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Dixon School eNews - February 1, 2016 Webpage Twitter

The theme of this eNewsletter is safety.We will share some new initiatives that we are implementing to promote safety for all,

as well as revisit current safety protocols. We also have a reminder about the New Curriculum evening

that we have prepared for parents (please RSVP to dixon@sd38.bc.ca)

and lastly, we have an update for our Toonie Talent Show.

Traffic Safety - Dixon Walkabout Update As a follow up from the PAC Meeting on Tuesday, we had a very productive walkabout last week withstakeholders from the City of Richmond, RCMP, HASTE, HUB, Dixon Administration, Richmond SchoolBoard Office, and Dixon parents. We surveyed the transportation circumstances around the school andneighbourhood. The follow up stakeholder meeting confirmed what we have felt for a while identifying theneed for two main improvements:

1. the need for improved safety precautions at the back of the school for pedestrians and riders in theGormond Avenue parking lot driveway.

2. The safety concerns at the front of the school are directly related to traffic congestion. Certainlythere is significant volume on rainy days, the bigger issue relates to those who choose not tofollow the street signage drop off loop expectations. The next steps for the committee will to attend

a meeting at City Hall at 1pm on Feb 24th.

Until improvements are made to the Gormond parking lot (on City property), by the City of Richmond, I

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ask that parents continue to use extra care when accessing this parking lot. Secondly, I ask that parentswho feel they MUST pull into the convenience loop, (I personally call it the “inconvenience loop”) in front ofthe school, that they do so for DROP OFF only. It is NOT for pick up. Most can realize that if a car stops inthe loop to wait to pick someone up, all the cars must line up behind that vehicle. This creates abottleneck and a line of traffic that goes down the street. I appreciate those parents who have gotten outof their vehicle to assist with directing traffic flow, but the real answer is for drivers to only use the loop for“drop off”, and organize a pick up spot somewhere else away from the congestion. Our older students inparticular, are more than capable of walking 50-100m (even in the rain!) to an arranged pick up spot awayfrom the front of the school. Thank you in advance in supporting this solution.

Safety at Recess and Lunch – Our experiment with how students enter the schoolOur school-wide goal this year is in the area of Social Responsibility. Perhaps you have seen our SocialResponsibility Matrix in your child’s planner? Whether it be at our monthly Social Responsibilityassemblies, over the morning announcements, within class conversations, or during our weekly DragonPAW draws, Dixon staff are constantly trying to reinforce pro-social conduct amongst our students in aproactive way. In fact, we have a staff committee specifically dedicated to this school wide goal. Our socialresponsibility matrix provides the expectations in written form, and it is our daily expectation to reinforcethe items described in the Matrix.As we are committed to reflecting on our practice working within a continuous improvement model, onething the staff noticed is that the transition time from the end of recess and the end of lunch is not as well-organized as it could be. For example, not all students are returning to class efficiently as they should beand the students are requiring additional time to settle down (and get mentally focused for learning) afterstraggling in after the break. Also noticed was the natural chaos created when 384 students enter thebuilding at the same time.In an attempt to set the students up to be more efficient in this transition, and more mentally ready tolearn, we are entertaining an experiment. In short, teachers are having their students line up at a specifieddoor. Unlike before, this transition is now directly supervised by a teacher who is present, and the teacherwill have an immediate opportunity to connect with each individual, and set the learning tone upon entry.After a poll with staff and some students to see how the experiment was going, it is clear that there arepros and cons to the initiative. We are currently making adjustments and at the moment, the datasuggests that it is making a positive difference, however we will need to live with the experiment a littlelonger to see it’s true value. Did you know that we do Fire Drills, Earthquake Drills, and Lockdown Drills?Every school in the District has a formal Health and Safety Committee, and each school is expected to

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practice safety drills with their staff and students. Annually we host a minimum of six Fire Drills, threeEarthquake Drills, and one Lockdown Drill.I should also mention that all schools in the District are transitioning to a new lock system that eliminatesthe need for keys, and uses keyfobs instead. For additional safety measures, (connected to our lockdownprocedure), the exterior doors to the school are automatically locked while school is in session (not duringrecess or lunch). Visitors to the school are expected to use the front door to the school and report to theoffice if/when visiting the school.

New Curriculum Parent night – Feb 10th 6:30pm at Blair. Child minding available for school aged children.

Cultural Interpreters on site.Please RSVP at dixon@sd38.bc.ca or call the school at 604-668-6608.

Click on this link for more details.

The Grande Finale of Toonie Talent ShowThe Grande Finale of Toonie Talent ShowWe can't day enough about the talent, creativity, and courage displayed by our students this week at the

TTS. On behalf of Mrs. Evan and the supporting cast of the Talent Show, we would like to say thank you

to all those who donated an toonie. We raised over $600. Our Sister school in the Philippines will be

very grateful. Here are some pictures from Wednesday and Thursday's shows.

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Feb 5 PAC Popcorn at recessFeb 8 Family Day - no school for studentsFeb 10 PAC Pizza lunch New Curriculum-Parent Night at Blair Elementary - 6:30-7:30pmFeb 12 Social Responsibility Assembly - 9amFeb 18 Carnaval at Dixon - Order your Crepes :-)Feb 19 Professional Development Day - no school for studentsFeb 23 Parent Teacher Conferences - EARLY DISMISSAL - 1:45pm Feb 24 Parent Teacher Conferences - EARLY DISMISSAL - 1:45pm PAC Hot Dog day Richmond Active & Safe Routes to School Workshop - 1:00-4:30pm At Richmond City Hall - 6911 Road No. 3. Room M.2.004Feb 26 Dufflebag Three Musketeers PAC movie night - 6-9pm Mar 1 PAC meeting - 7pm in the libraryMar 4 PAC Popcorn at recessMar 8 Parent AppreciationMar 9 PAC Pizza lunch Report Cards go homeMar 11 to Mar 24th Spring Break - no school for studentsMar 25 Good Friday - no school for studentsMar 28 Easter Monday - no school for studentsMar 29 First day of school after Spring BreakMar 30 PAC Pasta day

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Learning Together. Working Together. Growing Together

Contact us at: dixon@sd38.bc.ca or 604-668-6608