September 30- October 4

Congratulations to our students who participated in the (very chilly) Run for the Pumpkin!  Even though the weather was not the greatest, the runners had smiles on their faces and gave it their all!  Well done!  Our fall running club is over, but our spring running club will start in April.

We also had our first school wide "exploratory hour" on Friday!  This was a BLAST and the students came back to the classroom very excited about their activity.

Information Items

ORANGE SHIRT DAY

On September 30 we invite students to wear orange shirts in honour of Orange Shirt Day.  Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity for First Nations, schools, and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.

We also celebrate Orange Shirt day to remember Residential school survivors as well as those that didn't make it home from Residential school. The theme behind Orange Shirt Day is: Every Child Matters.

For more information, please visit the link:

Orange Shirt Day

APPLE DAY
We are very excited for APPLE DAY on Thursday.  If possible, please send 2-3 apples to school with your child before Thursday. 

Thank you to the parents that have offered to volunteer for our apple centers.  If I missed anyone or if you are no longer able to help out, please let me know. We will see you at 8:45 on Thursday.
1. Deanna Gunderson
2. Joanne Hayes
3. Andrea Cheung
4. Colleen Giesbrecht
5. Stephanie Myer

Thank you to the families that have signed up to bring supplies for our apple crumble. You can send the items any time before Thursday.  

Plastic knives (30)- Camden
Plastic spoons (30)-Camden
Plastic or foam bowls (30)-Meika
2 cups of oats- Colin B.
2 cups of brown sugar- Reid
1 cup of white sugar- Clark
3 cups of flour- Alice
1 1/2 cups of butter- Tyler
6 tsps of cinnamon-Clark

Upcoming events
Sept. 30- Orange Shirt day.
Sept. 30- Jr. Choir.
Oct. 2- Boston Pizza Hot Lunch.
Oct. 2- School Council @ 6:30.
Oct. 3- Apple Day in Grade One.
Oct. 4- Show and share begins.
Oct. 7- Home Reading begins.
Oct. 7- We begin collecting food for Heap the Jeep.
Oct. 9- Assembly @ 8:40.
Oct. 11- Heap the Jeep.
Oct. 14- NO SCHOOL- Thanksgiving holiday.
Oct. 15- NO SCHOOL- Professional learning for staff.
Oct. 22- After-school skating at ATB @ 3:45.
Oct. 23- Assembly @ 8:40.
Oct. 23- Hot Lunch.
Oct. 24- Field Trip to Helen Schuler @ 9:00.
Oct. 24- Students are dismissed at 11:45.  Staff professional learning in the afternoon.
Oct. 25- NO SCHOOL- Staff professional learning.
Oct. 29- Photo retakes.
Oct. 29- After-school skating at ATB @ 3:45.
Oct. 31- Halloween parade and festivities.


Please let me know if you have questions about any of these events.  

Have a great week!

September 23-27

I'm so very proud of my students this week!  Their positive attitudes, stamina, and endurance during our Terry Fox Walk was impressive!  Thank you to the parents/grandparents who joined us for the walk.  It sure makes it more manageable with all of the help!  Also, thank you to the families that sent in "toonies for Terry".  We will find out our school's grand total this week.  All of the money raised will go to the Terry Fox Foundation for cancer research.


Information Items
RUN FOR THE PUMPKIN
If your child is interested in the 2km (or 4km) Run for the Pumpkin race, please make sure you register soon.  Here is the link for more information.
Run for the Pumpkin

EXPLORATORY
We are very excited to start our "exploratory hour" on Friday.  During this hour, every student in the school will have an opportunity to express their passion and creativity in an activity that they have chosen from one of the 5 options offered.  The grade one activities this round are:
1. Musical Theatre.
2. STEM (Science, technology, engineering, math).
3. Zumba dancing.
4. Fine motor games and crafts.
5. Yoga for kids. 
-Each student ranked their preferred choices and we have done our very best to make sure that they will get their 1st or 2nd choice option.
-Students will stick with this activity for 4 weeks and then we will begin a new round with new options.  We will complete 5 exploratory rounds by the end of the year! The staff and students are really excited about it. 

HOT LUNCH
We will still be having hot lunch this year.  I know that there were lots of questions about this with our new nutrition break schedule.  I believe that the hot lunch will be delivered at the first nutrition break at 10:30.  Our first hot lunch is Boston Pizza on October 2.  Orders are due on Monday, September 23.  All orders need to be placed on School Cash Online. 
School Cash Online 

APPLE DAY
Every year in Grade One we have a special apple day where we make apple crumble, graph different types of apples, and do apple centers.  There will be a note coming home this week explaining the day, but we will be looking for 4 parent volunteers to help out with our centers from 8:30-12:00.  Please let me know if you are able to volunteer.
1. Deanna Gunderson
2. Joanne Hayes
3. Andrea Cheung
4. Colleen Giesbrecht

I am also looking for parents to donate the following supplies for our apple crumble.

Plastic knives (30)- Camden
Plastic spoons (30)-Camden
Plastic or foam bowls (30)-Meika
2 cups of oats- Colin B.
2 cups of brown sugar- Reid
1 cup of white sugar- Clark
3 cups of flour- Alice
1 1/2 cups of butter- Tyler
6 tsps of cinnamon-Clark

*Please email me or write a note in your child's agenda if you would like to contribute!  Thanks!


Upcoming events
Sept. 23- Mrs. Packard is away at a meeting at the board office.
Sept. 24- Practice Lockdown procedures.
Sept. 24- Running club after school.
Sept. 25- Probe Positive Assembly @ 8:40.
Sept. 26- Last running club after school.  
Sept. 27- Exploratory hour begins.
Sept. 27- October grade one show and share calendar comes home.
Sept. 28- Run for the Pumpkin 2k at Nicholas Sheran Lake @ 11:00.
Sept. 30- Orange Shirt day.
Oct. 2- Boston Pizza Hot Lunch.
Oct. 3- Apple Day in Grade One.
Oct. 4- Show and share begins.
Oct. 7- Home Reading begins.

Please let me know if you have questions about any of these events.  

Have a great week!

September 16-20

What a great week!  Thank you to the families that were able to come check out our classroom and chat with me at "Meet the Teacher" night.  It was so wonderful to talk with you and I apologize if I was tied up and didn't have a chance to connect with you that night.  

Information Items
PICTURE DAY
On Monday, we will all have our school photo taken as well as a class photo.  If your child is unable to be at school on Monday, there will be individual retakes coming up in a couple of weeks. 

Check out my class photo from Grade One!  Have you ever seen so many shoulder pads on a group of 6 years olds?!!  It makes me giggle!  I'm the little one in the plaid dress right in front of the teacher.

PICK UP PROCEDURES
Thank you to our families that have chosen an outside meeting spot to pick up your child at the end of the day.  We have noticed that our bootroom wasn't quite as congested this week. Again, a great place to meet would be just right outside the doors beside my classroom between the school and the staff parking lot. We want to encourage independence in our students and we know that this was also an expectation in Kindergarten. Thank you so much for your assistance with this.  

TERRY FOX WALK
This week, we will be learning about and celebrating our Canadian hero, Terry Fox!  We will have a special Terry Fox assembly on Wednesday morning at 8:40. We will be collecting "toonies for Terry" all week long to donate to the Terry Fox foundation for cancer research. If you do send money with your child to donate, please place it in their agenda pocket and write a little note in the agenda so that I am aware of the donation.  Thank you!
On Thursday, we will take part in our annual "Westside Schools" Terry Fox Walk.  We leave the school between 8:45-9:00 and walk to Nicholas Sheran Lake.  We will walk counter-clockwise around the lake and then back to Probe. On Friday, your child brought home a little (red) note explaining our walk and asking for parent volunteers.  If you are able to walk with us for that morning, we will appreciate all the help we can get.  It is a long walk for our little ones, but each year I am so impressed with their stamina and endurance.  Please let me know if you are able to assist us with this walk. 

Upcoming events in September:
Sept. 16- School picture day!
Sept. 17- Running club after school.
Sept. 18- Terry Fox assembly at 8:40.
Sept. 19- Terry Fox Walk around Nicholas Sheran Lake at 9:00.
Sept. 24- Running club after school.
Sept. 26- Running club after school.  
Sept. 28- Run for the Pumpkin 2k at Nicholas Sheran Lake @ 11:00.
Sept. 30- Orange Shirt day.
Oct. 3- Apple Day in Grade One

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of these events.  
Have a great week!

September 9-13

Hello Grade One Families!

We had a very successful first week of grade one!  What a wonderful group of students!  I know that we are going to make so many great memories and I can't wait to see how much your children will bloom and grow throughout the year!  Grade One is such a big year!  There are so many new learning curves with full days of school.  My goal as their teacher is to foster and encourage independence and confidence in their daily routines and academics.  I will strive to challenge them to take risks, make new friendships, and always try their best. I will love them, support them and be their biggest cheerleader as they go through struggles and triumphs throughout the year.  It's going to be a fantastic year!

Thank you to everyone who returned the blog consent and get to know your child forms.  I'm excited to post pictures of all of the fun activities we do throughout the year so please check the "pictures" section of this blog every month.

Information Items
RUN CLUB
Our Probe running club started last week we had such a fantastic turn out of students!  I think it is our biggest group yet!  Just a reminder that for the run on Thursday, grade one parents need to run/walk with their child because we are leaving school grounds.  On Tuesday we stay in the school field so runners can be picked up at 4:00. We are looking forward to Run for the Pumpkin Run on September 28.  

AGENDAS
On Monday, your child will be bringing home a student agenda.  Every morning, we will write a short, simple message about activities happening at school.  We would like parents to read and sign the agenda message every night and use this as a communication tool to let me know any important information such as pick up arrangements, appointments, etc. There is a pocket at the front of the agenda that we will send home important forms in.  Please make sure to check that pocket as well.
The student agenda fee is $10 and can be paid for using School Cash Online.
School Cash Online Link

PICK UP PROCEDURES
I'm sure that many of you noticed our crowded, chaotic boot room at the end of the day! It is a very busy place at 3:17 with students, parents, siblings, and strollers.  We would really appreciate if parents could choose a meeting spot OUTSIDE for their child to meet them at to cut down on the congestion in our hallway.  A great place to meet would be just right outside the doors beside my classroom between the school and the staff parking lot.  I will walk the students right to that door and make sure that they see you before leaving.  I know that some students have arrangements to meet parents or siblings on the playground and that is wonderful too.  We want to encourage independence in our students and we know that this was also an expectation in Kindergarten. Thank you so much for your assistance with this.  

MEET THE TEACHER
Your child will be bringing home and invitation for Meet the Teacher night on Thursday from 5:00-6:30.  This is a casual night to drop in, check out our classroom, see some of your child's work and chat with me about any questions you may have about grade one.  Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Upcoming events in September:
Sept. 10- Running club after school.
Sept. 11- School council meeting at 6:30 in LG2.
Sept. 12- Running club after school.
Sept. 12- Meet the teacher from 5:00-6:30.
Sept. 16- School picture day!
Sept. 17- Running club after school.
Sept. 18- Terry Fox assembly at 8:40.
Sept. 19- Terry Fox Walk around Nicholas Sheran Lake at 9:00.
Sept. 24- Running club after school.
Sept. 26- Running club after school.  
Sept. 28- Run for the Pumpkin 2k at Nicholas Sheran Lake @ 11:00.
Sept. 30- Orange Shirt day.

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of these events.  
Have a great week!