Staffing Update

Emily Smith in Grade 2 will be going on her maternity leave at the end of the week. Alyssa Green will be returning from her maternity leave and taking over Mrs. Smith’s Grade 2 classroom. Mackenzie Wood’s contract has been extended until the end of the year and she will be remaining with her Grade 3 class.

We have received some Learning Disruption Funding from the government and we will be able to hire Sherra Molyneux back part time to support students in Grade 2 starting on February 1.

Kindergarten Report Cards

Kindergarten teachers will report progress to parents / legal guardians via January and June report cards.

• In January, progress in ELAL and Math will be communicated to parents / legal guardians via the report card.
• In June, progress in all discipline areas will be communicated to parents / legal guardians via the report card.

Safety on the Walk to and from School

To ensure the safety of our students, we’ve outlined some safety strategies parents and guardians can review with their children.

• Walk with a friend or travel to and from school in a group.
• Tell your parents or a teacher if you see anything that makes you feel unsafe.
• Don’t talk to strangers and stay at arm’s reach or more away from strangers.
• Do not go anywhere with anyone you do not know (in a car or on foot).
• If someone you don’t know approaches you, run the other way even if the person claims to know you or your parents.
• If a stranger makes an attempt to grab you, pull away and yell “help, this is not my parent”. Move quickly away from the person.

If students or parents witness any suspicious person(s), please contact police by calling 911.

Bell Let’s Talk on Wednesday January 24

This is a day that was created in September 2010 in order to focus on four key things:

• Fighting stigma around mental health
• Improving access to care
• Supporting research and
• Leading by example in workplace mental health.

We encourage you to have a conversation with your child, no matter the grade level, about the importance of mental health. You can find more information about Bell Let's Talk at the following link: https://letstalk.bell.ca/

Child and Youth Well-Being: A Webinar Series for Parents and Guardians

Metal Health & Anxiety (Grade K-6) - February 8th 6:30-8:00pm

Learn how to support elementary-aged children with stress and anxiety. Our partners from AHS will clarify the language around mental health and provide effective coaching strategies to help children grow more resilient. You'll also learn about the signs that indicate the need for professional assessment and support, as well as how to boost your own mental health. Meeting Link HERE.

Extra Curricular Volleyball

All CBE middle schools have set similar expectations for games that promote safety, respect, and a positive experience for all. They include:

• All student spectators/athletes from other schools must be under the direct supervision of a designated adult for the duration of the games
• GW students who go to away games must be supervised by their parent
• There are no in an out privileges for spectators
• Student spectators without parental supervision will be directed by the hosting school administration to leave the building
• All spectators - students or adults - are expected to cheer and support players/coaches/referees/parents/guardians in a positive manner
• Disrespectful behaviours will be addressed by school administration promptly and may result in spectators being directed to leave the game and the school building
• Parents/guardians who bring younger children are responsible at all times for their direct supervision. Please ensure that they are not wandering the halls and playing on Phys Ed equipment in the gym/on stage

These expectations have been reviewed with all of our students in school. Please review with your student(s) as well. We thank you in advance for your ongoing support.

Casino Night Sign Up

Our casino’s raise a lot of money for our school that goes directly into supporting students and their learning. We are looking for volunteers to sign up for our next Casino Night at the end of April:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4FAEAD2EA7F5CF8-47275119-griffith

Kindergarten Registration

When you register for Kindergarten you can indicate a preference for morning or afternoon class. We do try to honor as many requests as we can but if we have an overwhelming number of requests for morning we do a random draw of names for the available spaces. Registration for Kindergarten opens today, Monday January 15. Please see here Kindergarten Registration Process for more information. Once registrations close, we are going to have a community engagement process for next year’s families to determine if we have full day Kindergarten with alternating days instead of half days.

Registration at Griffith Woods for Next Year

• Currently Griffith Woods is at capacity, this means that we have a call back list of students who are currently attending our overflow schools which are Battalion for elementary (1-6) and Bishop Pinkham for Junior High (7-9).
• Please advise the office if there are any plans to move and/or change schools for next September by e-mailing griffithwoods@cbe.ab.ca

Important Dates

Wednesday January 24 - Bell’s Lets Talk Day for Mental Health
Monday January 29 – Healthy Hunger – Golden Bell
Monday January 29 – Salsa Residency Begins
Tuesday January 30 – Report Cards Viewable to Parents
Wednesday January 31 – Term 3 Begins for Grade 6 and 7 Complementary Courses (Viewable in your MyCbe account)
Monday February 5 – Healthy Hunger – Mucho Burrito
Thursday and Friday February 15 & 16 – Teacher’s Convention (No School for Students)
Monday February 19 – Family Day (No School for Students)
Monday Febraury 26 – Healthy Hunger – Noodle Box
Wednesday February 28 – Pink Shirt Day
Friday March 1 – K-9 Open House 1-3pm (more information sent out closer to the date)
Monday March 4 – Healthy Hunger – Tim Horton’s
Monday March 11 – Healthy Hunger – Wok Box
Monday March 18 – Healthy Hunger – A& W
Wednesday March 20 – Term 3 begins for Grade 5,8, and 9 Complementary Courses
Thursday March 21 – Parent/Teacher Conferences in the evening
Friday March 22 – Parent/Teacher Conferences (No School students)
March 25 - April 1 – Spring Break
Monday April 2 – Classes Resume