As we prepare to turn the calendar to December, it’s incredible how quickly the year has flown by! This month promises to be filled with excitement, community, and celebration.

We’ll kick off the month with our December Assembly on Thursday, December 5th, followed closely by the Ice Breaker Basketball Tournament on December 6th and 7th. We encourage everyone to come out and cheer on our Sr. High Boys basketball team—it’s a great opportunity to support our athletes and enjoy the school spirit. Later in the month, our Christmas activities will begin. On Thursday, December 12th, the elementary classes will present our Christmas Concert, with a dress rehearsal at 1:00 PM and the evening performance at 7:00 PM. Both of these performances are open to families to attend.

One of the highlights of the season, our Christmas Dinner, will take place on Tuesday, December 17th. This tradition brings us together as a school community to share a delicious meal, thanks to the support of our school council and parent volunteers. Students will enjoy the meal seated in their Squads. This will also be our Formal Day, part of our Christmas Theme Week. Be sure to check the newsletter for details on other theme days planned for that week.

As we approach the holiday break, we’ll also see some staffing transitions. On December 20th, Mr. Charchun will conclude his time with the Grade 9 and 10 Science classes and Physics 20, as Mrs. Walker returns from maternity leave in January to assume these courses. Following the break, Mr. Charchun will join our Grade 4 classroom. This also means we’ll say goodbye to Mrs. Tucker, whose dedication and familiarity have been invaluable to the Grade 4 class during this period. We’re very grateful for her contributions.

Additionally, we are in the process of finalizing our team for the CASA program, which will bring three new staff members to our school. A complete staffing update will be shared once all positions are confirmed.

For our high school students, a friendly reminder: exams will come quickly! Now is the perfect time to catch up on any missing assignments and connect with teachers to discuss ways to improve marks. Staying proactive and checking PowerSchool regularly for updates on grades and feedback can help reduce last-minute stress.

Our school’s Annual Education Results Report (AERR) for 2024-25 is now available on our school website. This report highlights essential data on our school’s progress over the past year and provides a comparison of our performance with the rest of BRSD and the province. From this information, we identify critical goals for the upcoming school year and beyond.

To learn more, visit the Education Goals page under the About section on our website.

As we wrap up 2024, we wish all our families a joyful and memorable holiday season. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us at the office.

December

2 to 5 - Scholastic Book Fair

4 - ELLA Post-Secondary Fair (pm)

4 - Jr. B-Ball vs Forestburg

5 - THEME DAY - Squad Colour Day (see below for more info)

5 - Sr. Boys B-Ball vs CCA

6 - Staff Meeting/PD/Collaboration Day (no school for students)

6/7 - Ice Breaker Tournament

9 - Jr. B-Ball vs Tofield

12 - Elementary Christmas Concert Dress Rehearsal 1:00pm

12 - Elementary Christmas Concert 7:00pm

12 - Sr. Boys B-Ball @ Viking

17 - Christmas Dinner

23 to January 3 - Christmas Break

Fees have been added for Quarter 2 Junior High Art. Current school fee statements have been emailed to families. Please make payments online or at the school by cash or cheque to BRSD at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

Our Volleyball seasons have come to an end, with all of our teams seeing a lot of growth and success. Congratulations to our Jr. Girls who placed third at Regionals, and to our Sr. Girls who won silver at Provincials! You all represented yourselves and our school very well!

Thank you to our volunteer coaches:

Minis - Miss Pfeffer & Mrs. McKay

Jr. High - Kim Loesch & Mrs. Tobler

Sr. High - Mrs. Reber & Mrs. Schlaut

Our Basketball seasons are beginning. Jr. and Sr, High practices have started, and league games will begin next week. Students have been assigned fees and forms in PowerSchool - be sure to get those in by December 5th. They have also been given Student Conduct Agreements that must be signed and returned to Mrs. Tobler. Good luck players!

Mini Dunkers will begin in January, with a few lunch time practices starting in December. More information to come!

Our International Travel students are preparing for their March trip! Remember to get your permission forms signed and brought back by December 13. Also, students should be working on their credit assignment in their spare time!

Parents are reminded that Board policy requires all students who ride the bus to wear (or carry) clothing suitable for the weather conditions. This includes headgear, hand covering, and appropriate footwear. Students who arrive at school inappropriately dressed will not be allowed to ride home or to/from sporting events or school planned field trips until they have proper gear dropped off or are picked up by a parent.

As we enter the season of weather related bus delays and cancellations, BRSD would like to remind parents to check their school website or the BRSD website for updates. If there is a change to the schedule it will appear in an ALERT banner at the top of the website. If there is no banner, all routes are running as scheduled. Every family affected by a bus route delay or cancellation also receives an automated phone message.

Daysland School Learning Commons

Wednesday, January 15 @ 7:00pm

Everyone Welcome!

You can also attend virtually.

Check the Daysland School website the day of the meeting for the link.

Parent Portal passwords must be reset every 6 months. This cannot be completed using the App. If you are having trouble with your portal not updating, try logging in using the link on our website and update your password. Please see below for other advantages to using the Web Browser.

If you are interested in purchasing Daysland School clothing, please visit

https://dayslandschool.entripyshops.com

Orders can be placed at any time of the year and will ship directly to the purchaser.

In attendance: Teena Kasha, Laura Zwack, Wes Wilson (Principal), Jeanni Hoermann,

Brenda McKay, Alison Eshpeter, Kirby Schmidt-Teigen, Jenni Thomas (Assistant Principal)

II. Guest - Pat McFeely, Chair of Battle River School Division Board of Trustees

III. Open Floor Shout Out - To Cristin Zimmer and Adrian Ketchmark for getting Hot Lunch organized and going so early in the year. To Mrs. McKay for "always being awesome".

IV. Review of Agenda - Addition of School Attendance Boundaries for New Business. Motion: Laura moved the moved agenda be accepted with addition. Kirby seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.

V. Approval of minutes from last meeting - Minutes from May 22, 2024 were circulated prior to meeting. Motion: Kirby moved the minutes to be accepted as circulated. Jeanni seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.

VI. Correspondence - Alison emailed Pat McFeely about school attendance boundaries who is now attending this meeting to respond to previous correspondence around attendance boundaries.

VII. Reports

a) Administrator (Mr. Wilson)

1. Shout Outs to Start the Year:

a) Staff and students for a smooth return to school.

b) Welcome back breakfast - staff for doing a great job preparing.

2. School Enrollment Information

a) We currently have 233 students enrolled in K-12.

b) Increase of 14 students from where we left in June.

3. New staff to the building

a) Miss Pfeffer - Mrs. Lang (until February)

b) Mr. Charchun - Mrs. Walker (until Christmas)

4. Upcoming Staff Change

a) Lori Robbins will be leaving her position as Admin, Assistant/EA.

b) Her positions will be filled internally by staff who are currently part time.

5. Supports in our building this year

a) Crystal Rapson - SWF (formerly FSLW)

b) Emma Enright - MHCB

c) Theresa Kruchten - Career Counsellor

d) Clayton Roe - Off Campus Coordinator

e) Margaret Carlson - Colony Principal

6. The athletics season has started:

a) Coaches

• Mrs. Reber - Sr. Girls VB
• Kim Loesch - Jr. Girls VB
• Mrs. Tobler - Jr. Boys VB
• Mr. Charchun - Golf
• Mrs. Tobler/Mrs. V. Zimmer - Cross Country
• Currently looking for Mini Slammers coach

7. Terry Fox Run

a) Tueday, September 24th - run in grade combination (older students with younger).

b) Collecting Toonies for Terry

8. Real Time Reporting to continue

a) No official report card to be shared and feedback will continue to be provided in a timely manner with the focus on Literacy and Numeracy in elementary and core subjects in secondary classes.

b) This is not longer a pilot but is BRSD wide.

9. Parent Teacher Interviews

a) Scheduled for tomorrow.

b) We choose to start them early to establish relationships with teachers and parents early, which should cultivate consistent communication throughout the year. This is especially important with Real Time Reporting.

10. Celebration Focus Continues This Year

a) Student Celebrations - Student/Staff Member of the Week.

b) Assemblies - will be the first Tuesday of every month.

c) Squads

• Cross-graded groups
• Activities/events will be planned on our staff collaboration day this Monday, as well as in conjunction with our SAVY group.
• Scarecrows will be our first squad activity in October.

11. National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

a) September 30th

b) This is a day off for students and staff.

12. Picture Day with Smart Photography

a) October 4th

13. Jr./Sr. High Awards Night

a) Friday, October 11th

14. Hope Mission Lunch Program

a) Program that provides lunches to students throughout BRSD.

b) We are welcoming them into our school this year. They will make as many lunched as we need.

c) Our messaging has been that if you need something extra or you do not have lunch for whatever reason, you are welcome to take something from the healthy options provided.

d) Students need to eat the lunches provided from home first.

e) Extras are being used for our breakfast program.

15. Change in Newsletter Communication

a) Last Wednesday of the month.

b) Important dated sent out on Wednesday for the following week.

16. Provincials

a) Possible hoodie purchase

17. New Benches

a) Installed in the last week.

b) We will have a plaque installed on the secondary bench.

18. School Handbook

a) Please review if you would like to. It will remain in draft form until the end of September. Use this link to view it.

b) We will post it on the website on October 1st.

19. Request for Breakfast Program Helpers

a) We are looking for volunteers to assist with the baking breakfast program items.

b) Items can be made at home but they must follow the guidelines that are set forth by AHS regarding bake sales.

c) A list of ingredients should be provided in the event we have allergy questions.

20. School Generated Funds - August 31, 2024 Report Summary

b) Room Rep Assignments:

Kindergarten: Hannah Stefanishion

Grade 1: Chantelle Hayes

Grade 2: Laura Zwack

Grade 3: Kristie Nahajowich

Grade 4: Alison Eshpeter

Grade 5: Kirby Schmidt-Teigen

Grade 6: Brenda McKay

Grade 7/8: Cristin Zimmer

Grade 9: Candice Guhle

Grade 10: Carrie Carriere

Grade 11: Teena Kasha

Grade 12: Jeanni Hoermann

VIII. Business arising from minutes:

IX. New business:

a) Election of Officers:

i. Jeanni nominated Teena for President, Kirby for Vice-President, and Alison for Secretary. Brenda seconded. Teena, Kirby, and Alison accepted their nominations. All in favour of motion. Motion carried.

b) Attendance Boundaries - Pat McFeely addressed questions from School Council about attendance boundary changes, specifically why the boundary between Daysland and Bawlf schools was not addressed to be halfway between each town. Pat stated this was not an area that was brought up on the survey done in winter/spring 2024 with consultant's review. School Council noted that survey questions did not prompt respondents to express concerns about this boundary. According to Pat, this boundary will not be addressed by current Board of Trustees.

X. Adjournment

Teena adjourned the meeting at 8:30pm.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 16, 2024, 7:00pm at Daysland School.

In attendance: Teena Kasha, Laura Zwack, Wes Wilson (Pirncipal), Jeanni Hoermann, Alison Eshpeter, Cristin Zimmer, Kirby Schmidt-Teigen, Chantelle Hayes, Candice Guhle, Carrie Carriere, Jenni Thomas (Assistant Principal)

I. Teena Kasha called to order the regular meeting of the Daysland School Council at 7:05pm.

II. Open Floor Shout Out - Sponsors and teacher of Jr./Sr. High Awards Night. Volleyball coaches for a fun year so far! Mrs. V. Zimmer and Mrs. Tobler for Cross Country coaching.

III. Review of Agenda - Motion: Laura moved the agenda be accepted. Candice seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.

IV. Approval of minutes from last meeting - Minutes from September 18, 2024 were circulated prior to meeting. Correction to read "...change will not be addressed by current Board of Trustees." Motion: Kirby moved minutes to be accepted as corrected. Jeanni seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.

V. Correspondence - None

VI. Reports

a) Administrator (Mr. Wilson)

1. Shout Outs

a) Staff for assisting with Awards Night

2. Staffing Update

a) Kennedy Sieben's last day with us on Friday

b) Replacement for October 21st-December 20th

c) Kyler Charchun will take the position for the remainder of the the year following the Christmas break when Rae-Ann Walker returns.

3. Professional Learning Series - October 11th

a) We had our staff meeting in the morning

b) Planned our School Squad activities for the upcoming months

c) Worked on Student Support Plan collaboratively

d) Center for Trauma Informed Practices - CTIP Guidelines for Implementation of Cell Phone Policies and other Personal Mobile Devices )PMD) in Canadian Schools

4. School Photos Update

a) Retakes on November 7th

5. Halloween Plans - October 31st

a) Elementary students to get ready following lunch and tour Providence Place at lunch time

b) Everyone will arrive in the gym for the parade at 2:00 and pie throwing contest to end the day

6. Scarecrow Plans

a) First Squad planned activity is Scarecrow building on Tuesday, October 22nd

b) Student donated materials due on Friday

7. Guest Presenter - Ian Tyson

a) SAVY selected speaker

b) Focuses on optimism, resilience, and kindness

c) Presenting on October 25th at 10:15 and we are hosting Flagstaff students in Gr. 7 -12

d) Sponsored by FFCS - paying for the speaker and transportation of other schools to Daysland

8. Theme Day

a) Twin Day - November 5th

b) Starting in December we will move to the first Thursday of each month

c) We will let everyone know the week prior

9. Other Upcoming Dates

a) Lakeland Open House - October 18th

b) Grade 9 Take Our Kid to Work Day - November 6th

c) Remembrance Day Assembly - November 7th

d) Fall Break for students - November 11th -15th

e) Christmas Concert - December 12th

f) Christmas Dinner - December 17th

b) Room Rep Assignments:

Kinderarten (Hannah Stafanishion): Mrs. Tanton - Everything is hunky dory in Kindergarten so far this year. In September we went apple tree picking, it was a slim pickings kind of picking experience but it was enough for the Kinder Kids to make a batch of applesauce. Ok, to be honest, I may have bought a few extra apples and left them on the ground to the Kinders to discover, much to their delight, to make the harvest a little more bountiful, lol. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! Last week the Kinders had a field trip to the Daysland Fire Hall. They were fantastic hosts to us, as usual. The Kinders were able to try on helmets and firefighter gear, like the real deal gear! They sat in and checked out the fire trucks and the Peace Officer vehicle, pushed a lot of noisy siren buttons, and each had a ride on the electric stretcher lift in the ambulance. Last but not least they were able to hold the fire hose and give Dane Davis his yearly shower. We all had a smashing time! This coming Friday afternoon the Kindergarten is hosting their annual grandparents day event at the school. The kinders will be busy making & baking tarts for their guests tomorrow. They have 5 Halloween themed centers that they are going to guide their grandparents through on Friday. We will end the event with some special dances that the Kinders will do with their grandparents, cause it's not a true party if there isn't dancing! That's all for now from the Kinder Patch. :)

Grade 1 (Chantelle Hayes): Miss Pfeffer - Our class has been settling in nicely. We have our routines down and are starting to dive into reading and writing. Our most recent project, "Turkeys In Disguise" was a huge hit. The students loved creating their turkey disguise and writing about their turkeys. We have finished our pattern unit in math and are working on counting now. We have been focusing on comparing objects in science, and 'groups we belong in' during social.

Grade 2 (Laura Zwack): Mrs. Schlaut - Everything in grade two is moving along smoothly. We have figured out our classroom routines and are enjoying every day with each other. We are continuing to learn our letter sounds with UFLI and are seeing everyone grow in their reading skills and spelling skills. We have finished reading The Wild Robot just in time to watch the movie. It was unanimous that everyone in grade two loved the movie. In Math, we are learning how to represent numbers to 100 with Base Ten Blocks. We are also working on recognizing numbers that are greater by playing a game called: Place Value War. It is fun! We have started our new unit in Science called Exploring Materials. We are learning that materials can be combined to make an object that we can use. We have created and labelled an object of our own with different materials. It was fun to see what everyone created and used. This science unit will be very hands on! In Social Studies, we will continue to learn about Canada. It's going to be a great month in grade two!

Grade 3 (Kristie Nahajowich): Mrs. Schmidt-Teigen - We have spent the past six weeks settling into a great routine in our grade 3 classroom. We have tackled new skills such as handwriting, typing, and learning to study for a test. In ELAL we have also begun our first novel study, "Freckle Juice." For some of us, this is our first time reading a chapter book, which is really quite exciting! The new science curriculum has us conducting lots of investigations on states of matter. In Social Studies we are starting to explore the concept of Quality of Life and what that means for us and other children around the world. Math has us exploring numbers within 100,000. We're off to a great start in Grade Three!

Grade 4 (Alison Eshpeter): Mrs. Sieben - ELA: In ELA, the kids have been learning all about informative writing. They just wrapped up writing their first informative piece on a topic they were interested in. We have also been working on spelling skills with a program called Catch Up Your Code and weekly spelling tests. In addition, we have been doing Daily 5 (reading, writing/printing, word work, typing, and working with the teacher). Math: The kids finished their statistics unit by surveying elementary students and creating graphs based on the data. Since then, we have started place value with decimals. The kids learned about tenths and hundredths and have been learning how to compare and order decimal numbers. This week, we will be learning how decimal numbers are connected to expressing monetary values. Science: The grade 4s are learning about different ways to manage waste in the world. We just learned about different types of disposal methods, and students made their own compost cups, where we will apply the scientific method to determine which compost material decomposes the fastest. Social: We are learning about the different regions of Alberta. So far, we have covered the Canadian Shield and the Boreal Forest. This week, we will be learning about the Rocky Mountains and Foothills. The grade 4s will be having a party Thursday afternoon to celebrate our time together before I go on Friday. Mrs M Zimmer - We have just started learning French translations of classroom items (pens, pencils, backpacks, paper, etc.).

Grade 5 (Kirby Schmidt-Teigen): Mrs. Thomas - The Grade 5s have been busy this month. In Math, we have been looking at number concepts like constructing and deconstructing numbers in different ways. We have also been comparing and ordering numbers. Next, we are going to be learning about adding and subtracting large numbers in the millions. We are working on lengthening and varying our sentences in ELA, as well as working on learning some difficult vocabulary words every week. In Social we are in a Time and Place unit, where we have been looking at different ways to measure time and how to display it on a timeline, as well as learning about different types of maps, including how to draw and interpret topographic maps. In Science we are studying the different states of matter, how molecules behave in each, and how that relates to density and buoyancy. In addition to the academic pieces, many of the Grade 5s are participating in mini slammers and have their first few games under their belts! It's been a great first 6 weeks of school!

Grade 6 (Brenda McKay): Mrs. McKay - Grade 6 is off to a great start! We have a couple of new students, and they are fitting in very comfortably. In ELA, we are almost finished with our novel study of The Breadwinner. As a fun wrap up, we will be heading to the Home Ec. room to make naan bread, rice, and tea with dried apricots for dessert. Students will also be completing final projects in the next week. In Math, we have just completed our unit on integers and will be moving into multiplying and dividing decimal numbers. In Social Studies, we had a test on Chapter 1 today, and will be starting Chapter 2, where we dive into the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In Science, we are learning about Particles and Temperature. I am hoping to pick up some dry ice soon so we can experiment with the phenomenon of sublimation - when a substance converts directly from a solid to a gas, without turning to a liquid in between.

Grade 7/8 (Cristin Zimmer): In Math 7, we wrapped up our second unit, Operations With Fractions, today and will be starting our third unit, Fractions, Decimals, & Percents, tomorrow.In Math 8, we are still working on our second unit, Fractions, but we are on track with our timeline for the year. In ELA, we're just starting up a novel study about a story where the main characters are BATS! It should be entertaining working on a new genre (fantasy) while breaking down prejudices along the way. It's been great moving this friendly group through content that we can adjust to the many levels of comprehension they have, and watching them assist each other is a perfect full-circle moment. All is well in science and social.

Grade 9 (Candice Guhle): Mrs. V. Zimmer - In Social 9, we have been learning about the government systems in Canada and how they impact our lives. This tight-knit group is loving all the assignments they get to do together to learn this potentially dry content, wink wink. Mr. Charchun - I must've accidentally deleted your original email but just wanted to quickly share what we are up to in Science 9 for the meeting tonight. We are currently in our last section of our first Unit which focuses on the Biology aspects within the Science 9 curriculum. Next we will move onto Unit E which is Space Exploration and the plan is to have that unit completed by Christmas Break. Mrs. M. Zimmer -We have officially finished the first unit of Math 9. All marks and comments have been updated for the unit. I have started doing non-calculator quizzes every 2ish weeks with the class. We will be practicing these throughout the year! Our newest unit, is Rational Numbers (decimal and fraction forms). We also have no Kleenex in most secondary classrooms. The grade 9s are down to the last box.

Grade 10 (Carrie Carriere): Mr Charchun - In Science 10 we recently completed our first Unit which focused on Chemistry. Right now in Science 10 we have just moved into our second Unit which focuses on the Physics portion of the curriculum. That is about all right now. Mrs V. Zimmer - In Social 10, we are covering the idea of imperialism impacting global relations even today, and what role we could and should play in situations around the world. The students are learning how to respond to sources like political cartoons and quotes with evidence-backed opinions that consider the whole issue, not just their own. It's been great hearing their voices in presentations so far! Mrs M. Zimmer - In Math 10-3, students have finished two units so far. We are currently learning about unit conversions, and converting SI and Metric units. This skill is valuable if students are entering both Math 10C or 20-3! On a side note, could you mention that we need some more kleenex in the high school rooms? Most high school students did not bring a box, even though it was on their supply list. Many snotty noses, so many, many kleenexes seem to be needed right now lol. Mrs Tobler - For me, I would just like to mention that the Sr High students have started selling Caesar's Pizza as a Sr High Fundraiser. Each student is encouraged to sell at least 10 kits. Students have all received pizza sales booklet that also has the online info and important dates on it. Sales are due Nov 1.

Grade 11 (Teena Kasha) - All is well.

Grade 12 (Jeanni Hoermann) - Physics 20 - We have completed our kinematics unit and we are currently working on addition of vectors and relative motion. English 30 - We are beginning our novel studies, it is an independently regulated work time on students choice of novel. HS Art - Canvas painting with acrylic paint. Personal project learning about shading, and various other applications of acrylic paint. (might have to edit that one into a sentence.) Math 30 - Both -1 and -2 are working through exponents and logarithms right now, we are close to reaching the halfway point in Math 30. Grads had a small meeting and discussed theme ideas and sweaters.

VII. Business arising from minutes:

VIII. New Business:

a) Virtual Meeting Option - General agreement that, although people have not been joining School Council meeting via virtual links, it involved minimal effort to give the option so we should continue to offer this option.

IX. Adjournment

Teena adjourned the meeting at 7:42pm

Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 20, 2024 7:00pm at Daysland School.

In attendance: Teena Kasha, Laura Zwack, Wes Wilson (Principal), Alison Eshpeter, Cristin Zimmer, Brenda McKay, Jenni Thomas (Assistant Principal), Chantelle Hayes

I. Teena Kasha called to order the regular meeting of the Daysland School Council at 7:02pm.

II. Open Floor Shout Out - Mrs. Tucker doing well bridging the grade 4 gap. Mrs. McKay and Miss Pfeffer for mini slammers coaching.

III. Review of Agenda - Addition of Fundraising policy under New Business. Motion: Laura moved the moved agenda be accepted with addition. Alison seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.

IV. Approval of minutes from last meeting - Minutes from October 16, 2024 were circulated prior to meeting. Laura moved minutes accepted as circulated. Cristin seconded. All in favour. Motion carried.

V. Correspondence - None

VI. Reports

a) Administrator (Mr. Wilson)

1. Shout outs

a) Volleyball seasons are over and they were very successful.

• Thank you to our coaches - Mrs. Reber & Mrs. Schlaut (sr. Girls), Kim Loesch (Jr. Girls), Mrs. Tobler (Jr. Boys), Miss Pfeffer & Mrs. McKay (Mini Slammers) for their time and hard work.

b) Karen Wolbeck for donating her time and resources to our front door display case.

2. CASA Program

a) Beginning in February 2025

b) CASA Classroom Information Page

• 1. CASA program - CASA Classroom School Council Information - Google Docs. Program will start February 1 for grades 7-10. Up to 12 students. Program is for kids who need extra mental health supports; they do not have behavioral concerns. Teacher is hired by BRSD, other staff external.
• 2. Annual Education Results Report - will be linked on School website by end of November. Mr. Wilson reviewed key findings and plans. anyone may connect with admin staff with questions.

3. Upcoming Dates

a) Quarter Two Jr. High Options started after the November Break.

• Art
• Drama

b) Ice Breaker basketball tournament: December 6th-7th

c) Christmas Concert: December 12th (1:00 Rehearsal Performance and 7:00 Evening Performance)

d) Christmas Dinner: December 17th

e) Christmas Break: Last day of class is Friday, December 20th and return January 6th.

4. Snow Days

a) Reminder to high school students and parents that if it is a cold weather day, core classes still need to press forward.

5. Sr. Girls Provincials

a) Girls head to provincials in Bonnyville tomorrow

6. Staffing Update

a) CASA teacher hired in the near future. The posting closes next week.

b) Mrs. Walker is back following Christmas Break.

c) Mr. Charchun will be our Gr. 4 teacher from the remainder of the year following Mrs. Walker's return.

• We were given the FTE to allow him to finish IA in January.
• Mrs. Walker will cover some Gr. 4 classes for the month of January, as well as some possible support for Math.

7. AERR School Results and Growth Plan

b) Room Rep Assignments:

Kindergarten (Hannah Stefanishion): Mrs. Tanton - No report.

Grade 1 (Chantelle Hayes): Miss Pfeffer - Our class had lots of fun on Halloween. The students worked hard on learning their Remembrance Day song and did an awesome job singing at the Remembrance Day Ceremony. We are continuing to review letters and their sounds. Students have been doing a great job at starting to read and write. We will be completing an Elf Writing Project and a letter to Santa soon. In math we are working on comparing and ordering numbers. We will be doing lots of experiments in science for the next few weeks, and learning about 'community' during social.

Grade 2 (Laura Zwack): Mrs Schlaut - All is well in Grade Two. We are busy working on skip counting to 1000 by 2s, 5s, and 10s. We have also been practicing our basic facts by doing flashcards and playing games. In Science, students are completing their Scavenger Hunt homework. Please send in your materials in a clear plastic bag when your child has completed it. We will be doing an activity with the items. In ELA, we have been working on consonant digraphs and adding more detail to our sentences. Grade 2s made signs for the pep rally and cheered their loudest during the Darls vs Teachers game. Lots of fun was had. Please ensure your child has outdoor winter clothing. It is getting colder now.

Grade 3 (Kristie Nahajowich): Mrs Schmidt-Teigen - In ELAL we are continuing on with the UFLI program to build our reading and spelling skills. We are currently working on all of the long vowel spelling patterns. We have also begun a unit on opinion writing. Our new read aloud is from the I Survived Series and is called The Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980. It fits into the historical fiction genre and is also a good tie in to our new Science unit. In Math we are working on adding and subtracting two- and three-digit numbers with regrouping. In Science we have wrapped up our unit on Matter and will be starting Earth Systems. This is a very full, yet fun unit. We will cover many topics including natural disasters, layers of the earth, dinosaurs and paleontology. There will be opportunities for lots of hands-on learning. In Social Studies we are currently talking about the environment and landscape of Ukraine and comparing it to our own here in the Daysland area.

Grade 4 (Alison Eshpeter): ELA - We have been doing reading comprehension exercises. We continue to have weekly spelling tests. The hardest words week are: icicle and frighten. Social Studies - We are finishing up presentations on the 6 regions of Alberta. We had options to choose a poster, magazine cover, pamphlet, or 3-D cube. Science - We completed the journey of a recyclable item from creation to recycling (plastic bottle, paper, aluminum can, glass jar). We are now learning about hazardous symbols and why they are important. Math - We are adding and subtracting decimals and solving word problems. Art - We are completing Remembrance Day posters. Phys Ed - We have been doing scooter handball. Music - We have started work on our Christmas songs. Mrs M Zimmer – In French we are just finishing up a project, "dans mon sac-à-dos." Students have been learning names for classroom items in French, and are creating a backpack with 10 items inside. They will write a paragraph explaining their items, then make a video explaining it in French.

Grade 5 (Kirby Schmidt-Tiegen): Mrs Thomas - In ELA this month in Grade 5 we have continued with our vocabulary work and have been working on perfecting our paragraphs. In Science, we have wrapped up a study on Matter and are moving into Energy, looking at flight and the various forces that keep flying objects in the air. In Social, we are about to head into a unit on Egypt, where we will be learning all about different aspects of their society.In Math, we have spent the last month practicing our addition and subtraction skills. We have learned to add and subtract large numbers into the millions. We have also been learning how to solve word problems and look for keywords that tell us which operation to use. The students have also enjoyed GimKit, which is an online game that allows them to practice many different math skills.

Grade 6 (Brenda McKay): Mrs McKay – We had a ‘Starbooks book tasting’ this morning, and students selected novels to read in book clubs which will go until Christmas Break. Everyone is very excited about this. In Science, we are staring our Computer Science unit and in Social we are learning about local government. In Math, we are starting to multiply and divide with decimal numbers. One special thing we are all super pumped about is the Christmas Concert! We have started learning our line and song for the concert this year called, “Elflandia”.

Grade 7/8 (Cristin Zimmer): Mrs V. Zimmer - In ELA, we are well into our novel study of "Silverwing" by Kenneth Oppel, where the main characters are bats. We are all enjoying learning more about bats (kind of) and developing our understanding of plot and theme as we go. All is well with all other classes.

Grade 9 (Candice Guhle): Mrs V. Zimmer - In Social, we are into the Justice System part of the course, and focusing on the Youth Criminal Justice System makes for some interesting discussion about their interpretations of justice. Mr Charchun - For Science 9 we are currently in the Space Exploration Unit. The goal is to have this unit completed or close to it by Christmas break so that Mrs. Walker can begin in January with a new unit. Other than that nothing new to report! Mrs M/ Zimmer - I got a few boxes of Kleenex brought in lol. In Math we will have our second unit test next week sometime! Students have been doing non calculator tests every two weeks. We have moved from digital back to bubble form tests for these quizzes - because the government has decided to wait to pilot digital math PATs.

Grade 10 (Carrie Carriere): Mr Charchun – In science we are wrapping up Physics unit and test will be next week. Will start Biology unit with cell theory. Mrs V. Zimmer – In Social Studies, did unit test on Historical Globalization and starting Economic Globalization. Mrs M. Zimmer – In Math 10-3, we’re covering angles. Mrs Tobler – In CALM we are doing career researching and making cover letters and resumes. In Phys Ed, we are cooperative games like dodgeball and kickball.

Grade 11 (Teena Kasha) – All is well.

Grade 12 (Jeanni Hoermann) - No report.

VII. Business arising from minutes:

VIII. New Business:

a) Fundraising Policy - Alison brought forward idea of a healthy fundraising policy Healthy School Fundraising (albertahealthservices.ca) or to consider the idea for in-school fundraising. Advantage of a written policy is that future School Council can continue with decisions made now. Discussion on limitations of what can be done in a smaller population as not to overlap with other fundraisers in the area. other considerations are consumable products so it can be run annually. Two school fundraisers generally done per year - one for Jr. High and one for Sr. high. The rest of the fundraising is done within Society of Friends of Daysland School Council. No Jr. High fundraiser this year which has been cookie dough so could look into new options for next year. Alsion will find some healthier food options alond with non-food options.

IX. Adjournment

Teena adjourned the meeting at 8:17pm.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 15, 2025 7:00pm at Daysland School.