Our School's Future

A meeting was held last night that was to address the McKenzie Towne School opening. The meeting went from 5 - 6:30 , and even with this awkward time, there will still over 100 attendees. Here is a summary of the learnings:

-McKenzie Towne school is expected to be open for learning in January 2010.

-There will be MT students in Haultain (and Acadia) for the first 4 months of next school year.

-They will only be in grades 2, 3, 4 - there will be no K, grad 5, or grade 6 MT kids at Haultain. There will also be no grade 1 MT kids unless there is an existing attending sibling at the school.

-The MT kids will be in classrooms with only MT kids, there will be no integration with Haultain kids. This will allow for a smooth transition when the MT school opens.

-The MT classrooms will be staffed with MT teachers who will move with the students when their school opens.

-There will be a posting shortly for a principal and assistant-principal to staff MT

-Parents of MT students will have the option to leave their kids at Haultain if ther is room in an existing Haultain class - they will be responsible for their own transportation after MT school opens.

-Haultain will be left with 114-120 students after January (preliminary numbers only)

-There will be a CBE meeting shortly to discuss options surrounding Haultain and what the CBE may do with our school. We will hopefully have some further news about accommodation during our March 18 Council meeting.

-Any decisions that the CBE makes regarding Haultain's future will include parental engagement. (as I said before - community awareness and engagement are considerably important factors in this process, support your school as often and as vocally as you can, this blog is a great record of that support).

This meeting raised a lot of questions as well and I'm sure there are some concerned parents out there. Please use the comments section to bring up any other issues. I would love to hear your perspective of the meeting and any thoughts you have about the process.

Mackenzie Towne parents may provide feedback through an on-line feedback form to the CBE at www.cbe.ab.ca/schools/ceop/feedback.asp or by email at yourvoice@cbe.ab.ca.

A note for McKenzie Towne parents. It would be in your best interest to set up an association/society as soon as possible. I will be happy to help with materials and any guidance I can provide.

Food Recall

The following products described below are affected by this alert.
The affected products bear the establishment number 611.

Product: Maple Leaf Hot Dogs Original
Size: 450g
UPC: 0 63100 22356 4

Best before date: 09 AL 23
Product: Shopsy’s Deli- Fresh All Beef Frankfurters
Size: 450g
UPC: 0 64875 20730 8
Best before date: 09 AL 22 and 09 AL 23

The affected products have been distributed in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland & Labrador.There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

The manufacturer, Maple Leaf Consumer Foods, is recalling the affected products produced at its Hamilton, Ontario facility (establishment #611) from the marketplace because the products may contain Listeria species discovered as a result of Maple Leaf’s environmental testing program. The CFIA will be monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

Nevyn Draws a Crowd!

Students and staff were pleasantly surprised at the February 25 assembly hosted by our AM kindergarten and Room 11 classes. On top of a great assembly and wonderful sharing from both classes, representatives from Morgex Insurance and the CBE were on hand to present one of our very own students, Nevyn T., with the first place award for entering a road safety poster contest sponsored by Morgex Insurance. Nevyn created poster below to win the Division I class, along with a personal prize of $500 for himself and $500 for the school. Thanks to Mrs. Brosh for giving the students this chance and to Nevyn for putting us on the map.

Klondike Rag a Huge Success

On February 10th, the school hosted a presentation by the Canadiana Musical Theatre Company entitled The Klondike Rag. As outlined in the synopsis, “When down and out vaudeville performers hear about the discovery of Klondike gold, the rush is on! But when they unearth no gold and face starvation, the "Flim-Flam Brothers" must resurrect their failed vaudeville show at the newly built Palace Grand Theatre in Dawson City. With Soapy Smith, Sam Steele, Arizona Charlie Meadows, Klondike Kate, and a cast of incorrigible wheeler dealers, this rollicking Ragtime musical is a fast and furious turn of the century vaudeville comedy written by the "Ragtime Kid" from the Palace Grande Theatre in Dawson City.”

A great time was had by all with many teachers commenting that this was one of the most unique, educational and entertaining presentation to grace the gym in quite some time. Remember, parents are always welcome to attend these events so check the calendar, check in at the office, and enjoy!

Parent entry for the blog

This comment was received from Ramona this morning, regarding our last council meeting:

Good morning,

I just want to keep you up to date on what I have been looking into:

I realize that during the last council meeting several proposals were brought forth including expenditure on Ipods. While I'm all for allowing children to experience new technologies in creative ways, I also like to have a balance. Why not look into some expenditures that bring active lifestyles into focus, for instance? Having worked for the Alberta Sport Council in the past gave me the opportunity to experience many of the Olympic winter sports that had training facilities at COP and Canmore Nordic Centre. Giving that next year is a big Olympic year for Vancouver and Canada in general, teaching the kids about the training involved and learning about luge, bobsled, ski jumping or biathalon may spark some future Olympians! At the very least, they would get exposure to some activities they know nothing about. I have checked the COP site to see if there are any programs/tours specifically geared towards schools. There was nothing posted, so I have sent a request for information and am waiting to hear back.

Another idea I had was with the Calgary Opera. I have vivid memories of my first experience with operas/operettas in elementary when I saw an opera company do a school version of Hansel and Gretel in Edmonton. So few children these days get exposure to classical music and opera specifically. Calgary Opera is putting on a travelling production in schools called the Barber of Barrhead. It is a one act opera adapted from Rossini's famous Barber of Seville. Set in Northern Alberta, this funny adaptation takes place on the Klondike Trail during the Gold Rush of the 1890's. The Calgary Opera site describes it as a way to entertain and educate students about Alberta history through the magic of opera. The cost is $800. It takes place from March 2-27th.

• Specially adapted for younger audiences and performed in English
• Fully-staged and costumed production
• Approximate performance duration: 45 minutes. Followed by Q&A period with the cast.
• Schools provided with a comprehensive study guide and excerpt CD to help prepare students for the presentation.
• Total cost per performance: $800 (early bird discount available if booked before September 30)

I haven't checked yet on availability.

I'll keep thinking of ideas to submit, and will keep you up to date on what I find out.

Regards,

Ramona

Thank you for your comment, Ramona! Any and all suggestions and comments are welcomed.

School Newspaper

Mrs. Yee is an Area V learning leader who has been working with a few of our writers at the school on a newspaper project. The paper is called Through the Kids' Eyes. You can have your children sign in to D2L so you can read the stories.


There are sections about the School Community, Upcoming Events, Virtues, Movie Reviews, and even an Advice Column all written by Haultain students. The perspective, clearly, is "through the kids' eyes".

Check it out when you can.

Casino Funds? How Can They be Spent?

I spoke with Shane this morning about how to get a handle on the AGLC's (Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission) casino fund spending "allowables", as a follow-up to Steve's posting of our casino take. He filled me in on the following:

The HMPA has to submit a wish list each year and each year we receive a document outlining what on our list is allowable from AGLC. The AGLC provides a handbook, available here that details the guidelines that they use. It's a very comprehensive piece of reading.

Its pretty difficult to pin down a concrete list of things that are allowable, but as long as they are consistent with the community (society, association) values and goals, don't contravene the gambling license, and aren't illegal then we can spend it.

If there is an appetite for posting the items purchased in the past on this blog, we can make it happen. Please feel free to comment on this.

There are a good deal of caveats and codicils pertaining to the spending of casino funds. Please go through the document and bring some questions to the table - it will help everyone understand a little more about the process.

Having a good idea of what parents think is the most worthwhile use of casino funds is important - decisions can only be made from the council's frame of reference. Parent input is crucial, and welcomed. Generally, council listens to any and all suggestions and determines if they would be beneficial before dialogue can begin around casino funding eligibility.