Dear DGS Families,
Our first week with your adolescent scholars was exceptional. I can’t thank you all enough for having your young people ready for back-to-school. Perhaps one of the most powerful things I saw was how our students have responded to social and emotional learning opportunities with teachers and peers. Many Grade Teams work with students around “Things I Wish My Teacher, Parents/Guardians and Friends Knew About Me.” Here is a sampling of things they want us to know:
“I wish my parents knew how much I need them”
“I wish my teacher knew how much I love reading and I love it when you talk to me about books.”
“I wish my friends knew that I hung out with someone who was mean to me and I regret it.”
Our students are working hard to put their phones in their lockers at 8:30 and keep them there until 2:55pm. You can help us with this by NOT texting your child during the day. If you need to get a message to them, we are very happy to help you through the main office.
On Friday September 15, Grade 4 and 5 students from Cranston School will join our Grade 6s for a presentation by Paul Davis, who will help our younger adolescents with navigating their digital citizenship and creating a positive online presence as they begin to be consumers of social media. A separate presentation will be provided to our Grade 7-9 students that addresses supporting students with social media safety, responsible use, privacy, and ways to leverage social media positively in their lives. A flyer is attached regarding his evening presentation for parents. The doors to the school will open at 6:15pm and parents from Cranston and DGS Schools are invited to attend.
Paul Davis Poster.png
Online Forms
School Engage digital forms regarding Demographics Verification and Annual Media Authorizations are now available for all families to complete. We know the system can be a bit temperamental and it may take a few tries to be able to successfully complete the form- people have reported success with completing forms earlier in the morning, or in the evenings.
Paper copies of the Annual Authorization for Athletics Try-outs forms have been provided to families this week in conjunction with try-outs and practice. Forms must be returned with parent signatures before students can participate.
Fall Interschool Sports Teams
Final tryouts and practices for Cross Country, Soccer and Basketball are all underway. The September Calendar for Fall Sports is posted on the DGS School website and has been attached to this message for your family’s reference. All tryout and practice schedules are made available on our school website for families and student athletes.
Basketball Schedule- Basketball2024tryoutandpracticeschedule (1).pdf
Cross Country Schedule- CCWebsite.pdf
Soccer Schedule- SoccerSchedule2023-revAug30.pdf
School Pictures: Thursday September 14
All DGS students will have their school photo taken on Thursday. For Fall photos, we ask that students be prepared to take a photo that can be used in PowerSchool and on Report Cards and other official CBE documents. As such, we ask that students do not wear hats, sunglasses, costumes or have props for school photos. We let our students’ creativity shine during Spring Portraits taken in April. Please note that retakes are available in October for those who need them, or for those students who are not present on Thursday.
Come Volunteer At DGS
We welcome volunteers on field trips and with certain tasks at school or at home. Many activities or field trips would not be possible without the active participation of our volunteers. Follow this link for steps to volunteer with the CBE. As a CBE volunteer, you must have completed the Annual-Volunteer-Registration-Form.pdf and have a current police information check (PIC) to volunteer in the school CPS Vulnerable Police Information Check. If your PIC is not up to date you will need a volunteer letter. If you need to check if your clearance is still valid, please complete the registration form and send it to the office, so that we can look it up.
New this school year: the fee for a Police Information Check is no longer paid for by the CBE. The cost is $21.25.
Please note- from the CPIC website main page as of today:
"Processing: Police Information Checks are processed in date order. We are currently experiencing high volumes. We will not respond to status inquiries unless a full month has passed from the date your application was submitted. Once you have applied, please be sure to follow any further instructions you receive. Your patience is appreciated while we process your application. Results are available in your account for 60 days from completion. Please make sure you download and save a copy within this timeframe if desired. Your certificate will not be accessible in your account past 60 days, however, will be accessible if saved to a personal desktop or folder. Applications will not be processed immediately or expedited. We process all applications in date order of being received."
Field Trips Within Walking Distance
Please see attachment: Walking Trips - Parent Letter2023 (1).pdf
Healthy Hunger is ready for orders
Account registration, meal selections and electronic payment are all to be completed by families on the Healthy Hunger website. Orders are required 5 days before the lunch date. Need to cancel an order? That is possible on your Healthy Hunger account, prior to the cut-off. Please see their website for further information on the program.
If your child is absent on the day of an order, you may contact the school office to make alternative arrangements (examples: parent pick-up, donation, etc.). Orders will only be held until 1:00pm the following school day.
Parent Fundraising Society “Meet the Teacher 50/50 Draw”
We can’t wait to see you all on the evening of September 21! Who couldn’t use a little cash for late September? Our last 50/50 draw saw the winner walk away with just over $2000 in prize money. As of today, the total Jackpot sits at $480, with $240 going to the winner. Funds raised last Fall have been invested in the purchase of 5 additional iPads for classrooms. We have 8 days until the big draw! Click here to get in the game.
School Store:
We have again partnered with Pro Sport Clothing Company for our school branded items. The store will close at midnight on September 23, and orders are expected to be delivered to your home address around Thanksgiving. Check out our swag here:
https://drgeorgeaug2023.itemorder.com/shop/home/
Important Upcoming Dates:
September 14
September 15
September 21
September 22
September 26
September 29
As always, I am available to answer questions- csmalette@cbe.ab.ca
Sincerely,
Chantal Malette
Principal, Dr. George Stanley School
