Black History Month

During the month of February, Calgary Board of Education students and staff will celebrate and explore the many contributions of Black Canadians, peoples, and communities worldwide. Black History Month is an opportunity for schools to amplify and spotlight the innovative, courageous, and inspiring voices, stories, and contributions of Black Canadians and communities.

Important Information

We Have A New Website

As part of plan to ensure that all schools have websites that are consistent with each other, CBE websites have been upgraded and information is being streamlined for easier navigation for families.

Student Surveys

Our Grade 4, 5 & 6 students are participating in various surveys to support further learning and inform the needs of students for learning and well-being in our schools. The Grade 4 students are participating in a survey requested by Alberta Education. Parents of Grade 4 students and all teachers are invited to complete this one also. Detailed information about this survey went home with students earlier in February. Parents are reminded to complete their portion once received and before March 1. Grade 5 & 6 students are completing the CBE Student Survey, at school and also by March 1. If you have any questions, please let Mrs. Robinson know.

BE BRAVE Calgary Hitmen Game

On February 28, all students in Grade 3-6 will be attending the BE BRAVE Calgary Hitmen Game for Anti-bullying. Field Trip forms are coming in and the volunteer link was sent. If you were successful in signing up as the classes volunteer, you will receive an email next week with further details. If you signed up as a back-up person, please make sure you did so under your child’s class only. There are parents who are wanting to attend if a back-up is needed but were unable to as volunteers from other classes had filled the spots. We need to ensure that each class has the same opportunity for their parents to participate as any other class. PLEASE NOTE: We will NOT be accessing the concessions at the Saddledome and students are asked to leave all money at home. Special treats from home are acceptable and encouraged instead.

Pink Shirt Day

We are excited to share that we have a vendor who is able to supply our school with pink shirts for Anti-Bullying Day.  This year Pink Shirt Day is February 28.  If you are interested in purchasing a pink shirt for your child, they are available at: https://www.shepherdoriginals.com/shop/school-apparel/34  At the checkout, use CHAPARRAL as the coupon code for discounted apparel and free shipping.  All orders will be delivered to the school prior to the day.  Please have your orders placed by February 21.

Parent Session Offer from AHS

Vaping Awareness and Prevention | Family and Caregiver Session Join the Alberta Health Services Healthy Schools and Population Health Promotion team on Wednesday, March 6 from 7 - 8:30 p.m. for a virtual parent learning session on the youth vaping epidemic. In this session, parents will learn about what vaping is, current vaping trends among youth and the harms and risks associated with it. We'll explore what legislation is in place at the local and provincial level to combat youth vaping use and what you and your child's school can do about it. Ideas on how to talk to kids and help them quit, as well as where to go for more information will also be covered. Register here.

Spirit Day

Our next Spirit Day is March 14.  It will be Crazy Hair Day. Students are invited to wear their hair in a fun and interesting way!  It is a great way for personal expression of themselves.

Moving Forward, the Spirit Days for the rest of the year are:

• April – Stuffie & a Flashlight Day
• May – Favorite Colour Day
• June – Backward/Opposite Day

We will continue with the ranked favorites list as we begin again in September before setting our new list for that school year.

From the Office

Fees Update

Collections | 2022/2023 Central Fees has informed us that ALL outstanding 2022-23 transportation and lunch supervision fees will be sent to collections, this month. The CBE uses a collection agency called “Groupe Solution Collect”, and if parents receive phone calls, these are not scam.  Please be aware of the impact of this for yourselves.

We would like to remind all parents to check their MyCBE Account for fees relating to 2022/2023 fees which are still outstanding, and any 2023-2024 fees added for the current year for field trips, clubs, etc.

Parking

The school continues to receive calls from the community about the parking and the general pick up and drop off by parents. This includes, but not limited to:

• Parking too close to corners – creating blind spots
• Obstructing garages – even if it is only for a few minutes
• Not providing enough room for the two buses and the day care vehicles.
• Concerns over students not crossing at the crosswalk - crossing in between vehicles, getting out onto the road instead of the sidewalk side of the vehicle.

All parking infractions are being directed to the City of Calgary Bylaw department and may result in parking fines.  Please do your part to keep students safe.

From School Council

All communication with our School Council can be done via their email at:
chaparralschoolcouncil@gmail.com

Next School Council Meeting

The next meeting is on March 14, 2024, at 6:30pm in Room 24.
This will be the meeting where we review our budget and School Development Plan information.

Popcorn & Fun Lunch Days

Please visit www.healthyhunger.ca to make your selections and place your orders.  Kindergarten students are invited to participate in popcorn days only as they are not at school for the lunch hour. 

Our next Fun Lunch Day is March 14.  It will be from Subway. 

The next Popcorn Day is February 8.

Volunteers are a MUST for these days to be viable.  It may be necessary to discontinue having these fun days if we do not have the volunteers to sort and deliver these to students. Please sign up at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0E49ACA722A4FE3-funlunch#/

You must have a valid police clearance to be able to participate.

Week at a Glance

Weekly Mantra

I am a good listener. (SEL Competency: Relationship Skills, Self-Management, Responsible Decision Making)

Listening is an art that requires attention over talent, spirit over ego, others over self. One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually to listen to what another has to say. Also, if you listen well to instructions, you don’t have to waste time later trying to figure out what you are supposed to do!