1301–20th Avenue South, Cranbrook, BC V1C 6N5 Tel: (250)426-8551 Fax: (250)426-8441 www.koes.sd5.bc.ca
Kootenay Orchards
Spartan News
IMPORTANT
DATES
Fri. Jan. 30 – Alternate
Calendar Day – Not in
session
Wed. Feb. 4 – PAC Skate-athon
Fri. Feb. 6 – Alternate
Calendar Day – Not in
session
Mon. Feb. 9 – Family Day –
no school
Fri. Feb. 13 – Early lunch –
12:00 TO 12:45
–
Talent Show
– PAC Lunch – Booster
Juice
Fri. Feb. 20 – PAC Lunch –
Boston Pizza
– Anti-Bullying Night at
Kootenay Ice game
Tues. Feb. 24 – DARE Grad
Wed. Feb. 25 – Anti-Bullying
Pink Shirt Day
Fri. Feb. 27 – Pro-D Day – No
classes
Thurs. Mar. 5 – PAC Lunch –
Booster Juice
Fri. Mar. 6 – First Ski Day
Mon. Mar. 9 – Second Term
Report Cards issued
Wed. Mar. 11 – Second Ski
Day
Thurs. Mar. 12 – Last day of
classes before Spring Break
Fri. Mar. 13 – Sun. Mar. 29 –
Spring Break
Mon. Mar. 30 – School
reopens after Spring Break
January 2015
Principal’s Message
It is great to be back after Christmas and enjoying all the hustle and bustle of
the busy month of January. Second term is well underway and a strong push
is on for completing our work for this term. Lots of activities are upcoming
that students can become involved in like the Skate-a-thon, Talent Show,
DARE grad as well as the many skating, swimming and extra-curricular
opportunities.
Report cards are due out March 9. We are hopeful we can reach that target
date but there could be a few hurdles to overcome. You may remember that
for first term we needed a district created report card template because the
new student information system report card template was not ready to be
used. The new system’s report card appears ready to be used and KOES is
one of a few elementary schools in the district trying it out. If all goes
smoothly we will hit the issue date. If not we might be slightly behind
schedule. Hopefully our parents can be patient, if need be, while staff and I
learn the new system.
Lost and Found
Lost and Found is a big issue. No matter what we try, items placed in the
Lost and Found are seldom claimed by the students. As well, it is easily
noticed that the Lost and Found containers at our school are always full of
unclaimed clothes. To combat this we are going to be removing the
unclaimed clothes more frequently. At the end of each month this reminder
will be in the Newsletter to alert parents and students that we are soon
removing the clothes. We will display the clothes in the hallway during the
first week of the month so items can be viewed and claimed. Unclaimed
items will then be packed up in a few days and taken to a thrift shop. If you
are missing items please note this change in practice and come at the
beginning of each month to find your child’s missing item(s).
Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten registration time frames have been changed in School District
Policy. Kindergarten registration will now begin on the first school day in
February. This means Monday, February 2 will be our first day of registration
for the 2015/16 Kindergarten class. Kindergarten registration is open to any
child who will turn 5 before December 31, 2015. As was the case the last few
years no out of catchment registrations can be accepted at Kootenay
Orchards so please, when you register, bring with you the child’s birth
certificate, care card and proof of residency (utility bill etc.) Also, if you know
of families who will be new to our school community with a Kindergarten aged
child please alert them to this information so they can become part of our
school in the smoothest way possible.
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Grade 6 Transition to Middle School
As was practiced last year, transition to middle school is now determined by address not by typical
feeder school. In order to help families with the knowledge of the catchment middle school for their
address I have been to the classrooms and shown the grade 6’s how to use the school locator function
on our School District website. If the catchment school is not the school you want your child to go to you
are required to go to your catchment school principal, ask for a request for transfer form, and then take
that signed form to the other school’s principal. These forms are then dealt with on a priority basis with
numerous factors being involved like space, programming, etc. The forms can be completed and
submitted to the School Board office beginning Feb. 2, 2015. Please don’t hesitate to contact myself or
the principals of the middle schools to help with questions.
Next PAC Meeting
Please be reminded that the PAC meeting for February will be Monday, Feb. 16 at 7:00 p.m. I, along
with PAC, are concerned about the level of involvement of our parent community lately. The numbers of
volunteers have decreased as has PAC meeting participation. It is vital that parents get involved with
their child’s school to help make their child’s experiences the best we can make them. To that end PAC
is designing a quick survey to send to parents asking a few necessary questions. It is anticipated to be
out for parents very soon. Please keep an eye open for it and take the time to complete it and inform our
PAC of the best ways they can serve our students’ and their families.
PAC Skate-a-Thon
The single largest fundraiser annually for PAC is the Skate-a-Thon. This year’s skate-a-thon will be held
on Wednesday, February 4th. All our classes will have the opportunity to skate at Western Financial
Place and many will have the opportunity to skate with Kootenay Ice players during their scheduled
session. This fundraiser has been instrumental in PAC reaching its goals of helping provide educational
opportunities like field trips to all our students and educational equipment like SMART Boards to all our
classes. Pledge forms have been distributed to all students.
K.O.’s Got Talent
The annual KO Talent show is coming up quickly. It is scheduled for Friday, February 13th at 1:15 p.m.
All talent will have passed an audition during the week of Mon. February 2 rd – Thursday, Feb 5th.
Students have all been informed when their auditions are so they need to be there for their scheduled
date with their lunch as all auditions are over the lunch period. Please see Mr. Lutz if you have any
questions.
ALSO ON FRIDAY, FEB. 13 WE WILL HAVE AN EARLY LUNCH FROM 12:00 TO 12:45 TO
ACCOMMODATE THE LENGTH OF THE TALENT SHOW.
Planning on Moving
It is now the time when schools are in discussions with the School Board Office about planning for next
fall. In order to have all the information as up to date as possible I am requesting that any family who
has definite plans on moving away from the KOES community to let Debbie or I know as soon as
possible. As disappointed as we will be about losing some of our students, understanding which
student(s) are no longer able to be with us for next September allows for a better prediction for staffing
our school. Thank you for communicating this information to us in a timely manner.
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Ski Program and Alternate Winter Activity
The annual ski program is a go for grade 4-6. They will be travelling to Kimberley Alpine Resort on
Friday, March 6, Wednesday, March 11, and Thursday, April 2. Please be on the look out for permission
forms as these are being sent home at the end of the month also. It is hoped that all students will attend
the activities planned. The alternate activity for those not involved in skiing/snowboarding is going to be
winter adventure type activities. Non-attendance at either of the activities can jeopardize the future of
such days for others.
FSA Tests
Each January/February grade 4 and 7 students throughout British Columbia write the Foundation Skills
Assessment. The FSA includes assessments on reading comprehension, writing, and numeracy. The
assessments are intended to provide a “snapshot” of how well BC students are attaining foundation
skills. Results from these tests are shared with students and their parents. Schools and districts will
take cumulated data and use it to help inform decisions about student learning made at the school and
district level.
The provincial assessment period is January 12 – February 20 and all grade 4 students at Kootenay
Orchards will be writing these assessments then. The school will use the results, along with numerous
other information pieces, to plan the best way to improve educational opportunities for our students.
Please try to have your student present as often as possible during this time so he/she will not be away
during any of the assessment components.
Basketball
Both the girls and boys basketball seasons are underway. The following are the games upcoming and the
results of games played thus far.
Date
January 20
Girls
KOES 2 St. Mary’s
January 27
February 3
February 10
February 17
February 24
GT @ KOES
TMR @ KOES
KOES @ KCA
KOES @ Highlands
KOES @ Steeples
KOES 31 St. Mary’s 24
Boys
St. Mary’s @ KOES
KOES 39 –
St. Mary’s 9
KOES @ GT
KOES @ TMR
KCA @ KOES
HES @ KOES
Steeples @ KOES
Mass Choir Concert
The Mass Choir was again a terrific part of the Christmas season in Cranbrook. KOES had a large
number of our intermediates attend with approximately 70 mostly grade 5 and 6 students performing.
Our choir did get a chance to perform in front of the school at our Recognition Assembly on Thursday,
Dec. 4. It is great to see such enthusiasm shown by all our intermediates for participating. There is so
much interest that each year we must narrow down our choir and we are still well over what we are
supposed to take. This is a true indication of the tremendous impact Mr. Lutz has on our students.
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KOES Christmas Concert – The Grinchesses Who Stole Christmas
The annual concert took on a Christmas theme again this year with a Mr. Lutz version of the Grinch
classic. Our two concerts were well attended as usual and both performances were fantastic.
Congratulations to Mr. Lutz, the teachers and most importantly the performers for putting on such a
terrific show. Another hats off to Mr. Lutz for his tireless efforts in the planning, scripting, rehearsing,
constructing and coordinating all the performers into a great event for our school and community.
PAC Movie Night
Thank you to all those families who came out and supported the PAC Movie Night. I heard that it was a
fun evening for all who participated with crafts, treats and a movie. Thank you to Mrs. Ingram for
organizing this evening and thank you to all her adult helpers for making this evening possible.
Food Drive
Our Annual Food Drive for the Cranbrook Food Bank was held during the week of Monday, December 8
– Friday, December 12. Mrs. Whyte’s class took over the task of organizing this worthwhile activity. The
primary and intermediate students challenged each other to see which group could bring in the most
items of food. Primary beat out our intermediate students bringing in 575 items to the intermediates 513.
We don’t have the weights in yet nor the Highlands numbers so we will inform you when we know. The
big winners will be our local food banks.
Arts in the Orchards
Arts in the Orchards is over again for another year with great art on display until the end of the first week
in February. As always people should be impressed by the level of artistic talent displayed by the
students and the variety of opportunities made available to them. You could tell it was an Arts in the
Orchards day because the students were definitely excited. A big thank you goes out to Mrs. Zimich
(and her advisors) for all her coordinating and organization of this wonderful event. Thanks must also be
given to the teacher, parent/grandparent and other guest group leaders. Your support and willingness to
participate are what allow this activity to continue so successfully.
Knitting in the Library
Making Dreamcatchers
Reminder that the next Parent Group meeting will be on Monday, Feb. 16 at 7:00 p.m.
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