Dear Families,
A big thank you to all families for helping to make our first fall at c̓əsqənelə such a positive experience for the children. We’ve been in our fabulous new facility for 35 school days and our classrooms and school routines are now quite well established and there is a very good tone around the school. You will be very impressed by the academic progress and the many learning opportunities your children have experienced this first term.
During the first week in December, classroom teachers will again conference with both students and parents, to celebrate success and review progress. These conferences provide a great opportunity for discussion and include the development of student learning goals. Report cards from these conferences will be sent home approximately one week after the conferences are completed. All classrooms sent home information about conferencing days and times last week. If you have not yet registered for a conference please contact your child’s classroom teacher.
Moving into a new school is like moving into a brand new house. There are still a few things to finish off to make our beautiful school work as well as it can for students but this list is getting significantly smaller. Some common questions that many families have asked are:
Question – When will the outside playground be available for student use?
Answer- There is a rubberized surface that needs to be placed around the playground for it to be safe. Installing this surface requires warm and dry weather. The contractor tried to get this done before the cooler and wetter fall weather but the weather didn’t cooperate so it will be finished this Spring.
Question – When will the grass field be ready for student use?
Answer – The grass field needs more time for the roots to get established so it can stand up to heavy student use. It will not be available until late Spring or early summer at the earliest.
Question – Why is the school running separate recess and lunch play times for the primary and intermediate classrooms?
Answer – Without the use of the school field and playground (yet) we have limited play spaces for the students outside. By splitting these play times we create significantly more space and play opportunities for the children during these breaks. Once we can use the school field and playground we will move to a common recess and lunch playtime.
Question – When will child daycare, preschool, and other morning and afternoon programming be coming to the school?
Answer – We expect to have programs become available in the coming weeks. I cannot give an exact start date at this time because some of this is dependent upon licensing, contracts, and when these areas of the school are fully functional. This is a priority for our District and as soon as these program options become available I will send out updates and post on our school website.
Lastly, thank you to all families who are driving to drop off and pick up students each day. Most vehicles are now driving as far down the school’s main driveway before pulling over to the right to pick up/ drop off children. This routine is allowing many more vehicles to pick up and drop off safely and quickly. For safety, we ask that all parents walking children from the parking lot stalls across this main driveway to please use the school’s designated crosswalks with children to reduce the chances of an accident.
In the coming days we will send out additional information about school plans for December. Thank-you for helping us to make this such a terrific place for kids! If I can ever be of assistance please don’t hesitate to call.
Sincerely,
Mr. Wheatley
PAC Update:
The deadline for Neufeld frozen food orders is this Thursday November 21st at 9am. Please order through munchalunch.com
If your family is participating in this fundraiser please note there is going to be a “O N E “ time pick up on Monday Dec 2nd @ 2:30pm at the school as the items come frozen.