Posted: December 15, 2024

Families of Shortreed,

Welcome to the final school week of 2024!

We are so sad to hear that the parade was cancelled on Saturday. I can only imagine the heartache of the organizers who have been volunteering their time planning and preparing since August. We had over 30 families coming to participate and 12 people helping us put the float together so we really appreciate the participation in our community. We know so many of our families were also going to participate with Scouts, martial arts, dance, cheer, soccer, baseball, and many more. They are trying to reschedule but, unfortunately, Shortreed won’t be able to participate this year (if it is rescheduled). A special thank you to the following people:

• Gail Macklin – planning and organizing the float
• Dean and Misty Macklin – driving the float
• Cooper Rentals – donating the trailer for the float
• Ryan Walters – driving to get the bales of straw and Christmas trees and deliver them to the float
• all the parents who were planning to help and participate.

We look forward to the chance to participate in the 2025 Aldergrove Christmas Parade!

This week is CONCERT WEEK! Please carefully read the information below to understand which performance to attend and the times of each performance. Due to the limited capacity in our gym, we encourage you only to attend one concert. Extended family members and friends should attend one of the afternoon concerts, with the focus on the evening concert being for parents/caregivers. Cash donations will be accepted for Sources Food Bank. 

Thursday is pyjama day… and Christmas pyjama day if you have them! We will have our final assembly of 2024 on Friday afternoon when we all gather to sing carols and listen to a read-aloud from Old Man Wejr (Mr. Wejr’s “grandpa”).

Kindergarten Registration 2025 – Kindergarten registration across the Langley School District runs January 6, 2025 – February 18, 2025. If your child will be five years old by December 31, 2025, you will be able to register your child online. Information about required documents and instructions is available online and will also be posted on catchment school websites in January. For information, please visit the District webpage here. To learn more about Kindergarten in the Langley School District, read our brochure here. If you need help or would prefer to bring in your documents in person, please call the school. 

As always, we want to acknowledge that we do our important work to ensure every child belongs on the unceded ancestral territories of the Màthxwi (Matsqui) First Nation. We acknowledge this to honour the land and the people and share our commitment to learning on our journey for Truth and Reconciliation. As I have shared before, one of the beliefs and traditions of Indigenous Peoples is to gather and bring out the gifts in the children in the community. With this week being a week for our concerts, it is an honour to gather and watch our students’ gifts shine on stage on these Màthxwi lands.

Thank you to everyone who was able to come out and participate in the 2024 Find the Elves Challenge on Friday. The kids were excited to find close to 20 staff members hidden outside around the school. Thank you to our staff for making this a fun event for the kids and congrats to our 3 prize winners: Connor, Bridger, and Dreyden.

Allllll Aboard!!! Our kindergarten classes had their annual Polar Express Day on Tuesday with the receipt of their official tickets, a “train ride” with the conductor, and a chance to watch the movie (with hot chocolate of course)! Thank you to our K teachers for planning this fun day.

On Wednesday, our PAC volunteers organized a school-wide Christmas activity for our students. Every student who wanted to participate created a bag of reindeer food to leave out on Christmas eve to help the reindeer fly. We hope it helps! Thank you to all those parents who helped.

2024 Christmas Concert info:

We will be having 3 concerts again this year – Dec 17th at 12:45, Dec 18th at 12:45 and Dec 18th at 6:20* (see below)

• Tuesday, December 17th – students should come to school dressed in their nicest clothes. Students will be inside all day. There will be a parent performance at 12:45. Doors open at 12:15.
• Wednesday, December 18th – students should come to school dressed in their nicest clothes. Students will be inside all day. There will be a parent performance at 12:45. Doors open at 12:15.
• December 18th Evening performance (please read carefully)
  • Students in divisions 13-20 and their parents/siblings will be let into the school at 5:55 pm. Parents can go to the gym, Div 13-20 students/siblings to classrooms. Divisions 13-20 performance starts at 6:20.
  • *All other students and parents should arrive by 6:30 pm. There will be a very short intermission around 6:50. During the intermission, parents of students in divisions 13-20 will exit gym through the outside doors and pick up kids from outside classroom doors. Parents with kids in both performance groups will stay in the gym and parents of students in divisions 1-12 only will be let into the gym. Division 1-12 performance starts around 7 pm.

Please note: All students in the school are participating in the concert and are expected to be at all performances. If a student can’t make it for a very important reason, please send a note, email or call Mrs. Muller to let her know.  Students should be dressed in their nicest clothes for all performances. They will not be going outside for recess or lunch on performance days.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday – Concert #1 12:45
Wednesday – Concert #2 12:45; Concert #3 6:20 and 7:15 (see below)
Thursday – Pyjama Day
Friday – School-Wide Sing-Along Assembly 1:15, PAC Treat Day, SIC Reports sent home

Note: there is no grade 2 or 5 basketball this week

Shortreed Calendar: Did you know Shortreed has a digital calendar to view and subscribe to? Click here for more info. Once you subscribe, you will get all our school events right to the calendar on your phone and/or devices at home.

Month at a Glance

Monday, January 6 – Schools reopen, Kindergarten Registration begins
Tuesday, January 7 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am
Friday, January 10 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am
Tuesday, January 14 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am; PAC Meeting 7pm
Wednesday, January 15 – PAC Hot Lunch – A&W
Friday, January 17 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am
Monday, January 20 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am
Friday, January 24 – Gr. 5 Basketball 7:45am

Information and Reminders

• If your child is between age 6 and 9, the Government of British Columbia is pleased to inform you that your child may be able to receive the $1,200 B.C. Training and Education Savings Grant. Learn more here.
• Extended Absences: due to enrollment pressures in Langley Schools, if a student is absent for 25 or more consecutive days (and not due to medical reasons), they could possibly lose their space in the class and/or in the school. Once they return, they could be placed on a waitlist. If you are planning on having your child be absent for an extended trip, please contact your child’s teacher at least 3 weeks before you leave. 

• Information About School Status During Inclement Weather

  Snow closures and power outages are an annual occurrence in the Langley School District. So, where do you go to get information about the status of schools during periods of inclement weather? If you are able to access the internet via computer or smartphone, current information about Langley schools can be accessed on all school websites or www.sd35.bc.ca. Updates are also posted to X (formerly Twitter) @LangleySchools and Facebook at www.facebook.com/langleyschooldistrict. If you don’t have internet connectivity but your phone is working, call a relative or friend in an area that has not been affected by the storm and ask them to check the district website for you. Local radio stations are also informed of school status in Langley. Tune in to CKWX 1130AM, CKNW 980AM, Country Radio 107.1FM, Pulse 107.7 or CBC 690AM or 88.1FM for updates.

  Please note that Langley District schools are all considered ‘open’ until a decision to close is required. Decisions on school closures are usually made by 6:30am. As always, it is a parent’s decision whether to send their child to school based on safety and individual circumstances. If you feel it is unsafe for you or your child to travel to or attend an open school for any reason, please keep your child home and report an absence to the school.

• Strive for FIVE Days (or Less) – Attendance is crucial to your child’s learning as it helps with academics, social-emotional well-being, and peer connections. We understand children get sick, but please send them to school as many days as possible and strive for FIVE or fewer!

• Attendance/Absence – If your child is going to be absent, arriving late, away or leaving early due to an appointment, please notify the school of your child’s absence by emailing SCEAttendance@sd35.bc.ca or calling 604-856-4167 and state the following information:

  • Student First Name and Last Name
  • Grade
  • Division
  • Length of Absence
  • Reason (illness, late, appointment, vacation)
• If your family needs support for breakfast before school, our breakfast program runs from 8:20-8:35 each day. Students must register and come every school day. You can register here.
• Our school parking lot is closed between 8:15-9:00 and 2:00-2:45 (other than daycare, buses, and vehicles for people with a disability). The church across the street graciously allows us to use their parking lot for pick-up and drop-off so please park there or along 28th Ave. Do not park in the “no parking” (coned) areas along the yellow curbs. No u-turns.
• West Coast Recess – As we have done over the past few years, every day is an outside day at Shortreed. Unless there is a severe rainstorm (or snowstorm), we will be heading outside. Please make sure your child has a coat to wear outside. We have a good selection of coats in our FREE Coat Exchange near the office, so come by and check them out.
• Please bring inside shoes for your child. This helps to keep our school clean and dry. If you need some help with shoes, check out our FREE Shoe and Boot Exchange at the office.

PAC Info

• Nikki MacLeod – Vancouver Giants Box Tickets
• Tonya Wejr – Kick It Up A Notch Academy of Dance
• Mike Hopcraft – Wild Education
• Troy Tardiff – Custodian Extraordinaire
• Troylena Oliver – Alder Alley
• Paula Halvorson – OP Wood Signs
• Miranda – Knot Your Granny’s Stitches

PAC Treat day is this Friday! Every student and staff member gets a treat! We hope your child enjoys this gift from the PAC (with the help of Aldergrove Save-on-Foods).

Community Events and Information

Be sure to check out the Langley School District’s community bulletin board.

—

—

FREE for Langley parents and caregivers – Register here.