Important Dates
May 14 Parent Appreciation Tea (10 AM)
May 15 Fun Lunch
May 15 Kindergarten Orientation 6pm
May 16 Saa’kokoto Visit
May 16 Neighbours Nursery Plant Sale in the Garden 3-7pm
May 17 Professional Development Day (no school for students)
May 20 Victoria Day (school closed)
May 27-31 Grade 3-6 Swim
June 3-7 Grade K-2 Swim
June 11 Evergreen Theatre Performance
Admin Message
Dear Altadore Families,
Every year, the School Council engages in various fundraising activities—such as "The Hoot," direct donations, and casino nights—to finance numerous essential items and activities that enhance our students' educational experiences. This includes subsidizing the cost of field trips, covering transportation expenses, supporting classroom and school-wide residencies, and purchasing educational tools like the new Ozobots. Thanks to conservative budgeting, they have managed to generate a surplus. As a result, at our last School Council meeting on Wednesday, they approved several additional purchases.
The School Council has decided to purchase two additional shade trees to complement the two that will be provided by the CBE. These additional trees will help reduce the sunlight entering the windows on the back of the school. Additionally, they have acquired some tinted window film that we plan to install in one of the classrooms as a trial, to evaluate its effectiveness in keeping the room cooler. These efforts, along with the fans previously purchased for each classroom, are part of our "Cool School" initiative. As many of you are aware, Altadore School, constructed in the 1950s, faces challenges with overheating during this time of the year. We encourage you to ensure your child comes to school with a water bottle and dressed in layers to stay comfortable. Some students have found it helpful to freeze half of their water bottle, so it remains cool throughout the day.
In addition to the "Cool School" initiative, the Council has invested $2,500 in books that support the new science curriculum and additional chairs for parents attending school events, such as the upcoming Parent Appreciation Tea on Tuesday.
We are grateful for your generous donations and the School Council’s dedication to making Altadore a wonderful school.
Sincerely,
Kelly Christopher Karlee Zelmer
Principal Assistant Principal
kdchristophe@cbe.ab.ca kmzelmer@cbe.ab.ca
Cell Phones and Smartwatches
We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone about our technology policy. We have a number of our older students who bring cell phones or wear smartwatches to school. We realize how these can act as a safety item as students walk to and from school. Cell phones should not be used once students arrive at school. These should remain in backpacks until students are off school property.
Students who have their devices out during the day are often distracted from their learning as they play games, take photos, text or call others. We expect students to put phones away and to only use smartwatches for telling time. We are fortunate that technology that is needed for learning purposes is readily available without students needing to use their devices.
If you need to contact your child during the school day please call the school and we will be happy to connect you, and we are happy to facilitate calls if your child wants to contact you. If students have their phones out during the day, or are using smartwatches inappropriately we will keep them in a safe place until the end of the day and we will let parents know. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.
Fun Lunch (May 15)
Jelly Modern Doughnut is coming for our final fun lunch of the year, this Wednesday, May 15, 2024!
For those of you who ordered, lunch will be delivered to their child by all of our amazing Fun Lunch Volunteers. Speaking of these amazing volunteers, we actually need a few more to get all the lunches handed out in time, so please consider signing up to help out HERE!) A valid police check is needed.
Don’t forget to supplement your child’s lunch with snacks, or drinks as needed.
Lastly, thank you to everyone who has ordered, helped hand out lunches, and made our fun lunch program such a fun one for the kids this year.
Parent Appreciation Tea (Yes we mean YOU!)
We are thrilled to invite you all to our Parent Appreciation Tea!
We want to thank you for everything you do to make our school a thriving and inclusive place for learning! This is more than a recognition of those who formally volunteer. It is a celebration of ALL the work that all of you do including:
● coming to school council
● helping your child with reading at home
● volunteering for field trips
● getting your child to school on they days they want to stay in bed
● coming to conferences
● attending the Hoot or one of our picnics
● advocating for your child if something is not going the way you think it should
● working with teachers to determine next steps for your child
● talking with your child about what happens at school each day
We think you should all see yourselves in this, and we encourage you all to come out to the tea! Hope to see you there!
Volunteers
Send us a quick email to find out what role might be a good fit for you!
We want all volunteers to have fun volunteering, and make sure it fits within the time commitment you have, so don’t hesitate to email our Chair Julia to find the right role for you.
Just click HERE!!!
We are specifically searching for these roles below, but if you just want to show interest for other potential roles as they come up in the year, let us know!
Vice Chair
Role: Supports the Chair throughout the school year as needed, and often, but not required, becomes the Chair the following year.
Time Commitment: ~2-4 hours/month
Communications Coordinator
Role: Compile information from various school committees and what is happening around the school, and draft the council's portion of the weekly newsletter.
Time Commitment: ~ 4-6 hours/month
Garden Manager
Role: Oversee the Student Gardener, providing training, guidance, and feedback for garden success. Communication methods are flexible, and during summer, up to 30 minutes per week are allocated for support.
Time Commitment: ~4-5 hours/month from May-Sept
Altadore Garden
Plants for Sale (May 16, 3-7pm)
Come get your seedlings! The school is bringing in a small family-run plant nursery, local to Calgary, to sell tons of different seedlings just in front of the Altadore Garden on May 16th from 3:00pm - 7:00pm. From Basil plants, to strawberries, herbs, tomatoes, there is a huge variety, so come check it out!
This is a fun way to bring the community together, meet other gardeners in the neighbourhood, and get a kick start to your gardening while supporting a local small business!
Garden Student
We would like to thank Julie Lowry for stepping up and helping with the garden as we searched for a garden student. Julie has been in the classrooms with the kids, helping with lesson plans, and making sure all the kids have a super fun time learning about the garden. Julie is now passing the torch off to the new Garden Student that you will see in and around the garden and classes moving forward!
Community Beds First Come First Serve!
We have a couple of garden beds left! They are on a first come, first serve basis, so make sure you grab yours before they’re gone! Email us HERE!
For those new to the Altadore Garden, we always set aside a portion of the garden beds in the edible garden located on the North side of the school for Altadore Families who would like to manage their own small garden and grow fruits, vegetables, or flowers right at the school. Some families grow vegetables that they harvest in the Fall to donate to the Calgary Food Bank with the school. It's a great way to get to know other people in the community, and to build a strong connection between your family and Altadore! We have many families that return every year, and each year a few beds come up and are available for new families to join!
Altadore Gear
Forget the hoodies we advertised last week. We’re ditching the layers and checking out the amazing Altadore tees for only $15 that we can sport to soak in all of the amazing weather in our forecast!
Check out the site HERE!
(Please note that this is not a fundraiser, but a fun way for everyone to feel a part of the Altadore community. The school does not profit from the purchase of these items.)
Notes of Thanks
Thank you to the following individuals for their recent contributions to our school…
- Thank You to everyone who showed up for our School Council Meeting this week both in person and virtually!
- Thank you to Ms Vejprava and Ms Miller for presenting at the school council meeting, and sharing all of the amazing ways the teachers are using loose parts to spark creativity and offering tactile learning opportunities that tie back to the curriculum!
- Thank you to the babysitters who helped watch the kids during our council meeting on Wednesday, the kids had SO MUCH FUN!
- Thank you to all the parent volunteers and school council that made the grade 2 trip to Telus Spark possible!
Questions?
Looking for school information you can’t find here? Please contact:
Kelly Christopher, Principal (kdchristophe@cbe.ab.ca)
Karlee Zelmer, Assistant Principal (kmzelmer@cbe.ab.ca)
Julia Hikita, Altadore School Council Chair (altadoreparentcouncil@gmail.com)