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.

How writing by hand makes kids smarter

With the ubiquity of keyboards large and small, neither children nor adults need to write much of anything by hand. That's a big problem, says Gwendolyn Bounds in The Wall Street Journal. Study after study suggests that handwriting is important for brain development and cognition — helping kids hone fine motor skills and learn to express and generate ideas. Yet the time devoted to teaching penmanship in most grade schools has shrunk to just one hour a week. Is it time to break out the legal pad?

Read the full story here.

Welcome back!

It's almost that time again - school resumes on September the third. Look for your STUP order forms during the first week of school - or download the digital file here.

If you have questions, please contact Amber.

Science, technology and math battle image problem in schools

“Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.” ~ Carl Sagan

When people meet lab analyst Alana Hill — an attractive blonde who looks more Hawaiian Tropic than Revenge of the Nerds — their first reaction is usually that she doesn’t look like a scientist. A closer examination of Hill’s field, however, suggests it’s more accurately that scientists don’t look the way people imagine.

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are not only underrepresented in our education system, as revealed by the latest National Household Survey data, they’re also saddled with what the Conference Board of Canada calls “an important image problem.” And these negative stereotypes, which begin as early as grade school, are resulting in major competitive shortcomings.

Click here to read the full story.