Dear Altadore Families, Our second week of September was lovely. The students enjoyed basking in the sunshine and playing in the rain. Thank you to families who sent students with rain gear. Please note that rainfall required us to postpone our first scheduled fire drill until Tuesday. Students are now settled into classroom routines and delving into learning. Grade 1 and 2 students have been introduced to Reading Eggs to enhance their literacy development following the new English Language Arts and Literature curriculum and the Science of Reading. K-3 students are also engaging in the required Alberta Education assessments (see below for more information). All students are developing writing skills and practices in all curriculum areas. The exploration of a new science curriculum is also at the forefront of teaching and learning.
We are thrilled to have Saa’kokoto visit and share stories of the Fall equinox on Wednesday and Thursday. Please read the classroom teacher's weekly updates for more information. Wednesday was our first School Council meeting; thank you to all those who attended in person and online. The grade six teachers gave a synopsis of what happens during outdoor school at Kamp Kiwanis and how this tied and sparked learning in many sections of the curriculum. The main topic of concern for this week’s meeting was safety for our students during drop-off and pickup. We have added additional pylons on 16 St. to ensure the crosswalks and no-parking zones are visible for drivers and pedestrians. This is a gentle reminder to walk your students to school if you are able to reduce the traffic in the area. Below, you'll find a link to our Altadore Gear. We offer t-shirts and hoodies in various colors, and you can even choose the color of the design. We've intentionally designed our Altadore Gear to celebrate diversity and allow everyone to express their unique style!
Kind regards,
Iikiinayookaa Yellow Horn, Principal
Karlee Zelmer, Assistant Principal
Terry Fox Run
Join us this coming Friday to celebrate Terry Fox and his resilience, as we raise funds for world class Cancer research here in Canada! This event is a student favourite at Altadore Elementary, where the students learn about Terry Fox in the classroom, and then test their own limits by running at Glenmore Athletic Park on Friday September 20. The event will start with an assembly in the school gymnasium, and students will then walk over to the track to run between 10AM-11AM. We highly encourage all family members, friends, and even neighbours to join us at the track to cheer the students on from the stands! We need volunteers to set up, and mark children’s laps, so please don’t be shy and join in the fun by volunteering. Sign Up!
Are you ready to fill your calendar with fundraising events for Altadore School? Yeah, let’s not…
The parents at Altadore decided a few years ago that a bunch of high commitment events like bake sales, car washes, and gift wrapping, were taking up a ton of time, and providing minimal results, so the direct donation campaign was born! We’ve eliminated all of the small, time consuming fundraisers for one direct donation campaign, that you can donate! This gives parents back their time, and ensures all the money and effort goes straight into enriching the programs, supplies, and events that your children will be engaging in this 2024-2025 school year… and we promise not to hound you for money every few weeks!
Make Your Money Count!
Many families take advantage of company matching programs to amplify their support for our children! We are a registered charity found on many matching platforms, and we also provide tax receipts for your donations!
Where Does The Money Go?
Funds will support your child through the 2024-25 school year for things like:
- Funding towards your child’s field trips
- Enhancing classroom supplies (no need for you to do back to school supply shopping!)
- Fun fit residencies such as in the Terry Fox run, Alien Inline/Speed skating, FItset Ninja TREX art exhibition, Kindness Adventure and Mindset Mission Performances
- Updated and interesting books for the library
- New equipment for the gym and music room
- Visits/teachings from our Elder Saa’kokoto
- National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration
- Sports Day
- Fun lunches for the Altadore students who belong to our unity families, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to join in the fun
- In class art residencies such as stained glass, creative writing, or theater
- and so much more!
Our Goal!
We hope to get 75% of families to contribute in whatever capacity they are able, with a hope of raising $200 per student. We recognize each family is able to donate different amounts, and only want you to donate what makes sense for your family, so let's pull together as a community and support our students! Any contribution makes an impact! Donate now!
Alberta Education Assessments
All K-3 students in Alberta will be doing universal screening assessments in literacy and numeracy. These mandatory screening assessments are completed at the start of the school year in Grade 1, 2 and 3 and in January for Kindergarten.
The following assessments will be completed by students in Grades K-3:
- The Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) Digits test requires naming digits as quickly as possible, thus revealing the automaticity of many of the same cognitive and linguistic skills central to reading.
- The Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST) purpose is to assess phonemic awareness. Phonological awareness, or the awareness of and ability to work with sounds in spoken language is foundational for decoding, blending, and word reading.
- Letter Name and Sound Test (LeNS), assesses knowledge of the names and sounds of letters, and common multi-letter graphemes. The LeNS is designed to screen learners for foundational phonics skills to develop into independent readers.
- The Castles and Coltheart Reading Test 3 (CC3) is a word reading test of single word reading (decoding and whole word recognition). It is designed to identify the nature of reading difficulties and provides next steps for instruction and intervention.
- Provincial Numeracy Screening Assessments look at knowledge of symbolic numbers. Results of the assessment can be used to help teachers identify and address gaps in foundational understanding of numbers.
These universal screeners do not replace day-to-day teacher observations and classroom assessment and do not have any impact on formal reporting processes such as report cards. Rather, the results of universal screeners help inform planning for next steps such as targeted interventions or instructional planning and are not used to determine grades. Students in Grades 4-6 are completing other teacher assessments to gather this type of information.
Vaccinations
Hello, my name is Colette Beary, and I am the School Public Health Nurse for Altadore school. The Calgary Zone School Immunization Program is committed to providing students and schools with a positive school immunization experience. We provide routine immunizations to students in Grade 6, as well as those in other grades who may have missed some of their routine immunizations. There will be more information and consent forms sent out to those students in the coming weeks.
As a reminder, if you have a child in kindergarten who has not received their preschool immunizations, they may be booked into an AHS Community Health Centre for an appointment. Children between the ages of 4 and 6 are eligible for immunizations. To book your child's preschool visit, please call 811. For more information about the immunizations your child is eligible for, please visit the website www.ahs.ca/immunize. Once your child enters Grade 1, they will receive their immunizations at school.
If you are new to Alberta and have immunization records to submit for your child, please send a photocopy of your child's records to the school to my attention or upload them to the Immunization Record Self Submission Portal. A nurse will review your child's records and let you know if they are eligible for any recommended vaccines.
If you have any questions regarding immunizations for your child, please contact me.
Colette Beary RN, BN, BSc Public Health Nurse
Shaganappi Community Health Centre Tel: 403-944-7335
Drop Off/Pick Up
We would like to offer a friendly reminder that drop off and pickup can get very busy, especially at the corner of 16th street and 45th avenue. It is important we keep no parking zones clear to allow for clear lines of sight between traffic and pedestrians, especially in crosswalks. Thank you for keeping everyone safe!
Parent/Teacher Conferences (Sept. 25 & 26)
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Thursday, September 25 from 4-8 PM and from 8 AM- 12 PM on Friday, September 26. Kindergarten will have no school on September 25 so that conferences can be held that entire day. There will be both in-person and online options. Conferences will be available to sign up on MyCBE from September 22-25. More information will come in soon!
Volunteer Opportunity
Do you want to get more involved in the Altadore School Community, but need a role that's flexible, works around your schedule, and can be done from home? We are currently looking for someone to help draft the weekly newsletter with information sent in from other committee members or volunteers. The entire job can be done from the comfort of your home, at whatever time is best for you. If you or someone you know might be interested in our Newsletter Communications role, please don’t hesitate to reach out and find out more, just email us.
Email: altadoreparentcouncil@gmail.com
Altadore Casino Fundraiser (Nov 4 & 5)
Mark your calendars! The Altadore School Casino Fundraiser is happening on November 4 and 5, and we will be needing a LOT of volunteers to cover shifts at a nearby casino to pull it off! It is very important to all of our school programs that it is successful! Please keep these dates in mind as you start planning into the Fall, and a sign up will be sent out soon!
Altadore Gear
Altadore school works with Summarized Design to provide Altadore Gear for purchase in all sizes all year long. This is a fun initiative that many of our families enjoy. Please note that this is not a fundraiser, and Altadore School does not benefit financially from the purchase of Altadore gear. T-Shirt and hoodie colours are changed periodically, and right now there are several different versions of multicoloured logos! You can order online and your purchase will be delivered to the school in about a week to be sent home with your child.
Notes of Thanks
Thank you to the following individuals for their recent contributions to our school…
- Everyone who attended or called in to be a part of our first school council meeting of the year! The turnout was great!
- The grade 6 teaching staff for presenting at the school council meeting!
- Everyone who has donated to the direct donation campaign. Every single donation makes a difference, and we are excited to see what kind of programming we will be able to offer the students this year based on your donations!
- The school council and everyone who attended the meeting on Wednesday. Your input, support and voice matters and is appreciated!
Important Dates
Sept 18-19 - Saa'kokoto Visit
Sept 20 - Terry Fox Run at Glenmore Athletic Park
Sept 24 - TRC Assembly
Sept 26 - Orange Shirt Day
Sept 26 - Parent Teacher Conferences (4 PM - 8 PM)
Sept 27 - Parent Teacher Conferences (8 AM - 12 PM)
Sept 30 - National Day for Truth & Reconciliation (No School)
Questions?
Looking for school information you can’t find here? Please contact: Iikiinayookaa Yellow Horn, Principal (mfyellowhorn@cbe.ab.ca) Karlee Zelmer, Assistant Principal (kmzelmer@cbe.ab.ca) Julia Hikita, Altadore School Council Chair (altadoreparentcouncil@gmail.com)