January 20 BUZZ

Happy Monday!

Thank you everyone for the very warm welcome I received at Glen Allan. This is truly a special community and I am honoured to work along side you supporting your children.

At our Glen Allan School Council meeting this past week, we began the 2025-26 school fee consultation process. The recommendation is that fees remain as they are with the exception of a 2% increase for field trip fees. All fees are purely cost recovery, families will only be charged per field trip. Please click here to be directed to our current fee page on our website. For any comments or questions regarding the fee process please contact Lana Lastiwka at 780-467-5519 or lana.lastiwka@eips.ca. 

It's a great week for a great week!

Please read through the following blog post articles for important Glen Allan information. 

Week-at-a-Glance 

Action 

• Grades 1-6 Parent Teacher Conferences 

Opportunity

• Junior High Open House Dates
• Glen Allan Spirit Wear

Information 

• Caregiver Series
• Returning Student Registration for 2025-26
• Hold and Secure & Lockdown Drill
• Regulation Strategies - Clap, Lap, Clap, Miss

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Information

• Smudging
• Fort Saskatchewan Indigenous Storytelling Evening

WEEK AT A GLANCE 

Upcoming Dates:

January 27 - Hold and Secure/Lockdown drill will be held

January 29 - Professional Learning Day - School closed for students

February 3 and 4 - Parent Teacher Interviews

February 5 - Early Dismissal - 2:08 p.m.

February 6 and 7 - Teachers' Convention - Schools Closed

ACTION

Grades 1-6 Parent Teacher Conferences 

Parent teacher conferences for families with students in grades 1-6 will be held February 3 and 4.

Parents are invited to book a 10-minute conference. Please visit the Glen Allan Elementary website to choose an available time with your child’s homeroom teacher.

The booking system will be open Wednesday, January 22 at 8 a.m. and will close end-of-day Thursday January 30.

• Step 1: Go to https://www.glenallanelementary.ca/
• Step 2: Click on the Menu Tab then click on Bookings OR in Quick Links- Conference Bookings
• Step 3: “Register Now” for the Class your child is in
• Step 4: Enter your details
• Step 5: Choose your class and teacher
• Step 6: Choose a time that works for you

If you have any trouble with the booking system or you wish to book an appointment with any other staff members besides your child’s homeroom teacher, please contact the school at 780-467-5519.

**Please note that the appointment times are scheduled 12 minutes apart, but the duration of each appointment is 10 minutes. This provides teachers time between appointments to prepare for their next interview.

** Kindergarten conferences will take place in March. Kindergarten families will receive an email with booking information closer to the date.

OPPORTUNITY

Junior High Open House Information

Many schools across the Division will host open houses and information sessions to share information about courses and programs, helping families make informed decisions during the 2025-26 new student registration and returning student registration season.

Learn more about everything EIPS has to offer by attending one or more school open houses or alternative program information sessions at a school near you. 

Glen Allan Spirit Wear

Are you looking for a way to show your school spirit? Glen Allan Spirit Wear might be just the thing! You can order sweatshirts, t-shirts, hoodies and more in any color you choose! You get to choose your logo and the placement of the logo. There are amazing features such as customizable naming, so we know who the item belongs to when it is in the lost and found bin! Sizing charts are also available online.  

Visit our Glen Allan Entripy shop today: https://glenallanelementary.entripyshops.com/

INFORMATION

Caregiver Series: January and February sessions

Recovery Alberta offers free online programming for parents and caregivers of children and youth. Sessions are offered through Zoom. The list of January and February 2025 sessions is now available.

Returning Student Registration for 2025-26

The Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) returning student registration process for 2025-26 takes place Feb. 10-24, 2025. Through the online form, all families will confirm the school and program their child will attend next year or advise the Division if they aren’t returning. For students who want to attend a non-designated school next year, these requests must be submitted through the returning student registration process—acceptance is based on available space.

On February 10, the parent/guardian on file in PowerSchool identified as the Permission Click contact for each pre-kindergarten to Grade 11 student will receive an email through Permission Click with a link to the form. If your family hasn’t received any Permission Click forms this school year, contact the school office so we can investigate any technical issues before registration season.

Hold and Secure & Lockdown Drill

In our ongoing efforts to keep families informed, you will receive regular communication from the school regarding all emergency preparedness drills the school conducts. Glen Allan will be  participating in two Safety drills on Monday, January 27. The first drill will be a hold and secure and then we will transition to a lockdown. 

A hold and secure is used when there is a security threat or potential threat of violence outside the building. In a hold and secure, any people outside are directed back into the building and all exterior doors are locked. All interior doors remain in their normal state and routine activities generally continue inside. No one is allowed in or out of the building until the hold and secure is lifted.

A lockdown is used when there is an imminent security threat or potential threat of violence inside the building. In a lockdown, all students and staff immediately proceed to the nearest lockable area and all interior doors are locked. Lights are turned off, and students and staff remain quiet and hidden from sight as much as possible until the lockdown is lifted. No one is allowed in or out of the building until the lockdown is lifted.

For more information about Elk Island Public Schools’ emergency preparedness planning, visit www.eips.ca/parents/emergency-preparedness.

Thank you for your co-operation in keeping students and staff safe.

Regulation Strategies - Clap, Lap, Clap, Miss

Here at Glen Allan we are aimed at enhancing capacity to nurture emotional resilience and well-being among students. We are actively involved in collaborating with our staff to introduce effective regulation strategies and deepen understandings of brain development. We continue to work on integrating these strategies into everyday classroom practices.

This weeks regulation strategy is Clap, Lap, Clap, Miss. While sitting, clap both hands once. Then hit your lap with both hands. Clap once more and then miss a clap (for the miss move your hands like you are going to high five the person to your LEFT and your RIGHT). Repeat for 30 seconds and see how fast you can go. 

FIRST NATIONS, MÉTIS, AND INUIT INFORMATION

Smudging

Our self-identified students will be coming together next week on January 27, 2025 at 1:30pm to smudge. They will also be learning some Cree words and phrases from one of EIPS First Nations, Metis and Inuit Consultants.

Fort Saskatchewan Indigenous Storytelling Evening