Boo! Happy Halloween!

We enjoyed an exciting week at Whiteside. Our youngest Wolves took a trip to the pumpkin patch. Our oldest Wolves joined together for our annual leadership conference. Both these events engaged our students in extraordinary learning experiences. We look forward to offering more to all our Wolfpack.

Thank you to our amazing PAC for another delicious hot lunch.

We look forward to Halloween fun next week and jumping into November. 

We hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend with your families!

“Trick or Treat” Others with Respect
Halloween can be fun.  However, we need to be aware that celebrating Halloween needs to be fun for ALL and not at the expense of equity seeking groups.  Halloween offers an opportunity to have meaningful conversations about costume choices with colleagues and students and requires consideration.  In doing so, it is important to keep in mind that we need to be sensitive to groups that have been marginalized through mimicry and cultural appropriation during Halloween and other ‘dress up’ events.  A few things to keep in mind: It’s good to keep in mind that the following are NOT Costumes:
RACE (black face/brown face)
CULTURE (Indigenous regalia/dreadlocks)
RELIGIOUS FAITH (religious figures/gods/saints/gurus/hijab)
GENDER (gender switching for humour or to mock)
TRAUMA (hangman’s noose/weapons)

FAMILY PHOTO NIGHT
Save the date! Our amazing PAC is organizing family photo nights on November 15 and 16. Please see the attachment for more information.

LEGO & BOARD GAME DONATIONS: 
Lego and board games are excellent, and fun, tools to build social, creative, and critical thinking skills. We are asking for donations of new or slightly used board games and Lego pieces/sets to build our classrooms kits. If you have a donation, please visit Mr. Cameron in the office.

LEARNING CONFERENCES
Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for November 8th and 9th. These conferences are a great opportunity to connect with the school and discuss your child's learning. This year our conferences will be completed in person. Alternate arrangements can be made individually with your classroom teacher. Teachers will connect with you to schedule conference times. Please note that these two dates are Early Dismissal Days with 1:45 pm dismissal times to accommodate the conferences.

VOLLEYBALL SEASON
Mr. Quan and Ms. Kinsey and our intermediate students started our new volleyball season with practices on our field and at McRoberts. Our upcoming games are:
Nov. 1 at Errington
Nov. 3 at Errington
Nov. 15 at Maple Lane
Nov. 29 at Bridge
We look forward to inviting you to our home games soon! Go Wolfpack!

HOT LUNCH – November 9th
Our next day will be TCBY on November 9th (moved from November 10th). Hot lunch will only be ordered and provided to families that have paid for their order. Please ensure you have completed your order. Thank you for our delicious hot lunch this week!

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.

“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.

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:
Nov. 8/9    Learning Conferences (1:45 p.m. dismissal)
Nov. 9        TCBY Day
Nov. 10    Remembrance Day Assembly
Nov. 11    Remembrance Day 
Nov. 15    PAC Meeting
Nov. 15/16    Family Photo Night
Nov. 21    Pro-D Day (school closed)
Dec. 6        Band concert 1:30/7:00 pm
Dec. 13    Musical performance 1:30/7:00 pm
Dec. 15    Report cards posted online
Dec. 16    Last day before Winter Break

Have a great weekend!

~Whiteside Elementary