Mustang Memo - May 1, 2025
We have much to celebrate this week!
This afternoon, our students dazzled us during the 7th annual DCE speech competition! We were very proud of students in grade 4-6 who represented their classes at the speech competition finals with incredible poise and talent.
Thanks to the hard work and planning of Mrs. Hansen and Mr. Miller, we were joined by four special judges which included Mayor Rod Frank, retired teacher and Concordia University facilitator, Antonia Triska, literacy consultant, Natalie McIntyre and Assistant Principal, Kristen Rosato.
There were many memorable moments such as learning about the difference between bone-in and boneless chicken wings, why you should eat potatoes, what it means to have cerebral palsy and how brothers are much better than sisters. Congratulations to our many talented speakers!
Have a great weekend!
Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson
Principal & Assistant Principal
You belong here!
Table of Contents
Week At a Glance
Action
- Upcoming Parent Meetings
- Jump Rope for Heart
Opportunity
- Counsellor's Corner
- Write On Supplies Fundraiser
Information
- Mustangs Rocks the Badminton Tournament
- Bus Driver Appreciation Day - May 6
- What Do We Do on Professional Learning Days?
- Did You Know?
- Parents Make the Difference
WEEK AT A GLANCE
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ACTION
Upcoming Parent Meetings
We will be hosting our next School Council and Davidson Creek Fundraising Society (DCFS) meetings on May 13 at 6:00 p.m. in our school library. This will be our Annual General Meeting where we review our operating procedures and fill any open positions.
We invite you to come out to get involved in our upcoming planning for the Summer Sizzler as well as to provide your input into our School Education Plan goals for the 2025-26 school year.
Please consider joining our great parent crew! We have a ton of fun and there are snacks! Tasty snacks! We hope to see you there!
Meeting agendas:
Draft meeting minutes for approval:
- School Council April Minutes
- DCFS April Minutes - coming soon!
Jump Rope for Heart
We’re excited to announce that our Jump Rope for Heart Fundraiser officially kicks off today! This is a completely optional school fundraiser, and a great opportunity to support a meaningful cause. Plus, our school will receive 5% back from the total funds raised.
If you're interested in participating, please refer to the attached letter for simple steps to register your child. All fundraising is done online, making it easy to join and convenient for family and friends to contribute.
Our goal this year is $2,000—every little bit helps!
Thank you for your support, and happy jumping!
OPPORTUNITY
Counsellor's Corner
Mental Health Awareness Week at Davidson Creek Elementary
Next week, we’re recognizing Mental Health Awareness Week at Davidson Creek! It's a special time to focus on learning about emotions, well-being, and the importance of caring for our mental health—just like we care for our bodies.
Here’s what we have planned:
Green Ribbon Stickers – Students will be provided with green ribbon stickers to show they care about mental health and understand that it’s okay to talk about feelings.
Hats On for Mental Health – On Wednesday, students are invited to wear a hat to show support and raise awareness for mental health.
Classroom Resources – Teachers will be sharing stories and activities focused on finding hope and building resilience. Check out books and activities we’ll be exploring, here!
Check-In Strategies – We’re sharing easy tools with staff to help students talk about how they’re feeling throughout the day.
Daily Announcements – Short videos will be played each morning to spark conversations and encourage kindness, empathy, and connection.
How can I talk to my child about their mental health?
As we observe Mental Health Awareness Week at Davidson Creek Elementary, you may be wondering how to talk about mental health with your child at home. Below are some helpful tips borrowed from School Mental Health Ontario.
Regularly discussing your child’s mental health builds trust, supports their feelings, boosts well-being, and shows them they can turn to you when life feels hard.
Starting a mental health conversation can be difficult.
Consider these conversation starters:
- How are you?/ How are you feeling?
- What was the best part of your day today? How did it make you feel?
- What was the worst part of your day?
- What did you do today that made you proud?
If your child is having a hard time, try asking gentle questions:
- Do you want to talk about what’s going on?
- Is there anything you need from me: space, time to talk or do something fun?
- If your child isn’t ready to talk, reassure them by saying: You can talk to me any time; I am always here for you.
- If you need to speak to someone else, that’s okay too.
- If you tell me what’s worrying you, I’ll do my best to help.
- Even if I don’t understand, please know that I want to.
- We’ll get through this together.
You can also try other forms of communication, like writing a letter, drawing a picture or texting, to make it easier for your child to confide in you.
Madison Bashaw & Kelley Mitchell
~ DCE school counseling team
Write On Stationary Fundraiser
Do you need to purchase school supplies for your child for next year? Do you want to skip the lines and fuss of shopping at a store and not worry about dragging the supplies to the school? Do you want to support the school with a fundraiser?
We have a deal for you!
You can order your child's school supplies from Write On Stationary and they will deliver the order right to the school and a portion of the proceeds will go to our school! No muss, no fuss!
Here's how to order:
• Go to www.write-on.ca
• Click on “PARENTS – Order Here”
• School Name: Davidson Creek Elementary School – SHERWOOD PARK
• Choose your grade and place your order.
• Complete your order by clicking ‘PLACE ORDER’
• You will receive an automatic email confirmation to confirm your order has been received
• They accept VISA, MC, AMEX, Visa Debit and Interac On-line.
INFORMATION
Mustangs Rock the Badminton Tournament
Our DCE badminton team rocked the EIPS badminton tournament last weekend. We won gold in girls singles, boys doubles and mixed doubles. We also won silver in boys and girls doubles. To top off a great day, we also won the team trophy for the most number of wins! While winning is always fun, we are most proud of the effort put in by our students as they practiced regularly in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Thank you to the incredible coaching of Mr. Brouwer and Ms. Kotronis who not only helped students to practice at recess and lunch for several weeks but who also spent their entire Saturday supporting our teams. Hard work pays off! Mustangs!
Our running club is next up as they are set to compete in the EIPS relays on May 9! Go, Mustangs, go!
THANK YOU! Bus Driver Appreciation Day is May 5
Join us on May 5 as we recognize and thank our school bus operators for keeping the safety of our students their first priority. We encourage you, and your children, to take a moment to say thanks to our bus operators—who go above and beyond to provide safe and timely transportation to our students.
On behalf of Davidson Creek Elementary School THANK YOU to all of our school bus operators for a job well done.
What Do We Do on Professional Learning Days?
Professional Learning Days are important opportunities for our staff to build skills and learn new ways to improve our practice. So what's on the menu for tomorrow?
Our staff will be engaging in the following three activities:
- Attending a professional learning session on anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder.
- Developing our continuum of supports for co-regulating student nervous systems
- Analyzing school data to determine areas for growth for next year's School Education Plan
- Working collaboratively to develop balanced class lists for next year
Did you know?
Each school has a School Education Plan on its website. Annually, these plans are updated for the next school year to reflect schools’ goals, strategies and measures—all based on priorities found in the EIPS Four-Year Education Plan. School administration update their plans after reviewing school-specific results from the EIPS Annual Feedback Survey and consulting with staff, families and school councils in April. A School Education Plan helps a school community focus on what’s most important in its own specific context from year to year. To view your child’s School Education Plan, visit your school’s website and find the relevant home page block.
Parents make the difference
Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:
Improve the quality of family time with these five strategies
Summertime can be wonderful family time. You may see your child more during the day. But even if you don’t, you can take advantage of the less stressful evenings.
To make family time more meaningful this summer:
- Establish a weekly family night. Cook a meal together, talk, play board games. Avoid screen use.
- Discuss what you are doing when you and your child go on errands.
- Ask for your child’s opinion. Take time to listen and ask follow-up questions.
- Hold regular family meetings to solve problems and share ideas about fun ways to spend time together.
- Participate in family traditions. If you always camp out in the backyard or have an outdoor movie night, keep doing it. No traditions? Brainstorm with family members and start some new ones this summer!
Reprinted with permission from the May 2025 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2025 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.