| "Spring revitalizes the spirit within us.” Blackfoot Elder Casey Eagle Speaker
March 20th was Spring Equinox and although the weather still feels wintery, we can be confident that new growth is starting under all of the snow and ice, and we will soon be seeing evidence of the first plants and flowers of spring. As you know, our school’s Commitment to Truth and Reconciliation is centered on learning on, about and from the land. While our students and teachers enjoy learning from the land in all seasons, there is something special about the new growth and the hope of spring. You can expect your children to spend more time in learning spaces outdoors, such as our outdoor classroom, Nosehill Park, and Nosehill Spring Park. Please ensure that your child comes to school prepared for the weather; you might want to consider putting an extra pair of socks in students’ backpacks in case their feet get wet in the melting snow.
The CBE is committed to addressing and improving student well-being, and as such has released the Student Wellbeing Framework. This framework presents a systemic approach to increasing and improving student well-being. This work has already begun at Dr. J.K. Mulloy as a part of our school development plan target on student wellness. As a staff we are committed to engaging and improving our work in supporting student and staff wellness and wellbeing. If you have any questions about our work or this new framework, please speak with your child’s teacher, or contact Ms. Devos or Ms. Lay in the office.
Staffing Updates: We are happy to share with you that Mrs. Janna Roji and Ms. Stephanie Gauthier have returned back to teach the second term of the school year. Mrs. Roji has returned to kindergarten and Ms. Gauthier to second grade. Both are experienced teachers and are thrilled to be returning to teaching for the rest of the school year. We are also excited to welcome Ms. Simran Sekhon as the newest member of our Kindergarten team and she will remain in the classroom until the end of June. We also welcome Ms. Elsayed and Ms. Akhter to our lunchroom team, and Mrs. Wong to our ELL team. We are fortunate to have so many staff who truly love and care for your children, and who are committed to their learning and safety.
Volunteers: please consider becoming a registered volunteer at our school! Volunteers are essential to go on field trips and to support students in the school. In order to be a volunteer, you need to have your CBE police clearance. All you need to do to start this process is come to the office in person with two pieces of government ID (one piece of ID must have a photo.) Volunteer clearance is good for five years, and is transferrable to other CBE schools. This is a great time of year to initiate your volunteer clearance as there is a very quick turnaround time. We love and appreciate our volunteers – thank you to all parents and grandparents who are already are current volunteers at Dr. J.K. Mulloy. We will be having an appreciation tea for our registered volunteers in June – stay tuned for more information to come.
Student Learning Conferences were held on March 9th and March 10th. These conferences are an opportunity to speak about your child’s progress, and we thank all parents who attended these meetings. If you were unable to attend, you are encouraged to email or call your child’s teacher about how they are doing. Please note that you do not have to wait for student learning conferences or report cards to inquire about your child and their learning. We encourage parents to contact your child’s teacher or the office if you ever have questions or concerns. Parents are our partners in student learning and we appreciate opportunities to connect. Our Scholastic Book Fair during conferences was a huge success! We raised approximately $3000 for our school library! These funds go to replacing old library books and adding new titles to our collection. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a successful fundraiser!
We held our Annual General School Council meeting on Thursday, February 2nd at 6:30pm. We would like to thank the new members of the Council for stepping into their new roles. If you are interested we still have many roles that need to be filled. Due to the Student Learning Conferences falling on the second Thursday of March our next School Council Meeting Thursday, April 6th, 2023. Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there.
Our school LOTTERY for the 2023/24 school year was held on Wednesday, February 15th, 2023 and was witnessed by a member of our School Council. All “Expression of Interest” forms were received by noon on February 14th, 2023, to be included in the lottery. Any registration packages received after 12:00pm on February 14th were & will continue to be added to the end of our call back list following the lottery. We are grateful so many families are interested in making Dr. J.K. Mulloy their home school.
All grade 4 students are automatically reassigned and registered to Colonel Macleod. If you would like your child to attend a different school for grade 5, then please follow the transfer process outlined on the CBE website. If you have any questions please contact the office at 403-777-6640. As we are starting to make plans for next year we would appreciate if you know your child will be attending another school next year, due to a move or any other reason you will let the office know ASAP. This will ensure we have the transfer process done so student records are ready to go at the end of June to their new school. If you are one of our families considering travel out of the country for extended periods of time, please be sure to let the office know in advance of your trip. If your extended absence coincides with the start of the school year, this can have an unexpected impact on your child's school placement. If a student does not arrive to school before September 30th, due to a family holiday, the student may be withdrawn from Dr. J.K. Mulloy School, and your family will be redirected to your designated school, and you will be able to reapply to the TLC Program at Dr. J.K. Mulloy the following year. We know that many families book travel plans well in advance of their departure date, so we like to let families know this early on in the school year. While it is recognized that enrichment activities or travel present unique learning opportunities for students, excessive or frequent absences can create gaps in student learning and social development. Consequently, it becomes the parent's responsibility to ensure their child is meeting learning expectations during extended absences; the school is unable to provide learning support (i.e. extra homework) while students are away on a family holiday.
Mornings and afternoons at Dr. J.K. Mulloy can be busy as parents drop off and pick up their children. Parents of children in grades 1-4 are encouraged to use the ‘drop and go’ zone just above the playground in the mornings. There is no parking in this area, but there are supervisors there to welcome your child to school. Thank you to all parents who are diligent about modeling safe behaviour for their children. PLEASE take an extra 1-2 minutes to ensure you cross at the crosswalks. We want to be good models for our students, and help them to understand that it is always better to take an extra minute or two to prioritize safety over convenience.
The last day before Spring Break is Friday, March 24th, and classes will resume on Monday, April 3rd, 2023! We hope you all enjoy a well-deserved break and look forward to seeing your children in April.
As always, we welcome parent input and feedback. If you every have questions, comments or feedback, please email us or call the office.
Terrie Lay, Acting Principal
|
