Good afternoon Abbeydale School Families,

We had a great week of learning, including activities to support Truth and Reconciliation as we lead up to National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. If you are interested in participating in ways you can mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, there is an opportunity on Sept. 30th check out the link below:
https://www.familyfuncanada.com/calgary/national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation/

Please see updates from the week ahead below:

Student Drop Off

If you are dropping your child off after the bell, we ask that you bring them to the front office and we’ll ensure they’re attendance is updated as well as get them to class safely. As part of our processes and procedures, we ask that parents to stay at the office instead of walking around the hallways. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to connect with Mr. Derdall.

No School – Friday, Sept. 29

There will be NO school on Friday, Sept. 29 as we take time to consider ways that we honor the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation.

International Walk to School Week | Oct. 2-6

Next week is International Walk to School week. This week allows children, families and caregivers, school communities and community leaders an opportunity to be part of a global event as they celebrate the many benefits of walking. Walkers from around the world walk to school together for various reasons — all hoping to create communities that are safe places to walk.
Link: International Walk to School Week

FREE 8 Week Parenting Course

The Calgary Board of Education has partnered with Hull Services to offer free, evidence-based parenting courses within the city of Calgary. We are pleased to announce that Children's Village School, in the NE community of Renfrew, will be hosting our next FREE Community Parent Education Program (CPEP). This course will also include a FREE social skills program for children aged 5 - 12.

CPEP is a free, 8-week course that focuses on teaching effective parenting skills. In addition to this, CPEP includes a Children's Social Skills group for children aged 5 - 12. Our course is specifically designed for parents who want to enhance their parenting skills and support their children in learning important social skills and executive functioning strategies. Furthermore, CPEP specifically addresses the needs of children that may demonstrate characteristics associated with ADHD. These practical skills are proven to be strategies accessible in improving and supporting parents/children in all areas of family functioning.

We encourage parents to bring their children (aged 5 - 12) who can also attend and learn valuable skills through the "Children's Group" with active fun and play. The Children's Group will focus on teaching the children social skills; how to listen, how to accept no/disappointment, how to express their feelings and how to deal with being angry/frustrated.

The CPEP program is facilitated by Hull Services staff. Hull Services is a leading social service agency in Calgary. There is no referral needed in order for interested participants to register with us. Parents can register via email at HullCPEP@hullservices.ca. Each program consists of 8 classes that run once a week from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The CPEP program reviews various topics, such as, relationship building, recognizing positive behaviour, reducing conflict, managing transitions successfully, special incentives, collaborative planning, effective consequences and problem-solving strategies.

Attached is the schedule for your further information which contains details around location, dates and times. We look forward to hearing from you or your referrals.

New Class - Staffing Update

As was communicated last week, we have opened a new Grade 1 classroom based on increased enrolment for this year. We would like to welcome Ms. Kaylee Labrenz who will be teaching this class for the remainder of the year. We’re very excited to have Ms. Labrenz join our school community!

A Message from School Council (AGM Oct. 23 at 6:30pm)

We have our Annual General Meeting for the Parent Council coming up on Oct. 23 at 6:30pm. As you all have students in the school, you all are automatically considered members of the board, so are all welcome to join us for this meeting and others in the future.

At this upcoming AGM meeting, we will be voting in our Executive for the school year, these are the key members that allow us to keep in good standings with Alberta Societies and AGLC. They also have the most direct involvement in disbursement of funds from our fundraisers towards field trips, in-school experiences and technology.

We do have a couple of vacancies currently open that we are looking for a couple of volunteers to step up to take on, these roles would be: Vice-President, Secretary and Casino Chairperson.

The role of the VP is a great way to learn the ropes as the VP typically will preside over meetings when the President is not available (this has become less often as we now can do our meetings online) otherwise they're there to support the President.

For the role of Secretary, it entails taking the minutes of the meetings and filing the annual returns/reports to Alberta Societies and AGLC.

And finally for Casino Chairperson, as we don't have a casino this year, it mostly will be working on creating a black book of volunteers we can call on for next school year as we that's when we've been slotted for (date is still to be determined by AGLC).

Myself and our current Treasurer are putting our names back in the hat to return in our current roles, and due to our experiences, this will make it easier for whomever steps up as we can guide you to success.

Parent-Teacher Conferences (Oct. 19 & 20)

Just a heads up that our first scheduled Parent-Teacher Conferences will be taking place on Oct. 19 and 20. More information about times and how to book will be coming next week!

Have a great weekend,

Megan Liddell (mrliddell@cbe.ab.ca) & Jaydon Derdall (jwderdall@cbe.ab.ca)