GENERAL CURRIE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 8220 General Currie Road, Richmond, B.C. V6Y 1M1

Telephone: 604-668-6440 October 27, 2016 Fax: 604-668-6109 A Caring School - Learning for a Lifetime

Can you believe Hallowe’en is upon us? This newsletter has lots of information in it, so please take a moment to read it and to put the important dates on your calendar. In mid-October, Currie had another division added to our school. We now have 17 divisions and over 420 students. We want to welcome all of our new families to General Currie! General Currie is a wonderfully diverse and welcoming group—we look forward to learning with you! New staff at General Currie: We would also like to welcome Ms. Jessica Hartley who is the teacher for Division 17—a grade 1/2 class. Ms. Hartley is well known to the Currie staff and students and we are happy to have her on board with us until the end of the school year. Ms. Stephanie Kilby will also be joining our staff as a Learning Resource Teacher (LRT) and she will be with us until winter break. October is proving to be a very busy month—we have paused and taken time to give thanks for all of the wonderful people we have in our lives, teachers took part in a variety of learning opportunities on the October 21st Provincial Professional Day, we had our first Family Teams activity and we will be celebrating Halloween next Monday! We look forward to continuing our learning and sharing throughout November. Ms. J. Rooney Mr. C. Daum Principal Vice Principal

CALENDAR Oct. 31 - Pumpkin carving Nov. 4 - PAC Hot Lunch Nov. 8 - Photo Retakes-Individual Student Photos Nov. 11 - Remembrance Day-School Closed Nov. 17 - PAC Hot Lunch Nov. 17 - General Currie Night at the Sockeyes Game at 7pm Nov. 18 - Curriculum Implementation Day—School Closed Nov. 23 - Kindergarten French Immersion/Montessori Parent

Information Night 6:30 pm

Hours of Operation Gr. K – 7

Monday: 8:45am - 1:00pm Nutrition break: 10:40am - 11:10pm Dismissal: 1:00pm Tues-Fri: 8:45am - 3:00pm Recess: 10:25am - 10:40am Lunch: 12:20pm - 1:10pm Dismissal: 3:00pm

Early Warning Number 604-668-6441

Please call if your child will be late or absent

Principal: Ms. J. Rooney

Vice-Principal: Mr. C. Daum

Asst. Superintendent: Ms. W. Lim

PAC Chair: Ms. K. Bitkova

PAC Meetings: Every third

Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm in

the Library. Please join us on

Wednesday, Nov. 16th

We’re on the Web See us at:

http://currie.sd38.bc.ca/

Breakfast Club is Back!Thank you to Save On Foods in Terra Nova for continuing to support the General Currie Breakfast Club. Without their generous support we would not be able to host so many families. Margaret Sherwood, a retired Richmond teacher graciously does our shopping each week and delivers the food to us. The breakfast club started with a bang this week with fresh made pancakes for all to to enjoy. Reminder the breakfast club runs every Tuesday morning 8:00-8:30am. Students are encouraged to bring family members to enjoy breakfast with them. Breakfast Club is cancelled on Tuesday mornings after a holiday Monday.

Sockeyes night Thursday, November 17th will be General Currie night at the Richmond Sockeyes game! Students will receive free tickets and family members will be able to purchase tickets at a great discount. Games are played at 7pm on Thursdays at Minoru Arena. More details to follow in November.

October - Page 2 of 8

Pumpkin Carving On Monday, October 31st the entire school will be taking part in our annual pumpkin carving. Students are asked to bring a pumpkin, with a hole cut out on the bottom, and cleaned out. Students will work in family teams to carve their pumpkins with the older students sharing their expertise with the younger students and then carving their own pumpkins. Pumpkins will then be turned in to Jack’O’Lanterns and lit up with lights to make them glow. Students will then bring their pumpkin home!

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME ENDS Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday, November 6th (which means we get 1 more hour of sleep!!!) Remember to set your clocks back 1 hour Saturday night. z z z . . . .

Thanks to excellent organization skills of Ms. Espenant and to the generous donations of all our students, General Currie raised over $600 for the Terry Fox Foundation and in doing so, raised enough funds to smush 6 pies in the faces of the administrators! Mr. Daum and Ms. Rooney enjoyed some whipped cream pies with a little chocolate sauce added, thanks to all of the donations! The weather was beautiful on the day of the run and many students completed enough laps to spell T-E-R-R-Y-F-O-X. Thank you to all the staff and parents that came out to support this wonderful cause.

Website and Twitter— General Currie is posting all of its information on our school website and via

Twitter. We are working hard to encourage families to use the website and Twitter for the most up to date information and to check the calendar for all upcoming

important dates. Our school website is: http://currie.sd38.bc.ca/ Our Twitter handle is @CurrieAllStars Families can also learn about all the wonderful activities

happening in various classrooms at Currie via Twitter.

October - Page 3 of 8

Volleyball Intramurals volleyball has started. Students who wish to play volleyball will be practicing and playing games with fellow General Currie students. Thank you to Mr. Campbell, Ms. Mais and Mr. Daum for organizing this!

REMEMBRANCE DAY ASSEMBLY Thursday, November 10th

10:50 am in the Gymnasium Please come and join as we share and reflect on the sacrifices and contributions that thousands of Canadian soldiers have made for our country. Thursday, November 10 at 10:50 am the entire school community will take part in our Remembrance Day Assembly. Family members are encouraged to attend.

Cross Country Fun Run at Minoru! General Currie was represented incredibly well at the Annual District Fun Run at Minoru. We had over 40 students in grades 1 through 7 take part in the Fun Run. There were many red faces, pounding hearts and loud cheers as

students crossed the finish line. A huge thank goes out to our coaches: Ms. Helewka, Mr. Daum and Ms. Rooney for coaching the primary students and to Ms. Mais and Ms. Espenant for coaching the intermediate students. Thank you for sharing your love of running with our students!

Computer Lab and iPads

You may have noticed that General Currie no longer has a computer lab. Our school is one of three schools in the district that are part of a pilot project. General Currie has received 60 iPads and carts from the district. Our iPad inventory has increased from 30 iPads to 110! With the addition of the iPads students will now have almost daily access to technology. You no longer need to write cheques or to send cash to the school. Thank you to all of the families that have signed up to use our Cash On Line payment system. The web address is: richmondsd38.schoolcashonline.com You will need your child’s pupil number to sign up. If you have questions about the system, please speak with Mrs. McAdam in the Office.

NEXT PAC MEETING - Wednesday November 16th @ 6:30 pm Child minding is available. Everyone is welcome!

We value the contributions that our volunteer parents make to our school. Please participate in our Parent Advisory Council.

You can make a difference at General Currie Elementary.

October - Page 4 of 8

PHOTO RETAKES Individual student photograph retakes will be taken on Tuesday,

November 8th. Wear your smile!

October - Page 5 of 8

HALLOWEEN CANDY ACCEPTED... McMath Secondary students and Currie Elementary students are working together to support a project which assists the homeless living on the Lower Eastside of Vancouver. 7 days a week, 365 days a year – GOOD SHEPHERD volunteers provide homeless people with candy bags, food, hope, and encouragement. It is not unusual for them to give out 90 candy bags per night. In support of this project, McMath and Currie are collecting any LEFTOVER HALLOWEEN CANDY. Our current donation record is 4000 candy bags ~ we are hoping this year, with your help, we could beat that record. Please drop-off any donations in the tote bins located at the front of the school.

Thank you to the following library angels for helping Mrs. Hutchinson set up some items in the library during the first week of school: Emma, Tala, Taryn, Nicole and Savannah. Thank you for your creativity and inspiration in our Library.

Congratulations to Emma Lo and Aiden Chiu who were the winners of the September Library contest. They got to meet the amazing and talented author, Raina Telgemeier, and each received an autographed copy of her new graphic novel, GHOSTS. Thank you to all the students who entered the contest and I am pleased to announce that our library will have 2 signed copies available for sign out.

Candidates joining us at General Currie This year we are happy to welcome 10 teacher candidates as part of the UBC CITE (Community of Inquiry in Teacher Education) program to our General Currie community. These teacher candidates are embarking on an exciting journey in learning about teaching and instruction and each one will be partnered and supported by a classroom teacher in the school. We are very fortunate to once again be collaborating with the UBC CITE program as each teacher candidate brings a world of energy and new ideas to our school community. Their short two-week practicum will take place from October 31st to November 10th and they will begin their long practicum after Spring Break in March 2017 which will run for a total of 10 weeks. We wish our teacher candidates all the best in their learning experiences and thank our Currie staff in advance for their guidance and support of this eager and committed group of UBC students.

October - Page 6 of 8

EARLYFRENCHIMMERSIONlLATEFRENCHIMMERSIONlMONTESSORIlSPECIALNEEDS

FORTHE2017-2018SCHOOLYEAR

Parents are encouraged to attend a parent information night for more detailed information. No registration is needed to attend these meetings. Meetings will be held at the following schools with a 7:00 PM start time.

KINDERGARTEN,EARLYFRENCHIMMERSIONKINDERGARTEN&GRADE1,ANDMONTESSORIKINDERGARTEN-GRADE4

Wednesday,November23,2016 GENERALCURRIEElementarySchool 8220GeneralCurrieRoad

KINDERGARTENEVENINGFORPARENTSOFSTUDENTSWITHSPECIALNEEDS

Thursday,November24,2016 WILLIAMCOOKElementarySchool 8600CookRoadLATEFRENCHIMMERSIONGRADE6

Wednesday,January11,2017 JAMESWHITESIDEElementarySchool 9282WilliamsRoadThursday,January12,2017 JOHNDIEFENBAKERElementarySchool 4511HermitageDrive

October - Page 7 of 8

Richmond International Student Program Interested in opening your home up for a rewarding experience…. The International Student Program allows overseas students to enter Grades 8 through 12 at selected secondary schools in Richmond, Greater Vancouver. The program gives overseas students the opportunity to study alongside Canadian students in the BC public education system. As a Host Family, you will have an opportunity to welcome students from around the world into your home. Your family will have a profound influence on the students’ study abroad experience. Both your family and the students you host will ideally gain a mutual understanding and respect for each other’s culture and world-view. In addition to economic remuneration, your reward will be the realization that your commitment to host international students will, in some small way, contribute to global understanding and world peace. Each member of your family and your student will come to know each other in depth. Our Homestay program is the ideal setting for this type of experience.

If you are interested in learning more about our hosting program, please forward an e-mail for information. Karen York Homestay Coordinator International Student Program Richmond School District 38 Tel. 604-295-4303 kyork@sd38.bc.ca

October - Page 8 of 8

Registration forms must be completed in person by the parents or legal guardians with all the required documents

For more information about Registration for School and District Program Options please go to our district website at www.sd38.bc.ca or call Central Registration at 604-668-6058.

KINDERGARTEN, EARLY FRENCH IMMERSION KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 1 AND MONTESSORI KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 4 November 23, 2016 General Currie Elementary 8220 General Currie Road KINDERGARTEN EVENING FOR PARENTS OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS: November 24, 2016 William Cook Elementary 8600 Cook Road LATE FRENCH IMMERSION-GRADE 6 January 11, 2017 James Whiteside Elementary 9282 Williams Road January 12, 2017 John Diefenbaker Elementary 4511 Hermitage Drive

TheRichmondSchoolDistrictoffersarangeofprogramsandeducationalservices.Tobeguaranteedaspaceatyourcatchmentschoolfor2017-18,registerpriortoJune16,2017.Pleaseseetheimportantdatesandtimelinebelow.

REGISTRATION

OPENS

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONS

1) Children AND Parents with Canadian Birth Certificate or Canadian Citizenship Card or Canadian Passport:

Ø November 1-30th: Parents register at your Catchment School.

Ø After Nov. 30th: ALL Kindergarten registrations will be at Central Registration.

2) Children AND/OR Parents who are not Canadian citizens, but with valid Permanent Resident Card or Record of Landing with Passport, or Letter of Acceptance:

Ø Parents register at Central Registration

Nov. 1, 2016

9:00am-2:00pm

Nov. 1, 2016 9:00am-2:00pm

GRADE 1-12 STUDENTS Parents register at Central Registration at District Board Office.

Jan. 3, 2017 9:00am-2:00pm

TRANSFER APPLICATIONS

OPENS

Transfer Applications will be received at the requested schools. ÆCloses February 10, 2017 at 3:00pm.

Jan. 9, 2017 9:00am-3:00pm

DISTRICT PROGRAM OPTIONS

OPENS

EARLY FRENCH IMMERSION AND MONTESSORI applications ÆCloses January 11, 2017 at 4:00pm.

Nov. 1, 2016 9:00am-4:00pm

LATE FRENCH IMMERSION applications ÆCloses January 18, 2017 at 4:00pm.

Nov. 1, 2016 9:00am-4:00pm

LATE APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER DEADLINE Not entered in the placement process, but added to the waitlist generated from the placements.

District Program Options applications available at catchment schools and Central Registration and must be delivered by the parent to Central Registration at District Board Office.

SCHOOL REGISTRATION FOR THE 2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR

CENTRAL REGISTRATION OFFICE 7811 GRANVILLE AVENUE, RICHMOND, BC V6Y 3E3

PARENT INFORMATION MEETINGS 7:00PM