Dear DGS Families
As we move into March, we continue to be inspired by the dedication and enthusiasm our students bring to school each day. Whether through academics, athletics, or the arts, students are engaging in meaningful learning and demonstrating care for one another. Thank you for your ongoing partnership in supporting our school community — your involvement plays a key role in helping our students thrive. Please see below for important updates and upcoming events.
Thank you for your support in helping us prioritize student safety. Last week, we asked caregivers to remind their children to cross the street at designated intersections and avoid running between buses or cars during drop-off and pick-up times. We're pleased to share that we haven't observed any safety concerns over the past week. Your conversations at home are making a positive impact, and we appreciate your partnership in keeping our students safe.
Playoffs for our volleyball teams begin next week, and we wish all our athletes the best of luck as they represent Dr. George Stanley School. We are proud of the hard work, dedication, and sportsmanship our students have shown this season. As a reminder, DGS shares a common spectator policy with all schools within our middle school athletics (CMLSAA) division. Dr. George Stanley School will be maintaining these spectator expectations and conditional attendance policies for spectators to support a positive and safe environment for our student athletes. As such:
- All parents/guardians are welcome to attend all games at Dr. George Stanley School.
- Parents/guardians who bring family members under the age of 18 are expected to supervise their child(ren) in the main gym.
- All parents/guardians are expected to cheer/support all players/ coaches/ referees/ parents/ guardians in a positive manner.
- If parents/guardians are engaging in any inappropriate behaviour directed towards players/coaches/referees/parents/guardians, the game will be paused and the parent/guardian will be asked to stop. If the inappropriate behaviour continues, the game will be stopped again and will not re-start until the parent/guardian leaves the gym and school property. If removed, the parent/guardian may lose future viewing privileges at Dr. George Stanley School.
- Our main goal is to provide a safe and fun opportunity for students.
Please remember:
- The players are kids.
- The coaches are volunteers.
- The referees are human.
- There will be no scholarships or professional contracts handed out
Note: Due to the ongoing CUPE strike, only parents/guardians and siblings of players who are accompanied by their caregiver are permitted to attend games. Thanks again for your understanding.
School Conferences Update
School conferences are scheduled for March 20 and 21. Due to the ongoing CUPE strike, the Calgary Board of Education has directed all schools to hold conferences online. While more details, including how to sign up, will be shared next week, we wanted to put this on your radar as you plan ahead. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to connecting with families to discuss student learning.
School Development Plan and Annual Survey
Thank you to those who attended our School Council and Parent Society meetings online last week. Mr. Rushton and I shared information about our school development plan and asked for feedback regarding fees for next year. Our presentation can be accessed on our school website or by using this link. Feedback is important as we consider school planning. When students, families and staff work closely together, students achieve greater success in their learning. You are encouraged to provide feedback through our annual survey, which will remain open until March 21. The survey can be accessed using this link, or by using the QR code in the presentation. Thanks in advance for your participation!
Email Messages
Due to Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), you need to subscribe online if you want to receive email or text messages on “commercial” school topics such as picture days, student fees, field trip costs, yearbooks, Healthy Hunger and more. If you do not subscribe, you will not receive these messages, but you will, of course, continue to receive emails on non-commercial topics such as absence and emergency notifications.
To subscribe to receive commercial messages, go to www.cbe.ab.ca/subscribe to enter your email address and click Subscribe. Use your primary email address on file at your school.
Blocked Messaging
Blocks can happen if you intentionally or accidentally tag an email as spam or junk, or sometimes when your email server senses that an email is coming from an electronic mailing system and tries to prevent spamming and block our emails. You will also be blocked from all CBE emails if you click the Unsubscribe link at the top of a CBE message in your email. To prevent blocks, it can be helpful if you add our CBE email addresses to your address book or safe senders list. This helps your email system recognize the messages as ‘safe’ and not flag them as spam. Emails to add could be our school’s email address, the teacher's email addresses and anyone else who usually sends the messages.
If you also add cbecommunications@cbe.ab.ca and transportation@cbe.ab.ca (if using CBE bus services) or studentfees@cbe.ab.ca (central fees) it will help to ensure you receive central messages.
Book Drive
We are asking that families take a look at their bookshelves and see if there is anything they are ready to part with. We will accept any kind of book (children, youth, young adult, adult, fiction, non-fiction, etc.) so long as it is intact and still readable. Ask your family members, friends, neighbours "do you have any books you have been meaning to donate, and just haven't gotten around to it?" If the answer is yes, we will take them off your hands and find them new loving homes. Any unsold books after our sale will be donated to Calgary Women in Need Society (WINS). You can send your donations to school with your children or arrange to drop them at the office from now until March 13. The sale will be held after spring break. Specific sale details are TBD.
50/50 Fundraiser
The Dr. George Stanley Fundraising Society wants to fund your Spring Break with our 50/50 CASH RAFFLE! The winner will take home 50% of the proceeds - up to $2,500.00!
100% of the profits from the raffle will fund student learning around native plants and restoring natural habitats in the flower beds in front of the school.
The current jackpot is at $1400.00. To learn more, click HERE!
Healthy Hunger
Orders can be made through Healthyhunger.ca
Upcoming Events
March 18 School Council and Parent Society
March 20 Last day of classes before Spring Break
March 20 & 21 School Conferences (more information to come)
March 31 First day of classes after Spring Break
April 1 Spring Photos
Respectfully,
Chris Keuben
Principal, Dr. George Stanley School