Reminder: Our school will be closed for Fall Break from Friday, Oct 8, 2021 until Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021.
A great big thank you to the Calgary Fire Department, the Calgary Police Service, the Area 4 Office, the staff and students at Clarence Sansom School, and our cleaning crew for their support during this week’s emergency evacuation. Thank you Best Choice Pizza and A.B. King Pizza for being ready to prepare 270 slices of pizza for our students and staff on short notice! We are truly blessed by our supportive community and have a lot to be thankful for as we head into Thanksgiving weekend.
Grade 4/5 Re-Organization - On September 30th, the Alberta Government finalized the student count in Alberta schools. Douglas Harkness welcomed more students than we anticipated which resulted in large, complex class sizes in our grade 4/5 split classrooms. With our count now finalized, we are pleased to announce that we now have enough students to re-organize our grade 4/5 classrooms by adding a teacher and therefore lowering class size. This means that on October 19th, we will be shifting from three grade 4/5 classrooms to two grade 4 classrooms and two grade 5 classrooms. Mr. Meuser and Ms. Paterson will be teaching grade 4 while Ms. Sleno, and Ms. Bains will be teaching grade 5. Welcome back Ms. Bains!
Grade One Staffing Change - We had to say goodbye to Ms. Stephanie Hanson (Grade One) this week as she finished her temporary contract covering the last two months of Ms. Engelman’s maternity leave. Douglas Harkness was Ms. Hanson’s first teaching job but she sure had us fooled from the start. We know that she has a very bright teaching future ahead of her and we wish her the very best in her next adventure. We would like to welcome back Ms. Melissa Engelman (Grade One) who is returning from a year of maternity leave caring for her new little family member. Welcome back Ms. Engelman!
GagaBall - You have all heard of Lady Gaga, but have you ever heard of GagaBall? Ask your kids about this new game and the inflatable GagaBall pit we have purchased for use in the gym and outside. Then check out photos of the fun on the classroom Twitter accounts.
Upcoming Dates:
Oct. 8
Non-Instructional Day (no school for students)
Oct. 11-15
Fall Break SCHOOL CLOSED
Oct. 18
Non-Instructional Day (no school for students)
Oct. 19
Classes resume
Oct. 27
Grade One Field Trip to Fish Creek Park (to be confirmed)
Nov. 5
School Wide Fall Back Into Reading Day (dress like a book character day and special guest author read-alouds)
Nov. 10
Parent Teacher Conferences (evening)
Nov. 11
Remembrance Day (SCHOOLS CLOSED)
Nov. 12
Parent Teacher Conferences (day) - no school for students
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Mrs. George
Proud Principal - Douglas Harkness School
