Cold Weather Gratitude!

Not to the cold weather, of course, but to our amazing volunteers, families, students, and staff for making sure everyone was safe and warm during these frigid temperatures. It takes a certain kind of incredible to be on Kiss & Drop duty this week and we are so incredibly thankful to everyone who helped out! It looks like Tuesday, the first day of school next week, will be much more reasonable, but still below zero, so make sure to send those hats and gloves!

 

Olympic Heights on Instagram! @olympic_heights

We are excited to share that OHS is now on Instagram! Instagram is a social media platform that emphasizes photo and video sharing via its mobile app for iOS and Android. The blend of visual and text-based content makes it an ideal platform for sharing information about school activities, events, and news. Check out our very first post!

 

Monday January 15 - Professional Development Day

Please be aware that this coming Monday, January 15, is a professional development day. Staff will be working to build capacity around phonology, phonetics, and decodable books. Decodable books are one important piece of helping students to become good readers. They contain words made up mostly of sound-letter connections that have been taught and practiced ahead of time. As a student learns new sound-letter connections, the words used in the books expand to include the more words that contain new and previously learned sound-letter connections. Using decodable text in the early stages of reading development helps to ensure that a student can read the words printed on the page without guessing. This teaches them to trust the print, and use decoding as the first and best way to figure out new words. We would like to highlight the new CBE Decodable Digital Library, providing access to digital versions of decodable reading materials for CBE teachers and families.

 

Movement for Regulation Pathways

Our CBE physiotherapist, Nicola Hoover, spent some time working with students today to re-create pathways in our halls for regulation opportunities. Using colourful athletic floor tape, students created three unique pathways that encourage active movement, with increased regulation for learning as a result. The three pathways target different developmental levels: one uses shapes which students must be within, another uses connected lines, and the last one, targeted at older students, simply uses strips of tape of varying size – the different sizes indicate how the movement should be performed. Nicola worked with our students last year to create these initially, but had to be taken up for cleaning purposes in the summer. We are excited to have them back in the school for students to use! Check out the pictures on the sidebar.

 

School Council & Parents Association Meeting Reminder – Jan. 18

Our first School Council and Parents Association meeting of 2024 will occur next Thursday, January 18, in the learning commons / plaza space. Minutes from our last meeting in November are available here, and look for the agenda being sent out early next week. Teachers from our intrepid Grade 2 Team will joining to share a glimpse into their classroom learning. See you next Thursday at 6:30 PM!

 

Accessing Online Report Cards through MyCBE

Families will be able to view online student report cards on Jan. 30, 2024. Report cards for the 2023-24 school year may be viewed, downloaded and/or printed. Parents and Guardians can sign in to MyCBE to view student information, including report cards, comments from your child’s teacher, assignments and grades, and attendance information. For best access to information, log in to the MyCBE portal instead of using the PowerSchool App. For technical support on accessing MyCBE, visit Technical Support for Students & Parents for more information.

 

2024-25 Instructional Calendar Now Available

The 2024-25 school calendar has been finalized and posted. The first day of school for students is Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. Guidelines used to inform the creation of instructional calendars are based on current legislation, provincial examinations and feedback. The calendars include a minimum of 181 instructional days and 10 system-wide days for schools to schedule parent-teacher conferences, professional development, and other organizational days. Please visit the system calendar page or your school’s website for more information.

 

Friends of our Fish

OHS is looking for a volunteer (or volunteers) who are passionate about poisson! Please note the double “s”! Are you an aquarist? Do you have expertise with fish tanks? If so, we are hoping you could help us out. Time commitment might only be 30 minutes to an hour a month and would involve general maintenance (filter cleaning, arranging aquascapes, etc.). Responsibilities could vary depending on your availability, interest and comfort level, ranging from independent assistance to help with our Fish Club. Please contact the main office if you might be able to help out. Thanks!

 

Upcoming Dates

Jan. 15             PD Day – No classes for students

Jan. 20             A&W Fun Lunch orders due

Jan. 25             A&W Fun Lunch

Feb. 3              Out of Chaos Cookies orders due

Feb. 8              Out of Chaos Cookies Fun Snack

Feb. 8              Student Voice

Feb. 8              School Council & Parents Association Meeting 6:30 – 8:00

Feb. 15-16       Teachers Convention – school closed

Feb. 17             Subway Fun Lunch orders due

Feb. 19             Family Day Holiday – school closed

Feb. 20-23       Gr. 3 & 4 - Skate Shack ice skating

Feb. 22             Subway Fun Lunch

Feb. 26             Evergreen Theatre presents Snow White and the Seven Regions