December has arrived and although the calendar identifies the month of the year, our weather has certainly not been December-like. The pandemic continues to impact teaching and learning and with the warm temperatures our classes have been fortunate to maximize learning outdoors. Students and teachers are happy to be outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine.
Our little school has some big celebrating to do! Our students worked hard this year in music class with Mr. O’Reilly to enter the CBC Music Class Challenge. This was not an easy task with COVID restriction and limits around musical instruments and vocal participation. Mr. O’Reilly and the students worked through these challenges and successfully submitted our entry. The top 10 list has been revealed and Dr. E. W. Coffin has made the list in the category of Elementary Instrumental (Grades 4-6). Well done everyone!! The finalists will be announced on December 15 – keep your fingers crossed! This is a wonderful accomplishment and shows our strong collaborative, community spirit and our ability to work together to complete such a great project.
Our School Development Plan and our Annual Results report are both posted to our school website. This year our School Development Plan (SDP) will focus on two areas for student achievement: English Language Arts (specifically reading) and Well-Being for Learning (self-regulation). Our language arts goal will target student achievement in reading fluency and comprehension and our well-being for learning goal will focus on student’s ability to self-regulate and make responsible decisions in their learning. You may access the SDP on our website from the About Us tab, under Our School, if you would like to learn more about our plans for this school year.
Before we know it, 2021 will be here. We will begin registration for our Kindergarten program on January 11, 2021. At this time, it would be helpful for us to hear from families who have a child of Kindergarten age, who is eligible to start Kindergarten in September of 2021. Please use the Calgary Board of Education’s Kindergarten calculator located on the CBE website to see when your child is eligible to start kindergarten. These early conversations will help us in planning for our Kindergarten program in the fall.
We will hold a few festive events during this final month of 2020. December 10 will be festive hat day and students and staff can put on their favorite festive hat for the day. Mr. O’Reilly will lead us in our annual carolling December 15, 16, and 17. We will miss our families joining us for our carolling during the last week before break. December 18 is the final day of classes before the winter break.
At this time, I would like to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. This year our holiday gatherings will be different as the whole world continues to manage life during a pandemic. My wish for each one of our families is for the New Year to bring all of us hope, good health and well-being.
Take care and stay safe.
Together in Education,
Cathy
