| Good afternoon Colonel Irvine School Community, It was great to see students back at school this week. The warmer temperatures have made it nice for students to be outside again at lunchtime. We’d like to thank students for wearing their masks appropriately and asking for a new when needed. It’s great to see everyone doing their part to keep each other safe. This week’s math block lesson for Grades 7-9 was about investing. Ask them what they learned about stocks? How do stocks benefit a company? How do they benefit the investor? For the 5’s and 6’s it was about mortgages and rent. Ask them about the game they played. We are going to delay our Lunar New Year celebrations from January 26th to February 3rd, this will provide students with additional time to prepare as we lost a week of preparation to the extended break. New to the school? Each year, the Lunar New Year celebration is organized by our Mandarin program teachers and students for all students to enjoy and usually includes performances, a parade and food. Did you know? Lunar New Year (also called the Spring Festival) typically begins with the new moon that occurs between the end of January and the end of February, and it lasts about 15 days, until the full moon arrives with the Festival of Lanterns. It is the most important festival in China. February 1, 2022 will be the first day of the Year of the Tiger, which is the second of the 12-year cycle of animals in Chinese astrology. In China, the Tiger is known as the king of all animals and the zodiac sign for a tiger is a symbol of strength, braveness, and exorcising evil. As with all celebrations of late, we will modify as needed to meet covid protocols. Thank you for your continued support. Together we can make a difference in keeping each other and our learning environment safe. Wednesday, January 26 – Lunar New Year Celebration Monday, January 31 – Non-instruction Day – No school for students Tuesday, February 1 – Lunar New Year Day Wednesday, February 2 – Grade 9 Vaccinations Wednesday, February 2 – 6:00 – 7:30 – Virtual Open House Thursday, February 17 and Friday, February 18 – Teacher’s Convention Monday, February 21 – Family Day New – Updated Provincial Guidelines Alberta Health Daily Checklist – This document has been updated. Please ensure you review this each day to determine next steps if your child is feeling unwell and when they can return to school. New mask guidance – Families are still able to provide their own masks, but the government has updated its guidance. The guidance states: If non-medical masks are worn, they should be constructed of at least three layers: two of breathable, tightly woven fabric such as cotton, and an additional effective middle filter layer, such as non-woven polypropylene. Positive Case Notifications – This week the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw confirmed that AHS will no longer be able to support COVID-19 and respiratory illness outbreak management in schools. Schools will not be providing notifications of positive cases to families. Please continue to let your school know if your child will be absent for any reason through the normal process. We will continue to monitor student absentee rates. The medical grade masks that were provided by the government are available in each classroom, main office and at every entry point to the school in the morning. For parents who’d prefer to have the allotted 20 masks, please bring a suitable Ziplock bag or container to hold the masks and we will hand them out as needed. See picture below.  As mentioned in our earlier update this week, the basketball season is postponed at this point until at least January 28. At this point we can practice and scrimmage but should not be making cuts. We will keep you posted. In the meantime, we will continue to work on skill development for the students who wish to come out and play some basketball. Monday, January 17th - Jr. Boys 3:15 – 4:15 Sr. Boys 4:15 – 5:30 Tuesday, January 18th - Girls 3:15 – 5:00 Wednesday, January 19th - Sr. Boys 3:15 – 4:15 Jr. Boys 4:15 – 5:30 Thursday, January 20th Girls 3:15 – 5:00 Monday – Potato and Cheddar Perogies Tuesday – Italian Meatball Subs Wednesday – Chicken Fettucine Thursday – Chicken and/or Cheese Quesadillas High School Tours and Open Houses The in-person student tours at Diefenbaker and Fowler have been cancelled. The virtual live open house evening event at Fowler is also cancelled. Instead, Fowler will post videos that you can watch, these will be available January 27th. Both schools will be sending us videos that we will watch with the students towards the end of January when they become available. James Fowler – will create video tours and sessions and share when ready Diefenbaker – Open house January 27th, more info to come Churchill - Student session at lunch rescheduled (sorry) to Thursday January 20th Aberhart – visit their website for videos and more information Forest Lawn - evening open house will also be Jan 27 at 7pm-8pm, visit website Bowness High School – No longer a ‘live’ Open House, they will post pre-recorded videos to their website sometime next week. Student orientation video is available here Thirsk – Virtual Open House, Wednesday, January 19th 7-8, see website Jack James High School – Program of choice, requires transfer application. The high school transfer process opens February 1 and closes March 15, 2022 for the 22-23 school year. This process will be online and a link will be available on the website linked below when the transfer process opens. To find out more information please see this link. Scroll down to High School Transfers. Arts-Centred Learning Grade 5-9 for 2022-2023 Sir John Franklin School is the north campus for the Arts-Centred Learning (ACL) alternative program. It is located in the northeast community of Mayland Heights and serves Grade 5-9 students in Areas 1, 2, and 3. They are holding a virtual open house January 17-February 15 Website Thanks to everyone who was able to join us on Tuesday! Mark your calendars for our next meeting on Feb. 8th (the meetings are always the 2nd Tuesday of each month, at 6.30pm). A bit of follow-up from the meeting: If families have extra KN95/N95 masks that they wish to donate for staff use, please feel free to send them in to the school in the short term. The CBE will be providing these masks for staff, so this is just a stop-gap measure. We’re looking for a volunteer for Events Coordinator, with thanks to Manikanth Pulicheri for his contributions. Time commitment is ~2 hrs / month, one for the meeting and one for coordinating the Sign Up Genius lists to organize parent contributions (e.g. for monthly staff treat days, Lunar New Year celebration, year-end staff appreciation, Gr. 9 farewell). No experience necessary -- we’re happy to train you! Email Kirsten (chair, kirsten.pugh@shaw.ca) and/or Berney (secretary, colonelirvineschoolcouncil@gmail.com) with any questions or to volunteer! Sign up & contribute to the January 21st treat day for staff! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0e44a5a922a5f58-2021221 Save the date for March 16/17 for our upcoming casino -- money from this two day volunteer event generates significant funds that CIPAA (Colonel Irvine Parent Advisory Association) is able to direct towards enhancements for student learning. Go roadrunners!
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