Dear DGS Families,
You blink, and suddenly, it’s December. In case you’re keeping track, this means we only have just over three weeks until the sweet peace of winter break envelopes the halls of DGS and you get to spend some much-wanted downtime with your families. We have lots on the go in the next three weeks, so don’t worry about your sweet babies in the meantime! Our first Wrestling Meet since 2019 takes place on Monday, preparations are underway for several different field studies taking place this month and our school’s presentation of “The Shuddersome Tales of Poe” is set for mid-December. We enjoyed connecting with our families last week at Parent Teacher Student Conferences and as always, if you want to meet outside of that time with your child(ren)’s teachers, you are more than welcome to do so.
Digital Citizenship and Social Media
Parents are very much encouraged to check in with their children regularly around their social media use and presence. How teens represent themselves on platforms such as TikTok and SnapChat can often follow them back to school and be the source of unwanted attention, conflict and harm. One thing we always should keep in mind as adults is that ultimately, the young person’s mobile device is registered to an adult who ultimately becomes responsible for what is on the device and how it is used. Another great resource is our digital citizenship presentation which can help guide a conversation around digital citizenship. Being an away-for-the-day school is one of the ways we work to alleviate some of the “digital complexities” students experience every day. This is also a good time to remind families that we cannot be responsible for lost or stolen devices or accessories such as earpods.
Demographic Verification Forms
There are still a number of forms that are outstanding. Please sign into your MyCBE account to complete these forms as soon as possible. If you are having trouble completing them, please contact the office for assistance. As a reminder, these forms are legally required to be completed each school year.
Cold Weather Preparation
With the onset of this cold weather, we want to make sure everyone has the same information around soft entry, lunchtime, etc. Soft Entry starts at 8:00. We do not open the doors before this time. As of 8:00, teachers are on supervision inside and outside of the building. At lunch, all students are expected to be outside for half of their lunchtime unless the temperature with windchill is colder than -20 degrees Celsius. Please ensure your child is dressed for the weather. We do provide outdoor supervision at lunchtime for students who are committed to being polar bears.
Keeping Sick Students Home
We continue to see a trend of absence due to illness. We ask that if your child is sick, please keep them home from school, as we want to see all of our community make it through cold and flu season safely. Please continue to phone or email the school each day that your child will be absent, with the reason for the absence (examples: illness, medical appointment, etc.). Teachers will continue to post assignment basics in Google Classroom by 4:00 each day for students to access.
Got Lunch?
We remain a closed campus at lunchtime. We want to remind families that students need to bring their lunch or have it ordered through Healthy Hunger for distribution through the servery. We do have a variety of lower cost items for purchase at the server including Cheese Buns, Ham and Cheeses Buns, and Chocolate Chip Buns from Glamorgan Bakery. Hot water is available for soup through the servery. We are not able to provide access to microwaves for student use. As a reminder, we are not able to receive Skip the Dishes, Door Dash, Uber Eats, etc. in the main office. The driver will be asked to return the delivery to the restaurant.
Course Fees and Lunch Supervision Registration
We have received notice that the courses that have fees associated with them have been added to your account; fees are due when assigned. Also please note: all grade 6 students that stay at school for lunch should be registered to do so.
Fees and registration can be found on your MyCBE account.
Book Fair
Thank you DGS Families! Your in-person and online purchases helped us to earn nearly $500 towards new resources for our school.
Upcoming Dates:
December 6
December 15
December 22
January 9
As always, please feel free to contact me at csmalette@cbe.ab.ca OR 403 817 3556.
Chantal Malette
Principal, Dr. George Stanley School
