march 2013 newsletter - Calgary Board of Education
march 2013 newsletter - Calgary Board of Education
march 2013 newsletter - Calgary Board of Education
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THE GEIGER NEWSLETTER<br />
100 Castlebrook Drive, NE <strong>Calgary</strong>, AB T3J 2J4 t | 403‐777‐6950 f | 403‐777‐6953 |<br />
email: osgeiger@cbe.ab.ca website: hp://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b271<br />
O.S. Geiger had our first “Family Literacy Night” on February<br />
7, <strong>2013</strong>. Thank you to all <strong>of</strong> the families who came out to<br />
learn about literacy. One parent observed, “I didn’t realize<br />
before that everything we do is literacy, but aer<br />
aending Family Literacy night, I noced that literacy is<br />
more than reading and wring”. Another parent<br />
commented, “I have learned that reading aloud to your<br />
children and doing more literacy acvies at home<br />
encourages a lifelong love <strong>of</strong> reading and learning for<br />
them”. Our students told us they have learned something<br />
new about literacy. One student said, “What I learned<br />
about literacy is that it can be many things like art, math,<br />
science, phys‐ed, drama, music, and research. All these<br />
things involve reading, wring, and somemes even<br />
publishing and that is what literacy is and why these things<br />
are literacy”. Another student commented, “something<br />
new I learned about literacy is that it is used in every<br />
subject”. Thanks to the Family Literacy Night commiee for<br />
organizing this fun and informave event.<br />
O.S. Geiger School had a successful “Fruity Friday” a few<br />
weeks ago. Thanks to our school nurse: Meri Allore, the<br />
teachers on the Teaming Up 4 Healthy Learners Commiee,<br />
the student leaders who helped cut the fruit, and the par‐<br />
ents who volunteered at the event. A special thank you to<br />
all <strong>of</strong> the families who donated apples, grapes, pears and<br />
bananas! Our students really enjoyed their fruit salad.<br />
Good health and nutrion are required to achieve one’s full<br />
educaonal potenal. Numerous studies have linked good<br />
nutrion with readiness to learn, academic achievement, as<br />
well as decreased discipline and emoonal problems. A<br />
hungry child is not equipped to learn. Here is what research<br />
says about nutrion and learning:<br />
* Breakfast consumpon improves memory, test grades and<br />
school aendance.<br />
March <strong>2013</strong><br />
* Nutrion has a crical influence on cognive develop‐<br />
ment and academic performance in children and adoles‐<br />
cents. nourished children are more likely to have low<br />
energy, may have difficulty concentrang and may be more<br />
disrupve.<br />
* Undernourished children have significantly poorer<br />
aendance than their well‐nourished classmates.<br />
* Undernourished children are more likely to have low<br />
energy, may have difficulty concentrang and may be more<br />
disrupve.<br />
* Undernourished children have significantly poorer aend‐<br />
ance than their well‐nourished classmates.<br />
Source: hp://www.albertahealthservices.ca/<br />
SchoolsTeachers/if‐sch‐nfs‐school‐nutrion‐handbook.pdf<br />
Just a reminder to families, the second report card <strong>of</strong> the<br />
year is going home on Friday, March 15 th , <strong>2013</strong>. Student‐Led<br />
Conferences will be held on Thursday, March 21 st , <strong>2013</strong> (all<br />
students). Individual Parent Teacher Conferences and<br />
Student‐Led Conferences will be held on Friday, March 22 nd ,<br />
<strong>2013</strong> (only by parent or teacher request).<br />
Student‐Led Conferences are interacve sessions between<br />
parent and child. They provide an opportunity for your<br />
daughter/son to reflect upon her/his successes from the<br />
start <strong>of</strong> the year and to provide you with examples <strong>of</strong> what<br />
has been learned. We emphasize these are Student‐Led<br />
Conferences where your daughter/son leads you through a<br />
series <strong>of</strong> acvies and sharing <strong>of</strong> their progress. In Student‐<br />
Led Conferences, teachers aend as observers and<br />
supporters, rather than leaders in the conversaon.<br />
The students are excited to share their work with you, as<br />
well as to lead the conference. We view this as an extremely<br />
posive opportunity for each student to emphasize<br />
individual strengths, acknowledge areas <strong>of</strong> growth and, with<br />
you in aendance, and plan for the rest <strong>of</strong> the year.<br />
Lori Cooper<br />
Registraon for Kindergarten started on January 14, <strong>2013</strong> and connues throughout the year. If your child turns five (5) <strong>of</strong><br />
age on or before March 1, 2014, you may register your child for <strong>2013</strong>/14 school year. When you come to register, please<br />
bring with you Pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> Name, Birthday, and Cizenship. We would ask that you pass this informaon on to friends or neigh‐<br />
bours who may have children <strong>of</strong> Kindergarten age. For more informaon or if you have any quesons, please call the <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
at 403‐777‐6950 or email at osgeiger@cbe.ab.ca, or you may go to OSGeiger’s website: hp://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b271 or go<br />
to this link: hp://www.cbe.ab.ca/programs/prog‐kinder.asp.
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat<br />
Heart Day/<br />
1 2<br />
3 4 5 Rm 9 Field Trip 6 Rm 8 Field Trip 7 8 9<br />
10 11 Class Photos 12 13 14 15 16<br />
17 18 19 20 21 22 23<br />
24 25 26 27 28 29 30<br />
31<br />
School Council<br />
Meeng at 6:30 PM<br />
PHYS‐ED<br />
INTRAMURALS<br />
8:00 AM / 12:30 PM<br />
Hockey Intramurals will start<br />
aer the Spring Break.<br />
Please watch for permission<br />
leer sent home with your<br />
child.<br />
at Kingsland<br />
Aboriginal Museum<br />
9 AM—2 PM<br />
March <strong>2013</strong><br />
STUDENT<br />
LEADERSHIP<br />
Tuesdays and<br />
Wednesdays at Noon<br />
*School Community<br />
*Community Wellness<br />
*Special Days<br />
*Special Lunches<br />
at Kingsland<br />
Aboriginal Museum<br />
9 AM—2 PM<br />
Aboriginal<br />
Family Night at<br />
O.S. Geiger<br />
4:30—7:00 PM<br />
Last Day <strong>of</strong> Classes<br />
Student/Led Conferences<br />
5:00‐8:00 PM<br />
LIBRARY<br />
CLUB<br />
Thursdays at Noon<br />
Grade 4<br />
Fitness Day<br />
Assembly Rms 1/2<br />
at 9:45 AM<br />
Winterfest at<br />
Prairie Winds<br />
Park 8:45‐<br />
11:30 AM<br />
Report<br />
Cards Go<br />
Home<br />
Parent/Teacher<br />
Conferences<br />
8:00 –12:00 PM<br />
CLASSES<br />
RESUME ON<br />
APRIL 8TH<br />
YMCA AFTER‐SCHOOL<br />
PROGRAM<br />
Monday‐Thursday<br />
3:30—5:00 PM<br />
Fridays: 12:30—1:30 PM<br />
YMCA LEADERSHIP<br />
PROGRAM<br />
Thursdays 3:30—5:00 PM
Report cards will be sent home with students on<br />
March 15th. Included in your child’s report card<br />
envelope will be a leer regarding the online<br />
booking for Parent/Teacher Conferences.<br />
Conference dates and mes are:<br />
Thursday, March 21 5:00 PM— 8:00 PM<br />
Friday, March 22 8:00 AM—12:00<br />
NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, MARCH 22nd .<br />
Just a reminder that class photos will<br />
be taken on Monday, March 11th.<br />
Each student will receive a 6x8 copy <strong>of</strong><br />
their class photo.<br />
Dress your best and don’t forget your<br />
smile!!<br />
Rehearsals for this year’s<br />
drama producon,<br />
“The Emperor’s New Clothes”<br />
is in full swing in March. It is<br />
important that all cast<br />
members aend each pracce<br />
me.<br />
The Next School Council Meeng is on Monday,<br />
March 11th at 6:30 PM in the school’s library.<br />
Please join us. Your input and involvement are essenal<br />
part <strong>of</strong> what makes the school successful. Your aend‐<br />
ance and support is appreciated.<br />
Child care is provided.<br />
March 18‐22 is Scholasc Book Fair Week. The<br />
Fair is open in the Library during class me for<br />
students and Conference days for parents, so<br />
drop in and do some gi shopping while you<br />
are here for parent/teacher interviews.<br />
Once again, OSG will have the Winterfest, to<br />
be held on Friday, March 8th at the Prairie<br />
Winds Park. Grade 1‐6 classes will walk over<br />
in the morning and walk back (8:45—<br />
11:30 AM). Please remind your child/ren to<br />
dress warmly for the weather.<br />
Parent volunteers are welcome.<br />
The Music program is in full<br />
swing at OSGeiger. Kinder‐<br />
garten, Grades 1 and 2 will<br />
connue playing xylophones<br />
while Grades 3‐6 will<br />
connue with their<br />
recorders. Choir pracce will<br />
be held on Mondays at 12:30<br />
PM for all students.<br />
Stay up to date on the latest<br />
happenings at OSGeiger<br />
View our website at:<br />
hp://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b271
We connue to experience challenges with school traffic and parking (illegal parking, U‐turns, jay walk‐<br />
ing) at the front <strong>of</strong> the school especially during peak drop <strong>of</strong>f and pick‐up mes.<br />
Parents please review with your child/children the rules <strong>of</strong> crossing our<br />
road ways safely. We are concerned that students are stepping out<br />
before it is safe to cross, especially those children who are being<br />
dropped <strong>of</strong>f late and are rushing to get to school. Walking between<br />
parked vehicles is unsafe. Parents, and parents with children, please<br />
always cross at the cross walk.<br />
There are sll a number <strong>of</strong> parents who are loading or unloading their<br />
children in the staff parking lot. It’s dangerous to park in the staff<br />
parking lot. These lots are busy with pedestrians and vehicles pulling in<br />
and out. You may not see small children behind your vehicle. Please<br />
park a safe distance away from the staff parking lot. Park on the street—<br />
NOT in the crosswalk, or designated bus zones and walk your children to<br />
school.<br />
Thank you for joining us in keeping all our students and staff safe.<br />
Parents, please stop by<br />
during the next few<br />
weeks and help your<br />
child reclaim their<br />
missing items. All<br />
unclaimed items will be<br />
sent to charity before<br />
the spring break.<br />
STAFF PARKING ONLY<br />
The last day <strong>of</strong> classes before the<br />
Spring Break is Friday,<br />
March 22nd . The school is closed<br />
from March 25—April 5, <strong>2013</strong>.<br />
Classes resume on Monday,<br />
April 8th.<br />
Parents, aer you have read the newsleer, please return this slip to the school (hard copy or send this page thru<br />
email at: osgeiger@cbe.ab.ca). That way we will know you received the newsleer and that you read it.<br />
If you have comments or suggesons about any area <strong>of</strong> our school, please use this space. Also, please update your<br />
email address so we can send other noces and communicaon thru email.<br />
Comments:<br />
______________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
______________________________________________________________________________________________<br />
____________<br />
Name________________ Phone # _____________ Email Address: ___________________________<br />
Name <strong>of</strong> Student(s):<br />
__________________ ________<br />
__________________ ________<br />
__________________ ________
update | new schools depend on provincial funding<br />
Alberta needs more schools for our students.<br />
We need many more schools and we need<br />
them now. The need is going to get worse<br />
before it gets better. This is especially true for<br />
the <strong>Calgary</strong> <strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Education</strong>.<br />
What makes the CBE situation more serious<br />
and more urgent? The simple answer has three<br />
factors: growth, capacity and expectations.<br />
explain | capital planning<br />
The <strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> Trustees<br />
approves a new capital plan<br />
and submits it to Alberta<br />
<strong>Education</strong> every spring.<br />
After 10 years, the CBE is<br />
amending the ranking formula<br />
for capital priorities, which will<br />
guide the next capital plan.<br />
This new capital plan for 2014-<br />
2017 will be reviewed in public<br />
by the <strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> Trustees this<br />
spring.<br />
We hope that the province will<br />
make an announcement<br />
regarding new capital projects<br />
soon. Any announced capital<br />
projects would be based on<br />
the existing three-year school<br />
capital plan.<br />
School Newsletter, March <strong>2013</strong><br />
<strong>Calgary</strong> is growing rapidly. The CBE has more<br />
than 107,000 students today. Working with the<br />
city, we estimate the CBE will have 10,000<br />
additional students by 2016. In less time than it<br />
takes to build a single new high school, we will<br />
welcome enough new students to fill the<br />
equivalent <strong>of</strong> more than six high schools.<br />
The growth puts pressure on our existing 225<br />
schools. We use the number <strong>of</strong> students and<br />
the school’s capacity to calculate school<br />
“utilization.” Our goal is for the overall system<br />
average utilization to be about 80 per cent. At<br />
this level, schools can use space flexibly for<br />
learning.<br />
Some CBE schools are overcrowded with<br />
utilization above 100 per cent; a small number<br />
<strong>of</strong> inner-city schools are closer to 60 per cent.<br />
The overall average is just above our target <strong>of</strong><br />
80 per cent—well above the provincial average,<br />
which is about 70 per cent.<br />
In the coming years, our schools are going to<br />
become more crowded. Before we can open<br />
another new school, our utilization will reach<br />
almost 87 per cent. The only solution is more<br />
capacity.
The third factor relates to the high expectations<br />
Calgarians have for their students and their<br />
education. The CBE is one <strong>of</strong> the best public<br />
education systems in the world. Still,<br />
expectations for improvement, choice, career<br />
pathways and learning continue to rise.<br />
Students want more. Parents want more.<br />
Employers want more. As a system with high<br />
aspirations, we want more for our students too.<br />
So if there is huge growth and shrinking<br />
capacity, what does it take to get new schools?<br />
New schools depend entirely on provincial<br />
funding.<br />
The CBE depends on the province for 100 per<br />
cent <strong>of</strong> funding for new schools. As a board,<br />
when we meet with parents, this sometimes<br />
comes as a surprise. Parents say, “Why doesn’t<br />
the CBE build more schools?”<br />
The truth is that Alberta school districts cannot<br />
build schools without provincial funding. The<br />
government has promised Albertans 50 new<br />
schools and 70 major modernizations for the<br />
entire province. It may seem like a lot <strong>of</strong><br />
construction but it isn’t nearly enough given the<br />
need.<br />
The CBE has one-sixth <strong>of</strong> the students in<br />
Alberta and our three-year capital plan requests<br />
16 new schools and 20 major modernizations.<br />
The total estimated cost <strong>of</strong> these priority<br />
projects is $667 million.<br />
School Newsletter, March <strong>2013</strong><br />
As a system, we do hope that the province will<br />
keep its promises to build the capacity students<br />
need. It has been more than five years since<br />
the last new school was announced in <strong>Calgary</strong><br />
and it will take at least three years from a<br />
decision for a single new school to open.<br />
Although our province faces a challenging<br />
budget, we remain hopeful that the government<br />
will keep its commitment to fund new schools<br />
for our students in <strong>Calgary</strong>.<br />
contact | <strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> Trustees<br />
The <strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> Trustees wants to<br />
hear your ideas or concerns about<br />
public education in <strong>Calgary</strong>. You<br />
can also visit cbe.ab.ca to learn<br />
more about the <strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> Trustees<br />
and upcoming public board<br />
meetings. By ward, here are your<br />
trustees:<br />
1 & 2 | Joy Bowen-Eyre<br />
3 & 4 | Lynn Ferguson<br />
5 & 10 | Pamela King<br />
6 & 7 | George Lane<br />
8 & 9 | Pat Cochrane<br />
11 & 13 | Sheila Taylor<br />
12 & 14 | Carol Bazinet<br />
e | <strong>Board</strong><strong>of</strong>Trustees@cbe.ab.ca<br />
t | 403-817-7933