Principal’s Message
Dear Parents,
Well it was an awesome week at Maple Grove. Butterflies have been ordered, tadpoles are in some of the classrooms, the sun is shining and it’s planning time for September.
Over the coming weeks, I may post some mid-week blogs as there’s a lot of information coming, and I imagine timeliness will be important and appreciated.
Our school is essentially full for September! Thank you to everyone for spreading the good word about all the wonderful things that are going on around the building. Our parent community has a legacy of being so supportive of the teachers and students- it does not go unnoticed. Thank you from all of us to you!
As you know our goal is to provide an engaging school experience for all students and we are excited about the prospects that next year brings- budgets aside :(
We are working with Human Resources/ Employee Services to negotiate a staffing envelope that will meet the needs of our diverse learners and yet still maintain support and service for all students. To this end, I will be publishing a tentative organization of the school sometime in late May/ June.
For now, please know that we have lots of work ahead of us and that everything is full steam ahead as we look forward to all the year-end activities and traditions, including grade 6 camp and grad.
I encourage all parents to attend our PAC meetings. They are very good venue to receive detailed information about the school, the structure, the organization, projections, and staffing. I can tell you that our school is super popular and that we are bursting at the seams for next year. We will be over 508 to start the school year and anticipate continuing with 20 enrolling divisions. Our next PAC meeting is Wednesday, May 18th at 7:00 pm in the library.
We have a busy couple of weeks with Apple Canada visiting our school, Articulation with Magee Secondary School for our grade 7’s, Satisfaction Surveys for our grade 4 and 7 students, a Curriculum Implementation training day on Friday (No school for students) and a super exciting Pro D day on Monday, April 18th for staff on Social Emotional Learning (by now you’ve guessed it’s part of an ongoing theme this year regarding understanding the complexities of differentiated instruction).
Okay, if you suffer from sleepless nights, and you’d like some bedtime reading, thinking and writing, this next topic might be for you. You’ve seen in several recent blogs that I’ve mentioned VSB2021. This is our new missioning and visioning process to chart a course as a school district for how we’re doing to provide for a robust, quality, excellent education for the students in Vancouver schools. The VSB is seeking stakeholder input. On Friday, April 29th at 9:00 am I will host a short information gathering session on Phase 2 of the topic. Please watch for an email from the school with a pdf file that’s fillable. you can have your say and email it to me. Deadline will be May 1st.
Thank you, Mr. Evans
A touching moment
Ms Oleksiew plants flowers in memory of Mr. Rob Haas, a much loved teacher who taught many years at Maple Grove. His memorial plaque is under a beautiful tree in front of the school. It is so important to remember and acknowledge the people who came before us who lay the groundwork for our success. (Thank you Ms. Sleep for capturing the moment; and thank you Ms. Oleksiew for always doing the right thing)
Maple Grove Teacher go for a visit
!
Teachers visit Cambridge Elementary in Surrey to see Fresh Grade in action.
Fresh Grade is an on-line student portfolio that documents student learning. Parents are able to view their child’s portfolio and see classroom activities. This year, 4 divisions have piloted this communication tool, with plans to expand to more divisions next year. We have had very positive feedback from parents. Teachers report better home-school communication and find that students are better able to assess and reflect on their own learning using Fresh Grade. Mr. Naipaul, Ms. Wong, Ms. Griffiths, Ms. Plavan, Ms. Humeniuk, Ms. Tornroos and Ms. Sleep enjoyed a productive day of professional learning and look forward to applying new ideas at Maple Grove.
Summer School Information
- 2016 Summer School Program information can be found at : https://summer.vsb.bc.ca/Pages/default.aspx
- Registration Opens on May 2nd, 2016
- Course Calendars will be arriving to your schools during the third week of April
- A global message has been posted on all school websites through share point.
Thanks for your on-going support of the summer school program!
Do you have a child who needs extra support at school? Wondering how to get your child what they need to survive and thrive in the system? Join us for our first annual Advocacy Conference!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Birgitta Von Krosigk
Advocating for the Advocate
by Birgitta von Krosigk
Coach, Facilitator, Mediator, and Researcher at Dialogica, Vancouver, BC
Please click on the link for more details: Advocating for Special Needs in BC Schools
Long Range Facilities Plan (LRFP)
Parents, if you haven’t taken a moment to add your input to the LRFP, please take a moment to visit the following link. The survey is available in Chinese; to access the Chinese version just click the button on the top right corner of the first page of the survey.
We appreciate your input. Please note the dates, times and locations of our open house/ public input sessions:
Public Workshop & Open House dates and locations:
April 10th Jewish Community Centre Wosk Auditorium – Workshop from 1:30 pm – 3 pm / Open House 3 pm – 4:30 pm
April 24th River District Centre – Workshop from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm / Open House from 2:30 pm to 4 pm
April 30th SFU (downtown campus) World Art Centre – Workshop 1 pm – 2:30 pm / Open House 2:30 pm – 4 pm
Thank you in advance for your support in sharing this information with your community. Please contact me directly if you have any questions, concerns, or require further information.
Upcoming Events
April 7th – Class Group and Panorama Photographs
April 11- Budget Meeting at the VSB regarding revised budget proposals is http://www.vsb.bc.ca/meetings/agendas/meeting-agendas-current?quicktabs_10=10#quicktabs-10
April 15 – Curriculum Implementation Day – no school for students
April 18 – Professional Development Day – no school for students
April 29- VSB 2021 with Mr. Evans
May 18 – PAC Meeting at 7:00 pm in the Library
Maple Grove Elementary School 
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