Tuesday, November 22^nd, 2011

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Welcome to a cold and frosty week!  We are sending a newsletter early as December is a short but busy month.  Please find updates and date changes on the attached calendar.

Paul Hann: We are looking forward to Paul Hann’s arrival at Robert Ogilvie on December 5^th.  Paul is a children’s recording artist who lives in Victoria and visits school districts across the country through a residency program.  Paul will be working with our classes to write songs and sing with the students.  The students will be performing with Paul on Friday, December 9^th at 1:00 p.m.  This performance will replace a traditional Christmas concert.  Please come and join us for this wonderful, musical experience.  You can learn no more about Paul at his website:  http://www.paulhann.com/.  We hope that many of you can attend our concert.

Dieleman Fundraising Orders:  Thank you to all families who have participated in this fundraiser.  Please return your ordering forms by Friday, November 25^th.  We are planning to send the order out on Monday, November 28^th to ensure that items will arrive before Christmas holidays.  The funds generated from this fundraiser will be used to support our school!

Inclement Weather: Just a reminder that the school doors are open around 8:00 a.m. and students may come inside when the weather is bad.  We have a number of students without inside shoes.  Please remember that inside shoes are necessary for safety reasons, particularly if for some reason we have to vacate the building without notice.  We would appreciate all visitors to the school to take off their outside footwear.  This keeps our hallways dry and ensures that students do not fall in the melted water.  The students will be outside, weather permitting – our guideline for inside days is a temperature of -18 (with or without wind chill).  Students should come prepared to go outside daily.

Volleyball Season: Thank you to Mrs. Dressler, Mrs. McCracken and Mr. Peterson for coaching our boys and girls in volleyball this season. The tournaments are running on Thursday, November 24^th (boys) and Friday, November 25^th (girls) at North Peace Secondary School.  Games start around 3:30 p.m. in a double knock out format.  Boys need to arrive by 3:15 p.m. and the girls by 3:30 p.m.  Come and cheer on our teams.  It should be a great evening of volleyball.  If you are interested in coaching basketball in January, please contact Mr. Peterson.

Student Leadership Club: Student leadership started two weeks ago and we have a very enthusiastic group of students.  We meet on Thursday at lunch time.  Students have been selling raffle tickets on a Christmas basket for .25 each.  These tickets will be available until December 9^th.  All proceeds from ticket sales will go towards sponsoring children in our community in some way.  The students will also be selling candy cane/candy-grams starting November 30^th.  They will also be planning some spirit days for students.  Please look for updates in future newsletters.

Report Cards:  Report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, November 29^th.  Due to current job action, there will not be teacher comments or marks included in this report card.  However, attendance and any reports on courses taught by administrators will be included.  Please note that teachers will be available on Wednesday, November 30^th (1:36-2:36 p.m.), Thursday, December 1^st (1:36-2:36 p.m.) and Friday, December 2^nd (8:45-2:45 p.m.) to meet informally with parents regarding your child’s progress.  I have attached a copy of the Superintendent’s letter dated November 10^th, 2011 for your convenience.

Operation Christmas Child:  This collection has been extended until Thursday, November 24^th.  If you would like to donate items, please drop them off at the office.

Early Learning Calendars:  The new Strong Start calendars can be found at: www.earlylearning.prn.bc.ca.  A few events to pass along are:

Daddy and Me Free Skate: Saturday, December 3^rd 11:00-12:00 noon

Daddy and Me Gym Night: Wednesday, December 14^th 6:00-7:30 p.m. (RO)

Stuffed Animal Sleep Over: Friday, December 9^th at the Public Library

More information on these events can be found at the early learning link above.

Christmas Carols: Do you know anyone who can play the piano and would love to donate some time to play Christmas carols for our school?  Please contact the office if you or anyone you know would like to help with this during the last week of school.  It is something that the students enjoy and helps to create a Christmas atmosphere during the final week of school.

Pro-D Day:  There are some special events and activities planned around Fort St. John for the pro-d day held on Friday, December 2^nd.

• A Very Merry Muppet Christmas – sponsored by Investors Group of Fort St. John at the Aurora Theatre – entrance is a donation of non-perishable food items for the food bank.  The doors open at 12:00 noon with the movie beginning at 1:00 p.m.
• Jingle Bell Rock Swim – held at the swimming pool – 12:00-3:00 p.m. – regular admission to enter this event
• Public Skating: – held at the Pomeroy Sports Center – 12:00-1:30 p.m.  – regular admission to attend this event –helmets are available free of charge
• Stuffed Animal Sleepover – held at the FSJ Public Library – drop your stuffed animal off by 9:00 p.m. and pick up is Saturday, December 3^rd at 9:00 a.m. – the stuffies will help the librarians decorate the library for Christmas – a slide show will be shown on Saturday morning of the sleepover adventures!  Sounds like a lot of fun J

Congratulations to Mrs. Marina Mills, a student teacher at our school, who has completed her final practicum with Mrs. DeGroot.  Best of luck in your future career!  We are so proud of your accomplishments and time at our school!

P.A.C. Update: The P.A.C. meeting for December is cancelled.  The Tupperware fundraising orders are due in on November 25^th.  Please return these orders to the P.A.C. drop off container at the office on or before November 25^th.   Thank you also to all parents who helped with the bazaar and canteen on November 19^th.  This was a great fundraiser with proceeds going towards phase three of the playground.

Santa Claus Parade: The Santa Claus Parade has been re-scheduled for Friday, November 25^th at 6:00 p.m.  Festivities will continue at Centennial Park at 7:00 p.m. with the annual Christmas tree light up, entertainment, bonfire, hot dogs and hot chocolate.  The parades starts at the Elks Sunset Home and runs south on 100^th Street to the North Peace Arena. It is sure to be an enjoyable evening for all.

It is amazing how quickly the school year has gone by.  There are only five weeks until the Christmas break!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kathy Scheck – Principal

Mr. Karl Peterson - Vice Principal

Robert Ogilvie Elementary

Calendar of Events

Robert Ogilvie Elementary School

November and December

Monday                       Tuesday                      Wednesday      Thursday                  Friday

Fundraisers due J

Santa Claus Parade @ 6:00 p.m.28

Assembly @ 9:00 a.m.

Report Cards go home2930

Early Dismissal Day for reporting to parents – dismissal @ 1:36 p.m.December 1

Early Dismissal Day for reporting to parents – dismissal @ 1:36 p.m.2

School Closed for reporting day

8:45-2:45 p.m.5

Paul Hann

Here – residency all week6789

Paul Hann concert @ 1:00 p.m. – parents welcome J12

Assembly @ 9 a.m.

Christmas stories in library @ 9:45-10:15

Christmas Carols

2:00-2:3013

Christmas stories in library @ 9:00-9:30

Christmas Carols

2:00-2:3014

Christmas stories in library @ 9:00-9:30

Christmas Carols 2:00-2:3015

Christmas stories in library @ 9:00-9:3016

Christmas stories in library @ 11:15-11:45

Christmas Carols 2:00-2:30