Feb 7 Newsletter

What a chilly week this was! We had many calls to the office about whether the students would be playing outside. Since it looks like we are in for another stretch of cold weather next week, perhaps this is a good time to quickly remind our families that we will keep the students inside at recess when the windchill is below –20 degrees. If the windchill is above that, they will go outside for recess. Please ensure that your child comes to school with outerwear that is appropriate for the weather!  

This month we are collecting non-perishable food for the Airdrie food bank. A student asked me this week what ‘non-perishable’ means. This became a learning opportunity; one that made me reflect how this activity can teach so much! Yes, we are gratefully accepting gift card donations, which we will pass to the food bank. However, there is something valuable in students bringing in actual food items and placing them in a box to give to the food bank. For our young students this is a tangible and very real experience of giving to someone else. The life and character lessons of activities like a food drive last well beyond the month of February. We encourage families to talk about the food bank with their children as we do our February food drive. Perhaps your child could do a simple chore for you to earn a couple of dollars - which they use to choose a canned item at the store, buy it, and donate it.  If you are able to donate something, thank you! If you are not able to donate at this time, there is no pressure to do so. Donations are anonymous and we are deliberately not making this a competition in any way. Your donation is a gift to our community, and we are thankful for whatever you are able to contribute! 

Upcoming Dates (Please see the Calendar on the Website for more information) 

• February – Food Drive for Airdrie Food Bank is ongoing to end of February 

• February 11 – School Council and Friends of Ralph McCall 6:30pm 

• February 13 – Grade 3 Culture Celebration (1:30 – 2:30) 

• February 14 – School Spirit Day – Dress Your Best! 

• February 17 – 21 – NO school (Family Day, Teacher’s Convention, and February break) 

• February 28 – The Airdrie Foodbank will pick up donations 

Assessment results 

As shared in a previous parent newsletter and at school council, the Province of Alberta requires various assessments at specific times during the school year. The results of the September assessments will be going home within the next week or so. When we receive the January results, likely sometime in March, we will share those as well. If you have any questions about how you can support you child in areas that are identified, please reach out to their teacher for ideas. We use these assessments to help us identify gaps and then target instruction accordingly. Extra practice at home alongside the work happening at school is fantastic to support the student in mastering the skills. 

 From Airdrie Municipal Enforcement Officers 

City of Airdrie Municipal Enforcement officers want to remind parents and students: 

1. The speed limit in school zones is 30km/h (the same as the posted speed limit in our residential areas). 

1. Crosswalks, school bus zones, and areas that block driveways are NOT to be used as parking spaces (even for the quickest drop off or pick up). 

1. Park before allowing students to jump out of your vehicle. 

1. Jaywalking might be quicker, but crosswalks are safer. 

Thank you for being a good neighbour and helping to keep our school zones safe! 

And another reminder from the school: Each year, we communicate regularly about parking around the school, including providing a marked map where pick up and drop off are not permitted, reminders in parent newsletters, and at school council meetings. However, problems persist. Please note that enforcement has been out to reinforce parking and traffic around the school. We continue to have issues with blocked access to the staff lot or parents parking in the staff lot. There is no drop off, pick up or parent access to the staff parking lot.  

The bus lane is for busses, daycare vehicles, and vehicles with an accessibility tag only. Signage at the entrance of the bus lane indicates that access is not permitted between the hours of 7:00 – 4:30. While many choose to ignore this sign when dropping off late students, you are not permitted in this lane between these hours. A peace officer visited school administration to reinforce that the signage must be obeyed. We remind families to adhere to the posted hours, with no exceptions. If you have a child who struggles to walk from other parking locations, please ensure you hang your accessibility tag when picking up your child from the front of the school. If you do not display an accessibility tag, you are not permitted in the bus lane. 

Online activities 

Do you know what your child is watching on their device? Sometimes things come into the school that make us wonder ‘Where did this come from?’ An online search often provides insight. We are currently dealing with two trends and ask parents to help us address them.  

1. Some students are ‘dunking on’ other students. According to the Miriam-Webster dictionary, this is slang for publicly making fun of someone. At the school, it seems to be accompanied by pushing down on someone’s head. This has been addressed with specific students involved at school, but we want you to be aware in case you see it outside of the school. 

1. ‘Thousand Years of Death’ - Some Grade 4 students brought this one to our attention. It seemed odd to us at the school, so we looked for the reference. It is easily found online and is highly inappropriate. We have addressed the concern with the students and expect this behaviour to stop immediately.  

We continue to reinforce our PBIS expectations of kindness and respect. Neither of these behaviours align with being kind and respecting others. Thank you for helping to reinforce this with your child. 

PBIS 

Ralph McCall Kindness Campaign – January 27 – March 7/25 

Who: Grades K-4   

• What: Weeks 1-3 teachers will be teaching lessons that reinforce our Kindness goals at Ralph McCall School.  

• Where: Ralph McCall (All day and anywhere at school!)   

• Why: We are kicking off the implementation of our PBIS matrix across the school, with the focus in February being on KINDNESS! Meaning, we are intentionally reviewing and teaching our matrix values of: We are Welcoming, We are Polite, We are Helpful.  

The PBIS committee has shared resources and lessons to all classes and together we are all focusing on what kindness looks like in the classroom, in the halls, the library and even outside on the playground and in the school yard. We know how important it is to explicitly teach expectations and actions that align with them. During weeks 4-5 the “Caught Being Kind” initiative will be taking place schoolwide.   

What is “Caught Being Kind?”: Every teacher will be provided 3 different coloured hearts to provide to their students when they catch them showing different ways of being Kind! Students write their names on the heart and they get hung on the wall in the Learning Commons. 

• Are Welcoming: Pink Hearts  

• Are Polite: Yellow Hearts  

• Are Helpful: Blue Hearts   

• Week 1: Our Focus was “Are Welcoming” 

• Week 2: Our Focus was “Are Polite” 

• Week 3: Our Focus this week, “Are Helpful” - February 10-14, 2025 

• February Break 17-21, 2025 

• Week 4 and 5: “Caught Being Kind” School wide Initiative - Feb. 24-Mar. 7, 2025 

• To celebrate our Kindness Campaign: an assembly! 

Our work with the PBIS framework guides us as staff in our commitment to respond to student behaviour responsively, through prevention, teaching and responding to student need.  Updates will be shared with you as we work together to strengthen our school community with our shared understandings of expectations at Ralph McCall! 

From Parent Council and Friends of Ralph McCall 

Healthy Hunger: Healthy Hunger is available to order for each Friday school is in session. If you're interested in ordering, go to www.healthyhunger.ca and follow the prompts.  Orders must be placed by the Sunday prior to be included. 

February Meeting: Our February Meeting is on Feb 11 at 6:30 in the Learning Commons, or on Zoom (https://rockyview.zoom.us/j/95470869833 ; Meeting ID: 954 7086 9833 Passcode: Ralph) All are welcome to attend.  As usual, we have one of our trustees joining us and it's an excellent way to learn about what's going on in our division.  

Read-A-Thon: Our annual Read-a-thon Fundraiser is coming up from April 14th - 28th.  Help your child get excited about reading!  More details to come as we get closer to the date. 

Playground:  Planning continues for acquiring funds for the new playground.  If you or anyone you know is interested in helping out, please reach out to Friends... You can find our email address on the school website.