blair.sd38.bc.ca @BlairDragons April 2019

Blair Newsletter �1

Scott Robinson- Superintendent Wendy Lim- Area Superintendent Catherine Ludwig - Principal Andrei Sala- Vice Principal Valerie Zaitseff- Admin. Assistant Carrie McCarthy - Admin Assistant Anna-Marie Partaik - Admin. Assistant

Important Dates

*See Calendar on page 2

School Schedule Doors Open: 8:30 a.m.Classes Start: 9:00 a.m.Recess: 10:33 - 10:48 a.m. Lunch: 12:28-1:20 p.m. Dismissal: 3:00 p.m

PAC FACEBOOK PAGE

https://m.facebook.com/BlairElementaryPAC/

We Envision A Joyful Community That: Celebrates Learning Treasures Each Child Values Diversity Teaches the Ethic Of Caring Honours the Wonder Of Our Universe

BLAIR NEWS Dear Blair Families, 

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCHEDULES FOR 2019/2020

As discussed at our last PAC meeting, schedules for all Elementary schools are proposed to change in September. It will affect our start and dismissal times at Blair. Friday April 12th is the deadline for consultation on the proposed 2019-20 Elementary Schedule Options 1 and 2 (as well as guiding principles, framework for the development of elementary school schedules). Please visit our website to view the proposed schedules. Feedback from stakeholders will be received from RDPA (parents), CUPE (support staff), and RTA (teachers).

Parents in our school community have been invited to provide direct feedback to the RDPA at the following link richmonddpasd38@gmail.com before Friday April 12th so that the collated parental feedback is sent to District Staff for consideration. Mrs. Ludwig & Mr. Sala

6551 Lynas Lane, Richmond, BC V7C 3K8 | 604-668-6330 | Early Warning 604 668-6318

Our District Zone Track Meet for all grade 3-7 students is on

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 “Track Attack”, to practice all the events, will begin on April 16 and

will run for two to three weeks. Please send your child to school

ready to be active in proper running shoes.

RTA AGM Notice - Early Dismissal On behalf of Scott Robinson, Superintendent of Schools ...As in previous years, approval has been given for an early dismissal time of 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, so that staff may attend the RichmondTeachers' Association's AGM to be held at MacNeill Secondary School.

blair.sd38.bc.ca @BlairDragons April 2019

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Early Dismissal @ 2:00

1:30

blair.sd38.bc.ca @BlairDragons April 2019

Blair Newsletter �3

NOTICE OF LATE RETURN – 2019/20

School District No. 38 (Richmond)NOTICE OF LATE RETURN FORM – 2019/20

(Due to Extenuating Circumstances)

There is a form to be completed for any student(s) who expect to return to school LATER THAN 12:00 pm Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2019 AND ON or BEFORE Sep. 11, 2019. Please complete the form available at the school office and return to Mrs. Ludwig before June 21, 2019. You will also be asked to attach a letter that contains an explanation of the extentuating circumstances for returning late in September.

SAFTEY ANNOUNCMENT We continue to experience drivers who are in a hurry and are speeding in front of our school. We have even had parent drivers that have gone through cross walks while students were attempting to cross. We need all parents to put child safety first by abiding with these important reminders:

30 km/hr School zone signs are in the shape of a house and are 30 km/hr between 8 am and 5 pm on school dayspay attention, following the rules of the road and give yourself lots of time so you are not in a rushconsider walking - it is healthier and will reduce the number of cars on the roadmake children your priority - not getting to where you need to be

We are working with the city, with thanks to our PAC, and the city is planing to move ahead with the following traffic safety enhancements near Blair Elementary School:

• Install a pair of enclosing no stopping signs flanking the crosswalk on the west side of Lynas Lane at Garrison Road (Items 1 & 2)

• Install a new 30km/h ahead school area sign for northbound motorists on Lynas Lane approaching Garrison Road (Item 3)

• Establish an extended 15 metre no stopping zone on the east side of Lynas Lane immediately south of the crosswalk to improve sightline for motorists and pedestrians. This no stopping zone will be established through a yellow painted curb (Item 4)

• Install a marked crosswalk on Lynas Lane at Garrison Road (Item 5)• Install a marked crosswalk, a stop bar, and stop sign on Lynas Lane at Holt Avenue. Also, install a “no exit”

sign to confirm that this is a cul-de-sac (Item 6)• Install a stop bar on Garrison Road at Cairns Court and Garrison Court intersections (Items 7-9)

While these improvements will all help, it is the actions of the driver that will make the biggest impact. Please do your part to make our community a safe place for our little Blair Dragons!

blair.sd38.bc.ca @BlairDragons April 2019

Blair Newsletter �4

blair.sd38.bc.ca @BlairDragons April 2019

Blair Newsletter �5

Mathematics SD38 April 2019

There is a long history of problem-solving being at the core of learning mathematics. Students’ understanding of mathematics and development of concepts, skills and processes is enhanced through problem-solving.

In classrooms, problems can be “word or story problems” that focus on a specific mathematical operation and structure such as: There are three plates of cupcakes for the birthday party. Each plate has 6 cupcakes. How many cupcakes are there for the birthday party? An extension to this problem might be: If there are 16 children attending the birthday party, are there enough cupcakes?

Another type of problem in classrooms is what is called an open question that may have many ways of solving it and many possible solutions, such as: How many different ways can you represent 349? If the perimeter of a rectangle is 48cm, what could the area be?

Numeracy tasks are also experienced in classrooms where students apply their mathematical understanding to solve a problem in the school, community, etc. An example of a numeracy task at the elementary level could be: How does the amount of garbage we create at lunch compare to the average across schools in the district? How could we share this information with the other students in the school and make a plan to make our school more garbage-aware?

In the elementary grades, we support students in developing many strategies and approaches to solving math problems and we encourage the practice of choosing and applying these strategies in different problem solving experiences. Having multiple strategies to use increases students’ mathematical flexibility in thinking and solving problems.

For more information about BC’s mathematics curriculum, talk to your child’s teacher, school administration or contact Janice Novakowski, K-12 District Teacher Consultant for Mathematics & Numeracy at jnovakowski@sd38.bc.ca

PAC InformationPlease join us this Friday, April 12 @ 9:00 am for our monthly PAC Meeting. Lisa Kemp, from the Thompson Community Centre will be in attendance to talk about programming and to hear from you about your needs at their centre. We hope you can make it!

In addition, our annual Spring Carnival is on the horizon. Plan for a fun evening of festivities on Friday, May 24.

Professional Learning Community (PLC)

"… a Professional Learning Community (PLC) is an ongoing process in which educators work collaboratively in recurring cycles of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for the students they serve.  Professional learning communities operate under the assumption that the key to improved learning for students is continuous job-embedded learning for educators.” Definition adapted from Solution Tree Press "Learning by Doing, Second Edition”(2010)

A group of teachers at Blair are meeting regularly as a PLC. Our inquiry question is:

What might the Circle of Courage offer learners in the process of developing a sense of belonging and how do we know that it is making a difference?

We have been reading articles by Dr. Martin Brokenleg to learn more about the Circle of Courage and we are engaged in a study of the book Belonging – Remembering Ourselves Home by the author Toko-Pa Turner.