Resources for Families Affected by the Flooding

From the CBE:

"As a result of the devastating flood last June in southern Alberta  we have many students and families who have been affected. In addition to the resources available with the Calgary Board of Education , there are other resources available through Alberta Health Services."

Click here to find out the details.

Watch CAPSC School Traffic Safety Week Video

From the CBE:

"We all play a role in keeping Calgary’s streets safe as we walk, drive and play outdoors. Schools, school councils, communities, youth groups, families and kids can participate in contests and safety demonstrations during Calgary’s School Traffic Safety Week Sept. 23-27. Included in this initiative is a video that helps students, schools and families learn more about safe crossing practices. This video was produced on behalf of CAPSC for School Traffic Safety Week. We encourage everyone to take the time to watch it and play it for students. Together we can help keep students safe."

Show this video to your kids. It's cool!

Watch the video here.

School Traffic Safety Week

TAKE PART IN CAPSC's CALGARY SCHOOL TRAFFIC SAFETY WEEK
September 23 – 27, 2013

TRAFFIC TIP #3:  Distribute the School Traffic Safety TIps Handout  

Parents often unknowingly create safety issues in school and playground zones. The School Traffic Safety Tips handout targets that problem. It was created using guidelines from the Calgary Police Service, and explains safe behaviour in school and playground zones. Read the handout online.

Like this idea? Forward it to help spread this positive message across Calgary!

GET IN TOUCH

We want your feedback!  E-mail traffic@capsc.ca to let us know what events you will be participating in and how they work, and win an invitation to our upcoming reception.

The Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils (CAPSC)305 - 4625 Varsity Drive NW Suite #92 Calgary, AB T3A 0Z9

WEBSITE:  tsk.capsc.ca 

E-MAIL:  traffic@capsc.ca

Like our Facebook page to receive regular updates on School Traffic Safety.

CBE Report Card Processes

From the CBE:

"Our provincial programs of study are changing and like many other school divisions in Alberta, the CBE is re-designing assessment and reporting practices to reflect these changes.
The introduction of new reporting processes, including a new report card, will be an important part of our work moving forward. The direction of our province, as well as current research on assessment, evaluation and student learning, require us to work together to understand, recognize and communicate about student learning in new ways."

Read more details here.

Calgary parents' group alarmed over CBE Palm Springs trip

... from the CBC website.

The chair of a local parents' group is alarmed over some of the Calgary Board of Education's spending after it came to light three trustees took a trip to Palm Springs.

Documents detailing the CBE's spending have been made public and reveal three trustees went to a two-day conference in Palm Springs. The trip cost roughly $1,500 per person but there is no record of what the trustees did during the trip.

Read the full story here, and feel free to comment with your thoughts below.

Facts About CBE Class Sizes

Read the CBE publication here

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CBE Headed to New Record Enrollment

Check out the details here.

Key Communique

from Karen Drummond, CBE Communications Advisor

Welcome back!

The Calgary Board of Education is delighted to be starting an exciting new year of teaching and learning.

The start of a new school year is an exciting time—a fresh start for students and schools. Welcome back to all our returning students—and welcome to the many new students who are joining us this year.

We are also pleased to welcome back returning school council members and new members. We look forward to working together for the coming school year.

What's new at the CBE

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Update your school council information

Please confirm your 2013-14 school council contacts with us. Even if you haven't had any changes to your executive this year, please confirm the contacts for the upcoming year.

Please forward the following information for your chair and for your key communicator/communications liaison: name, school, position on school council, e-mail address and phone number. If you don't have a key communicator, please provide an alternate school council contact.

This information will be used to circulate this e-newsletter in addition to sharing information and invitations relevant to your school council and parent community.

E-mail contact information

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2013-14 school council handbook available online

The updated school council handbook is now available on the CBE website. It includes valuable information on how to operate your school council effectively. You can learn about how school councils work, membership, roles and more. In addition, you can access school council checklists, templates and resources to help you in your work.

View handbook

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Learn more about the personalization of learning and Iris at Sept. 18 CAPSC meeting

Come hear from Naomi Johnson, chief superintendent of schools and other CBE learning leaders about some of the ways personalized learning is happening in schools. One important tool that will be discussed is Iris, an award-winning web-based innovation that connects students and teachers in a dynamic and purposeful digital environment.

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 18
Time: 7 p.m.
Place: A.E. Cross School, 3445 – 37 St. S.W.

Calgary Association of Parents and School Councils (CAPSC)

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CBE wins 2013 Intranet Innovation Award for Iris

Step Two Designs, a global thought leader on intranets, has selected the Calgary Board of Education as a Gold winner in the 2013 Innovation Awards.

The CBE received this honour for its innovative resource to personalize learning called Iris.

The CBE developed Iris in collaboration with Habanero Consulting to help teachers better connect with students in a dynamic and purposeful digital environment.

Read more

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Explore healthy options at Sept. 17 event

Join the CBE and the Calgary Catholic School District for an informative afternoon to learn about a variety of student-friendly and healthy options for “Food Fun Days” or “School Celebrations.” This is an opportunity for parents (children welcome) and school staff to talk to and ask questions of a variety of food vendors and representatives from Alberta Health Services.

Read more

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Participate in CAPSC traffic safety week Sept. 23-27

We all play a role in keeping Calgary’s streets safe as we walk, drive and play outdoors. Schools, school councils, communities, youth groups, families and kids can participate in contests and safety demonstrations during Calgary’s School Traffic Safety Week.

Planned activities include:
Point-Pause-Proceed – information about safe strategies for crossing the street

Positive Pointers – a simple reward campaign schools can use to teach kids and parents about traffic safety

On the Safe Side – a traffic safety poster contest for k-12 students

Crosswalk Champions – a commitment to protect children in traffic

School Traffic Tips – a brochure that can be easily printed to educate your community

Read more on CAPSC Traffic Safety 4 Kids website

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Meeting dates set for Council of School Councils

Be sure to attend this year's COSC meetings. They will take place 6:45 - 9 p.m.at the Education Centre (1221 - 8 St. S.W.) on the following dates:

fall meeting
Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013

spring meeting
Thursday, April 10, 2014

Reminders and full details will be sent closer to the meeting dates.

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Check out Alberta Government's back-to-school toolkit

Prepare for a new school year with the Alberta Government's 2013 back-to-school toolkit, full of helpful tips and information. If you are a student, parent, teacher or administrator, check out: www.education.alberta.ca/backtoschool to explore all it has to offer.

CBE Receives the 2013 Intranet Innovation Award for Iris

Read the story here.

Getting parents involved on school councils a challenge

(From the CBC website)

Shortage of parents who volunteer their time makes fundraising harder, one parent says 

Now that children are back in school, parents are getting back to their work behind the scenes.

But from school to school, parental participation levels vary. Sonia Aranda sits on councils at two schools in the northeast where her children are enrolled. But only a handful of parents are on the council with her, she said. “We don't have big groups of parents on our councils.

"We wish we had more.” Aranda said the shortage of parents volunteering their time for school councils can make fundraising a challenge. “We’ve always tried to get them on board but, there's not much I can say to that. It bothers us in a way that we wish, yeah, we’d more people involved, but also we understand the reasons why they're not.” Arand said getting involved can be quite rewarding.

“My favourite part of school councils personally is getting to know how the system works and how that can benefit my children going to school,” Aranda said. At schools where parental involvement and fundraising are a challenge, the Calgary Board of Education tries to step in and help, officials said.

Read the article here.

A Welcome message from Mrs. O'Connor!

Welcome back to Haultain Memorial School. We hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday filled with their favorite summer pursuits. A warm and special welcome is extended to all the students and their families new to Haultain School. We look forward to getting to know all of you. You have chosen an amazing and caring community in which your children will learn and flourish and also one we are very proud and honoured to be part of. The quote above demonstrates the strength of mind and spirit that the citizens of Calgary demonstrated during and after the flood.

This spirit lies within our students and as educators we have an opportunity to provide them with the wonderful learning experiences that will draw out that potential within each child. Since August our staff has been eagerly preparing and planning for the return of our students. It is wonderful to see so much spirit and energy as teachers work together, supporting new members of staff and organizing materials in their classrooms. On that note the school looks gorgeous, sparkling and clean. Many thanks extended to Mr. Rochon who has worked hard to be ready for the first day. Please see the newsletter for a posting of the classrooms and their teachers.

 During the 2013- 2014 school year, we have many exciting learning events planned for our students, including a residency with Hip Hop dancing and presentations from Evergreen and Quest Theatre productions and Open Minds School at the Cross Conservatory. Many thanks to our School Council for their dedicated efforts in providing resources that allow us to embrace an incredible variety of activities that extend curriculum while engaging our children in creative and inspiring learning experiences. Please plan on attending the exciting events that are hosted for families as well. Our first Ice Cream Social will be September 11, starting at 6:30 pm.

 Our teachers will be scooping, serving and sprinkling toppings so please mark your calendars. Parent –Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, September 19, 4:00 pm to 8:00pm and Friday, September 20, 8:00am to 1:00pm. This first conference of the year provides parents with an opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher share information. Our newsletter is sent out via email at the beginning of each month and can be accessed through the school website. We are happy to announce we will be implementing an additional new form of communication to parents called SchoolConnects.

This communication system provides parents with immediate messages through their emails and their phone lines to keep our Haultain School community current with any announcements, reminders and messages. This will especially play an important role in our school home fan out system. We hope to have this system up and operating by the middle of the month and will be sending a letter to introduce this new communication tool. We will still be happy to provide paper copies of the newsletter for any families who do not have access to technology. We are greatly looking forward to an exciting year and wish you all the very best of experiences in your learning journey with us this year. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call or email me at the school.

 Best regards, Colleen O’Connor Principal, Haultain Memorial School

A 'Welcome Back' Video from the CBE

Watch the video here.

Welcome Back

Another exciting new year begins! Check out the CBE's message to parents by clicking here.