march 2013 newsletter - Calgary Board of Education

THE GEIGER NEWSLETTER
100 Castlebrook Drive, NE Calgary, AB T3J 2J4 t | 403‐777‐6950 f | 403‐777‐6953 |
email: osgeiger@cbe.ab.ca website: hp://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b271
O.S. Geiger had our first “Family Literacy Night” on February
7, 2013. Thank you to all of the families who came out to
learn about literacy. One parent observed, “I didn’t realize
before that everything we do is literacy, but aer
aending Family Literacy night, I noced that literacy is
more than reading and wring”. Another parent
commented, “I have learned that reading aloud to your
children and doing more literacy acvies at home
encourages a lifelong love of reading and learning for
them”. Our students told us they have learned something
new about literacy. One student said, “What I learned
about literacy is that it can be many things like art, math,
science, phys‐ed, drama, music, and research. All these
things involve reading, wring, and somemes even
publishing and that is what literacy is and why these things
are literacy”. Another student commented, “something
new I learned about literacy is that it is used in every
subject”. Thanks to the Family Literacy Night commiee for
organizing this fun and informave event.
O.S. Geiger School had a successful “Fruity Friday” a few
weeks ago. Thanks to our school nurse: Meri Allore, the
teachers on the Teaming Up 4 Healthy Learners Commiee,
the student leaders who helped cut the fruit, and the par‐
ents who volunteered at the event. A special thank you to
all of the families who donated apples, grapes, pears and
bananas! Our students really enjoyed their fruit salad.
Good health and nutrion are required to achieve one’s full
educaonal potenal. Numerous studies have linked good
nutrion with readiness to learn, academic achievement, as
well as decreased discipline and emoonal problems. A
hungry child is not equipped to learn. Here is what research
says about nutrion and learning:
* Breakfast consumpon improves memory, test grades and
school aendance.
March 2013
* Nutrion has a crical influence on cognive develop‐
ment and academic performance in children and adoles‐
cents. nourished children are more likely to have low
energy, may have difficulty concentrang and may be more
disrupve.
* Undernourished children have significantly poorer
aendance than their well‐nourished classmates.
* Undernourished children are more likely to have low
energy, may have difficulty concentrang and may be more
disrupve.
* Undernourished children have significantly poorer aend‐
ance than their well‐nourished classmates.
Source: hp://www.albertahealthservices.ca/
SchoolsTeachers/if‐sch‐nfs‐school‐nutrion‐handbook.pdf
Just a reminder to families, the second report card of the
year is going home on Friday, March 15 th , 2013. Student‐Led
Conferences will be held on Thursday, March 21 st , 2013 (all
students). Individual Parent Teacher Conferences and
Student‐Led Conferences will be held on Friday, March 22 nd ,
2013 (only by parent or teacher request).
Student‐Led Conferences are interacve sessions between
parent and child. They provide an opportunity for your
daughter/son to reflect upon her/his successes from the
start of the year and to provide you with examples of what
has been learned. We emphasize these are Student‐Led
Conferences where your daughter/son leads you through a
series of acvies and sharing of their progress. In Student‐
Led Conferences, teachers aend as observers and
supporters, rather than leaders in the conversaon.
The students are excited to share their work with you, as
well as to lead the conference. We view this as an extremely
posive opportunity for each student to emphasize
individual strengths, acknowledge areas of growth and, with
you in aendance, and plan for the rest of the year.
Lori Cooper
Registraon for Kindergarten started on January 14, 2013 and connues throughout the year. If your child turns five (5) of
age on or before March 1, 2014, you may register your child for 2013/14 school year. When you come to register, please
bring with you Proof of Name, Birthday, and Cizenship. We would ask that you pass this informaon on to friends or neigh‐
bours who may have children of Kindergarten age. For more informaon or if you have any quesons, please call the office
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
to this link: hp://www.cbe.ab.ca/programs/prog‐kinder.asp.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
Heart Day/
1 2
3 4 5 Rm 9 Field Trip 6 Rm 8 Field Trip 7 8 9
10 11 Class Photos 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
School Council
Meeng at 6:30 PM
PHYS‐ED
INTRAMURALS
8:00 AM / 12:30 PM
Hockey Intramurals will start
aer the Spring Break.
Please watch for permission
leer sent home with your
child.
at Kingsland
Aboriginal Museum
9 AM—2 PM
March 2013
STUDENT
LEADERSHIP
Tuesdays and
Wednesdays at Noon
*School Community
*Community Wellness
*Special Days
*Special Lunches
at Kingsland
Aboriginal Museum
9 AM—2 PM
Aboriginal
Family Night at
O.S. Geiger
4:30—7:00 PM
Last Day of Classes
Student/Led Conferences
5:00‐8:00 PM
LIBRARY
CLUB
Thursdays at Noon
Grade 4
Fitness Day
Assembly Rms 1/2
at 9:45 AM
Winterfest at
Prairie Winds
Park 8:45‐
11:30 AM
Report
Cards Go
Home
Parent/Teacher
Conferences
8:00 –12:00 PM
CLASSES
RESUME ON
APRIL 8TH
YMCA AFTER‐SCHOOL
PROGRAM
Monday‐Thursday
3:30—5:00 PM
Fridays: 12:30—1:30 PM
YMCA LEADERSHIP
PROGRAM
Thursdays 3:30—5:00 PM

Report cards will be sent home with students on
March 15th. Included in your child’s report card
envelope will be a leer regarding the online
booking for Parent/Teacher Conferences.
Conference dates and mes are:
Thursday, March 21 5:00 PM— 8:00 PM
Friday, March 22 8:00 AM—12:00
NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, MARCH 22nd .
Just a reminder that class photos will
be taken on Monday, March 11th.
Each student will receive a 6x8 copy of
their class photo.
Dress your best and don’t forget your
smile!!
Rehearsals for this year’s
drama producon,
“The Emperor’s New Clothes”
is in full swing in March. It is
important that all cast
members aend each pracce
me.
The Next School Council Meeng is on Monday,
March 11th at 6:30 PM in the school’s library.
Please join us. Your input and involvement are essenal
part of what makes the school successful. Your aend‐
ance and support is appreciated.
Child care is provided.
March 18‐22 is Scholasc Book Fair Week. The
Fair is open in the Library during class me for
students and Conference days for parents, so
drop in and do some gi shopping while you
are here for parent/teacher interviews.
Once again, OSG will have the Winterfest, to
be held on Friday, March 8th at the Prairie
Winds Park. Grade 1‐6 classes will walk over
in the morning and walk back (8:45—
11:30 AM). Please remind your child/ren to
dress warmly for the weather.
Parent volunteers are welcome.
The Music program is in full
swing at OSGeiger. Kinder‐
garten, Grades 1 and 2 will
connue playing xylophones
while Grades 3‐6 will
connue with their
recorders. Choir pracce will
be held on Mondays at 12:30
PM for all students.
Stay up to date on the latest
happenings at OSGeiger
View our website at:
hp://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b271

We connue to experience challenges with school traffic and parking (illegal parking, U‐turns, jay walk‐
ing) at the front of the school especially during peak drop off and pick‐up mes.
Parents please review with your child/children the rules of crossing our
road ways safely. We are concerned that students are stepping out
before it is safe to cross, especially those children who are being
dropped off late and are rushing to get to school. Walking between
parked vehicles is unsafe. Parents, and parents with children, please
always cross at the cross walk.
There are sll a number of parents who are loading or unloading their
children in the staff parking lot. It’s dangerous to park in the staff
parking lot. These lots are busy with pedestrians and vehicles pulling in
and out. You may not see small children behind your vehicle. Please
park a safe distance away from the staff parking lot. Park on the street—
NOT in the crosswalk, or designated bus zones and walk your children to
school.
Thank you for joining us in keeping all our students and staff safe.
Parents, please stop by
during the next few
weeks and help your
child reclaim their
missing items. All
unclaimed items will be
sent to charity before
the spring break.
STAFF PARKING ONLY
The last day of classes before the
Spring Break is Friday,
March 22nd . The school is closed
from March 25—April 5, 2013.
Classes resume on Monday,
April 8th.
Parents, aer you have read the newsleer, please return this slip to the school (hard copy or send this page thru
email at: osgeiger@cbe.ab.ca). That way we will know you received the newsleer and that you read it.
If you have comments or suggesons about any area of our school, please use this space. Also, please update your
email address so we can send other noces and communicaon thru email.
Comments:
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
____________
Name________________ Phone # _____________ Email Address: ___________________________
Name of Student(s):
__________________ ________
__________________ ________
__________________ ________

update | new schools depend on provincial funding
Alberta needs more schools for our students.
We need many more schools and we need
them now. The need is going to get worse
before it gets better. This is especially true for
the Calgary Board of Education.
What makes the CBE situation more serious
and more urgent? The simple answer has three
factors: growth, capacity and expectations.
explain | capital planning
The Board of Trustees
approves a new capital plan
and submits it to Alberta
Education every spring.
After 10 years, the CBE is
amending the ranking formula
for capital priorities, which will
guide the next capital plan.
This new capital plan for 2014-
2017 will be reviewed in public
by the Board of Trustees this
spring.
We hope that the province will
make an announcement
regarding new capital projects
soon. Any announced capital
projects would be based on
the existing three-year school
capital plan.
School Newsletter, March 2013
Calgary is growing rapidly. The CBE has more
than 107,000 students today. Working with the
city, we estimate the CBE will have 10,000
additional students by 2016. In less time than it
takes to build a single new high school, we will
welcome enough new students to fill the
equivalent of more than six high schools.
The growth puts pressure on our existing 225
schools. We use the number of students and
the school’s capacity to calculate school
“utilization.” Our goal is for the overall system
average utilization to be about 80 per cent. At
this level, schools can use space flexibly for
learning.
Some CBE schools are overcrowded with
utilization above 100 per cent; a small number
of inner-city schools are closer to 60 per cent.
The overall average is just above our target of
80 per cent—well above the provincial average,
which is about 70 per cent.
In the coming years, our schools are going to
become more crowded. Before we can open
another new school, our utilization will reach
almost 87 per cent. The only solution is more
capacity.

The third factor relates to the high expectations
Calgarians have for their students and their
education. The CBE is one of the best public
education systems in the world. Still,
expectations for improvement, choice, career
pathways and learning continue to rise.
Students want more. Parents want more.
Employers want more. As a system with high
aspirations, we want more for our students too.
So if there is huge growth and shrinking
capacity, what does it take to get new schools?
New schools depend entirely on provincial
funding.
The CBE depends on the province for 100 per
cent of funding for new schools. As a board,
when we meet with parents, this sometimes
comes as a surprise. Parents say, “Why doesn’t
the CBE build more schools?”
The truth is that Alberta school districts cannot
build schools without provincial funding. The
government has promised Albertans 50 new
schools and 70 major modernizations for the
entire province. It may seem like a lot of
construction but it isn’t nearly enough given the
need.
The CBE has one-sixth of the students in
Alberta and our three-year capital plan requests
16 new schools and 20 major modernizations.
The total estimated cost of these priority
projects is $667 million.
School Newsletter, March 2013
As a system, we do hope that the province will
keep its promises to build the capacity students
need. It has been more than five years since
the last new school was announced in Calgary
and it will take at least three years from a
decision for a single new school to open.
Although our province faces a challenging
budget, we remain hopeful that the government
will keep its commitment to fund new schools
for our students in Calgary.
contact | Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees wants to
hear your ideas or concerns about
public education in Calgary. You
can also visit cbe.ab.ca to learn
more about the Board of Trustees
and upcoming public board
meetings. By ward, here are your
trustees:
1 & 2 | Joy Bowen-Eyre
3 & 4 | Lynn Ferguson
5 & 10 | Pamela King
6 & 7 | George Lane
8 & 9 | Pat Cochrane
11 & 13 | Sheila Taylor
12 & 14 | Carol Bazinet
e | BoardofTrustees@cbe.ab.ca
t | 403-817-7933