Red Deer Lake School January 2017 Newsletter Administrative Message Happy New Year! We hope your holidays were rejuvenating! It s great to see the students back, and getting into the routines again. Looking ahead at the next 6 weeks, there is a lot going on. Our basketball teams will be busy in practices, games, and tournaments. Try-outs for the annual Main Stage drama production will be on Jan. 16 th and 17 th after school, and last but most certainly not least, students are busy with their academics: Grade 3 students are exploring rocks and minerals, Junior High students are comparing the carbon emissions from different light bulbs, and grade 6 students are getting ready for Marsville later in the month. As a staff, we are continuing to work on our school s goals: Engagement, both intellectual and social/emotional Assessment, evaluation, and reporting This month, teachers are continuing to focus on high yield strategies in their classes. This looks different for each teacher and subject, but may include developing assessment-capable learners, using differentiated instruction, or using powerful questions to develop critical thinking. Teachers will be gathering student evidence to reflect on how these strategies impact the learning in their classrooms. In addition, more classes are beginning to use the Mind Up curriculum to support social/ emotional learning, especially increasing students self-awareness and self-management skills. It is impressive to see young children talking about their amygdala and how it can cause the fight, flight or freeze response! Many of these subjects are discussed at our monthly School Council meetings. We would love to explain more and answer any questions you may have, so please feel free to join us! Yours in learning, Shannon Culbert Principal, RDL Judy Leyden Vice-Principal, RDL
P A G E 2 News from the Office FOOTHILLS AREA ADDRESS CHANGES: If your address has been affected, and you have not already done so, please inform us of any changes. Students must enter the school in the morning through their assigned doors. Front door entrance should only be used when your child is late after 8:40 am. All late students are to check in at office. CHECK IN AT THE OFFICE: It is imperative for the safety of staff and students that anyone visiting Red Deer Lake School must check-in with the office before proceeding. This includes all parents, guardians, visitors, guests, etc., even if you are stopping in briefly. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. *Please call the office before 2:45 pm if a message is to be relayed to student (re: taking bus, being picked up, etc.). Any later and the message is not guaranteed to be received by the student. IT S COLD OUTSIDE! Please remind your children to dress for the weather. Students should be prepared to go out for recess on the cold days! 178093-112 St. W. Foothills, AB T1S 0V8 T: (403) 938-5984 F: (403)873-9565 http://reddeerlake.fsd38.ab.ca walshp@fsd38.ab.ca
January 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1st Day Back 10 11 12 13 14 HL-Subway Parent Council Meeting 7pm HL-Quiznos Sr. Basketball Teams in Red Deer Sr.BBall in Red Deer 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 HL-OPA BAND Bottle Drive HL-Hot Dogs Jr. Basketball Teams at RDL Jr.BBall at RDL BAND Bottle Drive 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 HL-M.Burrito G6-Marsville HL-Jugo Juice Farm Safety Literacy Day Activities Farm Safety No School-PD Day Jr. G BBall Brooks Jr.G BBall in Brooks Sr. BBall in Strathmore Sr. BBall Strathmore 29 30 31 HL-Chachi s G9 -High School Transition Presentation
BAND BOTTLE DRIVE Happy New Year RDL Parents! Get rid of all of those bottles lying around after the holidays and donate to a good cause. When: Thursday Jan 19th and Friday Jan 20th, 2017. How: Drop off your unsorted bottles at the designated SE corner of the school parking lot. All proceeds go towards the RDL band department. Drop off times anytime on Thursday, and before 1pm on Friday. Thank you for your support! 2017 DATES: Bottle Drive - full school - drop off Jan 19 and 20th in the parking lot. March 15 to 17 Camp Caroline (**please note Mar 17 is a PD Day but we are unable to change our dates) March 22-24 Banff Fine Arts Retreat (grade 8/9 band and Drama cast) April 5 Gr 6 Beginning Band Festival Senator Riley Middle School (High River) April 27 to 29 - Gr 7 Band Performance - Calgary Performing Arts Festival @ Mount Royal College May 12 Alberta Provincial Band Festival Red Deer College Grade 8/9 Band June 7th Year End Band Concert 7pm RDL all bands gr 6-9 Kristin Stearn Red Deer Lake School - Band / Grade 6
DRAMA In December, the 8/9 Drama Students performed Christmas-Themed scenes for the grades K-6 students as the culminating activity for their Theatre for Young Audiences unit. Students focused on performing for audiences of young students by concentrating on using high energy, vocal range, teamwork, and using their own costumes and props to create an exciting holiday-themed performance.
LEARNING COMMONS Excitement is high at the Learning Commons as Mrs. Davies finishes up the Read to South Africa challenge! Please ask your children about this challenge, help them keep track of the minutes they have read (and will read) and encourage them to tell Mrs. Davies the amount of time they read. The challenge will conclude with Family Literacy activities the week of January 23-26! As always we have new books for the kids to take out! Check out the New & Cool book shelf! Mrs. Davies Celebrity Readers Family Literacy week is from January 23-26. To celebrate, we are inviting family members to come in and read to classes, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. If you are interested, please let your child's homeroom teacher know.
MARSVILLE Grade 6 Hello Parents, It s time once again for the Grade 6 students to create their Marsville domes for science, and to do that, we require box fans to keep the domes inflated. If you have a box fan you would be willing to let us use, please bring it (labelled) to the office before January 24th. The fans will be returned to you by the 25th. Thank you so much for your help! Sincerely, Mrs. Van Horne and the Grade 6s. MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Junior High Students will be participating in SERVICE THURSDAY activities the day after their mid-year exams, on Friday, February 17 th. In order to really understand the importance of volunteerism and the great impact it has on a community, we need our students present that day! VACATION If you are planning to be away for a family holiday this winter, please be sure to let the homeroom teacher or the office know well in advance. This is especially important for Junior High students who will have their mid-year exams Feb. 13-16. RDL BOTTLE DRIVE The Band department is holding a bottle drive to raise funds for the band program. On Thursday January 19th (all day) and Friday January 20th (until 1pm), we will be collecting bottles in the SE corner of the RDL parking lot. Thank you for your support!
PARENT COUNCIL The next Parent Council Meeting has been changed to February 7th, from Feb 14th. All parents/guardians are welcome to attend. Meeting takes place in RDL s Learning Commons at 7:00 pm. SUN DOG! An amazing image of the sun over Red Deer Lake School on a VERY cold December day. Photo taken by Dale Finnis.
PHOTO CORNER Field House field trip Christmas Caroling Christmas Concert
JUNIOR HIGH EXAM SCHEDULE Please note that our Junior High students will be having mid-year exams the week of Feb. 13-17, as follows: Grade 7: Mon Math Tues LA Wed Science Thurs Social Fri Heart to Heart Service Grade 8: Mon LA Tues Math Wed Social Thurs Science Fri Heart to Heart Service Grade 9: Mon Social Tues Science Wed LA Thurs Math Fri Heart to Heart Service Exams will start first thing in the morning after O Canada. When finished, students will have a break, snack, and then continue with classes/study hall for the remainder of the day. Please note that if you plan to pick your child up at lunchtime to study at home, we need you to sign him/her out at the office. Students are not able to go home with a friend unless prior arrangements have been made and parent permission has been given to the office. On Thursday afternoon we are planning to take students for some recreational activities to celebrate.