Mustang Memo - May 10, 2024

Our Mustangs never stop impressing us! We are so proud of the Running Club who competed in the EIPS relays this week! Our Grade 5 boys team won a gold medal and our school placed second overall! Wow! 

Congrats to all of our incredible athletes for all of the hard work they did in their daily practices and for their team spirit! We are so proud of each and every one of you! 

We'd like to give a shout out to Mr. Robertson who is the organizer of this incredible event for all of the schools in our district! It's nice to have that kind of talent on our staff!

Enjoy that sunshine this weekend!

Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson

Principal & Assistant Principal

You belong here!

Table of Contents

Week At a Glance

Action

• Class Placements

Opportunity 

• Counsellor's Corner
• LitBits - Switch It
• Write On Supplies Fundraiser

Information

• EIPS Annual Education Results Report
• Parents Make the Difference

WEEK AT A GLANCE

ACTION

Class Placements

Our teachers have begun the daunting task of creating balanced class lists for the upcoming school year. We want to share information about the involved process we follow to establish classes.

Teachers develop draft lists as a grade level team. They look at all of the students in that grade level and consider the following factors:

• balancing medical/safety needs or students who have more complex programming needs
• balancing academic needs
• balancing behavioural needs
• managing student dynamics - which students are best together or apart (help each other vs. get off task with each other)
• connecting students with certain staff members for specific reasons (ex. finding a male role model, staff have specialized training, etc.)
• supporting friendship dynamics (helping kids to start the year off with a friend connection where possible)

As you can imagine this is not an easy task! The process does not end there! After the initial draft lists are established the next steps are:

1. Administration, counselling team, and music team review lists for unintended problems and make suggestions for adjustments.
2. Teachers rebalance lists according to the feedback
3. All staff review the lists and provide feedback during the June staff meeting
4. Final revisions are made based on whole staff feedback

It is our goal to create balanced classes that provide an excellent educational experience for each child. We appreciate your trust in our professionalism and our desire to do right by all students while balancing the various needs of each family.

As you can see, the process for creating class lists is complex and is for that reason that we do not entertain requests for classroom placements. With over 600 students, it would be impossible to accommodate each person's request while ensuring that classrooms are functional for excellent learning. 

If there is an extenuating circumstance that will have a significant impact on your child or family that you feel we need to consider, you can share that information in writing via email to the principal, Helene Hewitt, by June 3, 2024.

OPPORTUNITY

Counsellor's Corner

With the month of June approaching, many parents are wondering about how they can best support LGBTQ2S+ students in our community. The city of Fort Saskatchewan is offering free education sessions as part of their Pride Education Series over the next several weeks. For more information click here.

Supporting Queer Youth

May 15^th from 6:00pm-8:00pm

West Rivers Edge

Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer Pasts, Presents, and Futures

May 21^st 3:00pm-4:30pm

West Rivers Edge

Queer Inclusivity at Work

June 27^th from 10:30am- 11:30am

West Rivers Edge

You may also be interested in exploring the many LGBTQ2S+ resources available through Alberta Health Services.

LGBTQ2S+ | Alberta Health Services

Madison Bashaw & Kelley Mitchell

~ DCE School Counsellors

LitBits - Switch It!

Want to learn a fun and simple game you can play with your child to help them practice reading and writing words? Check out this short video to learn how to play!

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

EIPS Annual Education Results Report

Every year, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) publishes an Annual Education Results Report, which outlines the Division’s Four-Year Education Plan, opportunities for growth and how it’s supporting students to achieve the best possible outcomes. Read through this year’s EIPS Annual Education Results Report 2022-23 and discover how EIPS fosters learning environments for all students to learn, grow and thrive—and why it matters.

May Spotlight: the EIPS Annual Education Results Report: Overview. Learn about EIPS’:

• mission and belief statements
• Alberta Education Assurance Measures results
• successes and challenges;
• four-year education plan;
• plus, more.

RELATED INFORMATION
EIPS Four-Year Education Plan: 2022-26
EIPS Three-Year Capital Plan: 2025-28

Parents make the difference

Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:

Three activities will keep your child learning all summer long

Children are as ripe for learning during the summer as they are throughout the rest of the year. So don’t miss out on chances to boost your child’s smarts during the warmer months.

Here are three brain-building activities to enjoy this summer:

1. Plant a garden together. Your child will have a real-world chance to use reasoning and math skills. “We have a 10-foot by 4-foot plot in the yard. If tomatoes need to be planted at least two feet apart, how many should we buy? What else should we plant?”
2. Host a family game night. Set aside one evening each week to play board games together. Classics like Scrabble and Boggle are good for keeping language skills sharp. And more complex games like Monopoly and chess require your child to use reasoning and think critically.
3. Participate in a library program. Summer library programs often include storytelling sessions, interactive read-alouds, book clubs and arts and crafts.

Reprinted with permission from the May 2024 issue of Parents make the difference!^®  (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2024 The Parent Institute^®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.