April/May Update
Hello to parents and guardians of Columbia Park Elementary School students.In lieu of an April Newsletter, I thought I would pen a quick email.
Student Led Conferences, Thank-you
Thank you for your attendance at our Student Led Conferences last week. Engaging parents and guardians in their child’s learning helps to create greater student ownership … and that should improve student motivation, progress, and confidence! There were a lot of proud children in this school Wednesday and Thursday. 😊 Please continue the learning dialogue with your child in the days ahead as they work toward reaching their school goals.
BC Parent School Survey
Parents please consider logging on to the following link and participating in the BC Student Learning Survey. https://www.awinfosys.com/SurveyFull1/central/main/access.asp
All students in grade 4 and grade 7 are completing the student surveys. There is also a parent survey where you get the opportunity to give your input on what is going in here in your school in Revelstoke. Your input is important to us, and we use the information we get from parents and students to help inform school decisions. For example, Breakfast Club and Hot Lunches are two activities that have evolved over time because of input we receive on these surveys. The survey closes this Friday.
CPE Website
A reminder that our school website shows upcoming important dates, has the school’s Google Calendar, and includes other information https://columbiapark.sd19.bc.ca
Kindergarten Students for September
If you know of any students who will be entering Kindergarten at CPE in September, please remind them to ensure their child has completed their registration form. Contact Ms. Echlin in the office to get registration forms for all new students for September. 250-837-4744
Rise Up Indigenous Summer Camps
Community Connections has partnered with Rise Up Indigenous Wellness to offer a free summer camp for youth aged 6-11 who identify as Indigenous. Please see the attached letter for more information
Grade 6 Vaccinations, Round 2 May 5th
We heard from the Public Health Nurse that the next round of Grade 6 immunizations is coming up on May 5th. Here is a note from Kelsey, the Public Health Nurse:
“Immunization consent forms already went out in the fall and have been returned so no need to resend as consent from the parents has already been provided for the series, whether it be HPV, Vz and HB. We are completing the HPV series by offering the second dose, and finishing off any outstanding VZ and HB series. Once a parent signs a consent form it is good for 2 years, so no need to resend. Please send out an email to parents to let them know the day we are coming, as nobody likes surprises. If you have any parents with questions, please invite them to call me. My direct line is: (250) 814-2228. Thanks See you on the 5th”
Important Upcoming Dates
ProD Day – Monday May 1st .
Themes Day – Thursday May 4th is our next Spirit Say. Dress as a theme and May the 4th be with you!
Class Photo Day – Monday May 8th!
Grade 5 Swimming — Begins May 3rd
Grade 2 Swimming – Begins May 5th
Canmore Band – performance AM May 5th
Gr7 Golf – Begins May 8th
Babysitting Night – Thurs May 11th – FYI Gr7’s will be babysitting children from 5:30pm onwards on this day to allow parents a “date night”. This event will be organized by gr7 parents and used as a fundraiser to help costs with the upcoming gr7 Sunnybrae trip
Hot Lunch – Tuesday May 16th, menu TBD (free)
April 11th
Welcome back from Easter and spring break. By now you’ve had a look at your child’s Learning Progress Report from before spring break. On April 19-20, we’ll have early dismissal days. Students will be dismissed at 12:30 (bus students will picked up at 12:30 and taken home). This will allow teachers the time to organize Student-Led Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday.
What are Student Led Conferences? During SL conferences students are given the opportunity to share their work, reflect on their progress, and set goals for the future. Instead of having the traditional parent-teacher conferences, students lead their parents as they showcase their learning. Other benefits include students taking ownership of their learning, building their confidence, and taking responsibility for their education.As a parent you should be able to gain a deeper understanding of your child’s learning and have a greater sense of celebration of their successes.
March 9th
Our March Newsletter has been posted under our News and Events tab above! Have a look — especially if your paper copy didn’t make it home.
Progress Profiles (Report Cards) will be sent home with students on March 16,17th. We’ll be following that up with Student-Led Conferences on April 19th-20th. Watch for a link to sign up for these when we return from Spring Break!
January 27
Have you checked your child’s backpack lately? You should have found information on our Pink Shirt Day activity … information on our Make it Sow (seed) Fundraiser ... and information about our PAC Winter Carnival.
Here’s the key points:
- We’re tie-dying shirts for Pink shirt day: bring a white shirt to school by Feb.1 or buy one for $5 from Ms. Echlin in the office. More details in your child’s backpack and an email from me later today.
- Find the Winter Carnival form in your child’s backpack and fill out when you can volunteer for the Feb. 10th carnival.
- Find the Make it Sow form in your child’s backpack and order your garden seeds by Feb 13th
January 3rd, 2023
Welcome back to school! All of us at CPE wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! We’re looking forward to a January filled with an enthusiasm for learning, trying your best, and having fun. Along with interesting and engaging lessons in class, we’ve planned some lunchtime activities for some grades, alpine and Nordic skiing programs begin, and basketball practices for grades 6/7 continue. Our annual Battle of the Books continues practicing, and we even have an after school Nordic ski program planned. As you can see, there’s lots planned for CPE students to keep them engaged, connected, and learning!
Dec. 16th
It’s hard to believe Christmas break is almost upon us. I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas. I hope you get a chance to rest and relax over the holidays, and I hope that 2023 will bring you peace and joy.
In addition, on the CPE Twitter feed on the right hand side of the webpage you’ll see a memo from Interior Health about staying healthy and safe during the flu season. Student (and adult) sickness has been particularly intense this month. Thank you once again for keeping your children home if they are sick. Again, enjoy your time away from school and see you when the school reopens on Tuesday, January 3rd. 🙂
Dec.5th. December has quietly crept upon us, and it’s only a matter of time before we welcome Santa, celebrate New Year’s, and dig out from another awesome Revelstoke snowfall. By the end of the week, progress profiles will be sent home for parents to review. This year, each student in our school district will receive a new report card template – one that ensures better consistency among teachers and schools. One important message regarding our Christmas Concert next Monday: we will have very limited space for our evening performance. I’m asking that only parents/siblings attend the evening performance – parents, family, and friends are encouraged to come to our 1:15 dress rehearsal on Monday afternoon to help alleviate the crowd for the evening show. Better yet, stay cozy at home by the fire and watch the Live Stream of our Xmas Concert which can be found on our Twitter feed, just to the right of this post!
Nov 2022 Hello and happy winter everyone. Yes that’s right, I just used the W word! With the snow about to fly and the puddles about to freeze, please do your best to ensure your children are coming to school in warm jackets, mits and gloves, and snow pants (when appropriate).
And speaking of winter, some students are starting to get the sniffles and flu season is about to descend. A reminder to parents to please keep your children home if they are sick. Thank you!
Kindergarten Registration
2022-2023 Back to School Information
CPE School Startup Information
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone on the first day for our Mug n Muffin. From 9:30-10AM on September 6th we invite parents to arrive at the school at 9:30 to say Hi to teachers and staff who will be outdoors to chat. Bring a mug and score your caffeine fix for the day and maybe even a nibble or two. The bell will ring at 10 am. Students will be in school until 12 noon that day. Regular school day begins on the 7th (8:25-2:30).
As usual, class lists will be posted on the outside of the school Friday, September 2nd around 4pm.
Welcome aboard to some new staff members here at CPE. Welcome to Ms. Kiah Davidson who will be teaching an intermediate class this year. Warm CPE greetings to Ms. Maddy Stiles who joins as a prep teacher and Ms. Jennifer Ausman who will be teaching Music/Band and doing some preparation time teaching. And welcome to our new dynamic duo of Kindergarten specialist teachers: Ms. Ashley Theberge and Ms. Beth Sheldon. Also joining our staff is Ms. Hailee Forsyth-Schweizer who will be working as an Educational Assistant.
During our first week of school, our Kindergarten students have a different schedule as they EASE into their first ever week of schooling. Kindergarten Gradual Entry information has gone out to Kindergarten parents via email. Please contact the school or email apfeiffer at sd19.bc.ca for any questions you may have.
School enrolment is Up up up and we’re projected to be up over 230 students on the first day (compared to 185 just a couple years ago!). Woo Woo. Can’t wait to get back into the groove and get back to all the learning and fun we have here at CPE! 🙂
June 14th, 2022
We are about two weeks away from saying goodbye to students and staff for our summer break here at CPE. We still have a number of events planned including our gr7 Ceremony on June 16, 11:30 Dismissal for kindergarteners June 16, Hat and Gum Day June 17, and much more. Maybe our biggest highlight will be our whole school trip to Blanket Creek planned for June 28th. Staff at CPE are working hard to finish the year with your children, emphasizing strong work habits and maintaining a positive attitude. Thank you forcontinuing to gently nudge your children with these goals in mind.
As Busy As Bees … and Ducklings … and Butterflies.
May 9th, 2022 — Spring has indeed sprung here at CPE and we’re keeping kids busy learning and having fun with a whole slate of spring events for students including : ShredHers Mountain Biking Club, After-school Club, Track and Field Club, Jump Rope for Heart, gr.2&5 Swimming, gr7 Golf, Whole School Runs to name a few! Have a look at our latest newsletter, above under our News & Events Menu. Better yet, go to the School Calendar tab and synch your device to our Google Calendar! And don’t forget to scroll down and look at our Twitter feed on the right hand side of this page!
March 15th, 2022 — Ms. Danyluk will be leaving us during Spring Break and we want to wish her well. She has been teaching here at CPE for 10 years now, and we know she’ll continue to help children grow and develop in her new school, wherever that may be!
Congratulations to Ms. Dodds who will be the fresh face in the grade 1 class here at CPE. Ms. Dodds comes to us with successful teaching experience and is “a great fit” for that classroom and for our school. Welcome!!!
Lastly, warm wishes from the CPE staff to you and your family for a relaxing and enjoyable Spring Break. The school re-opens on Monday, April 4th … and with the recent changes to the public health orders recently, we’ll see a much more “normal” approach to staying healthy at school. 🙂
(Updated Feb. 22nd) Have you had a look at our latest newsletter? You’ll find it above by going to our News and Events tab!
(Jan. 8th, 2022) Hello CPE parents and guardians.
It’s time to get everyone back to school! We look forward to welcoming all our students back to CPE on Monday January 10th. Staff have spent this past week revising and revisiting our safety measures as well as creating contingency plans in the event we couldn’t have regular classes.
A couple of things to expect at CPE on Monday:
1. Students will be asked to enter the building in smaller groups so we don’t have them crowded together at their lockers or cubbies.
2. Students need to have their masks on before entering the building. Please do your best to have your children with their mask on as they wait to enter. A mask will be provided if a child arrives without one.
3. We will continue to limit parents and guests in the school. Please call the office before entering the building.
We’ll be diving right back into all the challenging and fun learning activities in January. Along with interesting and engaging lessons in class, we’ve planned some lunchtime activities for all grades, alpine and Nordic skiing programs begin, and some lunch-time dance will even be an option for gr 3-5! Thanks so much for your continued cooperation and patience … and we can’t wait to have your children on Monday!
Andy Pfeiffer, Principal, Columbia Park Elementary School.
Jan. 2nd 2022. As I’m sure you know by now, school reopening after our Christmas vacation has been delayed by the Ministries of Education and Health. That said, at this point, we plan for all students to be returning the following week.
Mr. Hooker mentioned in his letter to you that “students whose parents are health care workers and for students with extenuating, individual needs”, school care will be provided in these instances. Please email me directly at apfeiffer@sd19.bc.ca in this regard. Please do not send your children to school on Jan 4-7, without confirmation from me.
The good news that Mr. Hooker highlighted is that this arrangement is temporary and our CPE staff is excited to have all our students back at school, learning and having fun starting January 10th!
Andy Pfeiffer, Principal, Columbia Park Elementary School.
Welcome to the snow!
Welcome to the snow! Well of course it’s snowing outside, we live in Revelstoke. I just wanted to remind parents and students alike about our RAISE behaviour expectations when you’re outside in the snow. First … the snow fall to the ground for a REASON; that’s because snow is MEANT to STAY on the ground. 🙂 Please do not throw snow of any kind in any way. Eventually, we’ll set up our snow targets and only then are you welcome to throw snowballs at the targets.
Also, if you’re building things with snow, please remember to be respectful to others. The golden rule is “If you build it, only you can break it.”
Another great reminder is to DRESS APPROPRIATELY. Parents I know you’ll continue to do you best to ensure your child comes to school with a good winter coat, snow pants, snow boots, mits and a hat. It’s important that you stay warm and comfortable when you’re outside.
Lastly, be awesome with one another out in the snow and have fun. BILLIONS of children in the world have never even SEEN snow, let alone get to play in it. So show your awesome RAISE behaviour outside in the snow, have fun, and be a great friend to your fellow students.