Dear DRBS Families,

Gratitude focus for the week:

“Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” – Winnie the Pooh

Take time over this week and the upcoming holidays to reflect on the little things that bring you joy and be the source of joy for others with the little things you do.

 

Thank You/Reminders

• This week has been an eventful one at school! Thank you SO MUCH to School Council for supporting our Mobile Escape residency
• Once again thank you to all the parents who have donated for the store at CN GUNN School. Your generosity will make the difference in the Christmas of many families this year.
• Our Jump Rope for Heart event day was Tuesday November 28th.As a school we jumped 251448 and those are just the ones we counted. We also set a new school record of 13 minutes of continuous skipping and together we have raised $783.00. Thank you to all who participated and congratulations to our prize winners and record setters.

Staffing Updates

• Please join us in thanking Ms. Bateman for all her hard work this term, and welcoming back Mr. Vanderlinden on December 22, 2023.
• Ms. Bateman will not be going far as Mr. Cuculea in Grade 1 will be taking the month of January to be home with his little one and she will be replacing him in Grade 1 for that time.
• We are thrilled to announce starting in January we will be able to expand our literacy support program into grades 5 & 6. Ms. Labrecque, our Literacy Learning Leader, will be leading this work and moving into a full time literacy support role.
• Ms. Calder will be moving into Ms. Labrecque’ s class as the full time Grade 2 teacher.
• This week Ms. Andriano (our librarian) announced her retirement. She and her husband have received a wonderful opportunity and we wish them all the best in their new adventures. She will be missed!
• Ms. Crean will start the New Year with us, and then will head off to welcome her new baby!
• Ms. Orton will be returning to us in March and will teach Ms. Crean’s class. To support the transition between the two teachers, Ms. McCulloch will be joining us.

 

 

Winter Concerts

We are excited to be able to welcome families into the school this year to watch our amazing students perform! Ms. Masesar has worked very hard with all the classes and they sound great.

 

Please see below for your child’s specific day ant time to perform. After the performances you are invited to join your child in their classroom for a class celebration before the break.

 

Given the number of students we have in each performance and our size restrictions we are needing to limit the number of guests to 2 for each student. If you have a younger sibling who can sit on a lap they are not counted as one of the two guests.

 

We are asking that students dress for the performance if they can. This doesn’t mean go out and buy new clothes, think of it as what you would wear for school photos.  Please see the guidelines below:

 

Cultural or National Costume/Clothing = for example, my family is from the Philippines and we have dresses we wear called "Filipiniana" worn for special occasions like weddings or debutante balls. Encourage students to show their culture by choosing to wear traditional garb if they have it available to them and if their parents allow it to be worn in public.

OR

Fancy Party/Sunday Best = girls can wear dresses with tights underneath or black pants with a fancy top. Boys can wear a suit, tuxedo, vest, suspenders, button collared shirts with or without a bowtie or regular tie. 

NO BLUE JEANS, SWEATPANTS OR TIGHTS*** black jeans are okay as long as there are no holes.

Tuesday December 19

o   Fun Lunch

o   11:45 Kindergarten Winter Performance

o   1:45 Grade 1 & 2 Winter Performance

o   2:15 Grade 1 & 2 Classroom/parent visits

Wednesday December 20

o   1:45 Grade 3 & 4 Winter Performance

o   2:15 Grade 3 & 4 Classroom/parent visits

 

Thursday, December 21

o   1:45 Grade 5 & 6 Winter Performance

o   2:15 Grade 5 & 6 Classroom/parent visits

Friday December 22

o  PJ Day & Winter Sweater Day

o  MacDonald’s Fun Lunch

 

School Council News

 

Fun Lunch Friday Dec 22 - To celebrate our last day of school before the holidays, we are holding an additional Fun Lunch with all proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House for Sick Kids. McDonald's will deliver an early lunch for the children to eat shortly before getting out of class on Friday, December 22, 2023. To participate go to www.healthyhunger.ca to order. Order deadline is Sunday, December 17th. Orders will end at 11:59pm sharp, no exceptions. Contact Karen at drbsfunlunch@gmail.com with any questions

Art Cards - Thank you to everyone that participated in our Art Cards fundraiser, we raised over $2000 for the school! This amount is equivalent to what the DRBS Development Association contributed to subsidize the amazing Mobile Escape Room residency for each of Grade 4, 5 and 6. Similar amounts have funded different residencies for other grades: the Lana Skague residency for Kindergarten and Grade 1, and the upcoming Clay for Kids residency for Grade 2 and 3, for a combined total of almost $14,000.

We also would like to extend our thanks to everybody that came for pick-up this past Monday and Tuesday. With your help we had few enough orders left that the staff was able to distribute the remainder to students in class. If you have not yet received your order, or if you have any questions, please contact Sadaf at drbsfundraising@gmail.com.

If you would like to know more about how fundraising funds are spent or have questions about financials, please contact Natasha at drbstreasurer@gmail.com

Legacy Stars Update - Legacy Stars are still coming! There was a defect in the manufacturing, so they have been delayed so we can ensure a high-quality result. Thanks again to everyone that participated in this fundraiser, we raised almost $12,000 towards the Outdoor Learning Space that was built in the summer. Please send any questions to Sadaf at drbsfundraising@gmail.com.

Outdoor Learning Space Update - DRBS Development Association is excited to announce that we were awarded a $125,000 grant towards the Outdoor Learning Space development! This grant expires before summer 2025, so we are moving forward with Phase 2 of the Outdoor Learning Space immediately, so that we can maximize our funding. Please keep an eye out for a parent/student survey that will be sent out in January to gather your input. Please send any questions to Carrie and Chris at drbsplayground@gmail.com.

January Fun Lunch Order Deadline - The first fun lunch of 2024 is A&W on Jan 9, and the deadline for ordering is 11:59pm on Thursday Jan 4. Contact Karen at drbsfunlunch@gmail.com with any questions. 

Call for Agenda Items - Our next School Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 16 at 6:45pm. In following with our consent agenda format, please send any agenda requests to DRBSCouncilChair@gmail.com and we will attempt to include as many items as possible within the time allotted for the meeting. Please have your agenda items submitted by the end of day Sunday January 7 so we can finalize and distribute the agenda to the school community.

Have a great Winter Break!