Message from the Principal

Well folks, the weekend has arrived, and students are settling into regular school routines.  Quick notes of thanks to the PAC Exec for organizing the Meet the Teacher/ Welcome Back BBQ.  It was wonderful to see so many parents attending the event.  Thank you to all the student volunteers and to the staff for attending.  As the new guy, it was really nice to be able to mingle and visit with so many parents.   The weather cooperated and we had a beautiful evening.

In case you were not aware- the Meet the teacher BBQ combined with the early Goal Setting Conferences (Sept 30 + Oct 1) is designed to replace the more formal Meet the Teacher Night and end-of-term conferences.   This was a discussion that took place last school year and was given the green light to “give it a try”.   The idea being:  Sometimes, hosting a formal Meet the Teacher Night, with no follow up for conferences for 3-4 months, simply isn’t best practise for discussing and planning student progress. We want Maple Grove parents to feel connected and part of their child’s education… so, the informal BBQ was more of a social and casual setting to chat with teachers.  The short turn-around-time to Goal Setting Conferences lends itself to planning for the term, setting goals and expectations, and discussing objectives for each student in a timely manner that allows students time to implement good practise, work habits and achievement.   That being said, we will be reflecting on the process used this year and determine if we would like to tweak anything for next year.  Thank you to everyone for their support in this process.  Doing the same thing every year would be stagnating and limiting.  I value the courage parents and staff displayed to try to change things up a bit.  Thank you!

The safety and security of students is one of our primary goals.  Please note that we are embarking on several measures concurrently to ensure your child is safe at school:

1.  All Vancouver schools have been issued mobile radios to enable supervision aides, office staff and admin teams to communicate more effectively.
2. You may have noticed that Mr. Evans has been supervising students before and after school- and also watching traffic on the North, East and South sides of the school.  Please follow all the rules of the road.  Use good road sense.  Do NOT double park; perform 3-point turns in the middle of intersections (U-turns); or park your car on the wrong side of the road facing the wrong direction.  This is simply poor driving and endangers the lives of our students.
3. We will be beginning the process of fire drills and lock down drills in the coming weeks.  Please be aware that these activities are designed to ensure that your child is kept safe at school if an event were to occur at school or in the surrounding neighbourhood.Thank you,
   Principal Evans

   LIBRARY NEWS:
   We just want to recognize one of our many fantastic parents, John Leung, for painting the beautiful window decorations in the library. Please walk through and have a look on the East and West windows. There’s all kinds of crazy creatures- including Mr. Evans favourite (Vancouver Canuck).

We also want to acknowledge, Alexis Zehr for her weekly contributions of scones and goodies at our Friday morning coffee. All parents are welcome to come and visit, socialize and catch up on school and community business. And, a further thank you to our amazing PAC exec for always supporting wonderful school-wide and parent initiatives.

TERRY FOX RUN:

Unfortunately we had to cancel the Terry Fox Run due to rainy weather.  The legacy of Terry Fox and his fight to raise awareness and support to find an end to cancer is unmatched in our local community. He was truly an amazing young man. Maple Grove students will support his legacy by honouring his efforts in a run of our own, possibly next week.

Outdoor Day – September 22, 2015

Parents, please make sure you have sent in the required permission forms and fee payments.  Make sure you know what time your child will be leaving for their field trip, as well as their expected arrival times back at the school.  Each grade will be different.  Here is the list of how each grade will be participating.

Hot Lunch Program

PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

The hot lunch program at Maple Grove School started on 9 September.  Parents are very welcome to volunteer and help serve our children with hot lunch in the lunch room during lunch time (11:45am – 12:05pm for kindergartens and 12:10pm – 12:30pm for all others).  If you are interested, please email Katherine Chak, Hot Lunch Coordinator (Volunteer), at kat_chak@hotmail.com, or email Karrie Bogart at ckbogart@shaw.ca if you can offer any amount of time. You will be contacted shortly.

Parents’ support makes a big difference to our school.  We look forward to another year of great support from you in the lunch room.  Thank you!

Hello Parents,
Please take a moment to go to our  PAC Blog found at themaplegrovepac.wordpress.com for this week’s message containing important information about a special event on September 23rd.

Want to receive these messages automatically?  Then simply click on the blue +Follow button at right hand bottom corner of our blog page and enter your email address.

Have a great weekend!
Monica Tang, PAC Chair

Upcoming Events

Sept 22- Outdoor Day  All classes are going on Environmental Study sessions
Sept 21 to 24 – Bookfair
TBA- Terry Fox Run (modified- maybe just running around the school)

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Sept 22 – Outdoor Day

Sep 23 – PAC meeting – 7:00 pm – Growth Mindset

September 30th – Parent Conferences.  Early Dismissal at 2:00 pm
October 1 – Parent Conferences.  Early Dismissal at 2:00 pm