Reminder

School Council is this week – Tuesday night  

Notes of Thanks 

  • Parents who volunteered this week to support our Grade 2 students at the Field Trip to TELUS Sparks 
  • Sarah S for organizing our community support of both the Even Start Winter Hampers and the Wiliam Reid families Mme Sorensen for organizing the WR Book Fair  

Reminders from the Office  

There are a few families who haven't completed the yearly forms in SchoolEngage.   Please go into your SchoolEngage account and complete any outstanding forms. If you require assistance in creating your MyCBE account, please contact the office at williamreid@cbe.ab.ca and we will email you instructions on how to create your account. 

  • Demographic Verification - 2024-2025  
  • Citizenship Information Update - 2024-2025  
  • Annual Authorization - 2024-2025  

Attendance Reminders 

If your Child will be absent from school please call the attendance line to report their absent, 403-777-6940 opt 1 

  • If you are picking up your child early from school please sign them out in the binder by the office, the office staff will call your Child’s
    classroom and have them come to the office. Parents should not be going to the classrooms and picking up their child. 
  • If your child arrives late please have them check in at the office before going to class  
  • If you child takes the bus, please notify the office if you will be picking up your child at the end of the day 
  • We have been having an increase of students arriving late to school. Please ensure you are getting your child to school on time! Research shows that tardiness affects academic skills.   

Grade 2 Science Centre Update  

Families we want to share with all of you a brief explanation of our Field Trip last week to Telus Spark. Our Grade 2 students attended this facility in person to enhance the grade 2 Science unit on Matter and Energy. Our grade 2 classes participated in an activity day at Telus Spark Science Centre on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024.  The students spent the day there and participated in two different
sessions: 

Surf the Lightwave and A Perfect First Try 

The students reflected, refracted and dispersed light through coding a LEGO project and they analyzed the properties of objects, and they also investigated how they can be changed. Fun was had by all. https://www.sparkscience.ca/schools/grades-k-to-3-program 

Winter Celebration December 12, 2024, at 6:30PM 

Concert Information 

Join us at William Reid on Dec. 12 at 6:30 pm or 15 minutes before your children’s time slot for a winter celebration. 

A few details: 

As we are short on space, we ask that each student only have 2 guests. If you are bringing small children who can sit on your lap they are not included in the 2, should they require a chair they need to be one of the guests. 

Doors will open 15 minutes prior to the event starting 

If you would like to take your child who is performing home with you after the concert, please let your classroom teacher know and please leave the school by the closest door to avoid congestion. To avoid large disruption in all classrooms we ask that you NOT ask to have sibling come out and go home early but wait until after their performance is over too. 

Due to the size and capacity restrictions of our school gym, we will be doing our winter celebration in stages. We ask that parents and students head directly to their child’s classroom while they wait for the announcement to head down to the gym together. There will be a specific announcement for students and parents to head down separately to avoid congestion.  Please do not hang out in the hallways
visiting during these times. Once your child's/children's grade has left the gymnasium we ask you to quickly exit to avoid congestion. Please head home once your child/children have finished their presentation. There will be a winter activity in the classroom while you are waiting before your child/children's presentation, their class will be closed following their presentation and students are to stay with their parents. Please see the timetable below. Times are approximate, please arrive a bit earlier than your time slot to make sure you do not miss your child’s opportunity to sing their song:   
Kindergarten - 6:30pm   
Grade 1 - 6:45 pm   
Grade 2 – 7:00 pm   
Grade 3 - 7:15 pm   
Grade 4 - 7: 30 pm   
Dance Club - 7: 30 pm 

If you have any questions, please reach out to jewalshmoreau@cbe.ab.ca   

Holiday Kids Market – Dec. 17, 2024  

We are excited to announce the William Reid second annual Holiday Kids Market is back! On Dec. 17, students will visit a market in the gym and “shop” for holiday gifts for their loved ones. This will be similar to a garage sale, where gently used items are donated by you, our school community. Each child will be asked to bring a list of people they will be shopping for, and loonies to “buy” the gifts ($1 per gift is suggested, but optional - proceeds to the Calgary Food Bank).  We would like to avoid students “shopping for themselves” as this is a market to promote giving and empathy. Once students have chosen their gifts, our busy parent volunteer elves will wrap each item so children can bring them home the same day.   

Starting Dec. 2 until Dec. 16, students are asked to bring in previously enjoyed “treasures” from home that you would like to rehome or regift.  

  • We are looking for Clothing: Coats, toques, mitts, scarves, and more. 
  • Holiday Décor and Home Decor 
  • Toys & Games: Bring joy to children with toys, puzzles, and games. 
  • Books 
  • Household Items 
  • Anything else you think would be a great gift this holiday season 

In the past successful items were some previously enjoyed books, puzzles, games, knick-knacks, jewelry, art, etc., for Dads, Moms, caregivers, sisters and brothers (not for pets). No large items that are hard to wrap or bring home by the student, and no stuffies. We would also love donations of gift bags, tissue paper and wrapping paper!  Thank you for your generosity!  

To make this special event a success, we need your help - come in and enjoy the holiday fun! Sign up to volunteer here:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EAEAB2AABFBC52-53578736-holiday 

EvenStart Winter Hampers – Message from School Council   

It is an annual tradition at William Reid School to support the EvenStart Foundation, in partnership with the Heartland Agency in Calgary, with helping families during the holiday season. This year we have the pleasure of sponsoring five (5) families in the city of Calgary who need a helping-hand. In the spirit of giving, we will also be assisting William Reid families in need. We encourage parents to engage their children in the process. Our goal of having our children participate in the EvenStart Christmas hampers is in fostering a sense of community citizenship, service and engagement. Please use the links below to review instructions and family lists to learn how you can make a meaningful impact this holiday season!   
Instructions: 2024 Christmas Hampers Letter     
Link to Family Lists: Select the appropriate GRADE tab for your child(ren) 

Thank you to the parent volunteers who will be collecting the donated gifts! You can find your parent volunteer's contact information in the above 2024 Christmas Hamper Letter as well in the Family Lists Google Sheet for your child(red)’s Grade.  The gift drop-off deadline is Dec. 13. Please make sure to have donated gifts dropped off at your assigned Grade’s parent volunteer’s house by Dec. 13. The gifts will be collected by  Evenstart Foundation from each part volunteer's house on Dec. 16.

William Reid Families to Support  

We also have three of our own families here at William Reid School we also want to support. Please bring in any gift certificates to the office for our William Reid families and we will ensure that they will get them before the Winter Break. You do not need to purchase three of the same gift certificates, we will ensure that each family is fairly treated with gifts.  Please mark the envelope for William Reid families as this is not affiliated with the Evenstart project.  

Community Involvement Led by Grade 2 – Extending the invitation to everyone 

Grade 2 students want to make toys or gift donations to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in order to hopefully brighten the children’s days during the Holidays.  If you want to join us and participate, please read the following: 
Toy and Gift Wish
List: https://www.childrenshospital.ab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/GIK-Holiday-Wishlist-2024.pdf (new, not wrapped
and unopened package) 
Due date: Dec. 18 at 2:55 pm in Room 6 (Mme Losier’s classroom) You can bring the gifts sooner in the classroom.     
Please note: William Reid typically does not fund raise outside of Oktoberfest and our Casino. This initiative is student-led by our grade 2 class and completely optional for others to join. All proceeds go to the Alberta Children’s Hospital as gifts for the children there. 

Thank you for your consideration, Andréanne Losier, Grade 2 teacher 

William Reid  Book Fair (hosted by Owl’s Nest book store)  

William Reid School is excited to welcome our first Owl’s Nest Book Fair which will be this week at our school in the library, Monday December 9 – Thursday December 12, 2024.  Proceeds will go to building our library with new resources for students and teachers.   We need volunteers to make this event successful! We are looking for volunteers to help students make their wish lists on Monday and Tuesday, and to help students purchase their books on Wednesday and Thursday. Slots of various lengths are available, and if you like, you can even sign up at the same time your student will be attending the fair. Teacher names are noted within each slot on the signup, as
well as posted below. Thanks for signing up here : https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084CABAC2FA6F9CF8-53568709-owls 

Book Fair Schedule

Folks at home can order books online and still have it apply to our book fair. The big detail is that people need to use the promo code WILLIAM at checkout so we know to associate the order with our book fair. The orders can either be delivered to their homes for free or picked up from the store.  

Not all of the French titles available through us show up nicely on our website. If there are particular French titles someone is looking for, we ask that they email us so we can provide them with accurate information about the book. 

Book Fair Support

Dress Themes 

  • Mon Dec 16: Ugly Christmas/Holiday sweater day 
  • Tues Dec 17: Formal day 
  • Wed Dec 18: Christmas/Holiday accessory day (Santa hat, reindeer horns, bows
    etc.)  
  • Thurs Dec 19: PJ day 
  • Fri Dec 20: Candy Cane day (dress in the colours/stripes like a candy cane) 

Upcoming Events 

Dec 9 – 12  Book Fair at William Reid – hosted by the Owl’s Nest 

Dec 10 School Council 7 – 8:30PM 

Dec 12 Winter Celebration / Concert 6:30 – 7:30 PM 

Dec 16-20 Theme Dress Days 

Dec 17 Holiday Market 

Dec 18 Healthy Hunger (Coco Brooks) 

Dec 23–Jan 3  Winter Break 

Jan 9 Open House Kindergarten-Grade 4 and new registration 

Jan 22 Healthy Hunger (Subway) 

Jan 31 PD day – no school  

Feb 3-7 Carnaval (Jeudi FolkloFolie) 

Feb 13 -14 Teacher Staff Convention – no school 

Feb 17 Family Day – No school 

Feb 28 Non-Instructional Day – No school 

Apr 8 Field Trip - Heritage Park Grade 2 

May 16 Non-Instructional Day – No school  

Important Links  

Mabel’s Labels

https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/c/?type=fundraiser&b=4006&cur_website=base  

Donations

https://educationmatters.akaraisin.com/ui/looniesforliteracy2023/g/38346  

Bottle Drive

Manchester
Bottle Depot – 410 – 38aAve SE – Donate your bottles here for William Reid School  

Hand to heart,  

Mme Christine Stiles and Mme Sheri Bullough   

William Reid School