As the first term draws to a close, it is time to reflect on our success and accomplishments these past three months as we look forward to December days.
September 25 marked the day for our annual Terry Fox Run that is intended to raise awareness and funds in support of cancer research. Through the generosity of the community the school raised just over $ 2,000. As always, MTS families, showed their care and kindness for others in supporting this cause. An added bonus in meeting our goal was that Mr. Van Sluys sported a “tutu". This year, in solidarity with Mr. V. students and staff were invited to don a tutu for the day and join in the fun.
The fall term marked the completion of our in-school artistic/physical residencies with Sound Creations Dance Company (K-2) and Alien In-Line Skating (3&4, EES). We thank parents who through their fund-raising organization and support provide our students with the opportunity to extend their learning through these unique experiences. It was energizing to have parents in the school to enjoy watching their child's accomplishment and performance and to support in the skating program.
Our grade 3 students organized and presented an assembly honouring and recognizing Orange Shirt Day on September 23. Orange Shirt Day - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, is a national movement and annual event in Canada. During this day Indigenous and non-Indigenous people come together in the spirit of hope and reconciliation to honour residential school survivors, their families and communities. The students provided a moving and informative assembly for all students in the school.
The grade 4 students once again presented a memorable Remembrance Day assembly that was filled with music, the representation of story, history and events through poetry and video. Students in the school had the opportunity to attend the assembly in the gym. Student art related to Remembrance Day once again beautifully decorated the walls of the school.
Parent-teacher conferences in November provided the opportunity to discuss student learning and achievement, celebrate student success and set goals for the future. Students will receive their first of two report cards on January 27, 2025 and the second report card at the end of June. The report cards will be accessible online to parents through their CBE accounts.
Our Scholastic Book Fair, which was held during the week of parent conferences in November, was highly successful. Thanks to your generous support and the hard work of our Library Assistant, Mrs. McLean and her volunteers, raised over $6,000 to support the development of our library collection. We thank parents for their generosity in supporting their children as readers. Our Learning Commons continues to be a beautiful, well-resourced, and favorite learning space for students and teachers in our school.
Parking
A reminder that the staff parking lot is off limits for parking and for student pick up and drop offs during school days. Our staff parking lot is at its maximum capacity and having parents drop students off in the parking lot is against school board regulations. This is due to the fact it creates a very unsafe situation for our children walking to school who use the sidewalk that crosses over the entrance to the lot. The staff parking lot is for staff only. Parents are restricted from entering or parking in the staff parking lot.
Thank you for placing the safety of all students over your convenience.
School Development Planning
Each year, our school prepares a development plan with input from teachers, school staff, students and parents. We review many sources of data, including report cards, provincial achievement test results and school surveys. Based on this information, we create our plan identifying targeted areas for growth. Our school development plan is not meant to represent all of the work that takes place in our school, but rather it focuses on specific areas for improvement. Our school also prepares a results plan, which looks at our previous school year. It shows our students' achievement and progress in meeting the goals and outcomes as set out by the CBE and Alberta Education, outlines some of the highlights of our school development plan and gives an overview of our school. These documents are available on our school website.
Grade 1/2 and Grade 3/4 Choir Winter and Christmas Celebration
This year our grade 1 and 2 students will be providing a celebration of song and poetry of the season on Thursday, December 12. Please note the following details about the concerts. We apologize for some confusion that may have arisen regarding start times.
Grade 1
Doors Open @ 5:15pm - parents send children to classrooms and go to the gym (no parents in classrooms)
Show Starts @ 5:30pm (approximately 25 minutes long)
Grade 2 & ¾ Choir
Doors Open @ 6:45pm – parents send children to classrooms and go to the gym (no parents in classrooms). Choir students will assemble in Room 187 where they will be supervised until the performance.
Show Starts @ 7:00pm (approximately 35 minutes long)
Thursday December 12 Dress Rehearsals (families can attend)
Grade 1 Dress Rehearsal 10:00am (Kindergarten and Gr. 3 to watch)
Grade 2 & ¾ Choir Dress Rehearsal 1:30pm (Kindergarten and Gr. 4 to watch)
McKenzie Towne School Supports the Magic of Christmas
Every year, MTS supports a charity of choice to demonstrate the characteristics of citizenship. This holiday season, we are asking MTS students and community to once again support The Magic of Christmas. This charity loads up magically transformed Calgary Transit buses that look like Reindeer Buses on Christmas Eve with gifts and volunteers dressed as Santa and his elves. These Reindeer buses deliver the Christmas spirit to homes and families that need it most. In previous years our school community has demonstrated their generous nature by filling box after box of new toys, and personal and household items in order to spread some magic during the holiday season. Every donation brought in will be honoured with a star representing that student's donation that will contribute to "lighting up someone's life" over the holidays.
On behalf of the staff here at MTS, I would like to extend to all our families the best wishes for a peaceful, restful and healthy winter break. The last day of classes is Friday December 20 at 12:00pm. We will see you back on Monday, January 6, 2025.
Dr. Lorraine Slater
Principal