Good afternoon River Runner families, I hope this email finds you content on another beautiful, September Friday afternoon.  We certainly enjoyed our first full week here together, at our precious little school, punctuating our time together with our first whole-school assembly of the season.  Thank you for your continued contributions to our wonderful culture here at Saseenos Elementary.

Please note that this coming Monday is a Non-Instructional Day across our district, which means there is NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS.  Thank you for accommodating our variety of Professional Days in our calendar.

I would be remiss if I didn’t begin this correspondence by clarifying the ‘Communication Guideline’ message sent out on behalf of the district this Friday past.  That particular message was a district-wide message, and I thank you for taking the time to peruse the information.  I do want to remind you that our school does hinge on the communication between home and school, and that we do want to hear from you with questions and/or concerns as they relate to the education of your children.  We sincerely value the partnership of school and family, and are committed to doing our utmost on behalf of your little one(s).  My office is always ‘open’ and I encourage you to reach out to me should you have any questions or concerns whatsoever.

For those of you new to Saseenos, we tend to have a very healthy collection of Lost & Found items throughout the year.  We will still house our variety of wares just inside the front doors on our display rack, so please come in and take a look whenever is convenient for you.  Thank you for your assistance with this one!

I thought it best to highlight our expectations regarding attendance, absences, late arrivals and such.  This has been a very smooth process thus far, and that is in thanks to you, our families.  If your child(ren) are late, please have them check in at the office before heading to class.  If your child is going to be absent from school, please utilize one of the two options below for letting us know:

saseenos@sd62.bc.ca  or give us a call at 250-642-5261 (someone will be in the office by 7:45am)

For all other office inquiries, please drop in, call the above number, or reach out to Sandy at shull@sd62.bc.ca.

Thank you for your attention to the above matters.

I’d like to take a moment to extend a huge thank you to Levi Salo.  This amazing human organized and facilitated our recent Firewood Raffle on behalf of our PAC and school community.  I can’t recall the $$ earned through this raffle, but I do know that tickets sold out before the deadline, and that we had a very happy winner.  Thank you again to all those who helped Levi to make this a reality again here at Saseenos.

Please find attached an advert for an upcoming performance hosted in the EMCS theater.  If you are looking for some laughs, this may be an answer!

Please be Sure to Add These Dates to Your Family Calendars:

Mon., Sept. 18                 Non-instructional Day (No School for Students)

Thurs, Sept. 21                Open House @ Saseenos 6-7pm

Fri, Sept. 22                      Terry Fox Run

Fri, Sept. 29                      Cozy Friday

Mon, Oct. 2                       National Day for Truth and Reconciliation–NO SCHOOL

Thank you again for your ongoing contributions to our amazing community here at Saseenos Elementary.  I look forward to a successful school year ahead!

Please have a wonderful weekend.

Gord

Saseenos Supply Lists 2023-2024 PDF

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you have enjoyed your week.  As the time continues to pass us by at an alarming speed, we need to remember to enjoy the moment–this shall remain an important philosophy as we enter into the last month of the school year.

As I mentioned yesterday, we have had to reschedule our whole school photo.  The consistent drizzle was the catalyst for this change, but we will hope for some more Spring-like weather for this one.  Below is the new date:

Thursday, June 16 (after lunch)

Thank you for your understanding!

Thank you again to our PAC for another very successful Popcorn Day.  This is definitely a highlight for so many of our River Runners.  I look forward to continuing this Saseenos tradition moving forward.  On a PAC related note, please remember that we have a bottle drive scheduled for tomorrow.  If you have some bottles, we will be up and running from 9-3 in the parking lot here at our fabulous little school.  Thank you for your support!

Please also remember that we have our June Hot Lunch day upcoming.  This will be another Subway lunch, and will be occurring on Thursday, June 16.  Orders are due by Monday, June 6 with the link displayed below:

https://munchalunch.com/schools/saseenos/

Thank you again to the amazing group of individual who comprise our PAC, as their efforts have such a huge impact for our school.

As I alluded to last week, we will continue to focus on and reinforce the importance of the ‘Zones of Regulation’ throughout our school population.  I will be sending out detailed information at some point early in the 22/23 school year, but I’ve attached a great visual below.  Please feel free to reach out should you have any questions or would like to learn more about this approach to self-regulation.

Zones visual.pdf

Next Friday is a very important date on the school calendar, from both a Saseenos and school district perspective.  This will be the first district track meet since before the onset of the pandemic, and we are very excited to bring this important event back to reality.  We will be sending a contingent of over 30 students, which is a notable accomplishment for a school of our population.  Mrs. Haddad is leading the charge so capably, and I can’t wait to join this crew at Royal Bay next Friday.  Let’s go River Runners!

Please Be Sure to Keep Your Calendars Up to Date:

* Sat, May 28             Bottle Drive    9-3 @ Saseenos

* Fri, June 3               District Track Meet (Grade 4’s and 5’s)

* Thur, June 16          Whole School Photo

* Fri, June 17             Grade 5 trip to Camp T-Bird

* Fri, June 24             Whole-School Beach Day (Fishboat Bay)

* Mon, June 27           Fun Day!!

* Tue, June 28           Grade 5 Leaving Assembly

* Wed, June 29          Last Day of School

Thank you again for your ongoing contributions to our warm and welcoming culture here at Saseenos.  We truly are so lucky to be on this journey together.

Please have a wonderful weekend.

Gord

Good afternoon River Runner families, I hope you are well heading into this extended long weekend.  The past four days have been full of excitement and learning in our precious little school, as Literacy Week was a definite success here at Saseenos.

As many pandemic-related restrictions continue to be lifted we are able to reconvene with some of our cherished school-related activities.  For me, one of the highlights on our calendar are the various school-wide assemblies planned throughout the school year.  This Monday past brought us an opportunity to assemble together to ‘kick off’ our Literacy Week in fine fashion.  As a staff we decided to ease back into this important school custom.  As such we planned two separate assemblies, essentially halving the amount of audience members for this first gathering.  I was quickly reminded of the impact such an event can hold, and it was so wonderful to convene together again!  For the past two years our assemblies have been largely hosted via MS Teams, which cannot come close to recreating the feeling of togetherness so highlighted during a physical school gathering.  What a fabulous way to start to our week.

Literacy week was a true success for our River Runners.  Through the variety of carefully planned activities and events we were definitely able to highlight the importance of literacy in our lives.  Watching our buddy classes read together this afternoon was a heartwarming send off into our weekend.

With the Easter weekend beckoning I decided to once again pose a question  for a selection of our River Runner population.  My query follows:

“What are your plans for the long weekend?”

Please read below for some very honest responses…

Jonas                     Going for a bike ride on the Galloping Goose with my dad.

Brooklyn S.            Going to the movies.

Navaeh                  Going to my Oma’s for Easter.

Emily                      Easter at my house.

Raelyn                    Hockey tournament in Vancouver.

Daxe                      Go to watch my dad in a demolition derby at Western Speedway.

Porter                     My cousins are coming for a sleepover.

Coral                      Going to an Easter Egg Hunt

Violet                     Going to my Grandma and Grandpa’s house.

Mason  M.             Playing with my family.

Kali                        Going to make crepes and go out for sushi.

Aria                       Hosting an Easter festival!

Airlie                      Dying eggs.

Kahlan                  Two Easter egg hunts and a dinner.

The above seem like some exciting plans for the next four days!

A friendly reminder that our April A&W lunch is approaching quickly.  The deadline to order is April 20.  Below is the url, which will take you to the Munch-A-Lunch website and allow you to participate in this hot lunch extravaganza.  Thanks again to Sonja and our amazing PAC team for providing this opportunity.  Bring on the Baby Burger combo…

https://munchalunch.com/schools/saseenos/

Please Be Certain to Add these Dates to Your Family Calendars:

* Fri, April 15              Good Friday (No School)

* Mon, April 18           Easter Monday (No School)

* Thurs, April 28         A&W Hot Lunch

As we embark upon this four-day weekend, please try to be mindful of those people most important to us in this world.  Our relationships and personal bonds are vital to our true happiness and these extended breaks provide that necessary time to connect.  I hope that these next four days bring happiness to you and your family.

Please have a wonderful weekend.

Gord

Good afternoon River Runner families, I hope this correspondence finds you well as we continue to experience a myriad of weather patterns here in our little slice of paradise.  What in many ways felt like a whirlwind of a week brought with it the much-welcomed opportunity for us to reconnect with our students and respective families.  I revere my time away from school, as I desperately cherish quality time spent with my own family.  However, I love my role here at Saseenos and connecting with our little ones and families remains at the top of my priority list.  The busy-ness of our school grounds, as we head into these warmer months, is a true highlight for me.

Thank you to those families able to participate in our recent Parent-Teacher conversations.  I realize that time is an absolute precious commodity in our lives, but the opportunity for teachers and families to connect is invaluable on behalf of our little ones.  Facilitating and fostering these home-school relationships is vital to the success of our students as we look to foster their respective growth and development.  Thank you for your partnership in this regard.

I am hoping that many of our lost and found items were able to find their way home as of yesterday.  However, many articles of clothing seem to remain unclaimed!  Once the weather clears I will again have these items on display for your perusal.  At some point we will be delivering a large donation to an appropriate organization, but I will give you a heads up before this occurs.  Thank you for your assistance with this one.

As we are all well aware the mask mandate has been lifted for our schools.  Although this is likely a welcome change in most of our lives, this also brings some nervousness for many of our staff and families.  As such, many of our staff and students still choose to utilize a mask within our environment.  This is of course supported here at school, and we will continue to promote a universally supportive approach and understanding as our world re-evolves in many ways.  We will also maintain a constant supply of disposable masks at school for those staff and students in need.  Thank you for your understanding and flexibility as mandates are lifted and we become accustomed to an ever-evolving landscape.

A friendly reminder that our April A&W lunch is approaching quickly.  The deadline to order is April 20.  Below is the url, which will take you to the Munch-A-Lunch website and allow you to participate in this hot lunch extravaganza.  Thanks again to Sonja and our amazing PAC team for providing this opportunity.  Bring on the Baby Burger combo…

https://munchalunch.com/schools/saseenos/

Next week provides us with a definite focal point on our school calendar.  It is Literacy Week in the land of the River Runners!  This is a yearly focus within our school, and allows us to highlight the importance of literature within our lives.  We have a number of activities planned, and below you will find but a few such events upcoming for the week of April 11:

* Whole School Assembly to ‘kick off’ the proceedings

* School-Wide Writing

* Read Outside

* Guest Readers

We are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to reinforce the importance of reading in our daily lives and I can’t thank enough our literacy team for coordinating such an enjoyable series of events.  Stay tuned for a recap of another exciting week in these parts…

Please Be Certain to Add these Dates to Your Family Calendars:

* April 11-14               Literacy Week

* Fri, April 15              Good Friday (No School)

* Mon, April 18           Easter Monday (No School)

* Thurs, April 28         A&W Hot Lunch

Thank you for your continued partnership, as we continue to guide our little ones on their educational journey.  The next few months will pass us by at what may seem like ‘light speed’ so please join me in enjoying the proverbial ride and remembering to celebrate even the little things bestowed upon us.

Please have a wonderful weekend.

Gord

Good afternoon River Runner families, and Happy Friday to all of you.  I hope this correspondence finds you well heading into our Family Day long weekend.  As we head into our last full week of February, I can’t help but feel contented anticipation as Spring is literally just around that proverbial corner.  The past few days have been a welcome reminder of where we are heading!

We enjoyed another fulfilling week here in the land of the River Runners, albeit a shortened version with the 4-day calendar.  We continue to foster values important in this world–respect, kindness and honest to name but a few–and we thank you profusely for your partnership in this regard.  We are definitely fortunate to be members of this special school community and I look forward to continuing this journey we refer to as the 21/22 school year.

Of particular significance from the week just completed was the exciting opportunity to exchange those Valentine’s, which happened throughout our school this Monday past.  What a way to start our week!  This special celebration provides our little ones the chance to celebrate their connections within our school and manages to create much excitement and happiness as a welcomed by-product.  Needless to say, the energy was flowing on Monday!

You will notice a very important date on our calendar for the upcoming week–that being Pink Day.  Pink Day, or Pink Shirt Day as it is often labelled, is this coming Wednesday, February 23.  This is a day where we celebrate kindness, a very important value in our lives, in a visually stimulating fashion.  At Saseenos we will be asking for our community to create that veritable ‘Sea of Pink’ so please send your child dressed accordingly if at all possible.  We will be hosting a virtual assembly within the school, as this is a much anticipated date on our agenda.  As is promoted heavily at Saseenos, the importance of kindness should be a piece of our daily lives, and Pink Day just offers us a highlight opportunity in this regard.

In my ‘travels’ I came across a very interesting article related to kindness and how we can instill this purposefully and naturally with our children.  Please take a read if you have but a few minutes over the next few days.

6 Ways to Teach Kids to Be Kind.docx

In our last version of our River Runner Weekly I mentioned an opportunity for any interested lacrosse players.  Unfortunately I failed to attach the related information.  Let’s have a ‘Take 2’ in this regard.  Please see below for any interested families.

Jdflacrossefebruarynewsletter.PDF

Please Be Sure to Note the Following Dates to Your Family Calendars:

Monday, Feb 21            Family Day—No School

Wednesday, Feb 23      Pink Shirt Day!

Friday, Feb 25               Cozy Friday!

Friday, March 18           Last Day Before Spring Break

Monday, April 4             Schools Reopen After the Break

As we head into this much-welcomed long weekend, please take advantage of this opportunity to celebrate those closest to you in this world.  As current restrictions continue to be lifted, and we move headlong towards a new sense of normal, we need to count our good fortunes at any chance to connect with our loved ones.

Please have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.

Gord

Dress up with a friend!

A reminder that this Wednesday is Pink Shirt Day! To find out more please visit this link:

https://www.pinkshirtday.ca/

Good afternoon River Runner families, I hope this correspondence finds you both safe and well.  I am a little taken aback by the fact that we are now in February and thus at or near the half-way point of the school year!  We have managed to create so many wonderful memories in the past few months, and I am very much looking forward to continuing our journey together.

We definitely witnessed some Groundhog Day fun in many of our classrooms.  Apparently we have a provincial groundhog, aptly named Van Isle Violet, and she has predicted 6 more weeks of winter in these parts!  Let’s hope that this is a slight exaggeration…

Thank you for your continued diligence in terms of all that is COVID-related.  We continue to do all that we can, here at Saseenos, to keep our precious little school safe and open for learning.  The Daily Health Check is at the forefront of our safety-quest, and I thank you for your piece in this.  If you ever have any questions in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.  Protocols and restrictions are ever-altering, and I will do my best to keep our community current and informed.

I have now obtained the latest restrictions regarding Valentine’s Day within our schools.  Unfortunately we will be utilizing the same protocols as last year, which are outlined below:

a.            Students can exchange Valentines (cards with pens, stickers or other are allowed).

b.            No food or candy exchanged.

c.             We will also remind students to wash/sanitize hands prior to Valentine’s distribution.

Thank you for your attention to the above.  The delivery of Valentine’s at school is always such an exciting time for our little ones, and a tradition that many of us likely recall (hopefully with fondness) from our own past experiences.  This remains one of those exciting days on the school calendar!

Attached below you will find information regarding two, free online parenting events happening this month.  They are offered through FamilySmart, and may be of interest to you.

FamilySmart Event FEB 23_2022.pdf

FamilySmart Event FEB16_2022.pdf

Please Be Sure to Note the Following Dates to Your Family Calendars:

Friday, Feb 18          Non-Instructional Day–No School for Students

Monday, Feb 21       Family Day—No School

Friday, Feb 25          Cozy Friday!

Friday, March 18      Last Day Before Spring Break

Monday, April 4        Schools Reopen After the Break

Thank you so much for your continued support and partnership as we guide our River Runners on this educational journey.  Saseenos is a truly precious little school and I feel so fortunate to be a member of this kind and caring community.

Please have a wonderful weekend.

Gord

Good afternoon River Runner families, and welcome to another Friday here at our precious little school.  I hope this message finds you safe and well.  During these turbulent times it is vital that we remain positive and stay the proverbial course.  Although our collective patience continues to be tested, we will indeed get through this!

We enjoyed quite a lovely past five days here at Saseenos.  We were so happy to welcome the remainder of our little ones back into our building on Monday, thus adding that much appreciated energy to our environment.  Our River Runners returned from the break ready to learn and enjoy our days to the fullest.  Speaking on my own behalf, it was truly wonderful to reconnect with all of our little ones over the past 5 days.

As mentioned previously, we will be displaying our Lost & Found items in the very near future.  At the moment we have quite a collection of items and I’m hoping that we can reconnect these articles with the rightful owners.  Please stay tuned for more direction in this regard.

I thank you for continued flexibility and compliance with our school-related COVID protocols.  I take seriously my responsibility in this regard, and do have a couple of pertinent reminders to pass your way:

* Adults and Masks–We understand and respect your decisions, as adults, regarding mask-wear.  However, please do not enter the school if you are not wearing a mask.  I realize that this may cause an inconvenience for some of our families, but it is our responsibility to remind you of this district-wide protocol.  On that note, reach out to us should you need any assistance and we will always do our best to help!  Please also use your best discretion when outside on the school grounds.  If unmasked, please avoid high traffic areas, such as school doors at the beginning and/or end of the school day.  I realize that this may be an inconvenience for some of our families, but it is my ultimate responsibility to make sure that we are all following appropriate expectations.  I thank you profusely for your adherence to these expectations.

* Phoning Before Entering Building–Please remember to follow the directions as posted on our front doors.  We ask that you phone the office before entering the building, as we are being directed to limit the number of visitors within our school.  We sincerely hope that this expectation is loosened in the near future, as we would love nothing more than to welcome our families back within our building.

I realize that we, as a society, are growing weary of many of these COVID related protocols and mandates.  However, this pandemic will be but a distant memory at some point, so let’s continue to work together to keep Saseenos as safe as possible.  Ultimately it is our restrictions, such as the ones listed above, which allow us to remain open during these very strained times.  Thank you so much for remaining positive and continuing to contribute to our positive culture here in the land of the River Runners.

As is standard to many of my weekly updates, I again polled a selection of our student population with the following query:

“What do you most value about Saseenos?”

Following are the honest responses from a few of our River Runners:

Kali — My friends

Brooklyn S. — All of the people

Eva — Math

Dawson — Playing hockey on the new court

Jordyn — Playing with my friends

Lucy — Having the best teacher ever!

Navaeh — The library

Coral — Getting to be here

Scarlett — The people

Rhys L. — Being in Nature K

Tenley — Being out in nature

Brooklyn H. — The kind people here

As you can deduce, from the above responses, our school continues to offer an environment full of love, laughter, connection and learning.  What a lovely place to call our home away from home.

Please Be Sure to Add the Following Dates to Your Family Calendars:

Friday, Jan 21          Spirit Day–tba

Friday, Jan 28          Cozy Friday!

Friday, Feb 18          Non-Instructional Day–No School for Students

Monday, Feb 21       Family Day

As we head into another weekend, I hope that the next couple of days offer you the opportunity to connect with those closest to you in this world.  Personally, I relish every chance to spend time with my wife and children, as I look forward to some old movies and time outside over the next two days.  I do hope you are able to find a similar level of satisfaction.

Please take care, stay safe, and have a wonderful weekend.

Gord