Welcome back! CAPSC wishes you and your family a great year of learning.
As the 2016/17 school year begins, we encourage parents to get involved in what’s happening at their children’s schools. Calgary’s kids need your voice and your support.
Recognizing CAPSC’s 2015/16 Outstanding School Volunteers
Respectful | Focused | Energetic | Community-building | Leaders
The words you read above were used to describe our outstanding school volunteers. Parents and community members make an enormous contribution to education, and these five were nominated by their peers for their service in 2015/16.
Danielle Anderson | Royal Oak School
As 2015/16 joint chair for the Royal Oak council, Danielle was at the school almost daily to lend a hand with everything from classroom support to Calgary Reads to committee work. Her nominators describe her as ‘incredible’ and ‘selfless’ – the first to step forward when anyone needs help. Thank you, Danielle!
Katey Fok | Olympics Heights School
Katey is the quiet force and initiative behind many events that power the soul of Olympic Heights School. From food bank drives to staff appreciation lunches and bake sales, she is the first volunteer to arrive and the last one cleaning up at the end of an event. Her cheer and contagious smile bring fun and warmth to her community. Thank you, Katey!
Nicole Lukach | Nellie McClung School
Nicole completed a second year as Nellie McClung council chair in 2015/16. During her terms, she pulled together passionate parents to complete two significant projects – a learning commons area and school council website. She also organized enrichments including Calgary Reads literacy programs, and social learning programs for students and their parents. Her calm, respectful and focused leadership helped bring the community together. Thank you, Nicole!
Sara Saunders | W.O. Mitchell School
For several years, Sara has spent her spare time organizing fundraisers, helping in classrooms, at school events and field trips, and otherwise supporting the W.O. Mitchell School community. Children in the school know her well, as she read in kindergarten weekly and acted as room parent. Her nominator says she inspires others to follow in her footsteps, making the school the best that it can be for the kids. Thank you, Sara!
Stacey Schaub-Szabo | École Sam Livingston School
Stacey stepped up to become Spirit Coordinator for École Sam Livingston school council when her first daughter was in kindergarten. Seven years later she is still going strong, constantly finding new ways to give back, serve the community, and put the focus on the kids. Stacey established and grew many spirit and fundraising events. Her welcoming and inclusive attitude allows the school to continually recruit and maintain and active roster of parent volunteers. Thank you Stacey!
We are delighted to recognize the work of these five dedicated Calgarians.
Parent Tips
This Metro article contains a few reminders and pointers for getting back to school.
http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary/2016/09/02/5-things-for-calgary-parents-to-remember-for-back-to-school.html
If you are a CBE parent, you may find the following links useful:
Find your 2016-17 yellow bus stop
http://www.cbe.ab.ca/news-centre/Pages/find-your-2016-17-yellow-school-bus-stop.aspx
Questions about the beginning of the school year
http://www.cbe.ab.ca/registration/back-to-school/Pages/back-to-school.aspx
Opting in
To meet anti-spam legislation requirements, parents must now opt in to receive ‘commercial messages’ coming from the school. This includes anything that involves a payment, such as cafeteria menus, field trips including fees, yearbooks, school pictures and council fundraisers. Watch for an e-mail coming home from your school about subscribing to School Messenger. Sign up and stay in the loop!
CAPSC in the year to come
CAPSC executive keep an eye on what’s happening in education, and speak on behalf of parents. Keep us posted on what is happening with your child’s education, so we can update education stakeholders.
Want to support CAPSC? We can always use help bringing more events and services to Calgary parents. To volunteer, or if you have a question or concern about your school or with education in general, please contact us.
Regarding the 2016 -2017 school schedule and recent article in Calgary Herald:
There was a time when schools had a responsibility to look after children so that “Mothers and/or care givers” could go to work.
As a grandparent it is too much for me to deal with 2:30pm daily closures and every Friday afternoon’s.
Surely there is a better balance between schools and homes in managing responsibility for the next generation of children.
I read that educators argue that the early grades are most critical to children’s development.
The current system seems to seriously impact the most vulnerable families
The requirement to providing 940hrs of classroom training (grades 1 – 5) is being gamed by the system at the expense of parents and children. The Alberta government could set school hours in addition to classroom time to provide “a lunch hour” and supervised activitie until 4pm.
A 35hr to 40hr week for teachers during school terms does not seem to me an intolerable expectation.