VERMILION ELEMENTARY

SCHOOL NEWS

STAY CONNECTED

WITH VES

Please join us on:

Thursday, September 14 7:45am - 9:00am

for a welcome back to school gathering. We will be serving muff ins, coffee and juice. This is a chance for you to stop by at your convenience to tour the school, meet your children's teachers and visit with other VES families.

(KA Families are invited in on Wednesday, September 13)

We are so excited to be welcoming each and everyone of you back to Vermilion Elementary School. There is nothing as exciting as returning to school after summer holidays! The staff has been at school for more than the past week preparing and getting ready for welcoming the students back. Seeing the students and parents who stopped in on Tuesday was wonderful, as a school is pretty boring without students and community. Everyone had smiles on their faces and stories to share. I hope that when your children got home they had exciting news to share about their f irst day of school.

We would love for all families to f ind a way to engage with VES this year. We know that by working together with our community and parents, all children succeed better. There are at least two opportunities coming up this month. We invite all families to join us on Thursday, September 14, f rom 7:45am-9:00am for Muf f in Morning (September 13 for KA students). This is a drop in when you can check out the school, meet the teachers and perhaps visit with some of the other families that attend VES. Also, our f irst School Council Meet ing wil l be Monday, September 18 at 7:00pm in our school learning commons.

Our school mantra is "Being the Best We Can Be". We encourage and support all of our students and staff to work towards doing and being their best. We encourage them to challenge themselves, to help others, to be respectful and enjoy each day.

Over the school year, you will inevitably have questions or ideas that you would like to share. Please do not hesitate in calling or emailing your child's teacher, the off ice or myself so that we can work together to make this the best year ever!

Sincerely, Mrs. Michelle Webb, Principal

Vermilion Elementary School Mission Statement:Within a safe and nurturing community, we at Vermilion Elementary

School, will foster personal and academic excellence, while treating each other with dignity and respect. As a team, we will be the best we can be.

MUFFIN MORNING

Stay connected with VES on our website, Facebook or to email the principal by clicking on the following buttons:

BEING THE BEST WE CAN BE

September 2017

STAFF LISTAdminist rat ion

Principal: Mrs. Michelle Webb

Assistant Principal/ Inclusive Learning Coordinator: Mrs. Sheila Doherty

Instruct ional Staf f

Kindergarten: Mrs. Jessica Heinrich

1A Mrs. Tracy Long, 1B Miss Shaunda Rozka

2A Mrs. Carmen Throndson, 2B Mrs. Raelene Tupper

3A Mrs. Janna McLaughlin, 3B Mrs. Claudette Bast

4A Mr. Greg Haslehurst, 4B Ms. Sandy Birch, 4C Mr. Colin Beecroft

5A Mr. Brian Harvey, 5B Mrs. Adrienne Joa

6A Mrs. Mackenzie Goodwin, 6B Mrs. Deirdre Myshaniuk

Inclusive Learning; Mrs. Phyllis Tomkins

Music: Ms. Karen King

Support Staf f

Administ rat ive Assistants: Mrs. Gerri Cameron, Mrs. Erinn Baldwin

Educat ional Assistants: Mrs. Kelly Bykowski, Mrs. Pam Fuller,

Mrs. Sharleen Moses, Mrs. Jean Murie, Mrs. Kristin Page,

Ms. Pam Pentelichuk, Ms. Joanna Seymour

Librarian: Mrs. Chris MacMillan

VIBE Coach: Mrs. Alana Pinkoski-Benoit

FCSS: Mrs. Dawn Riley

Hot Lunch Cook: Ms. Karen Hughes

Custodians: Mr. Calvin Decker, Mr. Rocky Berscht

Bus Drivers: Mrs. Carmen Zayac (4), Mr. Lionel Quickstad (6),

Mr. Sheldon Quickstad (7), Ms. Karen McCaig (10), Mrs. Dawn Woywitka (11), Mr. Dave Zorn (13), Ms. Candice Holowaychuk (15), Mr. Wayne Hobbis (16), Mrs. Alene Nichols (17), Mrs. Laura Arcand Davidson (18), Mr.Kelly Meer (20), Mrs. Leah Clark (22), Mrs. Katy Clevenger (24), Mrs. Trudy Maddex (25), Mrs. Lenoa Atkinson (26),Mrs. Jackie Johnson (27), Mrs. Kathy Crowe (28)

SCHOOL COUNCIL All parents are welcome and encouraged to come to School Council meetings. This is an opportunity to hear what is going on at the school, to ask questions and to share your opinions. It is an excellent opportunity to meet VES staff , other parents and community members. Please join us on September 18 at 7:00 in the VES Library to learn about the school start up and plans for the year.

A

Accelerated Reading has started again for the year! All students in grades 2 through 6 are encouraged to take part in this reading program. A link to the quizzing site is on the VES Website under both 'Parents' and 'Students' sections.  The direct l ink is  https:/ / hosted70.renlearn.com/743515/ . A great site to check if books have an AR quiz is  http:/ /www.arbookfind.com/ , and a link is also on our website. Student user names are the same as last year and can be received from their teacher.  Quizzing may be done any day of the week from 6am-9pm. The year goals are dif ferent for each grade level: Gr. 2 - 20 points, Gr. 3 - 30 points, Gr. 4 - 40 points, Gr. 5 - 50 points & Gr. 6 - 60 points. If you have any questions regarding AR, please contact your child's teacher so that they can assist you.

ACCELERATED READING (AR)

BREAKFAST PROGRAMGreat news! We have expanded our breakfast program. Breakfast will be served to students each morning. This breakfast is to support any child who comes to school hungry or just needs a nutrit ious snack to start their day. We graciously accept donations and volunteer help to keep our breakfast program running. Please contact Sharleen Moses at the school if you would like to help out in any way.

BREAKFAST PROGRAM

WHERE DO I PARK?

Parents & visitors are able to park on 49 Avenue, as well as south of the crosswalk on 44 Street. Between 9:00am & 3:00pm, you may also park to the east of the school in the bus loading zone. The staff parking lot is reserved for staff members. We ask that parents & visitors refrain from parking there. For safety reasons, students may not be dropped off or picked up in the parking lot.

VIRTUE PROGRAMThis year at VES, we will be focusing on RESPECT. Throughout the year, we will be identifying ways to be respectful to ourselves, to others and to the world around us. We will continue to focus on monthly values that are also a part of teaching about respect. The values we will be learning about are listed in the front of your child?s agenda. Thank you for taking time at home to discuss these values!

During the month of September, we will be discussing the value of GOAL SETTING. Please f ind opportunities to share examples of the importance of goal setting with your children.

WHERE DO I PARK?

TERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAY

TERRY FOX RUN DAYOn Thursday, September 28th, Vermilion Elementary School will be taking part in the Terry Fox National School Run Day. This event takes in mill ions of students and educators across the country, thousands of schools, all with one purpose in mind: to beat cancer.  For the next few weeks, we will be talking with students about Terry Fox, his accomplishments, his message, and his dream.  Additionally, each grade will be taking some time to run or walk laps around our track as we get closer to the Run Day.  Our goal is to see if we, as a school, can even get close to matching Terry's 5373 km accomplishment   We will be asking all students to bring a toonie on the week of the walk.  If you feel l ike donating more to the cause, go to  http:/ / terryfox.org/ , click on National School Run Day, click ?Donate? to a school or student, then type in Vermilion Elementary School.

Stay tuned to school notes for more information on this event as the date draws near, or feel free to contact the school with any questions or concerns.

TERRY FOX RUN DAYTERRY FOX RUN DAY

FEES & FORMS

As most of you have probably heard through the media, the

mandatory school fees of $85 have been removed as an

expense for parents. The Alberta Government has also

asked schools to determine all fees that parents will be

expected to pay to be communicated in advance. Please

take the time to look at the school fees section of our

web-page to familiarize yourself with what fees can be

expected this year at VES. You will find that section in the

following link: School Fee Information.

http://ves.btps.ca/School%20Fee%20Information.php There

will be a place on the student demographic sheet that

comes home for parents to sign to indicate you are aware of

the school fees information.

ORANGE SHIRT DAYOn September 29th, students across BTPS will be participating on Orange shirt day- a day to honor the FNMI children who attended residential schools. The day began after learning about the story of Phyllis, a girl who attended a residential school in B.C and had her brand-new orange shirt taken away from her. Students are encouraged to wear orange that day. Prior to the day, students will be learning about residential schools in class. If you want more information, learn more at www.orangeshirtday.org.

VIBE News

Welcome back VES students and families! My name is Alana Pinkoski-Benoit and this will be my third year as the VES VIBE Wellness Coach. This year I will be at VES every Monday-Thursday and I am excited to see what the year will bring!

What is VIBE? VIBE is one of the Mental Health Capacity Building sites that have received annualized funding from Alberta Health Services. VIBE works to promote positive mental health in children, youth, families, and individuals in the community who interact with children and youth.

I spend most of my time with students during their health classes and recess time! VIBE runs a variety of recess activit ies including the Grade 6 VIBE Advisory. This advisory is open to all grade 6 students who are interested in organizing mental wellness related activit ies.

With every VIBE program, there is a parent letter that is sent home to describe a bit about what your child will learn throughout the program. Some of the programs that you might receive a letter about include:

Kindergarten ? Welcome to Kindergarten Packages, Superf lex, Worry Woos, Just Right

Grade 1 ? Building Mental Wellness (BMW) Kids, Superf lex

Grade 2 ? Friendship, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, Superf lex, Positive Self Image

Grade 3 ? Shoulder Buddies, Wilma Jean the Worry Machine, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, Study Skills

Grade 4 ? Building Mental Wellness (BMW) Youth, Doogoods, Digital Citizenship

Grade 5 ? Hey Warrior, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, Hope, My Attitude is Gratitude                          

Grade 6 ? Study Skills, Who Moved My Cheese, Inside Out, Respect and Responsibil ity, Bucket Program

Other VIBE Events:

Stay tuned for upcoming information about VIBE events, activit ies, and training opportunities. First up in October will be the Mother Daughter Day Conference and Just Say Hi Campaign.

For more informat ion about VIBE, please stop by the VIBE of f ice or reach me by phone or email . Phone: 780-853-5444 Email : alana.pinkoski@btps.ca

FROM THE BUS LANELARGE ITEMS and SCHOOL PROJECTS ON SCHOOL BUSES: Large band instruments and sports equipment such as skate boards, hockey sticks, hockey bags, curling brooms, skis, etc. are not allowed on the bus. Small band instruments and skates in a properly secured bag (i.e. not plastic) with skate guards will be transported on school buses. Students must be able to hold all of his or her school items on his/her lap without the items projecting out of their seating area, into the aisle or into another student?s space. Items no larger than 13? x 13? x 23? can be carried on the school busses. This applies to regular bus runs. School projects that are too large to fit on a student?s lap or perhaps contain dangerous materials (i.e. cut glass, chemicals, etc.) are not permitted on the bus. Please transport these projects yourself to school for your child(ren) and we have asked teachers to be aware that transportation of such projects may be an issue for some rural students.

BUS EVACUATIONS: As per Board administrative procedures, bus drivers are responsible to conduct practice bus evacuations to prepare students for an emergency. The first bus evacuation drill will be supervised by the principal or designate and it will occur within the first 6 weeks of school. Bus evacuation drills are much like fire drills in the school. The students are taught the safest methods for exiting the school bus should there be an immediate danger for staying on the bus. For more information on the bus evacuation drills, please refer to the Administrative Procedure on Safety http:/ /www.btps.ca/documents/general/701-10AP%20- %20Safety%20Admin%20Procedures.pdf

BUS DRIVER NOTIFICATION: Please inform your bus driver when your child(ren) will not be on the bus.

TEMPORARY SCHOOL BUS SERVICE: Students, other than students regularly riding on the bus, requesting to be bussed because of birthday parties, etc., must have the prior approval of the bus driver before being allowed to ride on the bus. Please fi ll out the Temporary School Bus Permission Form available from your bus driver or the Transportation Office at (780) 806-2054.

CROSSWALK SAFETY: Please remind your children to use marked crosswalks and the pause, point and proceed method to cross the street to the schools or an intersection if there are no marked crosswalks. It is important that students are not walking through parked cars or school buses as they are not visible to passing motorists. PARKING: Please park in designated parking areas and do not park in the bus loading zones or handicapped parking stalls (unless you have a permit).

VOLUNTEER DRIVERS: Parents, if you wish to volunteer to transport students to extracurricular events or field trips, please see the principal or secretary for a Volunteer Declaration form (http:/ /www.btps.ca/documents/general/500-2AP%20- %20Exhibit%201%20Volunteer%20Declaration%20Form.pdf ) as well as the Volunteer Driver form (http:/ /www.btps.ca/documents/general/701-4AP%20-%20Exhibit%201%20Volunteer%20Driver%20Registration%20Form.pdf) . We will need a copy of your driver?s license on fi le. This is to ensure that parents transporting students have a valid driver?s license and insurance on their private vehicle. Thank you for your continued support because without parent volunteers, field trips and extra-curricular sports do not happen for our students.

BUS ROUTE UPDATES AND SUBSCRIPTION: If the bus is not running due to inclement weather or a bus breakdown your bus driver will call you. If you have already left for work before your children get on the bus you can check the BTPS website at http:/ /www.btps.ca/Section%207.php We try to update the website as soon as we are notified by the bus driver. If the bus does not run in the morning they will not run in the afternoon unless there was a mechanical failure that has been fixed; therefore, if you transport your child(ren) yourself to school you will be responsible to bring them home as well. Parents can now subscribe to the website to be notified when their bus is not running at http:/ /www.btps.ca/Subscribe.php

September 5, 2017

Dear Parents:

SUBJECT: FAIR NOTICE - VIOLENCE ? THREAT/RISK ASSESSMENT (V-TRA)

The safety of our children is a top priority for all of us. We, as a school system, have been involved in intensive V-TRA safety training processes.   Buffalo Trail Public School administrators, designated staff , and community members have been trained in Level One Violence ? Threat/Risk Assessment. As a result of this training we have a plan for responding to situations in which students may pose a threat to themselves or others.  

This letter is to inform you that we have procedures that require principals to complete a ?threat assessment? in all cases of students making signif icant threats to harm themselves or others. The purpose of the assessment is to determine how best to support high-risk students so that their behavior does not become hurtful or destructive.   If your child comes home to tell you that a student has behaved in a threatening way at school, please call the principal and be assured that your principal will be taking measures to deal with the situation in a positive and proactive manner.   If your principal invites you to a meeting to discuss safety concerns about your own child, please be assured that policy is being followed and that the goal is safety, not punishment.

This letter is intended to serve our community with fair notice that we, as a school community, will not accept ?no response? to a serious threat. Our goal is to respond to all threats in a professional manner that provides for a healthy and caring learning environment.   We will practice ?lockdown and evacuation? procedures in our schools a minimum of twice a year.

As well, the Buffalo Trail Public Schools Board of Trustees recognizes the value of video surveillance systems in monitoring activity on school property and the role of these systems to support our mission of providing a safe and caring learning environment. Accordingly, the Board of Trustees authorizes the use of video surveillance practices, in accordance with the guidelines established in BTPS Policy Section 8 - Facilit ies, Administrative Procedures - 801.8AP Video Surveillance in School Facilit ies & on School Grounds.

We are proud to be able to provide this level of support to our school communities and are most fortunate to have our community partners at our side.

Sincerely,

Bob Allen

Superintendent of Schools

Kids Korner Af t er School Care

Kids Korner After School Care has an exciting program lined up for the 2017-2018 school year. We are an accredited center located in Vermilion Elementary School offering fun activit ies, healthy snacks, community service projects, and f ield trips plus much more. We currently have spots available for Full t ime, Part t ime and Drop in care for children in grades 1 to 6.

Contact Katelynn at 780-581-5376 for more information.