Important Dates

April 12 - School Council Meeting at 6:30 PM
April 17 - Orff the Wall Concert
April 17-21 - K-2 Swimming
April 20 - Ramadan Ends (Eid)
April 22 - Earth Day; Garden Cleanup
April 24-28 - Swimming Grades 3-6
May 9 - Fun Lunch - Jelly Modern Donuts

Admin Message

Dear Altadore Families,

We hope you all had a great Easter, and Ramadan Kareem to all who celebrate. As we return to school this week, we are moving into high gear with planning for next year. We received our RAM, or budget, on Thursday. The next few weeks will be very busy as we try to figure out what things will look like at Altadore in September. We will have some preliminary information to share at the School Council meeting on Wednesday. As decisions are made over the next few months, we will let you know via the Update and at School Council meetings.

As always, please let us know if there is anything we can do to help.

Kelly Christopher, Principal
kdchristophe@cbe.ab.ca

Mack Fraser, Assistant Principal
mefraser@cbe.ab.ca

School Council Meeting on Wednesday, April 12 at 6:30

Our next School Council meeting will be at the school on Wednesday, April 12 at 6:30. Admin will be talking a bit about our projections for next year as well as how the budget and staffing process work within the CBE. Ms. Swereda and Ms. Duthie will be discussing how math fluency is taught in grades one and two. A decision will also be made regarding some “extra” purchases such as new chairs for the gym and kindergarten furniture.

All parents are invited to come. Babysitting is provided. If you are not able to attend in person, you will be able to listen in using a link that will be sent just prior to the meeting.

Orff the Wall Concert

The “Orff the Wall’ performing club has been practicing since the beginning of January. All of this hard work will come to fruition on Monday April 17. The students will be performing downtown at the Jack Singer Concert Hall at 7:00pm. Students that are performing should arrive at the concert hall by 6:30pm. If you would like to purchase tickets to this exciting event you can purchase them for $22.00 here. Performers do not need a ticket to attend.

Swimming

All students will be offered the opportunity to take part in 5 swimming lessons at the Glenmore Aquatic Centre over the next few weeks. We are fortunate that we are within walking distance of the pool , which helps to keep the cost reasonable. The fee for the swimming lessons is $30 per child and can be paid via MyCBE. If the cost of these lessons is a challenge for your family, please contact Mack Fraser at mefraser@cbe.ab.ca. We are happy to make arrangements so that every child who would like to swim has the opportunity. You must pay or make arrangements with us prior to the first lesson.

K-2 Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students will be going swimming each day next week (April 17 - 21). Afternoon kindergarten will swim on Monday April 24 instead of the Friday April 21 since they are not at school that day.

3-6 Grades 3-6 will be swimming each day during the week of April 24 - 28. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s teacher.

Altadore Yearbook

The webpage to order Altadore yearbooks is now live. If you would like to purchase one (or more), they are available here using the ID Code 1452223. The cost of each book is $15. Please ensure that you enter your child’s name and not your own when ordering; this will make it easier for us to distribute the yearbooks in a timely manner. Yearbooks will be distributed in June before school ends for the year.

Altadore School Planning Survey

As a part of the CBE, we collects information from parents/guardians about their understanding of our school development plan, our school budget, and our school-based fees. We held an online meeting on Wednesday, March 15 to provided some background information and answer questions about these subjects. Afterwards, those who had attended filled out a short survey. Here are the answers we received:

1. How did you learn about our School Development Plan?

2. How strongly do you agree with the statements ‘My child’s learning benefits from the goals, actions, and objectives set out in the School Development Plan’ and ‘My child’s learning benefits from the goals, actions, and strategies laid out in the School Development Plan’?

3. How often does your child find learning tasks interesting this year’?

4. This year, learning task for my child are generally:

5. How strongly do you agree with the statement ‘My child feels they belong/are welcome at school’?

6. In the event that School Council does not fully cover the costs, I would be willing to pay fees for the following:

7. How strongly do you agree with the statements ‘The activities our school provides (e.g. field trips) are important for my child’s learning’ and ‘The school fees I pay are reasonable considering the benefit they provide my child’?

There was also an additional survey administered about the effectiveness of the presentation. In that survey, 100% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that the presentation was clear and helpful.

Altadore School Family Connections

Sign up for Family Mystery Match Up!

Do you want to get to know more families at Altadore School? Sign up to be connected over email with another Altadore School family! When you sign up using the link below, you will be matched with another Altadore School family with children of similar ages/grades. You'll then be emailed a list of questions to answer and email back to each other. Your family can find out more about that family, along with their favourite Altadore neighborhood hidden gems, dinner recipes that kids love, the best inside and outside activities, and more!

Mystery Match families will be invited to have a drop-in playground playdate all together at Altadore School playground to play, chat, and get to know each other better - date to be determined.

Click HERE to sign up by Monday, April 21! If you have any questions, please email Julie Lowry at altadoreparentcouncil@gmail.com.

Altadore Garden Committee

Owl’s Nest

The Owl’s Nest is the naturalized area out front of Altadore School. It was originally created by parent volunteers, and continues to be maintained solely by parent volunteers. Altadore students use the Owl’s Nest for learning, playing, and daydreaming. Any one can help maintain this beautiful and important space: no gardening experience or knowledge is needed, no tools are necessary, and no police check required. Many people think that since they aren’t gardeners, they aren’t able to help in the Owl’s Nest. Much of the work (like in any yard) is more Cinderella and less Mary, Mary Quite Contrary: we welcome your ‘brown thumb’ and will happily find you a task to do. You will leave knowing that you have helped sustain something that is very special to the kids, and to the community.

Here is a SIGN-UP genius for help in the Owl’s Nest for 7 dates with a variety of days and times through three different seasons, with the hope that you are able to come for at least part of one of the sessions. The first is Saturday, April 22, for an Earth Day Clean Up, but there are tons of opportunities to look through!

Three Family Garden Beds Left!

We currently have 3 (4 foot x 4 foot, small beds) raised garden beds available to Altadore parents for the 2023 season at a cost of $40 each. If anyone wants one they need to just email us at altadoregarden@gmail.com first come first serve!

Earth Day Spring Clean Up

Saturday, April 22, 10:00am–12:00pm

What better way to spend Earth Day than taking care of the land where our children play and learn? The Owl’s Nest/Sipistoy’pakaiks is a treasured space for Altadore kids – help get it ready for spring!

Tasks include: picking up litter, raking lawns, sweeping walkways, cutting back dead plant matter and composting, and spreading mulch. Sign up HERE!

Litter Hero and Adopt-a-Weed

Litter Hero and Adopt-a-weed are 2 tasks that can be done any time, and we are always looking for help! Check out the sign up links below to learn more!

• Litter Hero Sign Up
• Adopt-a-Weed Sign Up

School Council

HOOT Committee Committee Chair Needed!

Next November we will be hosting another HOOT! We are already starting to build a committee to help plan this awesome event.

We are looking for a leader to chair this strong committee to keep the group organized and supported. There are currently two past chairs at the school to answer any questions prior to committing to the role and to support you along the way if you do commit! Please reach out if you are interested by emailing Julie Lowry at altadoreparentcouncil@gmail.com.

Fun Lunch Volunteers

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to hand out Fun Lunches last week. We are always looking for volunteers, so please feel free to sign up HERE to help distribute the next fun lunch on May 9, note that a valid police check is needed.

Notes of Thanks

Thank you to the following individuals for their recent contributions to our school…

• Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to distribute fun lunches this month!! Thank you Jill Coxford, Tonya Baboneau, Ty Tang, Kristin Desilets, Anne Dares, Cam Toews, Candace Inkpen and Jimmy Vu!
• As Kid’s Cancer Care prepares to close out the Big Brave, a final thank you to Foster, Candace Inkpen, everyone who volunteered to have their hair done, and all who donated!

Questions?

Looking for school information you can’t find here? Please contact:

Kelly Christopher, Principal (kdchristophe@cbe.ab.ca)
Mack Fraser, Assistant Principal (mefraser@cbe.ab.ca)
Julie Lowry, Altadore School Council Chair (altadoreparentcouncil@gmail.com)