Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year and a special welcome to our new West Dalhousie School (WDS) families. We hope that you had a fantastic summer and you had the opportunity to spend time together with family and friends. I know many students are eagerly waiting to see their friends and to meet their new teachers and classmates. We are eagerly waiting for their arrival!
Each school year is new and exciting as we establish new teaching teams that work thoughtfully to create safe, welcoming, and caring learning communities within our school. We are also excited to welcome new staff to WDS: Ms. Amanda Dickson will be our music teacher; Ms. Jasmine Minnis will be part of our Grade 5/6 teaching team covering for Ms. Hettinga while she is on leave; Ms. Lilli Miller will be an additional teacher due to an increase in enrollment, her duties have not yet been determined; Ms. Erin May is our library assistant; and Ms. Ashley Conley will be our lunchroom supervisor. We are still in the process of hiring one more lunchroom supervisor.
I am also pleased to announce that Brian Unterschultz is the Acting Assistant Principal at WDS. Mr. Unterschultz brings extensive elementary leadership experience to this position and he is looking forward to officially joining the WDS community on August 28, 2023.
Every day we are receiving new student registrations leading to an increase in student enrollment. As a result, we will now have two kindergarten classes instead of one. We are working hard on finalizing all the class lists. On Tuesday, August 29 your child’s teacher will be sending you a school messenger message to welcome your child to their new classroom. This message will contain information regarding procedures for the first day of school, what to bring, and any other relevant information that you might need.
If you are driving to drop your child off at school, please be alert and keep an eye out for students as they are often distracted by all the excitement going on. We would ask that you do not park in the parking lot and remember to be considerate of our neighbors.
The first Day of School for Grades 1-6 will be held on, Thursday, August 31- Staff will be outside at on Thursday morning (August 31) at 7:50 am with name identification so you can locate your child's teacher. The lunch hour for Grades 1 & 2 is from 112:10-11:50 and the lunch hour for Grades 3-6 is from 12:00-12:40.
Kindergarten Students will be using a “staggered entry” model. This model allows students to visit the Kindergarten classroom, get to know the Kindergarten teacher and classmates, and learn basic procedures before the regular Kindergarten program begins. Students will be divided into four groups: Group A Monday/Wednesday will attend their first day of school on Friday, Sept 1 from 8:30 am - 10:00 am, Group B Monday/Wednesday will attend that first day of school on Friday, September 1 from 10:30 am - 12:00 pm. Group A Tuesday/Thursday will attend their first day of school on August 31 from 9:00 am - 10:30 am, and Group B Tuesday/Thursday will attend their first day of school on Thursday, August 31 from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm. Ms. Pearson will be in contact with kindergarten families to inform them of their staggered entry time.
Yellow School Bus
Yellow school bus riders (registration done every school year) – If your child will be taking the yellow school bus (fee for service) and you have not registered yet, please ensure you do this right away as you cannot ride the bus until you are registered and the paperwork is processed. Please register through your My CBE Account (see button on the following link) -https://www.cbe.ab.ca/Pages/default.aspx. For more information about transportation, please see https://cbe.ab.ca/schools/busing-and-transportation/Pages/default.aspx.
If you have registered for the yellow school bus, please ensure your child knows which bus they are on and where their home drop-off spot will be. If you have registered for the school bus but your child is not riding home on the school bus please let your child’s teacher know as we do take attendance each day. School Bus Registration
Lunch Supervision Registration
If your child will be staying at the school during the lunch hour you will need to register for Lunch supervision. You can register and pay using your MyCBE parent account. Lunch supervision registration and fees will be available after September 2023.
Before and After School Care Program
For children attending West Dalhousie School the Before and After School Care Program can be found in the school’s Gymnasium also operating from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday. For more information about the Dalhousie Out Of School Care, please email doscdirector@dalhousiecalgary.ca
We look forward to an amazing 2023-2024 school year.
Sincerely,
Rhonda Williams
Principal
West Dalhousie School
