Celiacasaurus

With the growing amount of children (and adults) being diagnosed with Celiac Disease, more information is becoming available for families for living gluten free.  Check out this blog, created by a mom of two school aged children, that offers excellent gluten free recipes!

http://celiacasaurus.com

Education Policy Outline

With our provincial election looming (April 23, 2012), I wanted to provide a quick breakdown of the education policies from each of the four front running parties.

This is a very high level overview and there is a lot more to the policies than this but these are some of the starting points. For a truly 'educated' decision on election day - read through the policies. These statements/promises come directly from the web sites (and mouths) of the parties and any promises they make are theirs to keep not mine to answer for...

Volunteer Tea: Update From Roxane

On Tuesday morning Mrs. Kipp and the staff at Haultain put on an enjoyable Volunteer Tea.  The volunteers were greeted at the gym doors with a wooden box for storing photographs, displaying the message, “volunteers are picture perfect.”  The gym was transformed into a colorful tea room with clothed tables, centering a vase of bright, red flowers and students’ art work framing the space.  Treats and fruit were provided, along with coffee, tea or juice served by gracious, grade four hosts (Shaylee, Griffin, Bailey and Andrew).  We were entertained by the songs of our kindergartens, junior singers, junior and senior handbells.  Thank you Mrs. Brosh, Mrs. Dobson and Mrs. Kerr for your extra time spent with these adorable and talented performers and thank you to the staff at Haultain for your combined efforts into putting on a delightful Volunteer Tea!

-thanks Roxane, if anyone has any stories or thoughts they think may interest our readers, please email them in using the link on the right "Click here to email us...".

Parents of kids in alternative programs to pay more for public school busing

By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald
The prospect of major bus fee hikes this fall for parents of nearly 10,000 public schoolchildren in alternative programs is stoking fears that some families will pull their kids from programs such as French immersion because they are too expensive.

Under a new fee regime released by the Calgary Board of Education on Thursday, it will cost parents $510 to bus an elementary student in an alternative program and have them supervised over lunch — a 72 per cent increase from the current $295.

For a full list of the CBE fees, see: http://www.cbe.ab.ca/New/feature/2011-2012/pdf/fees/BR_Full_Fees_Report_for_April17.pdf

It is the most significant shift in fees in years at the public board, a scheme that will see some parents paying much more, but many others paying less.


Read the full story here.

Public school trustees scrap community meetings without 'giving it a chance'

By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald

Calgary public school governors have quietly scrapped a pledge to hold scheduled get-togethers with the community before board meetings after trustees voted Tuesday to end the short-lived idea after meeting in secret.

The move could reignite the debate about newly implemented meeting procedures that advocates say help the board focus on its collective work, but critics worry might stifle outside input.

The half-hour “pre-meetings” with community members were added to recently approved procedure changes after concerns were raised the public was going to be denied a chance to ask questions at board meetings.

Read the full story here.

Catholic School Board Candidate Forum

Election forum to profile issues related to education

The Board of Trustees of the Calgary Catholic School District is hosting a non-partisan election forum to discuss issues related to education in our province.

DATE:   Tuesday, April 17, 2012
TIME:   6:30 p.m.
LOCATION:  Bishop Carroll High School (4624 Richard Rd. SW)
Calgary and area candidates representing all of the political parties have been invited to attend, and we hope that you will join us for this conversation. Public education and students’ needs are important issues for Calgary and area voters who are directly affected by the policies and decisions of the Alberta provincial government.

The forum is being held to give Calgary Catholic parents and other community members the opportunity to meet and discuss key education issues and students’ needs with the local candidates running in the provincial election.

Council/Association Meetings Minutes

If you can’t make the council meetings but are still interested in what is going on, the minutes for the meeting held in January are at the following links:

Click here for the Council minutes, and here to read the minutes from the Association meeting.

Our next meeting is this Thursday at 6:30 in the library at the school. Please feel free to join us - everyone is welcome!