots, winter wear for our Coats for Kids program, etc. to the vendors from the Christmas Mini-Market for their support on table rentals and donation towards the Raffle Baskets. Over $900 was raised. Bonang family for the donation of the mini trampoline. Alicia Houle for donation of clothing for students. Lueers family for donation of milk for Lunch Program. Shelley Anderson for donation of Currency Exchange. Concentra Financial (Rocky Credit Union Ltd.) for their generous donation towards the Breakfast/Lunch Program. to those who supported the Regal Fundraising—$484.88 was raised!

Kirstein family for having the most sales in Knitwit Hats! They received a hat of their choosing! Congratulations to the winners of the raffle baskets. Each basket was valued over $150. Basket #1 Rose Zalasky Basket #2 Julie Olson Basket #3 Jen Auld Proceeds from these sales go to the Grade 5 Calgary Field Trip.

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AFTER SCHOOL TELEPHONE MESSAGES Parents/guardians are encouraged to plan ahead of time with their child regarding after school arrangements. You may send a note to your child’s teacher explaining these arrangements. In case of an urgent situation where after school plans change, contact the school as soon as possible. Please keep in mind it is sometimes difficult for the office staff to get a message to your child, especially if a parent calls at the end of the school day, or if a class is not in their classroom. Your assistance with this matter is greatly appreciated.

FinS (Fish In Classrooms) Our grade three students are participating in the FinS program, that is, Fish in Schools. FinS is an Alberta based project to teach students about the trout life cycle and their habitat in both indoor and outdoor settings. Over the course of 4 to 5 months, our students will monitor the development of rainbow trout from egg to fry in our classroom aquarium. Our “eyed eggs” will be arriving on January 15th. Students have ample incentive to learn because they soon understand that survival of their fish depends on their ability to maintain a healthy environment in their aquarium. The class selects a release site for their fish with the assistance and approval of Alberta Environmental Protection (AEP) fisheries staff. Our class will also participate in the release of their fish to complete the program.

SCHOOL FEES PAST DUE NOTICE—IMPORTANT Invoices were sent home with report cards in November and are now overdue. The monies collected are forwarded to Wild Rose School Division for inclusion in the school budget and supplement our regular funding for textbooks, workbooks, visiting performers, exhibitions, guest speakers, etc. The school fees for students in Kindergarten are $40.00 per student and Grades 1-5 $40 for school fees and agendas $6.00 for a total of $46.00. For those students who have gone swimming and have not paid, this fee is also due. Should you have any questions regarding you invoice, please call Mrs. Zalasky at (403) 845-3541. Cheque made be payable to… École Rocky Elementary.

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SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES Following are the dates for our monthly upcoming school assemblies—all beginning at 11:55 p.m. January 27th March 23rd May 30th

February 26th April 28th June 23rd

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETINGS School Council meetings are held usually the third Thursday of each month at 2:00 p.m. in Room 32. Listed below are the meeting dates for the remainder of the year: January 21st

February 25th

March 17th

April 21st

May 26th

All parents/guardians are encouraged to attend. Hope to see you there!

LOST & FOUND ITEMS Although we have two large Lost and Found boxes in the school, they both tend to overflow on a regular basis. In order to keep the school sanitary and organized, we are required to empty and clean these boxes several times each year. The Lost and Found boxes were emptied and cleaned over the Christmas holidays. They will be emptied again following the next parent-teacher interview week. Parents and students are encouraged to check through these boxes on a regular basis. Unclaimed items are donated to the Next to New so that they can be recycled.

WRSD 2015-16 School Year Calendar Survey Parents/guardians, staff, students and the general community are invited to share their views in regards to the school calendar for upcoming school years. Please go to the following website to complete this short survey: https://docs.google.com/a/wrsd.ca/forms/d/1Ah638lIux_DSVU1wpgl19VbJ_yFiq9KqZTBlt6kp0qw/viewform? uiv=1&edit_requested=true

Your input would be greatly appreciated. The opinions expressed will be consulted when developing the calendar for the 2016-17 school year. Also, please be aware that there are still parameters that are beyond the control of WRSD administration (diploma exams, teacher's convention, etc). The deadline for this survey is January 30th.

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Welcome 2016!! Family Literacy Day is January 27, take time to have: 15 Minutes of Fun ABC Life Literacy Canada encourages families to have “15 Minutes of Fun” learning together every day. Engaging in literacy activities as a family improves a child’s skills and also helps adults keep their skills sharp. Here are a few ideas to get your family started! Conseils en français. 15 New Activities for 2016! Lights out, talk on: After your bedtime story, turn the lights off and talk about new endings to the story you just read together. Surfing Snacks: Go online together to find out how your favourite foods are made. Are they something you can make together at home? Find A-B-C: Have an alphabet scavenger hunt to look for things that begin with each letter of the alphabet. If you can’t find some letters, go outside or try looking in books and magazines. Travel the World: Use your library card as your passport to check out books on different countries. Learn about their traditions and celebrations. Float in a Boat: Work together to fold a family fleet of origami boats. (Find all the steps in the FamilyLiteracyFirst.ca sample module!) Let's go Shopping: Have kids write the family grocery list out themselves, then bring it to the store. Let them check each item off the list. (Hmm, wonder how jelly beans got on the list…) Number Walk: As you put on your shoes, choose something you want to count during your walk. It could be dogs, trees, stop signs, cars—anything you want! On your walk, count how many you can find. Word Wall: Learn one new word every day. Display them by creating a family word wall with Bristol board and markers. Can you make a sentence with the words on your wall? How was your day today? Exchange notes (or write a journal) with your child telling each other about the best part of your day. Or switch it up: what’s the best thing you expect to happen tomorrow? A Course of Course: Build an obstacle course through your family room, and draw a map of how to go through it from beginning to end. Sing chat: Sing a conversation with your kids to the tune of your favourite song. Bonus points if you can make your song rhyme! Snow You Tell Me: Use emptied dish soap bottles filled with water and food colouring to write messages and draw in the snow. Know it All: Together, look online for the meaning of funny words like “ collywobbles” and " onomatopoeia." Test your parents' word power! Have a Book-nic: Organize an indoor picnic with books and tasty treats. Choose a theme – try honeyflavoured cereal and read Winnie the Pooh. Game On: Start family board game night and play a different game each week. Family members can take turns reading instructions and game cards as well as keeping score. Or go to this site for other ideas: http://abclifeliteracy.ca/fld/15-minutes-of-fun Please keep in mind that all students have access to TumbleBooks through our school website. Grade 4 & 5 students have access to OverDrive on any device. Please contact me if you need help finding either one of these sites. They provide a great opportunity for reading.

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Earlier this year Fortis presented on electrical safety to the grade five students. 5KW students submitted drawings and stories to the Fortis Energy Your Way Superstar Contest about saving energy. Each student received a Fortis bag with goodies in it for their entry.

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SKATING POLICY Following are the expectations for parents so their child can attend skating throughout the year: 

all students on the ice need to have a helmet with a working chin strap (bike helmets are fine).

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all students need to have skates on if they are on the ice. (Exceptions would be children in sledges, special needs children with specific requirements - e.g. an OT recommendation).

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teachers and adult volunteers can be on the ice in shoes at their own risk (not recommended and not during Public Skating times).

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no infant strollers on the ice ever (Rec Department policy).

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mitts/gloves should be worn by all skaters.

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During scheduled school skating, parent volunteers can bring their child’s younger siblings on the ice at their own risk, provided they are wearing skates and helmets.

SKATES & HELMETS We are in need of used skates and helmets for students to use for the skating program. If you have any of these items that your child(ren) are not using and would like to donate them to the school, please drop them off at the office. Thank you to those families who have donated skates and helmets this school year—they are being put to good use!

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École Rocky Elementary Choir’s performed November 27th at the Lou Soppit Center for the Festival of Trees Community Concert and the 28th at the Centre for the Santa Workshop and we also sang outside at the Credit Union before the Parade of Lights. The choir is composed of students from grade 2 to 5 and a few grade 1’s now. Thank you to those teachers who allowed students to come and practice. We have a group of dedicated performers and great volunteers.

Christmas Mini-Market Over $900 was raised from table rentals and Raffle Basket sales. Proceeds from these sales go to the Grade 5 Calgary Field Trip. Thank you to all who participated.

As part of 4O Classroom Champion Challenge of “Community” they collected for both the Food Bank and Santa’s Anonymous for two weeks in December.

ÉCOLE ROCKY ELEMENTA RY NEWS

December Assembly Awards ECS Evan Bradley – for being a kind, respectful student who always gives his best effort Brighton Fillinger – for being a respectful listener and a hard worker at centre time Jenny Ma – for being a kind, respectful student who uses her hands for helping Ronan MacDonald – for working hard to learn to print his name Delta Buxton – for being an enthusiastic learner and always ready to help in the classroom Joel Langberg –for being a quiet learner and who always gives his best effort Tony Melanchuk – for being a positive hard working student and a good friend to all Ben Penney – for being a great listener and working hard at center time Grade 1 Calder Hooey- for always doing thoughtful work and using I-Care language Shalyn Smith- for terrific singing in the Christmas concert and taking turns in class Aiden Ready – for excellent participation and effort with his volume, fluency and expression in the Christmas concert. Presley Sadek – for showing enthusiasm and effort in school and working hard at learning her basic facts. Greyer Hart – for displaying excellent work habits, and working hard at learning his basic facts to ten. Logan Moser-for effectively using different math strategies to add and subtract numbers. Logan Patenaude- for working hard in class and being kind to others Jax Truman- for always being polite and kind towards others and showing great work in all subject Grade 2 Brandy Waterfield - for working hard to learn your doubles in math. Evan Beckett - for your amazing math skills. Arwyn Danis - for being a responsible student and a great improvement at printing Shilo Gardeski - for always completing her work with care and her great attention to details Tacie Smith – for your sensitive written response in our learning sequence, Winter’s Gift. Grade 3 Brendan L’Hirondelle – for your excellent attitude and for your perseverance in your daily work Hailey Eastman - for being a hard worker, showing kindness to everyone and for being a respectful student Dustin Davis - for great participation in class and for striving to do his best, especially in math Frankie-Rae Cardinal - for great improvement in her work habits and for good effort in all of her subjects Irelynn Godlonton – for her amazing work in Math, in multiplying, dividing and doing fractions like a pro! Samuel Patenaude – for eagerly participating in every subject and always being ready to help others Grade 4 Markus McKinley – for great work in Math and for caring for others Charlie Chevallier – for helping in the classroom and keeping others entertained Liam MacDonald – for showing all around improvement, way to go! Kalika Hermary – for working hard to improve in spelling and completing all assignments Lukas Flaig – for trying his best in Math and having a positive attitude Blair Morley – for showing problem-solving skills and always being willing to help Grade 5 Damian Borley – for showing significant improvement in writing! Jace Kontzie - for his organized neat work in all subject areas! Eve Cannaday – for excelling in reading and for doing an awesome job in Math Tyson Edwards – for being a responsible, kind and helpful student at school

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Systematic Training For Effective Parenting INTERESTED IN FORMING A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CHILD? Raising a child is one of the toughest but most rewarding jobs anyone will ever have in their life. You are not alone. Every parent experiences thoughts like: will he ever learn, why won’t she listen, why do I have to keep repeating myself? When you experience the good moments, you wish you could make them last. Wouldn't you like to improve that relationship with your child and have even more good moments? Starting on March 2nd to April 20th, Wednesday evenings from 7:00—9:00 p.m. Marilyn Rees a Rocky/Clearwater Family Wellness Worker, will be offering a seven week course called STEP. This course is designed specifically for parents with children ages 6-12. The course will provide parents with different approaches for strengthening communication and most importantly strengthening your relationship with your child. The STEP program will help parents raise responsible children who will grow into responsible adults. The course will run on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. We understand as a parent you do not have a lot of free time. A commitment to taking this course will cut down on the time you spend solving your child’s problems and will give you more quality time with your child. To view a short webpage that provides more information on the program http:// rcfamilywellness.weebly.com/step-program.html . If you are interested in registering for this program or would like more information contact Marilyn Rees at [email protected] or (403-844-5765).