Good afternoon, Colonel Irvine School community.
下午好! 学文学校社区,
Firstly, thank you to all the parents that reached out to us before, during and after the strike. The support has been heartfelt by our staff. While the recent strike and the implementation of Bill 2 have created mixed emotions, our teachers and staff are eager to reconnect with students and return to the work we care most about - teaching and learning.
Please know that although emotions remain high, our staff’s commitment to students has not changed. We are genuinely happy to see our students again and to re-establish the sense of community that makes Colonel Irvine School such a special place.
Over the next few weeks, we will be taking time to reconnect, reassess, and refocus on classroom learning and relationships. To support this transition, there will be a temporary pause on all off-site trips and special in-school activities while we settle back into our routines. This includes athletics as we are waiting to hear further from our middle school athletic council. As soon as we have more information, we will share it with families.
We know that students were looking forward to having Halloween activities today, but we simply did not have enough time to make it happen. It was still great to see some of our students and staff in costumes today. We will have other opportunities later in the school year for special activities and events.
We will have our annual Remembrance Day ceremonies on Friday, November 7th. The grade 5-7 ceremony will occur from 9:15-10:00am and grade 8 and 9 ceremony between 10:10-11:05am. We will have a special speaker with us during the ceremonies. Parents/guardians are welcome to attend but please email wbferguson@cbe.ab.ca so that we can plan accordingly. We would like to encourage students, if possible, to bring a non-perishable food item next week for the Veterans food Bank and also a loonie for poppies, which will go to the Legion. Thank you for your support and kindness. Together, we can make a difference.
As part of our commitment to increasing students' sense of belonging at school and building their understanding of each other, we acknowledge Diwali, India's most important holiday of the year. This year, Diwali was on October 20th. This five-day festival of lights was celebrated by millions of people across the world. It celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, and the human ability to overcome. If you celebrate Diwali, we hope this season brings happiness, peace, and warmth to your homes, filling each moment with love, laughter, and togetherness. May the coming year be filled with health, prosperity, and bright opportunities for you and your loved ones.
Lastly, a reminder for everyone to turn back their clock one hour on Saturday night as daylight-saving ends on Sunday. You will get an extra hour of sleep.
As always, we appreciate your understanding and continued support as we rebuild momentum and focus on what matters most — our students’ success and well-being.
Ms. Ko & Ms. Ferguson
Dates to Remember:
Friday, November 7 – Remembrance Day Ceremonies
Tuesday November 18 - Grade 6 Vaccines
Tuesday, November 18 – School Council 6:30pm - online
Wednesday, November 19 – Individual Photo Day
Friday, November 28– Non-instructional day – No School - Parent Teacher Interviews – 8:30-11:30am and 12:30-3:00pm Online
Wednesday, December 10 – Individual Picture Retakes
School Council
Save the date: Mark your calendars for our next meeting, Tuesday Nov. 18 at 6.30pm. Agenda, meeting link, and supporting documents will be sent out next week.
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 –Chicken Burger $5
Tuesday – Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup $5
Wednesday – Spaghetti with Meat Sauce $5
Thursday – Chicken Strips and Hashbrowns $5
Athletics
All athletics have been postponed until further notice.
Chinese Emotional Support Hotline (also in Simplified and Traditional Chinese below)
If you like to talk to somebody in Chinese, you are more than welcome to call Chinese Emotional Support hotline at 587-997-5977. Our well-trained hotline volunteers can provide you with emotional support and connect you to community resources for further help. The hotline is staffed by over 100 Chinese speaking volunteers. All volunteers & staff have received culturally tailored extensive training in supportive listening, crisis and mental health topics including suicide, family violence, child protection, crisis response and community resources.
Our hotline offers immediate short-term emotional support. We also offer peer support groups and webinars which help our community members better their mental health in the long term. We empower our callers to improve their ability to deal with daily stressors by working collaboratively with them to explore coping strategies and come up with action plans.
Our services are completely free, confidential, and non-judgmental.
Disclaimers:
· If you or someone is in immediate danger – please call 911
· While we will keep all our calls confidential, in cases where there is someone in immediate danger, we may have to reach out to 911 to ensure safety. Additionally, in cases of child abuse, it is required by law for us to contact Children Services. If this may concern you, please reach out to us and our volunteers will help explain this further.
Simplified Chinese华人情绪支援专线 如果您想用中文与人交谈，我们非常欢迎您拨打中文情绪支援专线587-997-5977。我们训练有素的热线义工可以为您提供情绪支援，并将您与社区资源联系起来以获得进一步的帮助。该热线由 100 多名中文义工组成。所有义工和工作人员都接受了支援性倾听、危机和心理健康主题的针对文化的广泛培训，包括自杀、家庭暴力、儿童保护、危机应对和社区资源。 我们的热线提供即时短期情绪支援。我们也提供同侪支援小组和网路研讨会，帮助我们的社区成员长期改善他们的心理健康。我们透过与来电者合作探索应对策略并制定行动计划，帮助他们提高应对日常压力的能力。 我们的服务完全免费、保密且不带评判性。
Traditional Chinese華人情緒支援專線 如果您想用中文與人交談，我們非常歡迎您撥打中文情緒支援專線587-997-5977。我們訓練有素的熱線義工可以為您提供情緒支援，並將您與社區資源聯系起來以獲得進一步的幫助。該熱線由 100 多名中文義工組成。所有義工和工作人員都接受了支援性傾聽、危機和心理健康主題的針對文化的廣泛培訓，包括自殺、家庭暴力、兒童保護、危機應對和社區資源。 我們的熱線提供即時短期情緒支援。我們也提供同儕支援小組和網路研討會，幫助我們的社區成員長期改善他們的心理健康。我們透過與來電者合作探索應對策略並制定行動計劃，幫助他們提高應對日常壓力的能力。 我們的服務完全免費、保密且不帶評判性。
Child and Youth Well Being – Family and Caregiver Series