Happy Sunday, Grizzly families! 

I trust that you are enjoying some family time during this year's Fall Break.   

Congratulations to our students who were part of the Remembrance Day Assembly on Thursday morning.  We listened to the Grade 9 Band, Grade 6 poetry recitations, and had several other students involved in everything from being MCs to flag bearers to poppy pinners.  It was a somber event and our students were outstanding participants.  Thank you to the staff members who were on the planning committee for the assembly. 

While students were home on Friday, CBE employees all over the city were participating in Maatoomsii’Pookaiks (Children First), which was an entire day of professional learning related to Indigenous Education.  At Annie Gale, our staff worked in groups and participated in a variety of hands-on learning activities, as well as a great deal of reflection and sharing.  We finished with a circle activity.  I noted that, as learners, we had an opportunity to feel the same way many of our students sometimes do—awkward, self-conscious, and hoping to get things right the first time.  Of course, as rational adults, we know that learning happens during struggle and in the subsequent reflection, so it was no surprise that we struggled throughout the day—but in a good way!  It’s never a mistake if we can empathize with our learners because of our own experiences. 

This week we welcomed Ms. Nakamura to our staff.  She will be with us two days a week for the remainder of the year and will be supporting small groups in literacy and numeracy instruction. 

Recently I have spent time thinking about ways for our families to support our students—recognizing the important role that families have in improving student achievement and well-being.  I urge you to keep reading these weekly updates, as I will share some ideas with you.  The idea for this week’s suggestion came from a data point from a recent student survey.  Only 43% of our students reported “I take care of myself by making sure I don’t have too much screen time.”  We have had great success with our students this year as we have honoured the Alberta Government’s decision to disallow personal devices at school.  Our success may be because we had already utilized the Away for the Day policy the year before; however, we also believe that the new legislation allowed families to seriously consider the benefits and drawbacks of students accessing personal devices at school (and at home).  My hope is that the statistic I shared above reminds you that children sometimes struggle to make good decisions.  In fact, many of our students will secretly inform me and their teachers that they use their devices well past bedtime, without the knowledge of their parents or guardians.  We can see it in their faces in the morning—sometimes we see far too many students who have had very little sleep.  Device use at night contributes to this.  My parenting suggestion this week is to have families move personal devices to a public location before bedtime—and that the devices should stay out of bedrooms all together.  And with that in mind, know that you are modeling for your children.  If you struggle to put phones and devices down, they will too.  Besides putting devices away at night, consider having a set time each night in which every family member, including the adults, put their phones down and engage with each other.    

Did you know? 

  • REPEAT:  Fun lunch is coming on Thursday, November 21.  Log into healthyhunger.ca to register for your child and support the school with one of our fundraising efforts at the same time.  We thank you! 
  • REPEAT:  We want to remind all our students who take the bus that they are expected to be responsible riders.  This means that they stay in their seat until the bus stops, remove any litter that they brought onto the bus, treat other riders respectfully, and speak in a reasonable volume.  Parents and guardians need to know that at any time the driver can ask for proof of payment.  Ensure that your child has a valid bus pas if they are over the age of 12. 
  • REPEAT:  Our next council meeting date is Monday, November 18, at 6:00 pm.   

WEEKLY EVENTS:  NOVEMBER 11 TO NOVEMBER 15 

Monday, November 11 – REMEMBRANCE DAY:  NO SCHOOL 

Tuesday, November 12 – FALL BREAK:  NO SCHOOL 

Wednesday, November 13 – FALL BREAK:  NO SCHOOL 

Thursday, November 14 – Formal Day for TLC uniforms 

  • 2:45 – 3:45 | Junior and Senior Girls Basketball Practice (confirm with coaches) 
  • 2:45 – 3:45 | Senior Girls Basketball Practice (confirm with coaches) 
  • 5:00 – 8:00 | Senior Boys Basketball Games @ Annie Gale 

Friday, November 15 – EVEN A DAY 

Sincerely, 

Tammy Quiring 

(proud) Principal   

INFORMATION FROM SCHOOL COUNCIL ​​​​​​​

Hello Annie Gale Parents, 

We are looking to fill the secretary position on our school council and our fundraising society PESA (PARENTS ENCOURAGING SUCCESS ASSOCIATION) for the current school year of 2024 to June 2025. The description of the secretary role is provided below, so if that is something that interests you, please send us an email at anniegalepesa@gmail.com or ruminakhan80@yahoo.ca; alternatively, you can come join us at our next meeting on Monday, November 18, at 6 pm. 

Secretary role: The school council secretary typically acts as a recorder at each meeting and ensures that the meeting minutes are prepared accurately to reflect the directions agreed to at the meeting. They can be handwritten at the meeting and then typed up and sent through email to the executives to view. This is a single volunteer position and only requires an hour and 30 minutes of your time once a month.   

Thank you,   

Rumina Cruz  

Chair (School Council/ PESA) 

Annie Gale School