Bison Tales February 8, 2023

Happy Wednesday Bison Families,

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it out to our parent teacher interviews/demonstration of learning Monday and Tuesday. It is so nice to see you all engaging in your child's education, it takes a village.

You may notice that today there was no link for the Bison Tales, and all the information was in the body of the email. We want to make it as easy as possible for our families to access all the important information regarding our school. 

Thank you again for being so amazing, we will see you on Monday, February 13.

Lana Lastiwka and Tandy Atchison

Principal and Assistant Principal

WEEK AT A GLANCE

February 13 - 17, 2023

MondayTuesdayWednesdayFriday

Upcoming Dates

• February 9 and 10 - School Closed for Teacher's Convention
• February 9 - March Hot Lunch Orders and Payment Due
• February 13 - 17 - Random Acts of Kindness Week
• February 20 - Family Day - school closed
• February 22 - Pink Shirt Day
• February 24 - Grade 6's to AJS for lunch
• February 28 - Returning Student Registration Closes
• February 28 - Jump Rope for Heart Event Day - in PE classes

Hold and Secure Drill - Feb. 16

A hold and secure is used when there is a security threat or potential threat of violence outside the building. In a hold and secure, any people outside are directed back into the building and all exterior doors are locked. All interior doors remain in their normal state and routine activities generally continue inside. No one is allowed in or out of the building until the hold and secure is lifted. For more information about Elk Island Public Schools’ emergency preparedness planning, visit www.eips.ca/parents/emergency-preparedness.

Random Acts of Kindness Week

We will be filling our school gathering area with hearts for Random Acts of Kindness week. Students will be encouraged to recognize the kind acts of their peers by presenting them with a heart which will be displayed for all to see. Even though this is a dedicated week, kindness is something to be shared at all times. Go Bisons!

Jump Rope For Heart

Our school is excited to be participating in Jump Rope for Heart this year for the month of February! Join Ardrossan elementary and help Heart & Stroke save lives by jump-starting your fundraising. Here’s how: 

Visit www.jumpropeforheart.ca and click “Register” and search for Ardrossan Elementary or copy and paste the school link https://jumpropeforheart.crowdchange.ca/17874 to register right from our school page. Help your child set up their fundraising page online. 

Jump Rope for Heart is more than a fundraiser. It teaches students 4 EASY Healthy Habits to help protect their heart and brain health – for a lifetime! Check out the EASY Online Challenge at www.jumpropeforheart.ca – it’s full of fun activities that you can even do as a family at home!

Measuring Success: Complete this year’s Alberta Education Assurance Survey

Once again, Alberta Education is surveying teachers, students and families through its annual Alberta Education Assurance (AEA) Survey. The survey acts as an annual check-up on the province’s education system. Every year, Alberta Education conducts the survey to gather information about the quality of education provided by Alberta schools and school authorities. The survey looks at various measures such as education quality, citizenship, family involvement, engagement levels, school climate and student wellness.

The AEA survey is sent to

· Small schools (fewer than 120 students in grades 4-12)—based on jurisdiction requests for more reportable survey data at the school level, the survey is expanded to include all students in grades 4 and above and their parents and guardians.

· Large schools (120 or more students in grades 4-12)—only students in grades 4, 7 and 10 and their parents and guardians are included in the survey. These grades are considered to be a reasonably representative sample of students.

Throughout February, Grade four students at Ardrossan Elementary are completing the survey online at the school. Student participation is voluntary and completely anonymous. Students are assigned a random username and password to ensure survey responses aren’t linked to any individual student. The survey doesn’t take long to complete and is done within the school day during regular class time.

Additionally, parents and guardians of students in these grades are also asked to take a survey, either online or by mail. Alberta Education will send families information about the survey directly. As with the student and teacher survey, it’s anonymous and asks questions about your school experiences. If you have a child in these grades, we encourage you to participate. The survey deadline is March 3, 2023.

Results from the AEA Survey are provided to Elk Island Public Schools each spring. The Division then uses the data to inform its four-year education plan, school education plans and strategies for continuous improvement. Each fall, the results are also shared with EIPS families and school communities in the Division’s Annual Education Results Report

Kindergarten Registration is Now Open!

Is your child turning five on or before Dec. 31, 2023? If so, it’s now time to register for kindergarten. To register, simply complete the online registration form at eips.ca/kindergarten.

To help families prepare, Elk Island Public Schools has put together an online EIPS Kindergarten Tool kit to make the transition as smooth as possible. The kit includes information on registration, important dates, programming options, what to expect, eligibility, how to find your designated school, transportation and more.

Complete your Returning Student Registration: February 1-28

Elk Island Public Schools’ (EIPS) returning student registration process is now open. All current students, except Grade 12, must complete the online Returning Student Registration Form to confirm their enrolment in a school for the upcoming 2023-24 school year. Additionally, students who want to attend a non-designated school need to make that request through the returning student registration process—acceptance is based on available space. All current EIPS students are required to complete the form by Feb. 28, 2023.

To access the Returning Student Registration Form, simply log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

If you don’t have a PowerSchool Parent Portal account, you do need to set one up. For help see: Create a PowerSchool Parent Portal account

For more information contact the school directly.

RELATED INFORMATION:
Returning Student Registration Process
Frequently Asked Questions
EIPS School Boundary Maps
Closed Boundaries 2023-24
Find my designated school
Applying to a non-designated school

Fee Survey

It is that time of year where we start planning for school fees for the 2023 - 2024 school year. Please take a moment to respond to our Fee Survey. We will be looking at the results and feedback to help inform our decision making process. 

Parents Make the Difference

Each month we will include some articles with some great tips and strategies for parents. Here is this week's featured article:

Strengthen social skills by focusing on social awareness

When students have the ability to understand and empathize with others, they can form solid connections with classmates, teachers and friends. They are also able to think about situations from different points of view.

Social awareness allows children to feel compassion for others—even when their background and culture may be different. Families can help children develop their social skills so they can interact, cooperate and problem-solve positively and respectfully with people from a variety of backgrounds.

To develop and practice social awareness, teach your child to:

• Consider the needs of others. Tell your child, “It’s great that you and your friends play tag together every afternoon. But what about the new neighborhood kids? How do you think they feel watching you guys play? Do you think they would like to be included?”
• Understand that people may respond differently under similar circumstances. One child might be excited to meet a new friend, while another might be nervous and shy.
• Respond appropriately. Your child could return a smile with a smile, offer to listen if the other person wants to talk, or suggest an activity to take the person’s mind off of worries. For example, your child could say, “Let’s get out of here and ride our bikes around the neighborhood.”

Reprinted with permission from the February 2023 issue of Parents make the difference!^®  (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2023 The Parent Institute^®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.