The Week Ahead - December 11
Good afternoon Colonel Irvine School Community.
下午好! 学文学校社区,
Our grade 9 leadership students helped plan our first Pep Rally yesterday. Teachers were put through a variety of challenges/torture for the student’s entertainment. Hopefully your students shared with you some of the challenges. This pep rally was because the school raised over $3000 for the Terry Fox Foundation. Kudos to our leadership students and Ms. Melanie Lee for planning the event and to all the teachers who participated.
Monday students will start in their new trimester two option classes. They will have these classes until approximately mid-March when we start out last trimester. We will not be able to make class switches as all our classes are full. Selections were made based on choice and availability of spaces per class.
Monday is also the start of our Holiday food drive. We are encouraging everyone, if possible, to bring in at least one non-perishable food item for our annual Mayor Food Drive. We will see which homeroom collects the greatest number of items per homeroom. There will be a surprise for the victorious homeroom.
Student attendance is directly related to success in school. In the coming weeks, if your student has a high absence rate and we have not already been in communication, you will receive a letter that is intended to bring your attention to accumulating absences. Please know that we always approach school attendance in a student-centered, solution-oriented and supportive way. We regularly put plans in place to support student attendance and are eager to help families. Please reach out if you have any questions, concerns or require support. A reminder if your student is going to be away to always call or email the school so that we can document the absence correctly.
Finally, it is hard to believe that there are only two weeks left of classes before the Winter Break. For the last week of classes (Dec 18-22), our Student Council is planning dress up days, and some special activities. We will share details next Friday. STUCO is also selling candygrams at lunch for $1. They will be delivered to students on Dec. 22. Proceeds will be going towards the charity organization to be decided by the students on the Principal Student Advisory Committee.
Some of our students are working on top-secret crafting projects as part of a lunch club this month. For these projects we need hard cover books with at least 600 written pages (300 double sided). If you have any old books at home that you would be willing to donate for this project please send them with your student to the office. Thank you!!!
Ms. Ko and Ms. Dalwood
Dates to Remember:
Monday, December 11 – Trimester 2 Starts
Update - Monday, December 18 – Band Concert at John G. Diefenbaker High School at 6:30pm
Friday, December 22 – Last Day of classes before Winter Break
Monday, January 8 – Classes resume Next School Council meeting is January 16 at 6:30pm
Tuesday, January 16th – School Council Meeting @ 6:30
School Council:
Holiday Appreciation Lunch for Teachers and School Staff Colonel Irvine Parent Advisory Association (CIPAA) would like to support the school staff for all the amazing work they do by organizing a holiday appreciation lunch for all the teachers and staff. Based on last year's holiday appreciation lunch, we anticipate that the cost will be approximately $20 per attendee and the school has confirmed that there are 55 staff members. We therefore estimate the cost to be approximately $1100. The decision was made at the November School Council/CIPPA meeting to fund this event from the General Account. However, please note that in lieu of gifts of appreciation for the school staff, this year we will be accepting donations to use towards this appreciation lunch. If you would like to, or are able to participate, cash or cheques can be dropped off at the front office. Please be sure to indicate the funds are for the HOLIDAY APPRECIATION LUNCH. Any additional funds raised less the expenses for the lunch will be donated to the purchase of food hampers to support school families during this holiday season. We give a heart-felt thank you to the parent community and amazing team of educators and staff and wish you all a very happy holiday season!
Next School Council meeting is January 16 at 6:30pm
To stay informed, please join our FB group. The process to join is simple and straightforward:
· Click the link to request to join: Colonel Irvine Parent Group - Calgary
· Answer the security question: "What is our school mascot?” The answer is “roadrunner"
· Agree to the group rules
Any questions / comments / concerns? Contact us at colonelirvineschoolcouncil@gmail.com
Cafeteria Menu:
Monday – Potato and Cheese Perogies $5
Tuesday – Italian Meatball Subs $5
Wednesday – Chicken Alfredo $5
Thursday – Chicken Strips with Hashbrowns $5
Colonel Irvine Winter Band Concert
Date: Monday December 18
Time: 6:30 pm (students should arrive in concert dress at 5:45 pm)
Place: John G Diefenbaker High School (Gymnasium) - 6620 4 St NW
The dress code is concert dress, meaning:
· Solid black pants or skirt Clean, solid black shoes and black socks/tights
· Colonel Irvine Band/Music shirt
· Students are responsible for bringing their own instrument and folder to the concert
This has been discussed in class so that they are as prepared as possible.
We anticipate that the concert should be over between 8:00 and 8:30.
Band Shirts
At the main page after parent login at MYCBE PowerSchool website (not the Apps),
* select "Fees, Waiver and Service Registration" box or at the left side
column menu, closer to the bottom of the page, it will bring you to a
new page
* select your child's name just below the CBE logo,
* select "School Based Optional Fees" (you need to scroll down a
little bit to find this), then select “School Store Sale – Band Shirt” to add to your cart, then pay.
Athletics
|
Wrestling Mr. Chang
Ms. Fan |
Practices: Tuesday & Thursdays 3:45 - 5 |
Quad Meets Dec. 14 @ Colonel Irvine 5-7pm
Jan. 11 @ Ted Harrison Jan. 16 @ Mount Royal
Divisionals, Jan. 31 @ Sunridge Badminton Centre |
High School:
Thank you to parents for asking questions about this section. I would like to clarify that school tours happen during the daytime and are for students only. At this point we are planning to take designated students on the daytime tours at Fowler, Diefenbaker and North Trail High schools on tours during the school day. If your student is designated to another high school and you’d like them to go on the daytime tour, you will need to get them to the school and call in their attendance. Open Houses for all schools occur in the evenings and are a chance for parents and students to go and tour the school together.
James Fowler High School - Save the Date
Monday, January 29, 2024 – School Tour and Open House (more info closer to)
Forest Lawn & Jack James
Please save the date! Jan 29, 2024 will be Gr 9 Tours & Open House (see school website).
North Trail High School
Open House January 25, 2024 from 6:30-8:00pm
AP Presentation at 7:30pm
John G. Diefenbaker High School
January 25th - Diefenbaker Open House 6:30-8:00 p.m.
*January 29th 2:30 - 3:30 Alternate Abbreviated Afternoon Open House.
*Due to numerous complexities/limitations were are unable to run traditional grade 9 tours. Our intention is to have as many families as possible attend the Open House evening. As we know some families will not be able to attend in the evening, we are also offering an abbreviated version of the open house on the afternoon of the 29th. Families will need to register for this ahead of time.
Updated: Spotlight on Wellness - Stress
We all feel stress, for a variety of reasons. Over the next few weeks the Spotlight on Wellness will focus on stress (What is stress? How can it affect us? What can we do to help our students cope with stress?) Stress is what you feel when you have to handle more than you are used to. When you are stressed, your body responds as though you are in danger. It makes hormones that speed up your heart, make you breathe faster, and give you a burst of energy. This is called the fight-or-flight stress response. Some stress is normal and even useful. Stress can help if you need to work hard or react quickly. For example, it can help you win a race or finish an important job on time. Remind yourself and your students that stress can be helpful and is not always bad.
When is stress a problem? If stress happens too often or lasts too long, it can have bad effects. It can be linked to headaches, an upset stomach, back pain, and trouble sleeping. It can weaken your immune system, making it harder to fight off disease. If you already have a health problem, stress may make it worse. It can make you moody, tense, or depressed. Your relationships may suffer, and you may not do well at work or school.
What can you do about stress?
The good news is that you can learn ways to manage stress. To get stress under control:
· Find out what is causing stress in your life.
· Look for ways to reduce the amount of stress in your life.
· Learn healthy ways to relieve stress and reduce its harmful effects. Stay tuned next week for more ways to help manage stress.