Posted: November 3, 2024
Families of Shortreed,
It was a very eventful week at Shortreed last week. Our students had some fun on Halloween while also learning about and celebrating Diwali. To all our students and families who celebrated Diwali on Thursday and/or Friday, we hope you had a wonderful time! We love the message of Diwali—to embrace light over dark in the world. We hope we all can embrace the good throughout the year.
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 in our journey for Truth and Reconciliation. When I think about my learning this week, I think about National Indigenous Veterans Day. It is so important that we take some additional time to honour Indigenous Veterans each year because they were not honoured like the non-Indigenous and did not receive the benefits given to other Veterans. For an Indigenous person to serve Canada in the war, they had to give up their “Indian status” and become a Canadian citizen. Back then, someone with “Indian status” was not a Canadian citizen and was a “ward of the state”. After courageously serving their country, Indigenous Veterans came home and, sadly, were not treated the same as other Veterans – they did not receive the same honour or benefits as those who fought alongside them in the wars. We honour National Indiegneous Veterans Day as 1000s of Indiegnous Veterans were never honoured before.
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This is a reminder that your clocks should have gone back one hour on Sunday morning. If you still use an alarm clock, make sure you adjust it!
Don’t forget that photo retakes are Thursday afternoon this week.
Our Remembrance Day and National Indigenous Veterans Day Assembly is Thursday at 11:00. Parents/caregivers are only invited if their child is singing, reading, or acting as a wreath bearer (wreath bearers will be notified by Monday). We wish we could open it up to all our parents, but with over 500 students and staff, the gym is too full. Poppies will be distributed on Thursday. You can donate to the Legion (for the poppies) through School Cash Online.
Our grade 5s are travelling to the Aberdeen Cemetery on Wednesday for a very special Remembrance Day Ceremony with members of the Royal Canadian Legion and Aldergrove Heritage Society. For the first time, our students will participate in the No Stone Left Alone program to ensure that our youth continue to honour veterans’ legacy.
There is no school for students on Friday as staff will collaborate for our Design and Assessment Morning and then have the afternoon to prepare for Student Inclusive Conferences, which are happening later this month.
Friday is National Indigenous Veterans Day. Monday is Remembrance Day, and schools are closed that day.
A reminder that Spirit Wear orders close tonight (Sunday) so we can get the order in this week and have the items back and distributed before Christmas.
Halloween was so much fun at Shortreed again this year! Thank you to everyone who was able to participate and to our staff who once again showed patience and care as they planned for a fun day while also working to ensure that our students stayed as regulated as possible at such an exciting time. Staff members all dressed up, including support staff who went as Minions and admin who went as Gru and Agnes.
Our Haunted Gym was a smashing success again this year! Our volunteers spent much of Wednesday night and Thursday morning setting up the gym for our students and staff to enjoy. The students LOVED going through the gym and seeing all the decorations, animals, and staff dressed up! Thank you to everyone who helped, and thank you, too, to Mike from Wild Education for bringing his “creepy” animals again this year.
The weather definitely worked in our favour for our Halloween Parade this year. Our school was surrounded by supportive parents and families, all there to cheer on our kids as they showcased their 2024 costumes. Thank you to everyone who could make it out and cheer us on.
Diwali was also a focus for our school last week as students learned about the message of Diwali and the traditions that take place when celebrating. Many classes participated by painting Diyas, colouring Rangoli designs, and even learning to Bhangra dance!
Earlier in the week, Ms. Henry and Mrs. Datema’s classes travelled to Aldor Acres Farms to see all the animals and pick out their favourite pumpkin in the pumpkin patch!
Our ELL team carved pumpkins with some students in their program last week… some of them carving their very first pumpkins!
Our grade 5s received their hoodies last week, too! They were so excited that they wore them almost every day! (see photo at top of this page).
On Thursday morning, a few of our kindergarten classes walked over to Jackman Manor and got spoiled with care, love, and chocolate as they did some “trick or treating” there. Students walked around the building in their costumes and met residents (some of the residents were in costume too!) and received a treat.
The Week Ahead
Wednesday – Gr. 5s attend No Stone Left Alone Ceremony; PAC Hot Lunch – pizza
Thursday – Remembrance Day and National Indigenous Veterans’ Day Assembly – 11:00; photo retakes in the afternoon
Friday – Design and Assessment Day – no school for students; Nat’l Indigenous Veterans Day
Monday – Remembrance Day – schools closed
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
Tuesday, November 12 – PAC Meeting 7pm
Friday, November 15 – Fire Drill 9:30; PAC Movie Night!
Wednesday, November 20 – PAC Popcorn Day
Friday, November 22 – PAC Dollar Sale 1-6
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
Information and Reminders
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.
- It is a long-standing tradition for schools to support our veterans and the efforts of the Royal Canadian Legion. Once again this year, our school will be receiving a poppy for every student and distributing them to classes. We will continue to collect funds this year in support of the Legion’s Poppy Campaign but kindly ask students and their families to donate online via School Cash Online: https://sd35.schoolcashonline.com/. Please do not send cash or cheques with your child to school. If you need assistance accessing School Cash Online, please contact the school office.We appreciate your generosity. As always, our school is committed to educating our community about the meaning of the poppy and Remembrance Day.
- 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
– 1 pm to 3pm: Every item is $1
– At 4 pm: 4 items for $1
– At 5pm: 10 items for $1
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Community Events and Information
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