A Slice of PIE

Where Life and Learning Meet

January 2025

Volume 15, Issue 5

Welcome back to school!

We hope that you and your families had a restful and fun Winter Break! ⛄

January is about new beginnings and we can see that many of you are off to a great start. Do you know why January is called January? Learn a little bit about this month at 60 Seconds History!

📆 Important Dates

Black Excellence Day

January 15th is officially recognized as Black Excellence Day.

For more information please check out Black Excellence Day and The Black Pulse Project.

Literacy Week: Jan 26 - Feb 2, 2025

In BC, we celebrate Family Literacy Week January 26th – February 2nd, 2025. #FLW2025

This year’s theme for Family Literacy Day and Family Literacy Week is “Learn to be Green, Together.”

How do you plan on celebrating this week? Click below for some family friendly ideas!

📸 Be sure to take and share pictures of any literacy activities you do! Tag School District 47 @PIE_sd47 and #SD47Literacy if you are comfortable doing so.

Family Literacy Week Resources

🧧 Lunar New Year 2025 🧨

Lunar New Year! 新年快乐

There is so much to learn about the exciting Chinese celebration known as Lunar New Year!

Did you know that Lunar New Year is 16 days long? Or that there are 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac? Click on some of the resources below to learn more!

🐍 Year of the Snake🐍

2025 Online Learners Survey

Students and their parents/caregivers in Grades 4, 7, 10, 11 and 12 have been invited (via email) to complete this survey.

The Online Learning Survey is a key data component of the Accountability and Quality Assurance Process for Provincial Online Learning Schools and is an important source of province-wide information about student’s Online Learning experiences. Our school’s participation is an important contribution to understanding and improving the Online Learning educational experiences of students across the province.

We will be sending this survey to students in the targeted grades each year, going forward, so you will be able to add your contributions in a upcoming grade if you/your child is not in one of the targeted grades this year.

The survey’s start date was January 13, 2025, and will be open until February 24, 2025. On the login page, individuals will choose their school and select if they are a parent/caregiver or a student in one of the targeted grades.

2025 Online Learning Survey

💡 PIE Centre Spotlight 💡

PIE Comox Valley

PIE has had a presence in the Comox Valley for over 20 years. In that time, what we've been able to offer has evolved in collaboration with the whole community - students, their families and staff. From suggestions such as, "we should have pie at PIE events" from one of our students, to "we should have a field trip day" from our staff, traditions and a connected school culture (including our qathet and Bowen Island connected centres) have grown PIE into the innovative Provinicial Online Learning School we are all so grateful to be part of.

In the Comox Valley, specifically, we have grown from one teacher and approximately 14 students to over 400 students assigned to our 15 teachers. These students and teachers are all supported by 4 EAs, 1 office administrator and one principal. Having PIE staff here in this community has helped to build relationships with students and their families and has been an essential component of finding local supports for students and families needing extra help in their home learning journey.

After many years of renting an outbuilding, with limited hours of use and storage space, from the Courtenay Rec Centre, we finally have a building that is ours to use 24/7. This has allowed us to expand our offerings of In-Person Opportunities to full days for three different age groups, to keep on hand a large variety of educational materials, and most importantly provided a space for us to connect with each other on a more regular basis. Students, parents/caregivers and staff have repeatedly commented on how much they are enjoying this new space this year. We are looking forward to many years of buidling new memories and traditions in our little building with pie-shaped gables.

💻 Group Events 🎒

Black Excellence Day Assembly

Fun times at the WIP climbing gym in the Comox Valley!

UBC Indigenous STEM Online Python Coding Series

PIE students joined the UBC Indigenous STEM team for a series of fun coding lessons.

Winter Art at the CV Building

Mars Wildlife Rescue Centre

Students in the Comox Valley learned about owls with ‘Marlowe’ (named a few years ago by a previous PIE student). Marlowe is a Barred Owl ambassador, from the MARS Wildlife Rescue Centre. Students also made posters to raise awareness about MARS.

🧠 Mental Health Matters 👍🏼

SD47 features numerous wellness websites on the portal. One website, Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre, offers a variety of tips and resources. Why not check out the Where You Are Podcast for practical tips and strategies that you can use to promote your own and your family's mental health and wellness?

👉 Where You Are Podcast 🎧