Elmdale School

As we enter the month of December I am taking a few minutes to look back at the year so far, and I'm thankful for so many things here at Elmdale. We started the year with many unknowns - What will COVID look like this year? Will we move to remote learning? How will masks work with young students? What will mandatory vaccinations for staff (or testing) look like? With all of these external pressures, will we have the time and energy to teach our students in ways we hope to?

I am thankful to say we are continuing to strive towards our goal of making school as normal as possible within all of the restrictions, rules, changes, and pressures. Kids come off the bus each morning with smiling eyes and bound off to play with their friends. Teachers have found cool and creative ways to meet the learning needs of all of their students. We have managed to run many of our programs in different ways - skating, Terry Fox Run, Remembrance Day Assembly.

We know that some things will continue to look different, but we are trying to find ways to do things differently instead of not doing them at all - see the note below regarding the Christmas Concert.

Thank you to everyone who has made this year a success so far - teachers, EA's, support staff, parents, community members! And remember, COVID (including the restrictions and rules) has been tough on everyone. We ask for grace, patience, and understanding as we continue to navigate what it means to be a student-centred Elementary School in a COVID world!

Mr. Vince Hiebert

Principal: Elmdale School

Email: vhiebert@hsd.ca

Instagram: elmdalehsd

Kaylee 1E; Gianna 1J; Hope 1/2M; Cruz 2G; Capri 2T; Braelynn 3B; Sara 3D; Emmett 3F; Strider 4M; Brooklyn 4T; Connor 1E; Sophia 1J; Corbin 1/2M; Julia 2G; Kiera 2T; Aizen 3B; Lucas 3D; Callia 3F; Jasper 4M; Adriel 4T; Maya 1E; Brooklyn 1J; William 1/2M; Oliver 2G; Logan 2T; Eveah 3B; Riley 3D; Azriel 3F; Max 4M; Claire 4T.

Ms Redekop and the students of Elmdale School are working hard to put together presentations for a virtual Christmas Concert. These will be shared out to families before the Christmas Break. While we wish we could do these in-person once again, it will still be wonderful to hear the kids perform this Holiday Season!

Please note that all students will be participating by singing in the concert presentations, however students whose parents have not filled out the Permission to Publish form on the HSD Parent Portal or given explicit permission for their child's photo to be included, will not be included in any pictures in the presentations.

Thank you so much for participating in our food drive for Steinbach's Community Christmas. We had lots of food donated and we are excited to be able to pass that along to Community Christmas to help families in need.

Every year, TD Bank gives Grade 1 students all across Canada a free Canadian picture book. This year, students are eligible to receive the book Malaika’s Costume, written by Nadia L. Hohn, illustrated by Irene Luxbacher and published by Groundwood Books.

Books are available for families of Grade 1 students to pick up at four libraries in our area—Bibliothèque Régionale Jolys Regional Library, Bibliothèque Taché Library, Jake Epp Library and Bibliothèque Ritchot Library.

We encourage all grade 1 families to visit a local library to receive this book!

Kindergarten registration for the 2022-23 school year will open in January 2022. To be eligible, Children must be five years of age on or before December 31, 2022 (born in 2017). The registration process will take place online at www.HSD.ca. If you do not have access to the Internet, please visit the school office and we can assist you in completing the registration on a school computer. Parents/Guardians are encouraged to register their children soon after registration opens in January. Early registration will assist us in preparation and planning for the upcoming school year. Registering before March 1, 2022, will ensure there is sufficient time for school appointments and provide parents/guardians with the opportunity to participate in Kindergarten orientation activities. Visit www.HSD.ca for registration instructions.

Thank you once again to everyone who made our skating program possible this year. For more than half of our students, this was their first ever experience skating. It was so fun to watch some of our students who are new to Canada experience this for the first time!

This program can run because of generous donations from the Elmdale community. Did you know that previous Phys Ed Teachers (Mr. Fender, Mr. Thiessen, Mr. Fast) worked with parents and community organizations to get skates donated to our program. Mr. Fast even worked with our local Source For Sports store to get our skates sharpened at a drastic discount! We couldn't have done this program without them, and we are grateful that Mrs. Tufford is now taking on the challenge of keeping this program running.

If you have skates or helmets you would like to donate to the school, please contact Mrs. Tufford at ktufford@hsd.ca to make arrangements. This will ensure our skating program can continue for years to come!

Is your child a picky eater? Check out this month's Nutrition Bits and Bites Newsletter from Southern Health for tips on how to deal with this. Click HERE to access it!

"Soup's On" provides daily school lunches to families in need. It can be started and stopped as needed. Contact our Learning Support Teacher Ms. Tara Klassen (tklassen@hsd.ca) to register your child.

Please check our website for information about school bus routes in HSD.
If your address has changed, please call transportation at 204-320-2347 to make sure that your children are riding the correct bus to and from school.

Elmdale's eNewsletter

Publisher: Mr. Hiebert

Email: elmdale@hsd.ca
Website: http://elmdale.hsd.ca/
Location: 160 Elmdale Street, Steinbach, MB, Canada
Phone: 204-326-3325
Twitter: @elmdalehsd