Hello Jennie Elliott families,
This week we celebrated our substitutes across the CBE! We welcomed our support staff and substitutes to the building with a surprise gift on behalf of the Jennie Elliott school community as well as daily announcements to let them know we are grateful for bringing their adaptability, kindness and enthusiasm when our regular staff can’t be at work. Three cheers for our substitutes!
Spring Break Spirit Week!
The Division 2 Student Leadership Club has organized a fun week full of spirit days next week for all students as we head into Spring Break!
Monday ~ St. Patrick’s Day Wear (wear green, gold, shamrocks…)
Tuesday ~ Character Day (dress like your favourite book/movie character)
Wednesday ~ Jersey Sports Day (represent your team colours, symbols, jerseys)
Thursday ~ PJ Day (wear your cozy jammies)
As always, these spirit days are optional for students to participate. Parents are always welcome to join in the fun as well!
Literacy & Numeracy Flexible Groupings
Last year you may remember we implemented flexible groupings at Jennie Elliott to support our literacy instruction. Using our school funds along with additional funding provided to schools by the CBE, we hired an additional teacher in February, Mr. Brad Devetten, who has been supporting our grade teams with both literacy and numeracy flexible groupings. Rather than adhering strictly to fixed groups per grade level instructed by one teacher for each classroom, we organize students based on individual areas of strength and need into smaller, dynamic and fluid groupings.
Flexible groupings can be best explained through four main advantages:
- Fluidity: Groups are not static and can change based on the skills being developed, or the progress that a student has made over a period of time.
- Differentiation: Instruction can be differentiated and responsive so that students can move through the scope and sequence of the learning based on their individual needs.
- Social and Emotional Development: Working in different groups fosters social and communication skills. Students learn to appreciate each other's strengths and support one another in their learning journeys.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Ongoing assessment data informs grouping decisions. This ensures that instructional practices are responsive to student needs and aligns with their learning goals, further enhancing student engagement in the learning process.
Our students move into their various groups and spaces in the building for their 30-minute small-group instruction blocks daily, and the progress we are seeing as a result of these groups is remarkable.
For further information, don’t hesitate to ask your child’s teacher about this during School Conferences.
School Conferences
Further to last week’s message, a reminder to please book your online conference with your child’s teacher through the School Conference booking system in your MyCBE portal. Conferences will be March 20th and 21st .
School Planning Engagement
Please view both School Planning presentations shared at the in-person sessions in February and March if you were not able to attend, and complete the short School Planning Survey to ensure your voice is heard! The survey will be open until March 21st.
School Budget & Fees presentation
School Development Plan presentation
School Planning Engagement Survey
News From School Council
Book Fair Starting Monday!!
Thank you to all of the volunteers who rallied together Friday morning to set up the Book Fair! We still have 19 shifts to fill during next week. If you have a valid police clearance, please consider signing up for a shift or two by clicking here.
The Scholastic Book Fair is a large fundraiser for our school community with a portion of all the sales coming back to the school so can’t wait to see you there! The hours for the fair this year are:
Monday March 17: 9am - 4 pm
Tuesday March 18: 9am - 4 pm
Wed March 19: 9am - 4 pm
Thursday March 20: 9am - 4 pm
Friday March 21: 9am - 1 pm
(no school on Friday but open for shopping)
Families are invited to shop the Book Fair during the day, however, students cannot be pulled from class to shop with you. Students will be previewing the Book Fair on Monday and Tuesday with their class and will bring their wish lists home. They will also have an opportunity to shop with their class on Wednesday and Thursday. Please note if you are sending cash to school with your child, Jennie Elliott is not responsible for monitoring the money. Please ensure that it is safely secured in your child's backpack.
News from JEPSA
Jennie’s Night Out Silent Auction and Gala - April 11, 2025
Silent Auction April 1 - April 11
- Ticket sales for this event are on sale. Early bird tickets are sold out, and we have a limited quantity of regular priced tickets available so don’t miss out. Visit www.JennieElliott.ca for ticket purchasing or follow our Jennie Elliott School Council page on Facebook for up-to-date information.
- Next week is the LAST WEEK to send in your donations for the classroom baskets. All donations need to be handed into the school by Thursday March 20, 2025. We will be creating classroom themed baskets with the donations again to be a part of the online silent auction that will take place April 1 - 11, 2025. All proceeds from this event will go to enhancing the outdoor learning spaces at Jennie for all students to enjoy. Here are the themes this year broken down by grade:
Kinder & DHH - Baking
Grade 1 - Outside Fun
Grade 2 - Games Night
Grade 3 - Arts & Crafts
Grade 4 - Movie Night
Grade 5 - Hockey
Grade 6 - Relax
Please note - when you send an item to school with your child, please send a quick email to the teacher to let them know it is on its way. Thank you so much in advance for participating in this event.
If you are interested in donating larger items to the silent auction or getting more details about this event please email jennieelliott1962@gmail.com.
Upcoming School Events:
Mar 17 – Fun Lunch
Mar 17 – Book Fair begins!
Mar 17 - Gr 4 Learning Celebration
Mar 20 – Persian New Year
Mar 20 – Spring Equinox
March 20 – Last Day of School Before Spring Break
Mar 20 - School Conferences (evening - online)
Mar 21 – School Conferences (daytime - online; no school)
Mar 21 - Last day of Book Fair
Mar 21 – Down Syndrome Awareness Day
Mar 31 – Eid-al-Fitr
Mar 31 – Classes Resume After Spring Break