Hi Whiteside families!

 

Whiteside welcomes Mr. Avery and his multitude of teaching experiences to Division 2. This spring Mr. McCuaig welcomed a new addition to his family, and he will be on parental leave until the end of the year. Mr. Avery joined us after a kind conversation with a Whiteside parent. We appreciate the care our community provides our school. We also appreciate Mr. Avery’s enthusiasm for joining Whiteside until the end of the year.

 

We also welcomed Ms. Bower as a new EA to Whiteside. Ms. Mascarina recently accepted a position with the city of Richmond. We congratulate Ms. Mascarina on her new role and are excited to have Ms. Bower join our team.

 

This week we enjoyed school-wide ringette lessons and many trips to South Arm Park to explore the amazing environment in our own backyard. We are excited about the opportunities the spring weather and our community provides for us.

 

We hope our community enjoys an amazing weekend!

 

TRACK MEET – MAY 11

Our Wolfpack also took advantage of the beautiful weather to run, jump, and toss outside to prepare for our upcoming track meet. Our track meet will be for all grade 4-7 students on May 11 at Minoru. Our track team will be located on the west side of the park by the pool entrance (there will be no entry permitted for our students). We will reach out shortly for parent drivers to help supplement transportation to and from the track meet. Thank you for your support.

 

HOT LUNCH

Our next Hot Lunch Day will be featuring pasta and chicken strips from Boston Pizza on Thursday May 18th, 2023. Please order online by going to the school website https://whiteside.sd38.bc.ca/ and clicking on the link under the MunchaLunch icon or visit https://munchalunch.com/login.

 

SPRING FAIR UPDATES

Our awesome PAC and community are welcoming back our Spring Fair on May 25^th. Please save the date! So much work has already begun. Thank you!

 

Family volunteers help make this event a success and we hope you can join in the fun. To volunteer please sign up here: volunteersignup.org/AFCRK. We still need Cake Walk donations too. Cake Walks are an easy way to help. All we need is a homemade or store-bought baked treat to donate.

 

Our delicious treats and food are available for pre-order. Please visit Munchalunch (https://munchalunch.com/home.html ) to order.

 

Classroom basket donations can be delivered to your class any time. Our basket raffle is a fun way to raise money and give back to our lucky winners. Each class has a theme for their basket. Families can purchase and donate any item they feel would fit their theme. We also need some parent volunteers for each class to collect the items and create the basket. Please reach out to your classroom teacher if you can help. Our themes are:

Lee: Sugar Overload

Avery/McCuaig: Garden Party (seeds, spades, shovels, gloves, etc.)

Howells: Caffeine Addict

Pelletier: Summer Preparedness Kit

Badrnejad: Fruity Fun

Kaminski: Arts and Crafts

Swordy: Whitecaps - Soccer

Quan: Snacks from Around the World

Gagnon: Afternoon Tea

Kunc: Baking supplies

Wong: Arts and Crafts

Robie/Dennill: BBQ

Kinsey: Summer Fun

Yuan: Snack Attack kit

Lee: Family Fun – puzzles and games

Beck: Movie night

Evans: Beach Day

We look forward to May 25^th and the fun that it will bring!

 

CLASS PLACEMENTS  

Please see the attached letter with information regarding class placements.

 

NOTICE OF LATE RETURN 2023-2024

The attached form must be completed for any student(s) who anticipate a delayed return to school in September and will not be in attendance by 12:00pm on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. Please return the form to the school principal by June 23, 2023.

 

Please note that student absences at the start of the school year result in missed opportunities for valuable social connections, instructional time, and establishment of routines and expectations. The reason for a late return to school should only be for extenuating circumstances.

 

Please be advised that any student not in attendance before end of the school day on September 14, 2023, will not be guaranteed a placement at École Élémentaire James Whiteside Elementary School. This may result in a placement at another school upon return.

 

In the event of an unforeseen critical family circumstance occurring after July 1, 2023, that causes an unexpected late return to the school, the parent must advise the school as soon as possible by email (whiteside@sd38.bc.ca).

 

HOLDING ONTO OUR KIDS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

As part of Mental Health Week, Dr. Deborah MacNamara led a virtual session for parents, guardians, and caregivers on Holding Onto Our Kids in a Digital World this past Tuesday. The video link (click here) to this presentation is available until May 16, 2023. Please note the presentation is tailored for an adult audience, not children. (Passcode: 0vd1y^B&)

 

A summary of the presentation:

As if parenting wasn’t hard enough in having to deal with screens, peer pressure on kids - and then we had to add a pandemic on top of it! How can we hold on to our kids so we can influence and guide them? What do kids really need from us so as to grow into socially and emotionally responsible beings? This presentation will discuss issues from technology to peer problems and how parents are the ultimate answer for what kids need most of all. Practical suggestions for (re)building strong relationships with kids from preschoolers to teenagers will be discussed along with managing challenging behaviour - including screen time!

 

BIO: Dr. Deborah MacNamara is the author of Rest, Play, Grow: Making Sense of Preschoolers (or anyone who acts like one), and her children’s picture book, The Sorry Plane. She is on Faculty at the Neufeld Institute and Director of the counselling practice, Kid’s Best Bet.

 

 

CLASS AND GROUP PHOTOS  

This spring Edge Imaging visited Whiteside to take our class, group, and school photos. Each Whiteside Wolf will receive a class photo but you have the opportunity to purchase group or grade seven photos by following this link.

 

SUMMER LEARNING 2023

Attention Richmond families! Did you know that many of Richmond Continuing Education Summer Learning Programs are FREE for BC students who are Canadian Citizens, Permanent Residents and students who have Refugee status?

 

With an array of exciting and enriching courses and camps to choose from, your child is sure to have a memorable summer. Choose from Elementary Enrichment, Summer Exploration, Summer Fine Arts, Academic Full Credit, Academic Completion, Secondary Enrichment, and Secondary Enrichment Skill Building Courses. We also offer Summer Camps for both elementary and secondary students, with options for ages 6-16. Don't miss out on this opportunity to grow and learn in a fun and engaging way! Keep your child's learning journey going strong this summer and sign up now for Summer Learning 2023.

For more information go to our website at www.RichmondCE.ca

 

This Parent Feelings Project

This project seeks to understand how parents of children aged 5 - 10 are feeling about their roles as they continue to navigate their child-rearing activities three years into the pandemic. Feel free to share this research opportunity with your parent community (interested parents can contact the researcher directly – link in the title).

 

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 or park in staff parking spots; if you need to come into the school, please park in a parking space closer to South Arm Community Centre.  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.

 

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 is open now. Please visit our website http://www.sd38.bc.ca/kindergarten for more information about our online registration process, required documents, important dates, and FAQs.

 

WEST COAST WEATHER AND OUTSIDE PLAY

• Please remember that all students will be going outside for recess and lunch, except in extreme weather conditions. 
• Physical activity has a positive impact on learning.
• If kids are well prepared to be outside in the rain, they really enjoy it. If they stay dry and warm there is a great deal of fun to be had in all kinds of weather. To be prepared to be outside in the rain it is important for your child to have appropriate clothing such as:
  • A rain jacket.
  • Rubber boots
  • Rain pants
  • An umbrella
  • A rain hat or coat with a hood
  • *A change of clothes to be kept at school (sweatpants, underwear, socks, t-shirt, etc.)
  • When students use their change of clothes, please send another set to school for the next time.

 

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:

May 11             Track meet

May 17             Welcome to Kindergarten at 1:00 p.m.

May 19             Pro-D

May 22             Victoria Day – school closed.     

May 23             McRoberts Gr. 7 day

May 25             Spring Fair

June 7              Shayna Jones presentation

June 13             K/1 and 6/7 Immunization

June 16             Sports Day

June 23             Gr 7 Farewell

June 27             Intermediate pool day

June 29             Last day for students

 

We wish you all a wonderful weekend!

 

~Whiteside Elementary