February 11, 2015
Dear Parents,
In a short week we often try to squeeze in a week’s worth of learning and this week has certainly met the criteria. Tuesday we held two Awards Assemblies for Grades 5-6 and 7-9 as well as the Jump Rope for Heart for Grades 1-6. Grade 4 students went skiing. Wednesday we had two dances one after school for the Grade 5-6 and the other in the evening for grades 7-9. At lunch a team of grade 9 students played the teachers playoff in Floor Hockey. All of this and regular classes, Intramurals, etc.
Awards Assemblies
Two students were recognized for excellent academic achievement in every subject and class. Teachers select the students and the award is based on excellent academics, good behaviour and service to the class. All students were also eligible for the Fierte de la Langue Award for speaking French in classes and many students were recognized. Honours awards were also given. It has taken some work to come up with reasonable criteria for Honours under the new report card system. We have pursued giving awards as it is important to recognize individual excellence and other contributions at school.
The three criteria for Honours Awards are:
1. Achievement of 4s (Outstanding Achievement) in the stems of Core Subjects: ELA, Social, Math, Science and FSL or FLA. Options and PE are not counted towards Honours.
A. First Class Honours is for students who achieve a 4 in 1/2 or more of all core stems (11 stems for grade 5 Intensive and otherwise usually 22 (with FSL) or 23 (with FLA)
B. Second Class Honours is for students who achieve a 4 in between 1/3 up to 1/2 of all stems
2. Teacher recommendation
3. A student may not have any 1s.
This model is simple and is based on student strengths. It does not penalize students if they have 2s. I note that there were a few students in grades 5-9 who had between 20-22 4s on their report card.
This concludes the January report card cycle. It has been a new and challenging process for students and staff who have spent a great deal of time on the new marking and reporting system. Generally it has gone well though we have already had discussions on we may improve our work on the new system.
Service Awards will be given at the end of February. These are open to all students and are based on consistent service and help to classmates, teachers and in the school.
Students in grades 1-6 had a great deal of fun and participated vociferously in the Jump Rope for Heart assembly. This is the opening fundraising event for this worthy cause. The speaker advised students about how they can have a healthy heart throughout their life. Parents, please be advised that it is not necessary to register online for a student to participate in the fundraiser.
Both dances were well attended even though many families are going away for the long
weekend. At the Grade 5-6 dance, an amazing group of girls raised funds for the SPCA and
Free the Children through a bake sale.
Many thanks to students, staff and parents who all worked together and made the above events possible.
Next year planning is underway. This week a survey went home to parents of grade 4 and 6
students to ask about grade 5 Intensive French and grade 7 English and Later Immersion. We would appreciate receiving the surveys back by Friday, February 20th. Applications for Grade 7 French Immersion are available from Mrs. Carbol in the Main Office.
On Friday, teachers and students played Floor Hockey. The teachers ended up winning the
game. Fun was had by all!
Have a very enjoyable long weekend.
Linda Davis
Principal
Transportation Survey (Yellow School Buses)
The Calgary Board of Education is inviting parents to complete a short survey on transportation.
The survey is located at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5K3973T
It will be open between February 2nd- to 16th, 2015. The attached letter gives further details.
Drama News – S. Park
Auditions for the Spring Drama Show have been rescheduled until next week. All grade 7 to 9
students are encouraged to try out. Call backs will be February 24 and rehearsals will start
shortly after. The two one-act plays are......'How to Succeed In High School Without Really
Trying" by Jonathan Rand and "This Is A Test" by Stephen Gregg. Sign up outside the Drama room. Any questions please see Ms. Park.
Painting
Painting has begun at Elboya School. The painting of the school will last until the end of March.This will occur during school hours. We ask for your patience as we receive this much-needed upgrade to our school’s appearance. Thank you.
Library Learning Commons:
You will see a newly arranged space if you poke your head into our library learning commons. During the time when we were closed for painting, we not only had our walls spruced up, but we were able to do inventory and rearrange our entire space to create more room for collaboration and flexible use. We rearranged the location of almost all our physical resources to better utilize built in shelves and free up some floor space. We have re-located our help/circulation desk to a more centralized space and moved out the older large circulation desk. Our tables are more spread out and our aim is to create both teaching and individual work spaces to meet the needs of all learners as they share the space. We are still working on signage and art for our walls. Stay tuned for further progress!
Many thanks to our dedicated parent volunteers. We could not have done this work without you!
JUMP ROPE FOR HEART – M. Lewis
Did you know that the heart beats about 100,000 times in 24 hours? Keep this hard-working muscle healthy and happy; get at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day!
This was just one piece of information the students in grade one to grade six received Tuesday, February 10th, at their Jump Rope for Heart Kick Off Assembly. As part of Elboya’s February “Pay It Forward” campaign, we have decided again to participate in the Jump Rope for Heart Fundraiser! Last year, the student of Elboya, along with support from family members, friends and the community were able to fundraise over $10,000 for this great cause. We have decided this year to again shoot for this amazing goal! All the students were given a collection envelope along with information on how to register on-line. Please speak with your child about safe ways to collect money, along with ideas to make your heart stronger by exercising and making healthy nutrition choices! We thank you for your support during our fundraising efforts for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Reminder for EOE classes – T. James
EOE 9 need to return their snowshoe permission forms and the EOE 7 & 8’s need to return their Nakiska permission forms ASAP.
Jr High Pizza Lunch - New Format
We will be changing the format of the following pizza days that will take place on February 20th, March 13th, April 17th, May 22nd and June 12th.
Pizzas will be sold the day of so there are NO PRE-SALES.
Pizza will be sold in the fishbowl
There will be three tables set up. Cheese, pepperoni and Hawaiian pizza will be available. Juice boxes will also be made available.
Students may purchase more than one type of pizza.
Each pizza slice will cost $2.00 and a juice box $1.00.
Please have your child bring the exact $$ amount if possible.
We will require support from our parent volunteers to make this successful. Please contact Emily McKenzie at emckenzi@ucalgary.ca if you are able to volunteer on any or all of the above pizza dates.
Thank you,
Glenda Morrison & Nancy Paton
Canadian Parents for French
CPF is holding a French family fun weekend February 27th, 28th and March 1st. in Jasper.
For more information regarding the weekend go to http://ab/cpf/ca/activites/calendar/
CPF is an excellent resource for parents and students.
If you are interested in more information please contact Nancy Paton cnpaton@shaw.ca who is a parent here at Elboya and our liaison for CPF.
Vaccinations
If your child is very nervous receiving a vaccination we would recommend that you take them to a clinic as they need your support. Thank you.
Important Dates
February 12, 13 Teachers Convention - NO SCHOOL
February 16 FamilyDay - NO SCHOOL
February19 Concert Band Festival U of C 4:00pm
February20 Jr. High Pizza Day
Cheryl Carbol
Admin. Secretary
Elboya School
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