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Next School Council Meeting

Tuesday, June 11, 2013 @ 7:00 pm | Agenda (pdf)

May 2013 Council News

CASINO FUNDRAISER

We are so appreciative of Sandy C. and all her efforts to coordinate the most recent Casino Fundraiser! Sandy also wished to express her gratitude through the following statement: "I would like to send out my heartfelt thanks to all of you for making Hidden Valley School's casino a success. The money we will receive from this casino will continue to be used towards agendas, residencies and equipment for our children. Thank-you for giving your time and support to this fundraiser and I look forward to working with you again in approximately 18 months."

GRADE 1 ORIENTATION – MAY 23rd

Do you have a child in Kindergarten? Can you believe that they are headed to Grade 1 next year?!?! On May 23rd at 6:30pm we will be hosting Grade 1 Orientation for all parents/guardians of students in both the English and French programs. This is your chance to meet the grade 1 teachers, hear more about the grade 1 program, learn about expectations for grade 1 and more. Come join us and check out what’s to come next year! *Please note that this is an information night for parents/guardians, not for the children themselves.

SAFETY WEEK IS MAY 21st – CHANGES ARE COMING!

As you may know the school council and school administration have been working diligently to find ways to improve the traffic, parking and pedestrian safety at our school during school drop off and pick up times. The main concerns we have heard are:

• Vehicles are traveling too fast in the school zone, are not stopping for pedestrians and are doing illegal U-turns near the school.
• Parents are parking illegally in “No Parking” zones, in bus zones, in crosswalks, and too close to crosswalks and corners.
• Parents are leaving their cars running (idling) while they are waiting and our children are breathing in this exhaust.
• Parents and children are jay-walking (not crossing at corners) and putting themselves and others at risk.
We have thoroughly discussed the above issues and consulted with the City of Calgary Police Services to create an action plan to address these concerns. On May 21st we will be having a Traffic Safety Blitz to roll out some changes and to reinforce some parking expectations that may not be widely understood. During the week of May 21st we will have 6 parent volunteers out each morning to help communicate this plan to parents and to help improve traffic flow and the safety of our children. What follows is a list of NEW and EXISTING actions and laws.

What’s NEW?

• Starting on May 21st we will have a “Hug and Go” drop off area right in front of the school each morning. Parents are invited to stop, unbuckle their children and send them off to school. Parents may only stop for a very short time so please have your child ready to hop out soon after stopping. School supervisors are available from 8:10am onwards so you will not need to walk your child to the door. If you would like to walk your child to the door or wait with them please park elsewhere on the street and do so. New signs will indicate where the “Hug and Go” area will be located. Please note, parents of Kindergarten children may not want to use this as an option because you MUST make eye contact with the school supervisor and ensure your child is properly supervised and safe before leaving. If the supervisor is not immediately visible or is busy it will be difficult to quickly drop off your child and go.
• Parents stopping or parking near the school will be asked to turn their vehicles off. Children that are walking are breathing these exhaust fumes and the Kindergarten children line up close to many vehicles. Please, no idling.
• All of the students will be involved in class discussions about pedestrian safety. This will include ONLY crossing at corners, putting their hands out to cross and looking both ways before crossing. Please model proper crossing techniques with your child and help improve the safety of everyone.

What’s NOT new, but perhaps not well understood?

Did you know….
• The “No Parking” signs in front of the school mean that you can only stay while ACTIVELY loading or unloading children from the vehicle. You cannot sit and wait for school to start or leave your vehicle for any reason including to walk your child to the doors.
• You may not park:
o Within 5 meters of a corner
o Within 5 meters of a crosswalk
o On a crosswalk
• In city bus zones no vehicle except a city bus can stop or park for any reason – even to quickly let someone out.
• “Pedestrians have the right-of-way at all crosswalks. The penalty for a motorist failing to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian in a crosswalk is $575 and four demerit points. If a person is waiting and indicating they want to cross by an outstretched arm the fine is $115.
• Fine for speeding in a playground zone (8:30am until one hour after sunset) is based on speed and includes 2 demerit points. Fine for speeding in a school zone (8:00am until 5:00pm) is the same.

And yes…we do know it is not as convenient…

We do recognize that some of these changes mean that many parents will have to park a bit further away from the school during drop off and pick up times. We know that this can be challenging, especially if you have preschool children. We truly are trying to find the best solutions to make things safe for our children. That is one of the reasons for setting up the “Hug and Go” – so that parents didn’t need to find parking and walk their child. Our hope is that more parents make use of this drop off area and it will free up other parking in the surrounding areas.

Can You Volunteer? Please?

In order to run a successful Safety Blitz we need 6 volunteers per morning for the week of May 21st – that’s a total of 24 volunteers! If you can join us for one or more days please email us at hvschoolcouncil@yahoo.ca. We need volunteers from 8:00-8:25 each morning and you can keep your children with you while volunteering. More details will be provided to those that email with an interest in volunteering. Please consider helping out as we are trying to make things safer for all of the children.

For the French Crowd...
Saviez-vous?

My name is Katherine Evans. I have a daughter, Emily, in Miche's morning french immersion kindergarten class. I have recently undertaken the French Liaison position on the school council executive. I will be adding a short blurb to each newsletter to highlight French activities in the city. I will also be including a french language resource website, either games or educational, and one favourite french book title recommended by our students. If you would like more information or your child would like to pass along their favourite book title please feel free to contact me at KatherineEvansHVSC@hotmail.com

Did you know that there are various organisations in Calgary that offer French activities for families with children learning French? One such organisation is Cité des Rocheuses next month they will be hosting La Cité de l’enfance.
La Cité de l’enfance is an event organized on the afternoon of Saturday, the 25th of May, by La Cité des Rocheuses, the French community centre of Calgary. It aims to entertain and educate children through two shows and lots of activities in French. These shows will also promote and increase the value of the French language, showing it can be used in creative ways. The first show is a mix of magic and scientific explanations about the little secrets of life, such as the weight of the air or the secret of pop-corn.The second show is a folk show about three well-known legends from Québec along with traditional music. All the information (fees, booking and schedules) will be available online at www.citedesrocheuses.com and on their facebook page (www.facebook.com/lacitedesrocheuses)

May's favourite French book title: Mon p'tit coeur, by Fabrice Gachet and Marie-Pierre Emorine
Recommended by Emily Evans from Miche's Class, morning kindergarten
Website: www.radio-canada.ca/jeunesse/
Games, videos, and more from CBC's French counterpart.
Parents, please checkout the websites to see if they suit the needs of your child and monitor children and the internet.

COME JOIN US SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING!

After a recent school council meeting a new parent who had never attended before said, “Wow, that was great! I was afraid to come all this time because I assumed if I came I would get roped into doing a million jobs!” Although it made us laugh it did make us realize that perhaps parents/guardians didn’t realize that you don’t have to sign up to do anything! You can just come and listen and not have to say/do anything (many of us also appreciate the fact that we get to skip out on the bedtime routines at home as well!). Attending a school council meeting is a great way to learn what is happening at the school, hear about what programs/equipment/events are being discussed and planned, and have a vote in how our money is spent. The school council agendas are posted to the school website under the “school council” tab every Friday before the meetings so check out what we’ll be discussing and pop in! Meetings are held at 7:00 pm on the 2nd Tuesday of every month. Hope to see you there!

Executive

Contact us at: 403-777-7236 ext. 5 or hvschoolcouncil@hotmail.com

Chairperson - Tammy G.
Co- Vice Chairpersons - Sandy C. and Mandi D.
Treasurer – Rachelle F.
Secretary - Katie H.
Naturalization Chair - Andrea B.
Fundraising Coordinators – Sandy C (Casino) and Sue K (SUTP)
Calgary for French Liaison - Katherine E.
CBE Liaison - Vacant
Valley Creek Liaison - Laura C.

Minutes

More Information

School Council Duties (PDF)

Friends of Hidden Valley School Society Bylaws (PDF)

Hidden Valley School Council Bylaws (PDF)

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