EE Oliver Elementary

Welcome back to a year of “Engaged Learning for a Successful Future” at E.E. Oliver Elementary School! I am excited to welcome the staff and students back to school for the 2020-2021 school year. It is great to see new faces along with those who are returning. A special welcome to Mrs. Gamble, who has returned to EEO as our Vice Principal after a three year absence. She is an asset to our school!

Since our students have walked in the school doors on September 8th, I have been impressed with the level of respect and positive behaviors that I have seen. Through the guidance of a dedicated, caring staff, and the support of families, the students will achieve despite the challenges of a very unique year! At EEO, we will be focusing on quality academic core instruction, mental and physical health, socialization within our cohorts, and safety. It will be a pleasure to watch the students develop in all aspects and become contributing members of our community.

Thank you for the support that I have felt beginning my new role as Principal. I am looking forward to working with all of you and I encourage you to join our parent council to engage with our school community. Your involvement with the school will look different this year, but it is still very appreciated. Please contact us with any questions or thoughts you may have on how to make 2020-2021 the best learning experience for our children. Have a wonderful year!

Ms. Krol

EE Oliver Principal

Email: krole@prsd.ab.ca
Website: eeoliverelementary.ca
Phone: 7808352225

Schools throughout Peace River School Division (PRSD) are hosting cohorted walks and runs, activities and various challenges in honor of the Terry Fox legacy and to raise money for cancer research. School participation in Terry Fox events is important to PRSD as it raises awareness to an important cause while at the same time promotes the attributes of citizenship, generosity, leadership and kindness.

Donations to cancer research can be made at your local community school or online where schools are registered to accept donations. PRSD extends heartfelt thanks to our school communities for your generosity and support in this very important cause.

This year EE Oliver will be holding our Terry Fox Run on Friday, September 25th. We wish to invite any parents to come and run with their child. It's going to be a blast!

Because our school pictures are scheduled that day, EEO will be wearing orange armbands on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 to recognize Every Child Matters. We will also be having Orange Shirt Day related class activities.

We will wear our orange shirts on Friday, October 2nd.

Parents/guardians are invited to join our Parent Council for the 2020-2021 school year!

The Parent Council Annual General Meeting will be held at 7p.m. on October 1st at the school. Elections will be held at this time. This is a great opportunity to discuss how the school year start up has gone, and discuss ideas to enhance our school community. This meeting will be in person but it is anticipated that future meetings will have an option to join in through google meet.

Day 1 looked a little different from years past but it all went pretty smoothly.

A huge thank you to all of our parents for dropping your children off safely!

We are all counting down until our new bus loop and parking lots are finished.

Here's a glimpse of what it looked like inside

Peace River School Division (PRSD) warmly congratulates Zdenka Hansen, PRSD spare school bus driver and Transportation/Maintenance Shop Support Worker for being selected as PRSD’s 2020 Transportation Award of Excellence recipient. The annual award celebrates the dedication and commitment of transportation staff.

“I am overwhelmed and grateful to be nominated for this award” says Zdenka. “I like everything about my job especially seeing the kids. I enjoy working with my co-workers, I feel supported by others and the atmosphere is very positive. I decided to start driving bus as I was a stay-at-home mom and I could take my children on the bus with me – I love my job.”

Zdenka has worked with PRSD for seven years serving as a spare school bus driver in the Peace River region and also provides support at the PRSD Transportation Office.

During the month of June, the PRSD Transportation Department asked the public to weigh in on who they felt was deserving of the award through online submissions. A total of eight nominations were received with Zdenka being the employee with the highest amount of nominations received.

Some of the comments from nominations include:

● “Zdenka finds unique ways to support students by being a spare driver that we can count on for almost every run.”
● “She knows the names of many of the students on my bus and has only driven a few times.”
● “She cares about and respects each individual student. She makes sure the kids are safe and my kids get excited when they know she is covering for me.”
● “She is always giving 100% to her job. She keeps the shop clean, she helps drivers out by washing, fueling and moving buses.”
● “As a spare driver, she deals with everyone’s kids. I think that is pretty amazing. She treats my kids as if they were her own route.”
●“She works hard in the shop, on the bus and with her friends and family. She loves her job and students, and sets the bar pretty high, plus she bakes for everyone.”

“On behalf of the board of trustees, I am thrilled to congratulate Zdenka for being nominated and selected for this important award” says PRSD Board Chair Darren Kuester. “We extend our gratitude to her for her important contributions to students, colleagues and the division as a whole.”

Zdenka was presented with the award during a special ceremony with colleagues and transportation management staff in August. Superintendent Paul Bennett and Support Services Director John Przybylski presented Zdenka with the award and John shared commentary from nominations received regarding Zdenka's contributions.

Welcome Back

It is my pleasure to welcome you all back for the 2020-21 school year. I hope you had a great summer.

This certainly is not a typical start to the school year and I would like to thank our students, parents and staff for their support, adaptability and patience as we coordinate the re-opening of schools. I have had the great pleasure of speaking with many families over the past month to discuss school re-entry and hear their concerns. These conversations have provided us with a better understanding of the complexities that school re-entry has in the lives of our families. Thank you for your time and openness in sharing. I am humbled by, and not surprised by the level of care, support and understanding especially during this uncertain time. Please know that it is our highest commitment to ensure the safety of our students and we will continue to honor their well-being as we start this new, and different, school year.

As you are aware, we are starting the year in Scenario 1 (in-school classes resume, near-normal operations with health measures) as directed by the Alberta Government. Please view the PRSD Quick Guide for Families that provides key points from the PRSD Scenario 1 Re-entry Plan.

Please be advised that things may shift and change depending on the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. This could mean that we shift to Scenario 2 (in-school classes partially resume with additional health measures) or Scenario 3 (at-home learning continues, in-school classes are cancelled). All three Scenario Relaunch Plans are available on our website at prsd.ab.ca. Please note that these decisions are and will be mandated by the Alberta Government upon the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

I would like to take a moment to thank our staff for their dedication and tireless work in preparing our schools for re-entry. The level of determination and care demonstrated by our staff is noticed and very much appreciated. This school year will certainly look different, and preparing for re-entry has been challenging, but I can honestly say the positive attitude and mindset of our staff clearly demonstrates our mission statement “learning together, success for all.”

In closing, I would like to thank our students, parents, families, staff, community members and organizations for your support and involvement in education. Together we are able to provide students with safe and caring learning environments that foster student success and well-being. Your involvement makes a significant difference in the overall operation and atmosphere of our schools as it also translates to a strong sense of community and support.

From all of us at Peace River School Division, we wish you a great 2020-2021 school year.

Paul Bennett, PRSD Superintendent

Children are our most precious resource and by following basic transportation safety and reinforcing positive safety habits we can help to keep children safe throughout the school year.

School buses are simply the safest way to transport children to school. The design of the school bus is governed by several federal regulations and by Canadian Standards Association standard D250. Of all Alberta collisions, those involving school buses account for less than 0.5%. Our goal each day is to transport all students safely to and from school. Our bus drivers continually participate in on and off road training and perform mock bus evacuations with students. All our school buses are regularly inspected and maintained, installed with safety equipment such as electronic “No Child Left Behind” devices, GPS systems, and some even have cameras to monitor inside and outside of the vehicle.

Please take a few minutes to talk to your children about school bus safety. Advise them to wait to cross the road until the lights are flashing on the bus and the stop sign is out, the driver indicates that you are clear to go and that you look both ways, and not to cross the road until all vehicles have come to a stop. If you have young children, be sure to meet them on the same side of the road that the school bus is on. This may prevent them from running across the road without looking.

Also please note that National School Bus Safety Week is October 18-24th 2020 and this year’s theme is “My driver, my hero.”

Safety Advisory Committee

September

25th - Terry Fox Run

29th - School pictures - T/Th Kindergarten & Grades 1-3

30th - School Pictures - W/F Kindergarten & Grades 4-6

Orange Armband day

October

2nd - Orange Shirt Day - wear orange

9th-12th - NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Weekend

16th - Jersey Day

26th - NO SCHOOL PD Day