Posted on May 23 2023

May 23 BUZZ

Happy Tuesday!

We hope all our families had a wonderful long weekend and stayed safe in the smoky conditions.

As I am sure it was shared with you already, we had an exciting day Thursday before the break as 5 of Glenda's eggs hatched and we welcomed 5 goslings to our Glen Allan community. On Friday, Wild North, a non-profit charity that provides rescue, urgent & critical care to injured wild birds and small mammals, came to Glen Allan to rescue and release Glenda and her goslings from our courtyard. With them, they brought 4 orphaned goslings and released them at the same time as our 5 goslings. Together Glen and Glenda left our school yard, with their new family of 9, to start their next adventure. It has been an absolute joy to host Glenda and Glen over the last month and a half. Our students and staff have had an amazing front row seat to this beautiful natural event.

We look forward to this week's Glen Allan School Council Meeting, the final one of the school year, that also includes our GASC elections. All caregivers are welcome and invited to join us Thursday at 6:30 in the library. If you are unable to join in person, you can also join the meeting virtually. The link to the meeting agenda and virtual meeting access can be found in the blog post article below.

It's a great week to have a great week!

Week-at-a-Glance

Action

Glen Allan School Council Meeting and Elections

Opportunity

Save the Date - Lunch on Land Family Picnic
Junior High Jitters

Information

Counsellor Corner
Class Placements

Photo Galleries

Glenda, Glen and the Goslings
FitKids Basketball

WEEK-AT-A-GLANCE

Monday	School Closure Day - Victoria Day
Tuesday	Drama Club
Wednesday	Drama Club Grade 2: 2-2 Drawing Club
Thursday	FitKids Grade 5 Dare Program Grade 1 Zoo Field Trip Glen Allan School Council Meeting and General Elections - Agenda and Meeting Link
Friday	4-2 NAIT Field Trip

ACTION

Glen Allan School Council Meeting and Elections

Please join us Thursday, May 25 6:30-7:30pm in the library for the next GASC meeting where we will also hold our Glen Allan School Council Elections.

For more information about the Glen Allan School Council Elections, please see this week's BUZZ blog post (https://www.glenallanelementary.ca/home/news/post/may-15-buzz). The following positions are under active recruitment: School Council Chair, Secretary, and Program Vice-Chair.

GASC is open to all parents and guardians of children who attend Glen Allan Elementary. The agenda can be accessed here.

OPPORTUNITY

Save the Date - Lunch on Land Family Picnic

We are excited to invite families and caretakers to join us for our Glen Allan Community Picnic on June 21. Students, their families, and staff will take their lunches outdoors and enjoy time spent together in community. Please bring a blanket to sit on and provide your own lunch. Lunch on the Land will be start at our normal lunch our time, 12:02pm.

Junior High Jitters

This is a free caregiver education session hosted by Alberta Health Services. Is your child going into Grade 7 and feeling nervous about it? This session will provide information about developmental changes teens experience, as well as the challenges they may face in this school transition. Strategies for managing these changes and boosting wellness will be discussed. The session is designed for caregivers and pre-teens—grades 6-8—to attend together.

Wednesday, June 14
6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Virtual
Register

INFORMATION

Counsellor Corner

We were fortunate to have Alanna Lawrence, our Family Resource Facilitator from Family and Community Services, speak to parents on the evening of May 17. Alanna's presentation provided those in attendance an opportunity to examine the behavior of children from a different lens. Alanna facilitated conversations and shared ideas on how we can learn to support our children when they are struggling with emotional and behavioral challenges. I have included a few of the videos she used during her presentation. If you have any parenting questions, please reach out to me at tammy.marks@eips.ca and I can put you in touch with Alanna.

Class Placements

With registrations and the upcoming school year on our minds, we'd like to share information on how we determine classroom placements.

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. It is for that reason that we do not entertain requests for classroom placements. If there is an extenuating circumstance that will have a significant impact on your child or family that you feel we need to consider, you can share that information in writing via email to the principal, Jennifer Ference, by May 25, 2023.