Friday Blast – Dec. 13

Friday Blast

Maple Ridge Elementary

Friday, Dec. 13^th, 2024

THIS WEEK

Families and teachers came together to celebrate community, the arts and our students with our Winter Concert. This amazing experience would not have been possible without all of our dedicated staff and student leaders. We would especially like to recognize Mme Alliette for going above and beyond for our school.

 

NEXT WEEK

Monday, Dec. 16^th

Tuesday, Dec. 17^th

Wednesday, Dec. 18^th

Santa Mall

Thursday, Dec. 19^th

Santa Mall

Friday, Dec. 20^th

Movie Day

12:15 pm: RCMP Hot Chocolate Station

Last Day Before the Winter Break

  

SANTA MALL

Dear MRE Family,

The holiday season is a time for giving, and we’re excited to share our MRE tradition of Santa Mall with your little ones.

On either December 18th or 19th, your child’s class will visit Santa Mall where they’ll have the chance to choose one or two gifts from a wide selection of items on display. These gifts can be for younger siblings, older siblings, parents, loved ones, or even for the whole family to share! The gifts students select will be wrapped by our Santa Mall volunteer elves and sent home that day.

Donations of $1 – $5 per child will be collected by your child’s teacher on December 18th & 19th to help support the costs of this event. You can also contribute by signing up to help volunteer for an hour or two with our PAC Santa Mall Volunteer Sign Up.

May your child experience the joy of giving this holiday season.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Derrien Kilsby (Nana Claus)

 

WATER TESTING PROGRAM

The school district is updating its water testing program by adjusting the number of drinking water sources in its facilities. This new water testing strategy, which has already been implemented in a number of neighbouring districts, ensures a more streamlined testing schedule, limiting annual testing only to water sources that have been designated for drinking.

As a part of the program rollout, we will be labelling all water sources:

• Water sources that are designated for drinking will be marked with a “Drinking Water” sticker.
• Water sources that are not included in the testing program will be marked with a “Not for Drinking” sticker.
• Water sources that need a morning flush will be marked with a “2-Minute Morning Flush” sticker. (This 2-minute morning flush is a short-term measure, and the facilities department will prioritize upgrades to these water sources as a more permanent solution.)

The school district has operationalized the 2-minute morning flush for any water sources that are in a public location. Facilities appointed staff will now be automatically doing this flush every morning when schools are in session. For water sources in staff-controlled areas, such as classrooms or food preparation rooms, the first staff member to use the space will be asked to run the tap and record the flush on a tracking sheet.

We have carefully selected our designated drinking water locations based on what we believe will best serve our school. If any of these locations prove to be less than ideal, we will provide feedback to the district and request adjustments.

Finally, each school also has at least one designated water dispensing station. The long-term goal is to increase this number over time.

We will be putting up a few copies of the Water Testing Strategy poster around the school, and the school district will be posting information about the program to the district website and sharing it with families for awareness.

 

MRE BREAKFAST PROGRAM

Did you know our school has a breakfast program for students in need?  The program is open every morning from 8:00-8:25 and takes place in Ms. Cora’s room.  If your child is in need of breakfast to start their day please email Cora (cora_lindgren@sd42.ca).  Please also indicate if your child requires supervision from 8:00-8:25 or if they can be dismissed outside (unsupervised) after they finish eating.

 

INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES: SNOW

As the weather cools, please review the school district’s inclement weather procedures as they relate to snowfall and possible school closures.

The decision to close schools due to accumulating snowfall is ultimately the responsibility of the superintendent, who must balance the safety of students, staff and parents with the need to provide learning. The decision is not taken lightly and is the result of a carefully thought-out process that is reviewed after each experience and refined if necessary.

Except in rare circumstances, no announcement will be made if schools are open.

The decision to close schools is made by 6:30 a.m. Details are:

• posted on the SD42 Website (www.sd42.ca).
• posted on the SD42 Facebook feed (SD42Facebook);
• posted on the SD42 Twitter feed (@sd42news);
• shared with News 1130, CKNW, and CBC 690 radio stations.

Please note: The district supports individual and family decisions regarding safety. Parents/guardians have primary responsibility for their children’s safe travel to school. If, for any reason, there are personal concerns about the ability to travel safely to school, other arrangements should be made.

 

Education Assistant Program at Ridge Meadows College

If you or someone you know may be interested in a career working with children and youth with diverse abilities, Ridge Meadows College (operated by SD42) still has seats available for the January 2025 cohort of its Education Assistant (EA) program. The demand for this job is high as the province faces a shortage of EAs and virtually all graduates of the program move on to work in school districts across B.C., including Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows School District No. 42. If you’d like to learn more about the program, you can visit the website at https://rmcollege.sd42.ca/program/education-assistant/. In addition to the EA program, RMC also has programs in administration, early childhood education, community support and others.

 

PARENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Christmas break countdown is on!

We are excited to welcome students to Santa Mall next week!! Donations between $1-$5 are being accepted to help cover wrapping supplies.

There is no PAC meeting in December but if you have questions please reach out at pac.mre@gmail.com anytime!

 

Foundry News

The Foundry provides mental health care, substance use services, physical and sexual health care, youth, and family peer supports, and social services to youth aged 12-24 years of age. It provides drop-in counselling as well as various social events that your child can attend. This is a terrific way to build positive connections with others within the Maple Ridge community.