Hello Jennie Elliott families,
The week ended with lots of fun and celebration! Students and staff took advantage of dressing up in all kinds of creative costumes for Halloween. We also want to thank our Student Leadership group who organized an exciting Halloween obstacle course for our classes in the gym, as well as a “Google Meet Parade” so students could share their costumes with each other!
We have also started our Family Groupings initiative for the year. This is an opportunity for students and staff to mingle across grade teams to build stronger connections and a greater sense of belonging throughout our school community. These activities take place on Fridays for 30 minutes, providing an opportunity for students to bring a variety of experiences, sharing and lively conversation back to their classrooms!
Child and Youth Well-Being Family and Caregiver Fall/Winter Series 2024/2025
The Calgary Board of Education invites all parents and guardians to join us in a pre-recorded and live online series focusing on child and youth well-being. These sessions will be hosted in partnership with experts from Alberta Health Services and Recovery Alberta and will explore topics such as Peer Pressure, Healthy Relationships, Mental Health for Highly Sensitive Teens, and navigating Parent-Teen relationships.
Acting on feedback from participants who joined us during our live online sessions over the past two years, moving forward we invite all guardians and parents to listen to the pre-recorded or live sessions at their convenience. Please see the caregiver series brochure for more information.
Snacks for Recess
Recently, staff have recognized that over the past few years, post-Covid, we have a greater number of students bringing larger snacks and wanting to eat continuously throughout the day. As a result, some students are not hungry for their lunch, snacking interferes with their ability to engage in their learning, their work spaces are not able to be sanitized after eating and their snacks/containers impede their work space.
To support a more focused learning environment and encourage consistent eating routines, we would like to return snack time back to recess for our grades 2-6. Our Kinder students will continue with their snack routine in class, and our grade 1’s will maintain a morning and afternoon snack time as students get used to a full day at school.
Please pack snacks that are:
- Quick and easy to eat for an energy boost
- Healthy and nutritious
- Minimal in packaging to reduce waste
Important Reminders:
- Snacks that require utensils or assistance from an adult to open are not suitable for recess.
- To ensure students are prepared for the day, students should have a balanced, filling breakfast before arriving at school.
The recess/lunch schedule from Mon to Thurs is:
- 9:05am - Instruction begins
- 10:25am – recess for gr 4, 5, 6, DHH3, DHH4
- 11:40am – lunch for gr 1, 2, 3, DHH1, DHH2
- 12:30pm – lunch for gr 4, 5, 6, DHH3, DHH4
- 2:10pm – recess for gr 1, 2, 3, DHH1, DHH2
If your child has a medical need to eat more often than this schedule allows, please connect with your child’s teacher about that if you haven’t already. Thank you for your support as we help our students transition back to this eating schedule.
Veterans Food Bank Drive
Remembrance Day is upon us and as a school we wanted to show our appreciation for Veterans who have sacrificed so much for our Country. Focusing on our JES spirit of giving back and our school-wide initiative of showing kindness towards others, JES will be collecting non-perishable food donations for the Veterans Food Bank from November 4-7. We encourage families to support this initiative by sending donations with your child to add to the collection boxes located outside the gym doors. Thank you JES community for your generosity!
Parent Engagement Form
As our students’ first teachers, parents are an integral partner in their learning journey. We recognize the importance of parent engagement in understanding current global trends, government requirements and System processes that impact a child’s day-to-day school experience. As discussed at the last School Council meeting, we would like to offer families an opportunity to engage with us on topics that are of interest and ask the questions that help bring parents alongside educators in their child’s learning journey.
To help us understand how to best organize these engagement opportunities, we would like your input. Thank you for completing this Parent Engagement Form at your earliest convenience.
School Council
A reminder that the next School Council meeting is November 5th at 7:00pm. All families are invited to attend, both in-person oronline.
Jacket Racket
Thank you to JES families who generously contributed to our Jacket Racket donation drive this year. We had numerous large bins in our front foyer filled to the brim with gently used warm clothing for those in need. We appreciate the support of our volunteers who helped deliver the items today.
REMINDER | Remembrance Day Ceremony
We will be paying tribute to our Veterans at an assembly in our school gymnasium on November 7th at 10:30 am. Parents are welcome to attend and doors will open at 10:15 am. Please understand that capacity is extremely limited and there may be standing room only. Parents and other family members attending the assembly may find a place to stand near the back, or along the side walls of the gym. We appreciate your patience and flexibility as you share in this special event with our students.
In addition, students may choose to wear Girl Guide, Scout, etc. uniforms, should they participate in these extracurricular activities outside of school.
Upcoming Dates
Nov 4-7 - Veteran’s Food Bank Drive
Nov 5 - School Council Meeting 7pm
Nov 6 - School Photo Re-takes
Nov 7 - Remembrance Day Ceremony
Nov 8 - CBE Indigenous Education Professional Learning Day (no students)
Nov 11 - Remembrance Day (no school)
Nov 12 - Fall Break (no school)
Nov 13 - Fall Break (no school)
Nov 14 - Classes Resume
Nov 25-29 - School Conferences
Nov 29 - Non-instructional Day (no students)