Latest Key Communiqué

Here's the latest newsletter from the CBE.
Your comments and questions are welcomed! To comment, click on 'comments' at the bottom of this posting. If you have any problems, drop me an email, and I'll help you get them sorted out.

System Meetings:
The next System Meeting will be at the beginning of April. We will let you know as soon as we have the date and location determined.

Area Meetings:

Area I
Date: Thursday April 23
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Location: Parkdale Centre:
728 - 32 Street N.W. Conference Room 1
Topic: Understanding more about the 21st Century learning environments in my child’s school.

Area II
Date: Wednesday March 4
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m .
Location: Mount View School, 2004 4th Street NE
Topic: Coffee and Conversation with your Director

Area III
Date: Thursday March 12th
Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Area III Conference Room
3rd floor-12 Manning Close
Topic: "Engaging the Community"

Area IV
Date: Wednesday, April 22
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Location: Area IV Conference Room - Lord Shaughnessy High School
Topic: TBD

Area V (Haultain's area)
Date: Thursday, April 16
Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Location: Area V Conference Room (Haysboro Centre) 1123 - 87 Avenue S.W.
Topic: Student Accommodation and Transportation

Summary of Trustees' Presentation (Jan. 22):
We have received a few requests asking for a written summary of what the Trustees spoke about at the last system meeting. You can find this information by clicking here.

Setting the Direction for Special Education in Alberta:
Beginning on February 23, there are four ways to participate in Phase 2 of Setting the Direction. They mirror the consultation process in Phase 1.

1. Submit a response through the online consultation process

2. Downloading a PDF copy of the discussion guide and fax it to 780-422-2039 or mail it to Setting the Direction for Special Education in Alberta, c/o Special Programs Branch, Alberta Education, 10044-108 Street, Edmonton, AB, T5J 5E6.

3. Conduct an informal consultation process within your organization, among staff and/or stakeholders. The Group Consultation Toolkit is a good guide.

4. Register for and attend a regional consultation session. Participation in regional consultation is by pre-registration only. Registration is now open.

In-person public forums for Phase 2 will be five hours in length. They will begin on February 27 and 28 in Red Deer and end on March 20 and 21 in Edmonton. There will be three Saturday sessions (Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton).

Further detail on the Phase 2 consultation opportunities is available on the Setting the Direction website at www.settingthedirection.alberta.ca.

WorldSkills Calgary 2009:
The CBE's Worldskills website is continually being updated as we receive more information regarding our schools and this exciting event. You can check it out here or visit the WorldSkills Calgary 2009 homepage at http://www.worldskills2009.com/

You can also contact Marsha Levy at milevy@cbe.ab.ca with your questions.

Blogs:
Nick Newton, Key Communicator at Haultain Memorial School has started a blog for his school council as a way to keep his parents informed. You can check it out at www.haultainparents.ca. If you want to start your own school blog or have any questions about the process you can contact him directly:

Nick Newton
Haultain Memorial School Key Communicator
(403) 271-9321
www.haultainparents.ca
gnarly_nick@hotmail.com

Resources:

CAPSC:
CAPSC is Calgary’s city-wide, public school parent association. CAPSC’s primary goal is to keep parents up to date and involved in their children’s education, and to help make individual school’s Parent Councils as effective as possible. CAPSC provides parents with resources, learning and sharing opportunities, and representation of parent concerns to the CBE and all levels of government. For more information or to subscribe to their newsletter, visit www.capsc.ca.

School Council Development
School Council Development (SCD) provides workshops and resource materials to assist school councils.

School Council Development provides the following services:

a.. Workshops for school councils anywhere in Alberta
b.. Toll Free School Council Consultation Line - 1-800-661-3470
c.. Instructor training to deliver workshops to school councils
d.. Resource manual and materials for school council

Alberta Education

School Council Resource Manual

Contact Information
Katie Young, BPR
Parent/School Communications Specialist
Calgary Board of Education http://www.cbe.ab.ca/
Email: klyoung@cbe.ab.ca
T (403) 294-8566
F (403) 294-8172
515 Macleod Tr. SE
Calgary, AB T2G 2L9

We are always looking for ways to improve communication so if you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to email them to me.

School Council Website & Hotline:
The School Council website is a great resource for information. Check it out at http://www.cbe.ab.ca/Parents/schlcouncils.asp. I have also been regularly updating our Key Communicator and School Council Chair Hotline. If ever you don’t have access to a computer but want to find what is going on, call 403-294-8244.