Hi Whiteside Families!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanza, Chanukah, or just time with your family at this time of year, we hope you savour the season. There are many exciting events coming to our city this month. Visit https://www.richmond.ca/newsevents/richmondcalendar/EventSearch/ or https://www.visitrichmondbc.com/winter-in-the-village/ to see what might interest you or your family.

At Whiteside, we have our own festivities ready for next week. Our Wolfpack will sing songs, watch performances, and come together to celebrate the winter season as a school. Thank you to all of our parents, students, teachers, and staff that make this time of year magical for our community.

Report cards will be posted on the MyEdBC Parent Portal after school on Thursday. Please remember Friday is Hot Lunch and  Holiday Sweater Day too!

WINTER PERFORMANCES

Ms. LB and our Wolfpack is busy preparing this year’s winter concerts and school musical. Please save the following dates to watch your children shine:

• Dec. 13 – Musical performance at 1:30 pm/6:30 pm
  • Doors will open for students and families at 6:15 p.m.
  • Students may go to their classes in preparation for the musical.
  • Please access the performance through the rear gym door.

Seating may be limited to 2 members for each family (excluding students). We encourage families to attend our afternoon performance, when possible, to ensure every family can attend. Thank you.

BEAVER COMPUTATIONAL CONTEST

Whiteside students in grades 4-7 participated in the Beaver Computing Challenge this fall. 15 grade 4/5/6 students participated. One of our amazing Wolfpack achieved a perfect score. 15 grade 7 students participated and 3 students achieved near-perfect scores. Students volunteered to participate in this extracurricular math event. We are proud of all our Wolfpack for trying their best and joining the BCC! We would also like to share a BIG thank you to Mme Welford for sharing, organizing, and running the contest! Well done, Wolfpack!

The BCC is a problem-solving contest with a focus on computational and logical thinking. Questions are inspired by topics in computer science but only require comfort with concepts found in mathematics curriculum common to all provinces. 

Participating in a mathematics and computing contest helps students develop invaluable skills, like creative problem-solving and big-picture thinking.

CEMC contests can help students:

• discover and grow a love of mathematics and computer science,
• apply knowledge in novel situations, and
• make connections across topics in mathematics and computing.

And because CEMC contests are challenging but attainable activities for young learners, they also build students' confidence in their ability to tackle difficult problems — a key ingredient for student success both inside and outside the classroom.

HOT LUNCH

The next PAC Hot Lunch Day will be pasta and chicken strips from Boston Pizza on Friday, December 16th.  Make sure to order and pay on Munch a Lunch no later than Friday, December 9th: https://munchalunch.com/schools/jameswhiteside/. Also, there will be no extra food available for purchase on December 16th.

COMMUNICATING STUDENT LEARNING

Our report cards this year will be posted on the MyEdBC parent portal after school on Thursday, December 15^th. We encourage our parent community to log on and review your child’s fall report card. Core Competency reflections will be sent home or posted on your child’s SD38 portfolio. We hope you and your children enjoy a conversation about their learning together.

HOLIDAY SWEATER DAY

Our next spirit day will be Friday, December 16th. We encourage our Wolfpack to wear their favourite festive sweater or outfit to celebrate the holiday season at Whiteside!

SNOW DAYS 

When it snows in our community, our school will remain open if possible. No direct announcement will be made saying that schools will be open. Closures, due to snow, will be announced via the SD38 Twitter account, school and district websites, and on the radio at CKNW AM 980, News AM 1130, CBC AM 690, Fairchild AM 1470, CHQM FM 103.5. Closures will be announced as early as possible prior to the start of the regular school day.

HOLIDAY WISH

Thank you to all the families that participated in our Holiday Wish program this year. Your kindness and generosity have brightened our holiday season. We will continue to accept donations before and after school on Monday and Tuesday next week. Thank you to Mme. Dennill, Mme. Robie, our parent volunteers, and staff for their support and hard work!

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Richmond School District 38 is excited to welcome kindergarten registration applications for children born in 2018, turning 5 in 2023. These children will begin kindergarten in September 2023. Online registration opens on November 1^st, 2022. Please visit our website http://www.sd38.bc.ca/kindergarten for more information about our online registration process, required documents, important dates, and FAQs.

“IN” DAYS AND “OUT” DAYS:

During recess and lunchtime breaks, students are expected to be outside at all times this year.  Students are strongly encouraged to dress appropriately for the weather. You may also send a change of clothes to school just in case your child gets wet. Playing outside will ensure our students get some fresh air and exercise to enliven their day.

PARKING LOT SAFETY

Please help keep our students safe by using the drop off zone for picking up and dropping off students only.  Please do not leave your car unattended in the drop off zone; if you need to come into the school, please park in a designated parking space.  When walking to school, please use the designated paths south and adjacent to the driveway as you enter the school grounds. Please follow arrows to keep our students safe and keep our parking lot accident free.

Please remember the east parking lot is for school and construction staff only. Please do not park or drop off children in this area.

SCHOOL VISITORS

In the interest of safety, everyone entering the school must check in at the office. Classrooms are busy learning places and we try not to interrupt them during instructional time.  If you need to see your child, leave them a message, or drop off a lunch, our office staff will happily take care of that for you.  As well, it is difficult at the end or beginning of the school day for our office staff to have in-depth discussions with parents.  Making appointments either by phone or in person is preferable. Thank you for your support!

 

Coming Soon:

Dec. 13            Musical performance 1:30/6:30 pm

Dec. 15            Report cards posted online

Dec. 15            Staff Holiday Luncheon (thank you!)

Dec. 16            Hot lunch (Boston Pizza)

Dec. 16            Holiday Sweater Day

Dec. 16            Last day before Winter Break

Jan. 3               Whiteside re-opens

Jan. 19             Kung Jaadee performance

Jan. 30             Pro-D

Feb. 17            Pro-D

Feb. 20            Family Day

March 10        Last day before Spring Break

March 27        Whiteside re-opens

April 7             Good Friday – school closed

April 10           Easter Monday – school closed

April 24-26      Gr. 6/7 camp

May 17            Welcome to Kindergarten

May 19            Pro-D

May 22            Victoria Day – school closed  

June 13            K/1 and 6/7 Immunization

June 16            Sports Day

June 24            Gr 7 Farewell

June 29            Last day for students

 

We wish you all the best this weekend!

~Whiteside Elementary