Principal’s Message

Dear AHE Families,

I hope that you and your family are enjoying these beautiful summer days!  “Back to School” ads are popping up already, so thought it was time to get out a mini-newsletter to hopefully answer any questions you might have about school start up 🙂

On behalf of the AHE Staff, we are so much looking forward to the year ahead, and the enormous privilege of teaching your child.  See you in a few weeks!

Welcome Back!

First Partial Day Tuesday September 3, 2024

Our first day will be a partial day from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon.  We will have the traditional “Mug and Muffin” (coffee and time to visit parents, students and school staff together) to start the first day of the year.

**Note that for families of Kindergarten students, you will follow the gradual entry schedule in your Kindergarten letter, rather than the schedule below. **

9:30 – 10:00    Mug and Muffin at the front entry (basketball court area) Bring your own mug!

Families are encouraged to bike or walk with your children as parking will be rare on Park Drive.  Coffee and muffins will be served on tables set up in front of the Kindergarten entrance.  Help yourself with your own mug, then come meet your child(ren)’s teacher(s) and our support staff members.

10:00 Classes Begin: The school bell will ring and students will line up at their classroom doors with their teacher and head to class.

Recess: There will be a 20 minute outside play and snack time, so please pack your child a recess snack.

12:00  Dismissal: This first day is a partial day, be please have a plan for your child to walk/ride home or be picked up.

 

Wednesday, Sept. 4th will be regular school hours for Grades 1 through 7, 8:30 – 2:30

AHE Staff and Classes

Class lists and teachers will be posted on the front entry doors of the school after 3:30 pm on Friday, August 30th. We use first names only for privacy, with last name initials if needed for clarity.

New to AHE staff this year, we welcome Mr. Ian Gardiner who will be teaching grade 7. Mrs. Georgia Mackenzie has made a switch to sharing a grade 1-2 with Ms. Molly Butler. Also new AHE will be Ms. Anna Zahurancova who will be filling an Educational Assistant position until Christmas, at which point Ms. Bekah MacLeod will be returning from maternity leave. Welcome!

We had to say goodbye to Mrs. Jessica VanSickle, our Library Clerk, who moved from Revelstoke with her family. I’ll keep you posted on who the new face in the library will be!

Class Configurations

We are planning for 10 divisions, and 209 students.  If we have many families who have moved to our area, or many who have moved away, our class configurations may change.  The partial day on September 3rd allows us to count “whites of eyes” to know exactly who will be attending in the year ahead.  If your child will not be in attendance on September 3rd , but will be attending AHE this year, ensure that you call the office to include them in our student numbers. While we have drafted class lists, there may be a need to make some changes in the first few days of school.  Classroom placement is a thoughtful and collaborative process. Requests to change classes are rare and are only considered after all options to make the placement work have been tried. In our configuration, multi-aged or combined classes will exist.  This practice is well supported by research, and it also accommodates the number of children in each grade.

Kindergarten and Families New to AHE

Kindergarten students have a slightly different gradual entry schedule from other grades.  Letters will be sent out to Kindergarten families, so if you do not receive yours, please contact the school office the week of August 26th – August 30th to receive your child’s schedule for the first days of school.   Families of students in other grades who are new to our school, Welcome!  If you would like to arrange a little tour of the school, please call the office (250-837-6360) on Monday (August 26th) and we’ll try to get you and your child(ren) through to have a tour.

Agendas and Student Handbook

Each AHE student in Grades 1 through 7 is required to purchase an agenda book, available from the school for $8.  This is an important tool to aid in planning and to facilitate communication between home and the classroom.  As well, the agenda book contains the AHE Student Handbook (the first few pages of the agenda).  Please carefully read the Handbook together with your child, and sign that you’ve read it.  If you have questions about the Handbook, please don’t hesitate to contact me or your child’s teacher, either by phone or email.  One important school policy to note is that students are not to come to school with a phone or other connected device, including watches that can access the internet.  We have school iPads and laptops to facilitate instructional technology use, and the use of phones, cameras, social media distracts from rather than enhances the elementary school experience.  If your child needs their phone after school hours, they may bring it and leave it in airplane mode, either in the office or with their teacher until after school.

School Supplies

This year, AHE is joining the SD19 Supply Purchase program which includes the entire year’s supply of classroom materials needed. All supplies are available to students for a fee of $45, this includes $37 for supplies + cost of agenda book, $8.  Additional items to send include a water bottle, clean indoor running shoes with non-marking soles, and a pair of headphones labelled with your child’s name.  Your child’s supply and agenda fee can be paid by cash or cheque to your child’s classroom teacher. If you would rather purchase supplies yourself for your child, there are supply lists on the AHE website for each grade.