| Bon Vendredi, We had our first full (almost) week at École Chinook Park School for this year! Everything went smoothly during these first few days and we are feeling great. We’ve started the week by visiting every classroom to meet the students and provide reminders about school expectations. Classes are settling into their new routines and diving into new learning. We even had our first fire drill on Thursday, and our students did a fantastic job! Our focus in these early days is to build community connections, friendships and foster belonging. From School Council: Join us for a welcome back picnic on Wednesday, Sept 14 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM in the field beside the school. Bring a blanket and a picnic and we will have a cold treat for the kids. All family members are welcome. This will also be a chance to meet the school administration as well as the School Council Executive. School pictures have been scheduled for Thursday, September 22. Students will have both Class and Individual pictures taken on this day. Retakes for individual pictures will be on October 27. School Messenger for Attendance This week we started using School Messenger, the CBE’s mass communication tool, for attendance notifications for unexcused absences or lates. This new system will ensure quick communication with parents about their students' absences or lates to ensure the safety of our students. Please contact the school and let the office know if your child will be away from school that day or will be arriving late. This helps us ensure students are safe and accounted for. Following a 2-year period of limited and restricted access into our schools, we are excited to welcome our families to École Chinook Park School on Thursday, September 22, 2022. All classes and school spaces will be open for you to visit and meet your child’s teacher. This year we will be doing an Open House format. Feel free to pop into your child(ren)’s classroom anytime between 5:00 – 7:30. All classroom teachers will be offering a brief presentation at 5:30, 6:00, 6:30 and 7:00 to showcase their routines and snapshots of what a day looks like in their room. Feel free to create your own schedule to see all of your child(ren)’s teachers. Teachers are still in the process of getting to know your children and as such this evening event will be focused on connecting with our families, rather than one-on-one progress conversations. If your child has an Individual Program Plan (IPP), teachers will be reaching out to set up preliminary conversations around IPP goals for this year. If you require a one-on-one conversation this early in the school year, please discuss with your child’s teacher directly. One way you can help us get ready for the year is to complete the online demographic, health and consent forms. This ensures we have the correct information about each child which is essential in the case of an emergency. Please review the email sent by the Calgary Board of Education on September 2nd for step-by-step instructions on how to complete these forms online via school engage. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the office. Brown Bagging for Calgary Kids Brown Bagging For Calgary Kids (BB4CK), in partnership with Calgary schools, is able to provide fresh lunches to school children in need. This program is run with the support of BB4CK, lunchroom supervisors and parent volunteers. Our volunteers purchase the groceries and a lunchroom supervisor assembles the lunches.
Your child’s privacy is held in confidence. If you choose to access this program, your child/ren will receive a daily lunch that will include a freshly made sandwich, fruit and vegetables, yogurt as well as a snack item such as a granola bar or muffin. We are unable to customize lunches but will accommodate vegetarian, non-vegetarian and allergy restrictions, where possible. There is no charge for this program as it is made possible through corporate and private donors to children in need in Calgary.
If your child/ren require the support of this program, please email Mrs. Poole at dmpoole@cbe.ab.ca, indicating your interest in the program along with your child/ren’s name(s) and whether there are allergy or vegetarian needs. She will get back to you with a start date for the lunches.
If you are interested in volunteering for our Brown Bag students, please let me know and I will forward your contact to our coordinator. This involves shopping and dropping off groceries as well as some menu planning. Typically, each volunteer takes responsibility for one month's shopping.
More information about the program can be found online at www.bb4ck.org or by contacting Mrs. Poole directly at the school. It is our goal to reach those in need. To get in touch with your child’s classroom teacher, email is the preferred method of communication. Please refer to the updated contact list below: | School Council’s Welcome Back Picnic | | | | | | Conferences (Request and IPP) | | | | National Day for Truth and Reconciliation |
Please reach out to us or to your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns. We want to hear from you; please be involved and seek us out when it comes to supporting your child’s education. Guillaume Comeau & Dawn Poole Leadership Team, Chinook Park School
|
