Upper Hay River School

November 17, 2009

Report cards will be sent home on Friday November 20^th and the Parent Teacher Interviews will be held on November 25^thfrom 4:00 – 7:00. Contact the school and talk to Donna about booking a time to visit with your child’s teacher.

There is a raffle taking place this month and the draw date is November 29^th. The prize for this raffle is a 45 gallon drum of gasoline. If you wish to purchase a ticket you can call the school and we will put you in touch with a school council member who has tickets to sell.

Some children are coming to school without the proper winter clothing. Mitts, toques and winter coats should be worn to school by all the students, it is also preferable if the students wear snow pants so that their clothing can stay dry. Even the junior high students need to wear proper clothing!

Basketball practice has started for the boy’s team; it is encouraging to see the boys attending the practice. The basketball season will begin around Christmas time or in the new year. There is a Sports Committee meeting on Wednesday night and at this meeting the basketball schedule will be discussed. Please encourage your child to bring the proper attire, gym shorts and a tee shirt for all practices.

The students are allowed to stay inside if the temperature falls below -20˚C. Activities will be planned for them when they have to stay inside for a recess. We have Lego blocks for the younger students to play with and the older students will either go to the computer lab or the gym. On all other days the students are expected to be outside for every recess.

We have been trying something new this year; the junior high students have the option of staying inside their classroom at recess or going outside for recess. While inside the students hang out and chat, some do homework and others practice their spelling words. The students are required to stay inside their classroom and they cannot wander the hallways during their recess break.

Children require approximately 8 – 10 hours of sleep per night in order to function properly the next day. That means that the children should be going to bed by 9:00 p.m. often we have students coming to school and falling asleep at their desk. In other cases the children are tired and grumpy when they come to school and often do not cooperate with staff when they are feeling this way nor do they do their work to the best of their ability. Lack of sleep can also contribute to lower marks. We are preparing our students to go on to high school and in order to do this we need the cooperation of all the students. The staff at the school are providing the best possible education for our students and with cooperative students we can prepare them for their future.

Christmas is approaching fast; it is hard to believe that it is a little over a month away. The Christmas break will begin after December 18^th, 2009 and the students return to school on January 4^th 2010. The Christmas concert will be held on the afternoon of December 15^th.

Upper Hay River School

Box 1740, High Level, AB T0H 1Z0

Phone (780) 535-2220 Fax: (780) 535-2222

David Crane, Principal email: davidc@fvsd.ab.ca cell (780) 841-2933

Allan Spelrem, Vice Principal email: allans@fvsd.ab.ca cell (780) 821-0072

February 6, 2009

Well, it looks like the cold spell is over and we can let the students outside for recesses again. What a relief! The students, and staff, have been feeling shut in for the last while because we have not been outside to play for a long time. Please ensure that your child is properly dressed for outside activities when you send them to school so they can enjoy the outside activities without getting cold.

The school division Science Fair is happening on the first Friday of March and we are encouraging our students to prepare for it. Hopefully we will be able to send some of our students to this wonderful event. The students will be expected to do some of the work for their project at home and the staff can assist them when the students have spare time at school.

Today two of our Junior High students went to Fort Vermilion to participate in a Student Forum. At this forum the students will be working with other students from all the other schools in the Fort Vermilion School Division. The Purpose is to meet with various stakeholder groups for the following purposes:

1. To review current priorities in order to recommend potential enhancements for the completion of AISI Cycle 3.

2. To understand various data sources so as to inform future practices.

3. To provide guidelines in the development of AISI Cycle 4.

4. To make suggestions as to future divisional and school structures needed to attain goals set out in AISI Cycle 4.

Our Junior Boys Basketball team is enjoying a fun season. Last weekend they travelled to Rocky Lane School and played two games. They won their game against Rocky Lane School, good job boys!

In the near future it is hoped that the Junior Boys basketball team will have some games at our school. When the plans are finalized for the home games we will let the community know.

Alberta Education is conducting the annual Accountability Pillar Surveys from January to end of February 2009.

Parents of students of grades 4, 7 and 10 students (all parents of students grade 4and above for Charter schools) will receive a survey mailed to their homes directly from Alberta Education. In addition to English and French the survey will be available in Mandarin/Cantonese, Punjabi, Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree, Korean, Spanish and Tagalog. Parents wishing to have surveys in a language other than English or French can contact their principal.

In February, students in grades 4, 7 and 10 (all students grades 4 and above in charter schools and level 2 private schools) and all teachers will be completing their surveys online through their schools.

All surveys are anonymous and no reports will be issued if the number of respondents is fewer than six to further protect the privacy of respondents. Respondents are expected to answer the questions based upon the experiences they have had at their school. Responses for parents of students who have moved during the current school year will be attached to the school in which the student was registered on September 30, 2008.

We strongly encourage your participation as the results help us identify our school and jurisdiction’s strengths and weaknesses. Survey results will be available to jurisdictions by the start of May 2009, and will be reported publicly by jurisdictions as part of the Annual Education Results Reports in the fall of 2009.

Mr. D Crane

Mr. A. Spelrem

January Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Here is some information that we would like to make you aware of for the coming weeks.

On Monday January 26^th, 2009 we will be having a school breakfast for all students and staff. This breakfast is a reward for the hard work that students have demonstrated in improving their reading skills, either through participating in the Accelerated Reader program, the Amazing Reading Race or dedication to their classroom learning. Breakfast will be served prior to class starting, once they have arrived at school.

We also want to take a moment to share some information with you regarding our hot lunch and snack program.　 We have Amy Neufeld, who is a Registered Dietician from North Peace Tribal Council working with our cooks to help enhance the food served to our students.　 They have been exploring new ideas, recipes as well as healthy alternatives that we could add to our program.　 In doing so we are attempting to target each of the 4 major food groups so that we are providing the necessary nutrition for our students.　 The additions to our menu may in fact cost our hot lunch budget more, and I am OK with that if it means that we are providing our students with the best possible nutrition while in our care.　 The changes to our menu may mean that there is something on the menu that isn’t liked by all, and that OK as well.　 Students still have the option to either go home for lunch or bring their own (as some do now).

As you are well aware, we have had some really cold temperatures as of late. As a result we want you to ensure that your child is properly dressed when they are travelling to school. Sometimes students need to be reminded to dress properly before they head off to school so that they are safe during their travels.

We are very pleased and excited to inform you that basketball has returned to Upper Hay River School. This past weekend our Jr. Boys basketball team participated in league games at Hilcrest Community School. Although our team lost all three games, our boys displayed good sportsmanship and were cheered on by fans of the opposing teams throughout all their games. We would especially like to congratulate Roger Yakinneah and Alvin Salopree as they were awarded the "Most Sportsmanlike player of the Game." Well done boys. Practice is every Tuesday and Thursday and it is essential that all players attend if they expect to participate in game play.

We strongly encourage you to help your students with any school work they might have. If they don’t have homework, it would be excellent if you could find a few minutes to read to them after supper. It could be a bedtime story or simply a passage from a book as they settle down in the evening. Regardless of what they are working on please ENCOURAGE them to do their best at whatever they are pursuing.

Our "Student Recognition Model" is in full swing as students have been earning prizes and gifts for the TACHE"s (Teamwork, Accountability, Caring, Honor, Everyone Can Learn) that they earn as well as the Accelerated Reader Points that they accumulate(each book has a certain point value assigned). Students are encouraged to bring books home by signing them out of our library. In doing they so they are building their reading skills, as well as earning valuable points that they can exchange for prizes. The table below is an indication of the prizes that they can be awarded.

Item	Number of TACHE’s	Number of Accelerated Reader Points
4GB Ipod Nano	75	90
Portable DVD Player	50	80
DVD Player	50	70
$25 Gift Cards (To a store of your choice)	20	30
DVD or CD of their choice	15	15
Book of your choice	10	10
Chocolate Bar of their choice	4	4

If you have any questions of concerns regarding any matter within the school, please to do not hesitate to contact either Mr. Spelrem or myself and we will be glad to assist you.

Sincerely

Mr. D. Crane & Mr. A. Spelrem