August 26 BUZZ
Welcome Back to a New School Year!
I hope this message finds you well and refreshed after a wonderful summer break. As we approach the start of a brand-new school year, I want to extend a warm welcome to all our returning students, families, and staff, and an equally enthusiastic welcome to those joining our Glen Allan school community for the first time.
The start of a new school year is a time of excitement, anticipation, and the promise of new beginnings. Our dedicated teachers and staff have been hard at work preparing for a year filled with engaging learning experiences, positive relationships, and personal growth for each and every student.
At Glen Allan we are committed to providing students with a safe and caring learning environment centered on positive relationships. This year, we will continue to focus on social-emotional wellness and citizenship along with literacy and numeracy as outlined in our School Education Plan which will be shared at our first school council meeting in September and posted to our website by the end of September. We aim to engage, motivate, and inspire by focusing on individual strengths, interests, real-world activities and building partnerships with families. I am confident that with the combined efforts of our passionate staff, supportive families, and engaged students, we will achieve great things.
As we embark on this journey together, I encourage you to actively engage in your child's education. Join us for Glen Allan School Council meetings, parent-teacher conferences, school events, and other opportunities to connect with our wonderful Glen Allan community. Your partnership is invaluable in creating a thriving learning environment. Various opportunities to be involved can be found in the blog post articles below.
Please stay tuned for important updates, event announcements, and resources via our school BUZZ published weekly on our website. Our team is here to support you, answer any questions you may have, and ensure a smooth transition into the new school year.
We look forward to seeing our students and families for Meet the Teacher on Wednesday, August 28 from 5:00 - 6:00 pm. We look forward to welcoming students back for their first day of school on Thursday, August 29.
Thank you for entrusting us with the privilege of educating and nurturing your children.
It's a great year to have a great year!
Upcoming Events and Important Dates
Action
Opportunity
Information
WEEK AT A GLANCE - August 26 - August 30
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Upcoming Events and Important Dates
- August 28: Meet the Teacher 5:00-6:00pm
- August 29: First day of classes for Grades 1-6 Students
- August 29: KB Staggered Entry Group 1
- August 30: KA Staggered Entry Group 1
- September 2: Labour Day (schools and Central Services closed)
- September 3: KB Staggered Entry Group 2
- September 4: KA Staggered Entry Group 2
- September 4: Early Dismissal
- September 13: Kick off Assembly
- September 13: New Student Snack and Chat with Admin
- September 16: Dot Day
- September 19: Glen Allan School Council (GASC) Meeting 6:30-8:00pm
- September 20: Terry Fox School Run Day
- September 24: KB & Grades 4-6 Picture Day
- September 25: KA & Grades 1-3 Picture Day
- September 27: Orange Shirt Day observed at GLN Orange Shirt Day
- September 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day (schools and Central Services closed)
- October 2: Early dismissal (2:08pm)
- October 4: Professional Learning Day (schools closed to students)
ACTION
Class Assignments 2024-2025
As was shared last year in multiple May BUZZ blog posts, our teachers collaborate with the administration and counsellor to develop balanced class lists as a team which consider several factors such as academic needs, behavioural needs, friendship/social groupings, access to support staff, matching personalities between teacher/student and a balance of genders. Teachers submit a checklist with each draft class list that addresses these considerations, including ensuring at least one friend for each student. As you can imagine, creating class lists is a complicated task.
It is our goal to create balanced classes that provide an excellent educational experience for each child. We appreciate your trust in our professionalism and our desire to do right by all students while balancing the various needs of each family.
Families will receive an email from their new teacher on Tuesday, August 27 welcoming students to their class.
Meet the Teacher
The 2024-25 Meet the Teacher evening will be held the day before school starts on Wednesday, August 28 from 5:00 - 6:00 pm. All students and their families are invited to come and meet their teacher and see their classrooms at that time.
Ms. Ference, Mrs. Brownlee, and Mrs. Harry, along with members of the Glen Allan School Council are excited to welcome you at the front doors and will help to direct you to the right classroom.
More information about who your child's teacher is, and our Meet the Teacher event will be included in the teacher welcome email that will be sent on Tuesday, August 27.
Agenda Order Forms - Grades 1-6
The agenda is an extremely important classroom tool in elementary school as it helps with communication between the school and home, and aids students with organization and preparation.
All students in grades 1-6 are required to have an agenda for the 2024-25 school year.
Glen Allan has agendas for families to purchase for the cost of $4.50.
We recommend these agendas for student use as they are of high quality, formatted for optimal classroom use, and students having the same agenda provides consistency in the elementary classroom. If students have attended Glen Allan in the past, the agendas are similar to what they received in previous years. If families choose not to purchase an agenda from the school, it will be the responsibility of the family to provide an agenda that has space for daily communication.
** Please note: In order for your child to receive their agenda during the first week of school, this form must be completed by the end of the day on August 28, 2024. Late responses will still receive agendas, they just might not be in the first week.
Building Security and Door Locking within Elk Island Public Schools
The safety of students and staff is of paramount importance to Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS). To improve safety and security in schools, the Division has implemented a new initiative to keep student safety and learning a top priority. For some schools, this new divisionwide process aligns with current practice, for other schools it will be something new.
Effective for the start of the 2024-25 school year, all school exterior doors, including the front door, will remain locked during operation hours, , and opened for student access during specific school entry times.
Please refer to the linked Glen Allan Door Locking schedule here: Glen Allan Door Locking Schedule
Students will enter and exit the school using their designated doors, and parents/caregivers will continue to meet their children outside their dismissal doors.
Students who arrive after the entry bell—as well as parents/caregivers, volunteers, school visitors and other guests—will be welcomed into the office through the front door after ringing the front doorbell/video-monitored intercom entry system. The visitor sign-in protocol at schools remains the same as it has been in the past: upon arrival, all visitors must report to the school office and sign in.
The video-monitored intercom entry system will enable office personnel to determine who’s at the door and admit arrivals without having to leave the front desk. The video camera will display the individual’s image on a screen in the office, and once admitted, the individual will sign in at the office as they have in the past. This new procedure enables staff to know who’s in the building and helps prevent trespassers from entering the premises. Students will continue to come and go from the school at the start and end of the day and at recess and lunch as they have in the past. Parents, caregivers and volunteers are still welcome and appreciated for your visits to and involvement with the school.
We ask that families please assist school staff with reminding your children, for safety reasons, not to open any locked doors for individuals attempting to enter the school. When the doors are locked, all individuals must approach the front door and follow the new procedures.
For any food service deliveries throughout the school day, parents/caregivers or students must inform the school office staff in advance, so staff know to expect the applicable delivery at a specified time, and all deliveries will come through the main school entrance.
For extracurricular, after-hours or community use, one designated door will be unlocked for the applicable times as specified in the agreement when the space is booked.
Refer to the new Administrative Procedure 538: Building Security and Door Locking on the Division website for more information. These changes are one more step EIPS is taking to support the ongoing safety and wellbeing of everyone in Division schools. If you have any questions about the new procedure, contact the school directly.
OPPORTUNITY
Volunteer Opportunities
There will be many opportunities available to parents who are interested in volunteering, this year. Teachers will communicate many of these opportunities to you, as the year progresses, including things like field trips, classroom volunteers, etc.
If there are any parents with green thumbs, who would like to help us maintain our beautiful courtyard gardens (which have had a VERY healthy growing season, this summer), that would be greatly appreciated!
In addition, this year we are recruiting volunteers to help in our school library. If you are interested in helping out with checking books in, shelving books after they've been returned, etc. or with supporting our request for gardeners, please email our assistant principal, Crystal Brownlee crystal.brownlee@eips.ca
Save the Date - Glen Allan School Council
The Glen Allan School Council is a wonderful way to be involved in your child's school community. We invite all our parents and caregivers to be involved in our Glen Allan School Council. In addition to the wonderful work school council does each year, this year council will also be working hard on the Glen Allan Playground replacement project. After successfully raising our goal of $25 000 last year, this year will focus on the new playground design.
We would like to welcome and encourage you to join us for our first 2023-24 Glen Allan School Council (GASC) meeting on Thursday, September 19 at 6:30 p.m. Currently, there the secretary position on our council executive is vacant. If you are interested in the open position, please contact our current School Council Chair Erin Hamilton at yourgasc@gmail.com.
The link to the meetings will be in the weekly "The Buzz" the week of the meeting, as a blog post on our Glen Allan Elementary Website, and can be found with the link to the meeting agenda.
Caregiver Series: September sessions
Alberta Health Services offers free online programming for parents and caregivers of children and youth. Sessions are offered through Zoom. The list of September 2024 sessions is now available.
INFORMATION
Attendance
Please email General.GLN@eips.ca to let the office know of any regular reoccurring appointments, or permission notes if your child is allowed to sign out at the office to go home for lunch.
As well, in addition to communication with the teacher, please let the office know via phone or email if your child has appointments, will be leaving early, or will be away. We can be notified well in advance if you know of those dates early.
There is also an attendance button on our website that allows you to report your child’s absence with one easy click!
Student Drop-Off and Pick Up
Please remember that the north staff parking lot is strictly a drop off loop for parents. There is no parking permitted in this lot or along the center meridian between 8:15 – 8:30am. If you are planning on walking your child up towards their designated door, please park in the visitor parking across Georgian Way and use the crosswalk. Please do not park in designated staff parking. We really appreciate your cooperation for us to keep the traffic flowing and all the students safe! If you would like to see a map, please visit www.glenallanelementary.ca under the Parent Information -> Student Drop-Off Options and Visitor Parking.
Staff will be outside on supervision starting at 8:15am each morning. Please ensure that students are not arriving at school prior to 8:15am as there will be no supervision. Similar to last year, as students arrive at school, they will line up at their designated entrances. Class doors are assigned as follows: Entrance and Exit Door Map (can also be accessed on our school website).
The BUZZ Will Continue
I will continue the practice of sending out “The BUZZ” weekly to Glen Allan families as one way to connect and keep you up to date and informed. “The BUZZ” is comprised of 2 parts:
- A short school messenger notifying families that the BUZZ has been published along with essential announcements or important dates
- A blog post that includes information and details related the items outlined in the school messenger. With the exception of this first BUZZ communication, the BUZZ will be published on the first day of each school week which is most often Mondays.
If you have any questions, concerns or feedback, please contact us anytime. If you would like to reach your child’s teacher or a specific staff member directly, you can email them through PowerSchool.
Sync the School Calendar to your calendar
Did you know you can sync the school calendar to your own calendar? Simply, visit https://www.glenallanelementary.ca/about/calendar and click on the applicable subscription option:
- Download to iCal
- Add to Google Calendar
- Subscribe to Calendar
NOTE: Options are located above the calendar.
Once you click on the desired subscription option, follow the instructions. Within seconds, your calendar will contain all Glen Allan School’s important dates including holidays, school-closures days, planned activities, events and more.