Administration's Message
Happy November Abbeydale Parents/Guardians:
We are pleased to share with you some staffing changes as we adjust to our increasing enrolment and finalize our budget. We have received increased funding to support our Kindergarten students and will be splitting our one large class into two smaller classes. Therefore, we are in the process of hiring a new 0.5 teacher, Mrs. Suzanne Diermann. Mrs. Diermann has experience in teaching kindergarten and grade one. She brings a lot of knowledge and expertise in early literacy and will be a welcome addition to our school community. Further to this, we would like to welcome back Mrs. Giard who was on a leave. Mrs. Giard will be coming back to Abbeydale School to continue her previous role as our Music teacher, and will also be teaching one of the Kindergarten classes. As we welcome back Mrs Giard, we must say goodbye to Ms. Slavik. Ms. Slavik did a great job of creating strong relationships with our Kindergarten students, settling them into the routine of school and providing music for all students and will be deeply missed!!!
Our next round of Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place, Thursday, November 19 and Friday November 20. These conferences are a time to hear how your child is doing in school and for them to walk you through some of the learning that is occurring each and every day here at Abbeydale School. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do in-person meetings this year and will work off the Microsoft team's platform. Parents who have booked interviews at Abbeydale School in the past year should have an account already and will receive an email with a link to book your interview. When you click on the link you will be able to book your interview with your child's teacher, or our music teacher. If you have never booked interviews at Abbeydale School before please go to this website to book your conference: https://webapps.cbe.ab.ca/MyAccount/Account/LogOn. OR go to www.cbe.ab.ca scroll down and click on my CBE account. The conference is named “November Conferences". Parent teacher interview bookings open on Tuesday, November 10 at 4:00 pm. If you have difficulties booking your parent teacher interview don't hesitate to call the office and we will help you book it. Parents of all students, Kindergarten through to grade 5, will have Thursday evening (4:00pm – 6:00pm), and Friday morning (8:30am – 12:30pm) to choose interview times from. There will be regular school for all students on Thursday, November 19 but not on Friday, November, 20.
Last school year our School Development Plan focused in the academic areas of literacy and mathematics. As a school community, we also focused on a wellness goal, specifically in goal setting. We are pleased to report that the data indicates that all students made progress in the area of Literacy last year but continued intentional work in this area is still required. Through consultation with our teachers, school council and report card data, we have determined two areas of priority for this school year. In division 1 we will be intentionally focussing on the mechanics of reading. In Division II we will continue to focus on the mechanics of reading but will put specific emphasis on the high impact strategies to assist in reading comprehension. Both of these areas will continue to be our primary focus this year as they are an integral part of Abbeydale School and the Calgary Board of Education's Three-Year Education Plan. Analysis of data from the Alberta Education Accountability Pillar and the CBE OURSCHOOL Surveys, demonstrates that our focus in the area of goals for student well-being should be centered on assisting students positive relationships. Our final copy of our School Development Plan will be posted on our website at the end of November.
This year's Remembrance Day Assembly will be led by students of Mrs. Evans and Miss Kohli's class. This event will take place Tuesday, November 10 at 10:45am here at Abbeydale School. This event will be shared through an online platform for all classes to take part in. Classes will remain in their homerooms and will take part in this assembly while physical distancing and remaining within their cohorts. Please ask your child about this important assembly.
Some housekeeping items:
All students who stay for lunch this year need to be registered for the lunch program. Registration, payment and waiver application can be done online at
http://www.cbe.ab.ca/registration/fees-and-waivers/Pages/default.aspx
If at any time you require assistance, please contact the school. Noon supervision registration is required regardless of method or time frame of payment schedules or waivers. The cost of our lunch program is $275 or $27.50/month. With that there is also a $10 Incidental Activity Fee that helps provide enhancements to the noon hour program. This would include the purchase of board games, DVDs, gym equipment that could be used over the noon-hour by students accessing the noon supervision program particularly during inclement weather when students are unable to go outside. This year there is also a $40 Student Supply fee for every student grade 1-5 and a $20 Student Supply fee for all Kindergarten students.
A reminder that this is Calgary and we have some crazy weather in this part of the world! Please ensure that you have your child dressed for the weather of the day. It is the policy of the Calgary Board of Education that recess may be held indoors when the temperature is at or below minus 20°C (including the wind chill factor). We feel very strongly that it is important that the children are able to go and enjoy the outside playgrounds so please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately.
As you are aware, the students at Abbeydale School are spending as much time as possible outdoor this year. This includes physical education classes. It is imperative that all students come dressed and prepared to be outside. We are suggesting that children dress in layers, boots, mitts and hats so that they can be warm whilst exercising outside. Additionally, please ensure your child(ren) bring at least two masks to school each day. Providing disposable masks are very costly and reduces the school funding for educational purposes.
Student Illness / Symptoms:
You should get tested if you have any COVID 19 symptoms. If your child(ren) have any of these symptoms you are legally required to isolate for at least 10 days from the start of their symptoms or until they resolve, whichever is longer:
Fever
Cough (new cough or worsening chronic cough)
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing (new or worsening)
If your child(ren) have any of these symptoms, stay home and minimize their contact with others until their symptoms resolve: Your child can return to school after 24 hours of these symptoms if their symptom is improving. Testing is not necessary if your child has only one of these symptoms and if it improves after 24 hours. If the symptom does not improve, gets worse or another symptom develops, continue to keep your child home until their symptoms go away.
Chills
Sore throat
Runny nose
Painful swallowing
Stuffy nose
Headache
Muscle or joint aches
Feeling unwell, fatigue or severe exhaustion
Gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or loss of appetite)
Loss of smell or taste
Pink eye (Conjunctivitis)
If you are unsure please call Health Link 811 for guidance. Please ensure you are completing the Screening Questionnaire daily with your child(ren) prior to sending them to school every day.
