Newsletters

Dec 1, 2022 Newsletter

December has arrived! We enjoyed our first snowfall at school this week. What an exciting surprise! Here are a few timely updates and reminders as we head into the next two weeks of school.

Student  Absences on Hot Lunch Day

We are making a change to our pick-up process. If you have ordered PAC Hot Lunch for your child and they are away, your child’s lunch will be available for parent pick up in the office after 12:30.  We will be bringing all unclaimed lunches to the office so that parents can take them home if they wish. If your absent child has a sibling in the school, siblings are welcome to pick up the lunch in the afternoon. Should parents wish to donate their child’s lunch, please email your child’s teacher to let them know.  Due to high levels of student absences, we are trying to simplify the process for volunteers, staff and families. Lunches will be available for pick up until 2:45. Thank you for your help as we attempt this change.

Vote for Happy Valley!

Please see the attached notice regarding a contest that the Grade 5’s in Ms. Elvedahl’s class have entered. Students decorated a Christmas Tree at Down to Earth Nursery in Metchosin. Visitors can vote for their favourite tree over the next two weeks. Classes can win a pizza lunch and or cash prize. Good luck Division 2!

Release the Rhythm Performance (Date Change)

We are looking forward to Tuesday, December 6^th at 9:00 am. The whole school will be attending a musical performance in the gym. Thanks to our amazing PAC for funding this special opportunity!

Coming Soon – Happy Valley’s “Virtual Winter Concert”

Next week, music classes will be filming songs for our upcoming “Virtual Winter Concert”.  Big thanks to Ms. K and Mrs. Makenna for their hard work to showcase the songs students have been learning in their Music classes! Parents will be emailed a link to view the performance as we approach Winter Break.

Art Card News

Art Card orders arrived today and they are beautiful! Our wonderful PAC volunteers will be sorting and organizing orders this evening. We will be sending Art Card orders home with students as soon as possible. Thank you for supporting this special fundraiser.

10,000 Tonight Success!

Thank you to our HV families for generously supporting Royal Bay’s annual 10,000 Tonight Food Drive. The event was held last night, and we are hearing that there were a record number of donations this year. Stay tuned for local news updates!

Student and Family Affordability Fund

B.C. School Districts have received one-time funding to support children and families who are temporarily facing food security issues and increased cost pressures related to school supplies, etc.  We are working closely with our School District and PAC to determine our school needs within the parameters of this funding. If your family is facing temporary hardship at this time, we are here to help. Please feel welcome to reach out to Mrs. Sjerven at your convenience.

Thank you parents!  

Our staff would like to thank families for their efforts to attend our recent conferences and connect about student learning. Report cards will be issued by Thursday, December 15^th.  We are proud of our learners at HV!

Sincerely,

Karen Sjerven

Principal

Supervision at School

Morning supervision for all students starts at 8:10. Please do not bring children to school earlier than 8:10. Children who arrive at school on the early bus have separate supervision.  If your child is an occasional rider and does not arrive with the morning bus, they are not part of the early supervision that day and should not be dropped off prior to 8:10. Thank you for helping with this important student safety issue.

Health and Safety Protocols

Many of our guidelines from last year are continuing at this time. These will continue to evolve according to updated mandates from the Public Health Officer.   Students are doing a terrific job of adhering to our Health and Safety protocols! These include:

·         Mask wearing indoors for students in grades 4 and up*

·         Mask wearing indoors strongly encouraged for students in K-3*

·         Mask wearing for adults indoors

·         Frequent handwashing 

·         Being mindful of social distancing in crowded spaces

·         Access to school building limited to staff and students

·         Parent access to school building through prior appointment only

·         Shared food is not allowed at this time (sorry- no birthday treats, etc.)

*Mask wearing exemptions will apply in some situations. We advise students to have replacement masks in their backpack. We have limited numbers of masks to distribute at school.

We will continue to keep parents up to date with new information as changes evolve. 

Happy Valley Routines and Reminders

·         Upon arrival at school in the morning, children must go directly to their class line-ups. Playgrounds remain closed before school.

·         This year, playgrounds are open after school for families.

·         Within the hours of the school day (8:30-2:38) we are considered a “closed campus” which means that our grounds are limited to our 450 students in session. Families are welcome to enjoy the playground with their younger children after school hours.

·         Bus students are supervised upon arrival at school in the morning and before pick-up after school. Students must remain with the bus group during these times.

·         Thanks to all parents for adhering to our signage for reserved parking at all times. This includes all marked staff parking stalls, disabled parking and bus zones.

·         Our District Policy in SD62 states that dogs are not permitted on the school grounds. We have a large population of children and families at drop-off and pick up times and we ask that you not bring dogs onto the school property. Thank you for your help.

Parent Portal and School Cash Online

The Parent Portal is the place to access attendance etc. School Cash Online is the system for making any online payments to school. This year, we will be utilizing School Cash online for payments for any school fees.  Instructions for School Cash online are attached. The Parent Portal information page may be accessed through the link below:

MyEd BC Family Portal

Agenda Payments 

Some classes will be using School Agendas. Teachers will inform their classes about whether they will be using these agendas this year.  Agendas were pre-purchased by the school last year and are only  available for purchase through School Cash online.  See the attachment for using this payment system.