Milo School News

I can’t believe it is already the end of October! We have had a great first two months of school, and a lot has already happened. We are trying out some new newsletter formats and we hope to transition to a digital newsletter to help cut down on the amount of printing we do. Our newsletter can be found on the school website, linked to our Facebook page, and we will also email it out to parents and guardians. Please be sure you have followed our new Facebook page as we are trying to use that as a way to share what is going on in our classes throughout the month, rather than including classroom write ups in our monthly newsletter.

Our Marine Biology field trip for junior high students is still in the planning stages, but we have received approval from Mr. Driscoll, our superintendent, and will be taking next steps in the process shortly. Junior high families please keep an eye out for upcoming email updates from me. Our students will be selling cash calendars to help raise funds for the trip, if you are interested reach out to a junior high family to see if they are participating or contact the school.

Our nutrition program is back and in full swing. Thanks to Ms. Schneider for all her work to start our day off right with healthy breakfast options. Breakfast is available every morning for students during first period. It is my hope to diversify our hot lunch options this year, and though I am off to a slow start, our first hot lunch day will be taco-in-a-bag on Thursday, November 3rd, free of charge. Please remember to still send snacks and a drink.

Throughout October I have attended a few meetings to discuss how wellness for students and staff is approached throughout Palliser schools. Over the next few weeks I will be putting together our new Milo Wellness Committee which will be made up of myself, students, and a parent representative. Together we will create a Wellness Plan that will guide some of the decisions made throughout the school this year with the overall goal of making it a place where wellness is promoted in various ways. This will be mostly student-driven and I am very excited to see what the students come up with to make our school a better place! If you are interested in being involved as a parent, please send me an email and I will share more information with you.

I want to send out a thank you to all the parents, guardians, staff, community members, and of course the students who have made these first two months an amazing experience for me. I am so grateful to be a part of Milo School!

Take care,

Dakota Mattson

Edsby is where we will be recording attendance and entering all marks throughout the year. Parents and guardians will have received an email with instructions on how to access your account. A quick start guide for parents and guardians can be found here. Please download the app and make sure your notifications are turned on. Once you have logged in, you will be able to see your students’ grades, any upcoming or missing assignments, notes and comments from teachers, as well as a place to report any upcoming absences. As always, you can call the school to report absences, but adding them through Edsby instantly notifies us in the office. Teachers began entering marks last week, but there are still a few bugs we are working through. Please be patient as we work to sort these out. If you have any questions about what you are seeing in Edsby please feel free to contact Mr. Mattson and he will help as best he can.

Report cards are set to go out on November 24th. Report cards for junior high students will look similar to past years, but grades will be shown as percentages this year. Report cards for grade 1-6 students will have a new look this year as we change the way we record learning and move towards Outcomes-Based Reporting. Teachers will now connect their assessment data to specific parts of the curriculum - we have always done this as a part of our planning process, now we will just be adding it into our gradebooks as well. The purpose of this is to provide families with a clearer understanding of where their student is seeing success and where they may be struggling. Below is a draft of the Language Arts section of a Grade 1 report card to show what this will look like:

We will once again be doing a winter poinsettia and arrangement fundraiser with Growing Smiles. Our fundraiser is set to start November 7th and will end on November 23rd. Plant pick up will be Wednesday, December 7th so you can enjoy your plants over the holiday season. Fundraising sheets and information will go out November 7th.

Mrs. Kirk is looking for volunteer readers to come in and read with students once again. She is looking to find volunteers that are available on Monday or Wednesday between 9:00am and 1:00pm, but if you are able to help at other times it would still be appreciated. Please contact Mrs. Kirk if you have questions or would like to volunteer.

Oatmeal To-Go Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Perfect for grab-and-go breakfasts or snacks!

Yield 11-12 muffins

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large egg

• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

• 1/2 cup Vanilla Almond Milk (or your favorite milk or milk substitute)

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

• 1/4 cup maple or pancake syrup

• 1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

• pinch salt, to taste

• 3 cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats (do not use quick-cook or instant)

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 3/4 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (mini recommended, but regular-sized chips may be substituted)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a Non-Stick 12-Cup Regular Muffin Pan with paper liners. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, add the first 9 ingredients, and whisk to combine.

3. Add the oats, baking powder, and stir to combine.

4. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.

5. Using a large cookie scoop or 1/4-cup measure, evenly distribute the batter into muffin tin. Each cavity should be nearly full since muffins don’t rise much.

6. Bake for about 23 minutes, or until tops are set both visually and when touched lightly, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Don’t over bake because muffins will be prone to drying out.

7. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes before removing and placing on a rack to cool completely. It’s much easier to remove them when cooled completely.

8. Enjoy now or freeze for later!

October 31st - Halloween - activities in the afternoon

November 1st - Junior High Volleyball home game

November 3rd - Free Hot Lunch: Taco in a Bag

November 6th - Daylight saving time ends - set your clocks back one hour

November 10th - Remembrance Day Ceremony 10:30

November 11th - Remembrance Day

November 14th - No School

November 17th - School Council Hot Lunch - Hot Dogs $2 each

November 24th - Report cards

December 1st - Learning Conferences (Parent-Teacher Interviews) 4:30 - 7:30

Email: tammy.lahd@pallisersd.ab.ca
Website: https://www.miloschool.ca/
Location: 304 1st Street South, Milo, AB, Canada
Phone: 4035993807
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiloCommunitySchool