Posted: November 12, 2024

Families of Shortreed,

We hope you had a restful weekend and took some time to honour veterans and those currently serving our country.

We have a PAC movie night coming up this Friday as we show “Inside Out 2”. Doors open at 6 with the show starting at 6:30.

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. Mrs. Tarasoff and I had a chance to share some of the stories of “You Belong Here” to the Langley School Trustees this week. Through this, we reflected on the importance of the Indigenous teaching of “nurturing the gifts of our children”. It was a good reminder for us to look for the gifts in our children and embrace these and create opportunities for these at school (this was also a conversation with Melissa Epp recently). When we nurture the gifts, we show value to our students and help ensure they truly feel like the belong here. Teachings like these have been around for 1000s of years on Màthxwi lands and we will continue to try to do this for our students in the school setting. 

Last week was a powerful week of reflection. On Wednesday, our grade 5s travelled to the Aberdeen Cemetery to partner with the Aldergrove Legion and Alder Grove Heritage Society for a formal Remembrance Day Ceremony, part of the No Stone Left Alone program. Earlier in the week, our students all coloured stones to create poppies. While at the cemetery, during the moment of silence, our students placed stone poppies at the gravesites of the 59 veterans who are resting there. Our students were so respectful and took away a better understanding of the importance of honouring and remembering those who have fought for and continue to protect our freedoms.

We had our 2024 Remembrance Day and National Indigenous Veterans Day assembly on Thursday. Some of our grade 5s read poems and each class had 2 wreath bearers who respectfully laid wreaths on our cenotaph banner and board. Mrs. Muller led our grade 5s with a beautiful song that combined “Heal the World” and “We Are the World”; it brought a few of us to tears when all the students joined in. As we keep peace and joy at the forefront, few things represent this more than the sound of children singing. We will send a private link of the video to families by email.

On Friday, our staff explored the Open Parachute platform, a resource for teaching students mental health skills and strategies.

Please see below for an important message about extended absences (25 or more days in a row).

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, November 12 – PAC Meeting 7pm
Friday, November 15 – Fire Drill 9:30; PAC Movie Night 6:00; Greeting Card Orders due

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

Month at a Glance

Wednesday, November 20 – PAC Popcorn Day
Friday, November 22 – PAC Dollar Sale 1-6
Monday, November 25 – SICs begin
Wednesday, November 27 – SIC Day – students only attend their conference timeslot
Thursday, November 28 – SIC Afternoon – early dismissal at 12:33
Saturday, November 30 – Shortreed Winter Market
Wednesday, December 4 – PAC hot lunch; Lockdown Drill 2:00
Friday, December 6 – Santa Breakfast 7:30-8:45
Friday, December 13 – PAC Meeting 9:00
Saturday, December 14 – Aldergrove Christmas Parade
Tuesday, December 17 – Christmas Concert #1 12:45
Wednesday, December 18 – Concert #2 12:45; Concert #3 6:20 and 7:00
Friday, December 20 – Shortreed Christmas Sing-along 1:15; PAC Treat Day; SIC Reports sent home

Information and Reminders

• 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.
• 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

The PAC November Calendar is out (click to enlarge) —>

Community Events and Information

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