January 2024 AHE Newsletter

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

Principal’s message:

I hope you all had a restful and fun-filled time over the holidays. Christmas can be a very busy and hectic time and the staff at AHE appreciates families who took the extra time to wish us Happy Holidays as well as spoiled us with so many cards and gifts. It was so nice to see everyone at our 2023 Christmas Concert. Thank you for joining us and for your generous donations to the Revelstoke Food Bank.

January is always a busy and productive month and 2024 is starting off with many outdoor opportunities for our students: Alpine skiing for grade 3 &6, Nordic Skiing for grade 4, Curling for Grade 7, Skating for grade 1.

Additionally, Skiing After School is available to AHE students again, starting on Jan. 22, supported by Ms. Draboczi and Mrs. MacLeod. What a great opportunity for students who are thinking of trying Nordic skiing.

Our school focus for the return to school is “Achievement – Setting Goals for our Learning”. We’re all looking forward to getting back into our routine!

Happy New Year,

Mrs. Pam Mair, Principal

Numeracy News

Introducing a new section to our monthly newsletter, designed to give parents a taste of instructional routines being used in classes to teach number sense.

Each month there will be a math problem in the newsletter highlighting an instructional routine your child has already had practice with. Please have them lead you through the routine and once they have come up with a solution, record it on the slips provided beside the box outside the office for a chance to win a prize.

Esti – Mysteries: Estimation meets Math Mysteries. Make your way through the clues to narrow down the possibilities!

Winter Expectations

The SNOW is coming!! We have been reminding our students of the following playground expectations:

Come prepared with appropriate winter/snow wear: mitts, hat, snow pants, jacket.
Snow stays on the ground unless directed at our snowball targets.
Ensure no one is behind the targets or between you and the targets when throwing
Only one person at a time when sliding.
Slide feet first and on your bottom.
Walk up hills in a safe spot beside any sliding areas.
Invite others to play and take time to explain the game/activity.
Respect others’ creations; break things only if you’ve made them.
Report all dangerous and slippery areas.

District Grade Activities

The Grade 4 Nordic Ski Program runs Tuesdays: January 16^th,23^rd, 30^th and February 6^th.

The Grade 3 and 6 Alpine Ski/Board Program runs Mondays: January 15^th, 22^nd & 29^th

Skating for grade 1 students will be on Mondays: January 15, 22 and 29^th in the afternoons.

Curling for Grade 7 students will be on Mondays Jan. 22 and 29.

Please remember to send your child(ren) in the appropriate outerwear for the activity and the weather.

Road Safety

As we embark on a new school term, it is important to remember the importance of some basic road safety rules around school. Schools can be very busy places at drop off and pick up time, and your courtesy and patience are appreciated.

Please drive carefully remembering the 30km/h speed zones and refrain from doing U-turns in front of the school. Be mindful of children and their parents walking and cycling to school, as well as those students catching buses or waiting to be picked up by parents in vehicles. The area of road towards Moose Park where the sidewalk ends can be a crowded area with parked cars and pedestrians. When walking that way, please consider using the pathways through the forest that come out at Moose Park.

Cross Country Skiing After School

Our Grade 4-7 students have the opportunity to participate in Nordic skiing at the Mt. MacPherson Cross Country Ski Trails on the following Mondays after school, Mondays Jan 22, 29 and Feb 5, 12, 26. This program is provided in partnership with the Revelstoke Nordic Club and Stoke Youth Network. We are looking for Volunteer Parents to help out, please email Ainslee Arthurs info@stokeyouthnetwork.ca

Book Character & Pajama Day – January 29th

To celebrate Family Literacy Day, students may dress as one of their favorite book characters or wear their favourite pajamas on January 29. We ask that students try to bring a book featuring their character, to school that day. In the afternoon, students will have the opportunity to share with their school reading buddies.

Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative held annually in January to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. More information can be found at http://abclifeliteracy.ca/

Grade 6/7 Basketball

Our grade 6 and & students have been practicing their basketball skills in preparation for league play starting on Jan. 11. Thank you to Ms. Bieniada and Mr. Cadegan for coaching. We are still looking for a volunteer to referee the games at AHE (see schedule below). If you are able to help, please reach out to pmair@sd19.bc.ca.

News From the AHE PAC

Happy New Year and welcome back to all our AHE families. Thank you to all the families for all the beautiful crafts donated to the Christmas Craft Fair. The students were all smiles as they decided what to give their loved ones for Christmas. A very big thankyou to all the volunteers who helped make this another successful Craft Fair. Looking forward this month, there will be a hot lunch on January 19th. Also on the 19^th, PAC is tentatively planning a Family Movie Night. Please keep an eye out for more information coming to student agendas soon.

Please consider joining us on Monday January 8th at 6:30 pm in the AHE library for our first Pac meeting of the New Year. Childcare is provided and it’s a great way to get involved in your child’s school experience!

Kindergarten Registration Week

Hard to believe but it’s already that time of year! We are excited to welcome parents and guardians to register all children turning five years old in 2024 for Kindergarten starting this September! Revelstoke School District wants to ensure that staff and resources are in place at our neighbourhood schools to meet the needs of all Kindergarten students in our community. Registering new Kindergarten students during Jan. 29th – Feb. 2nd, 2024 helps us to be ready for our new young learners!

How to Register for Kindergarten

Parents and guardians of new students must register at your neighbourhood school. If a placement to another school is desired, please still register at the neighbourhood school and request to apply for a cross-boundary placement. Registration forms will be available on January 29th for pick up at each elementary school, or can be emailed to you directly by contacting your neighbourhood school. Registration forms can also be downloaded from the SD19 website. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Mair @ 250 837-6360. We look forward to welcoming your son/daughter at Arrow Heights!

K-12 Student Registration

PALS (Parents as Literacy Supporters) and POPS (Parents of Primary Students

This is an afternoon of fun and learning for you and your Kindergarten and Grade 1 child!

The program brings together parents, students, and their primary teacher so that everyone can be actively involved in learning. You will go home with some tips and tricks on how to support your child’s learning at home.

POPS – Grade 1 (both classes) January 12^th 12:50-2:30

PALS – K Poirier/Ashford January 24^th from 8:30-10:00

PALS – K Tedesco January 25^th from 12:50-2:30

Screen Smart

Thank you to everyone that helped support the Screen smart Scavenger hunt!

The city of Revelstoke parks and rec department generously donated 20 pool passes to the winners! Arrow Heights winners were Sydney Graham, Kinsley Chipman, Ella Forest, Kira Ayotte and Ezmay Hartley. Congratulations to these students!

Upcoming Screen Smart Events:

Scott Rothermel from SAFER Schools will be hosting the following presentations for parents and caregivers at the RSS library:

Tuesday, January 16^th at RSS library 6:30-7:30pm

Digital parenting

Tuesday, January 23^rd at RSS library 6:30-7:30pm

Social Media -Risk and Rewards

Tuesday, January 30^th at RSS library 6:30pm-7:30pm

Sexting, Sextortion and consent.Research emphasizes that skills necessary for school success, such as task persistence, imntrol, emotional regulation, and creative thinking are best taught through unstructured and so

Battle of the Books

Battle of the Books is back and off to a great start!

Grade 2 to 7 students have been eagerly taking up the challenge and have been reading up a storm. Teams will be selected in March based on knowledge and number of books read, so good luck to all our readers.

The school competition (BOBFEST) is coming up in just two months. It’s not too late to read a couple of books and join a team! Practice sessions are starting in the third week of January.

The books are available at our library and at the public library. Reading aloud by parents or teachers, reading e-books, and listening to audiobooks also counts! Let us know if you have any questions.

Everyone who reads at least one book can be part of the school competition (BOBFEST) on Feb 27 (Grade 2/3/4), 28 (Grade 6/7) and 29 (Grade 4/5). This year our school is hosting the District Competition on March 5^th for the students who make the school teams. We are hoping to send three Revelstoke Teams to Vernon again, to the Zone Competition. Stay tuned!

Indigenous Education

SD 19 has the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada for the first three weeks in January. This map shows the locations of Indigenous communities, residential schools, reserves and more. Rather than political borders, Canada is broken up into Indigenous language groups.

This resource will assist students in understanding the past, present and future of Indigenous Peoples in Canada

Housed at the School Board Office, the Indigenous Student Support team will be using the map for January programming, and teachers will be signing up for some interactive lessons.