December 17 - Voyageurs News

CHRISTMAS CONCERT INFORMATION

2nd floor Flex Space   Elevator is available for accessibility.

December 18 – K-6 English         December 19 – K-6 French Immersion December 20 – Pre-K

English: Kindergarten & Gr. 1 – 5:30 – 5:50 pm Gr. 2 – 6:00 – 6:20 pm Gr. 3 – 6:30 – 6:50 pm Gr. 4 – 7:00 – 7:20 pm Gr. 5 & 6 – 7:30 – 8:00 pm   French: Kindergarten – 5:30 – 5:50 pm Gr. 1 – 6:00 – 6:20 pm Gr. 2 & 3 – 6:30 – 6:50 pm Gr. 4 – 7:00 – 7:20 pm Gr. 5 & 6 – 7:30 – 8:00 pm   Pre-K 10:45-11:30 a.m., 2:30-3:15 p.m.

Our Christmas concerts will take place on the 2nd floor in the Flex Space.  We are hoping that this will allow for better acoustics and a more comfortable space than the gymnasium.  The format is intended to be 5 "mini-concerts" that allow families (and extended family) to have the opportunity to see their child's class performance in a 20 minute time slot.  The bullets below help outline the process for the evenings and hopefully assist with limiting interruptions or noise distractions during the concerts.

• All students and parents will enter the school through the west entrances (See images below-Kindergarten and Grade 1 use the west modular doors and Grades 2-6 use the northwest entrance). There will be a sign on the main entrance to direct everyone to those doors.
• Once inside, the students will put their boots on the boot racks in the west boot rooms and then go to their designated classroom. (See images below).
• Teachers will have your child's indoor shoes and Santa hats in their designated room on the west-end of the building.
• Parents, please have your child in their assigned room 15 minutes before their performance time.
• Parents, after bringing your child to their assigned room, please line up downstairs in the west-wing, behind the doors. You will be invited to go up the main staircase prior to the start of your child's concert.  After each concert, students will go back to their designated classroom through the doors in the upper west-wing. Parents will exit the concert area via the upper west-wing hallway/doors to meet their child. For parents who are watching multiple concerts, we encourage them to quickly collect their child and head back to the seating area to watch. 
• At the beginning of the night, Santa will be set up in one of the classrooms for our ECS and Grade 1 students. They can visit him AFTER their concert.

Thank you for your support and patience as we plan our first Christmas Concert in our school. 

CHRISTMAS ELVES

We will be accepting donations of toys and non-perishable food items for Beaumont-Nisku Christmas Elves until December 17th.  We have a collection box near the front entrance by the Learning Commons.  

Thank you for the many generous donations.

LOST & FOUND

We have had many lost and found items accumulate over the course of the year.  We will have these set out in the foyer this week.  Please stop by the school or encourage your child to have a look for any missing items.

VISITORS

We appreciate the many parent volunteers that we have at the school.  For safety reasons, all visitors are asked to sign-in at the office when at the school during school hours.

FUNDRAISING SOCIETY MEETING & POTLUCK

The next Champs Vallée Fundraising Society meeting is on Monday, December 17th (tonight) in the Staff Room.  All École Champs Vallée School community members are welcome to attend.  Attendees as welcome to bring a food item to share.


2019-2020 DRAFT CALENDAR


The Black Gold Regional Schools Board of Education is seeking parent feedback on the Draft calendar. 
Please send your feedback to your School Council Chair, Laura Tkach,  before 3pm on December 18th. Laura will share the consolidated feedback with the School Board.

Welcome Back 2018-19

WELCOME / BIENVENUE

We hope you have had an enjoyable summer.  We are excited to welcome the students and begin the school year in our new building.

This year, we welcome the addition of Grades 7 and 8.  Grade 9 will be added next year.

MEET AND GREET

Our staff and student meet and greet is on Thursday, August 30th from 5:00-6:00 pm.  You will get a chance to meet the teachers and see the classrooms.  You are welcome to drop off your school supplies.

SCHOOL ROUTINES 

Our morning bell will be ringing at 8:30 and school will be starting five minutes earlier this year, at 8:35 am.  Students will be using the following doors.

All students will be enjoying three recess periods throughout the day.  All students will go out for our morning recess and afternoon recess together.  Our lunch hours will be split.  The elementary will be going out for recess first and then eating and the junior high students will be eating first and then going out for recess second.  A schedule for our school is found on our website.

Bell Schedule

CAMPUS EXPECTATIONS

We will remain a “closed campus” for students.  Students needing to leave during the day or at noon will continue to require a parent or guardian to sign them out at the office.  Exceptions can be made for students who routinely go home for lunch.  Students will not be permitted to leave campus independently during school hours to go to the neighbouring businesses.

CONSTRUCTION
There is some minor construction still underway by the building contractors that will happen when students aren't in the building.   The landscaping and sod is being completed this week.  We ask that our school community please use the sidewalks and walkways to avoid the fresh turf and allow the sod to take root.

PARKING, PICK-UPS, & DROP-OFFS

Parents and guardians are asked to check-in at the office when visiting the school.  The interior main entrance doors will be locked, but the office is accessible from the main entrance.

• ECS/Hand to Hand Drop-Offs should use Visitor Parking or park on the road during peak hours

• Parents using the “Drop-Off” lane should encourage children to exit out of the right hand side of the vehicle.  While stopped, please place the vehicle in Park and consider using the Emergency Break if exiting the vehicle to assist a student in getting out of the vehicle

• Please do not use the Staff Parking unless you need access to the Accessible Parking spaces

STUDENT TRANSPORTATION

Bus passes can be picked up in the office and will be handed out on the first day of school.
Questions regarding transportation and busing can be answered by contacting the BGRD Transportation Department.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

School supplies can be found at this link.

ABSENCE REPORTING

Absences can be reported using this form or by calling the school.  Please do not email teachers or office staff as your primary form of reporting an absence.
An unexcused absence from school will automatically generate a phone call, text message, and email to parents using your PowerSchool information.  These settings can be adjusted in the parent portal of PowerSchool.

https://ecvs.blackgold.ca/parents/absence-reporting-form/ 

JUNIOR HIGH COMPLIMENTARY COURSES

All students have been registered into complimentary courses for Term 1.  We will let you know when they are registered into PowerSchool.  You will be able to log in to see what courses you have been registered in.  We will not be doing switches for the first term.  We registered students in courses, as they came in.  We tried to give everyone one of their first three choices.   Any questions or concerns, contact Mr. Larson (erik.larson@blackgold.ca)

We will be doing registration for term 2 later on in the term, so all students have an opportunity to select courses for the next term.  Band is a full-year program.  All fees have been attached to PowerSchool for each option.

ATHLETICS

School sports will be starting up soon.  Look for emails for Cross-Country Running Club and Junior High Volleyball teams.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2018 – 2019 PREKINDERGARTEN AND KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Registration will open on January 24, 2018 via the Black Gold Website. Any registration entered prior to the online opening date for the 2018 – 2019 school year will not be processed. 

MATH NIGHT

Bellevue and Champs Vallée will be co-hosting a family math night for students in Kindergarten to Grade 6.   The original date of January 10th had to be postponed.  More information will be sent out when a new date is confirmed.

LUNCH HOUR SKATING

Every Monday and Friday (weather and ice conditions permitting), Champs Vallée staff will be supervising students who wish to skate over their lunch recess (11:35-12:00) at the Bellevue rink.  Students who participate should be fairly independent at putting on and tying their own skates and helmet, but assistance will be provided if needed. If there is sufficient interest, a portion of the ice will be designated for students with face masks to play in a game of “shinny” hockey using plastic sticks and a soft foam puck. Students are not permitted to bring their own hockey or ringette sticks.  A portion of the ice will always be designated for skating. Parent volunteers are welcome to help tie skates and participate.
If students wish to participate, they must have skates, gloves, and a CSA approved skating helmet.  If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email patrick.gamache@blackgold.ca 

STAFF MEETING / EARLY CLOSING / NO KINDERGARTEN

December 6th is early closing (2:30pm) due to staff meeting.  The first Wednesday of the month is also a day without class for all kindergarten students.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

The next meeting will be Monday, January 15 at 7:30pm at Bellevue School in the Staff Room.

FUNDRAISING SOCIETY

The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 24 at 7:00pm at Bellevue School in the Staff Room.


STUDENT LEADERSHIP: APPLE TASTE TESTING

Our Leadership CTF students provided all students with a red and green apple to taste test.  They wanted to provide a nutritious snack during the holiday time and find out which apple tasted better. Each student tried both and selected their favourite.  The Leadership students prepared all of the apples and tabled all of the data. The majority of the students enjoyed the Red Gala apples the most, but it was a close vote.

2016-17 BELLEVUE YEARBOOKS

October Voyageurs News - October 3rd

FIRST WEDNESDAY / STAFF MEETING DAY

On the first Wednesday of every month from October to June, school ends at 2:30 pm.  Buses run as usual at that time.  Please confirm arrangements with your child if they walk, ride, or are picked up.

SKATING

Classes have begun skating this week.  Please make sure your child has skates, a CSA approved helmet or snowboarding helmet.  No shoes will be allowed on the ice.  Specifics will be available from your child's teacher.  If you are unable to purchase skates or a helmet, please contact Patrick Gamache Hutchison or Erik Larson.

LOST AND FOUND

Our lost & found has accumulated a large number of jackets and sweaters.  If your child is missing an item, please encourage them to check the lost and found.  It is located in the south center boot room. Items not claimed by October 27th will be donated to charity.

ONLINE FIELD TRIPS

Thank you for navigating and learning our online field trip forms. Our office is available to help you if you are still having difficulty getting online, call the office or stop by and use our kiosk.

PICTURE DAY

 School Photos are on Wednesday, October 11th and Thursday, October 12th.  Both schools are getting their photos taken at the same time.  Below is the schedule of when each class is getting their pictures taken.  We are looking for volunteers, please email rachael.purches@blackgold.ca, if you are able to volunteer on that day.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017	Thursday, October 12, 2017
PreK AM Lloyd	Pre K AM Lloyd
Kindergarten Dahl	Kindergarten AM Danderfer
Grade 1 Hinse	Grade 2 Lancaster
Grade 1 Awid	Grade 2 Marchand
Grade 1 Olson	Grade 3 Mackay
Grade 2 Cronkhite	Grade 3 McLeod
Prek PM Lloyd	Kindergarten PM Danderfer
Grade 4 Gregor	Prek PM Lloyd
Grade 4 Gill	Grade 3 Lacroix
Grade 5 Reves	Grade 6LI
Grade 5 Manseau	Grade 6O

PLAYGROUND FUNDRAISERS

School Clothing
http://www.haliscodesign.com/champs-vallee/  
Items will be delivered to the school.  $5 from each item purchased will go towards our new playground.


Colibri Snack Bags, Wet Bags, & Washcloths
www.colibrifundraising.com   Please order by October 10th.  Samples are available to view in the Champs Vallée office.

• Add items to the cart
• Enter student information
• Enter school as Champs Vallée

HALLOWEEN

Each class will have their own Halloween events. Homeroom teachers will let you know when their celebration will be. We request that costumes be school and age appropriate. Please do not bring any props such as toy knives, axes and guns to school. Grades 1 – 6 will dress in costumes for the afternoon only and there will be a costume parade in the gym.  Time TBA. Thank you for your support.  

HOT LUNCH
Hot lunch orders have closed for the first cycle.  Thank you to our parent volunteers for organizing.

Cycle 1 Dates

• Friday, October 13-Boston Pizza
• Friday, October 27-Maina’s Donair
• Friday, November 3-Subway
• Friday, November 10-Nitza Pizza
• Friday, November 17-Booster Juice (Drink only)
• Friday, November 24-Wok Box
• Friday, December 8-Tim Horton’s

ONLINE STUDENT VERIFICATION

Thank you to all the families that completed the Online Student Verification sent from Black Gold Regional Schools.  An email notice has been sent from our school office for any missing verification.

CATHOLIC RELIGION PROGRAM

Due to insufficient interest, we are unable to offer a viable Catholic Religion Program during our option times.

Below is a message from the St-Vital Parish for parents interested in having their children receive the sacraments.  This will be the last time that we forward information from the parish as we will not be offering it as a program.

Attention to all children age 6-15 (Grade 2 and UP) wanting to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion. Formation is all done at St. Vital Parish. The last parent Information session is next week. One or both parents must attend a session for very important information regarding this year's program. (children are welcome to attend)

DATE: Tuesday, October 10th

TIME: 7:00pm - 8:00pm

LOCATION: Basement of St-Vital Church (4905-50 street). 

Please bring: 

1. Copy of baptism certificate (including those who were baptized at St. Vital). A copy can be made here if you come with the original. 
2. Registration Fee - $70 (for one child, or $90 for two children from the same family) Please bring cash (correct change) or cheque made out to St. Vital Parish.

Registration is open online until October 15th. Please see the website of the parish for more details. 

https://www.saintvitalparish.com/sacraments/reconciliation-first-communion/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michelle Felix

Pastoral Assistant, St. Vital Parish, Beaumont, AB

st.vital.parish@gmail.com

Office: 780-929-8541 ext. 3

Cell: 780-239-7703

September 15, 2017

ORANGE SHIRT DAY: Every Child Matters

On September 29th students and staff are encouraged to wear an orange shirt.  Please visit the link below to learn more.
http://www.orangeshirtday.org/

ONLINE FIELD TRIPS

We are using online permission forms for all excursions this year.  You can access the online excursion form and pay any fees through PowerSchool.  You should see excursion forms for the Terry Fox Walk and Skating.

SKATING

This year, we will be going skating at the Ken Nichol Arena.  Please click this link to find out when your child's class skates.  Reminder, CSA approved ice helmets are required.  Parents are encouraged to come and volunteer.  The Town of Beaumont requires all helpers on the ice to be on skates.  We recommend that all adult volunteers wear helmets.  

MICROWAVES:

We generally do not have microwaves in most classrooms.  This is mainly because of air quality/safety concerns and time management issues.  If your child requires warm food at lunch we encourage families to use insulated containers.

SCHOOL FEES:

Our provincial government, school division, and school have worked together to reduce and eliminate school fees.  Please contact Principal, Patrick Gamache Hutchison if ever you have questions about any of the fees or are unable to pay.

PARKING RESTRICTIONS:

The Beaumont Community Centre has notified us that their parking lot will have limited access for our staff and parents on September 27th.  Please allow for additional time for parking, pick-up and drop-off.

HOUR ZERO:

We will be starting our Emergency Drills next week. In Black Gold Regional Schools we use the "Hour Zero" emergency protocols. Here is a link to our website which explains this system: Parent Information on Hour Zero

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Monday, September 25th -School Council Meeting at 7:30 pm followed by the Fundraising Society Meetings at 8:30 pm.  All community members are welcome.

• September 26th - District Cross-Country Running Meet

• September 29th
• Orange Shirt Day (See above)
• Terry Fox Run/Walk - Please give permission for participation via PowerSchool and look for more information from your child's teacher on exact times and routes.

• Skating- various dates starting October 2nd

• Coloniale Cross Country Meet - October 3rd

• No School for Kindergarten- Wednesday, October 4th and the first Wednesday of every month for the remainder of the year.

HEALTH & WELLNESS INFORMATION:

New Address for Leduc Addiction & Leduc Mental Health:

Leduc Addiction & Leduc Mental Health
Centre Hope Building,
4906 - 49 Ave., Unit 201
Leduc, AB
T9E 6W6

News Update: September 11, 2017

FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL

It was great to welcome all of the students and families to our new school. The start of school went quite really well with teachers and students making the most out of our temporary accommodations at Bellevue.  The students and teachers were very excited to be in their new classrooms.  Our Champs Vallée office can be found across from Bellevue's office. 

MEET THE ADMINISTRATORS 

Principal:  Patrick Gamache Hutchison

I would like to welcome back our students and staff to what should be an exciting school year.  We have a great team looking forward to working with your students and families.  

This is my 16th year as a teacher and 6th year as a Principal.  
Please let me know if ever you have questions or concerns regarding the school.  

Assistant Principal: Erik Larson

    I am excited to be joining Champs Vallée.  I look  
    forward to getting to know all of the students and
    families. 

    Last year, I worked at Robina Baker as the 
    Assistant Principal.  This is my 15th year as a
    teacher and 4th, as an AP. 

    I look forward to wonderful and exciting year. 





SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

You will be notified by email when news and information from our school is available.  We will aim to post weekly or bi-monthly updates.  Our school will also communicate messages through PowerSchool.  

In the event of an emergency or if information is needed to be sent urgently, our school and division have the ability to send notifications by phone, text, and email.  Please complete the Online Verification when it is sent by Black Gold Schools to ensure that your information is accurate.

New this year, all of our field trips, fee payments, and student progress will be able to be accessed through PowerSchool.  Please contact the office, if you help accessing to your PowerSchool account. 

Our school's website is http://ecvs.blackgold.ca, which contains much of the up to date information and links to our blog and calendars.  Here you will find the Black Gold calendar, ECS calendar and the school google calendar.

On this site, you can also access our school calendar.  This calendar has all of our school's important dates, like school photos, field trips, etc.

If you have a google account, you can add our calendar to your calendar.  You can also subscribe to our blog page.

Click on this link: https://ecvsnews.blogspot.ca/p/school-calendar.html or click on the tab near the top of our blog that says CALENDAR.

Once you are there you will see this at the bottom of the calendar:

Just click on it and follow the instructions to merge it with your own google calendar.

Our Google Calendar is updated daily or as soon as something needs to be added or changed. We do not recommend printing the calendar and posting it on your fridge as we don't send out notifications for daily input. However, if you are a subscriber to the calendar, you will receive a change notification if you like. This is something you can control in your settings. We also post the next week or so of important dates at the end of this blog post every week, so you will also have a quick weekly view that way.

STUDENT ABSENCES

Our school (like all BGRS schools) is on an automated call out system. By 9:00 am and 1:00 pm every day the system will email, text and/or call parents of absent students. To prevent these messages, please contact our school and let us know in advance of a student absence. Our preferred method of notification is through our Online Absence Form.  If you do not have access to a computer or device, you can also call our office at 780-929-8663 and select option 2.  You can talk with our secretaries or leave a message. 

NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION

There are 119 days remaining before we are set to begin with students in the new building on January 8th, 2017.  Progress continues on the new school and the completion date has not changed.  We will continue to inform you of any new information we receive.

SCHOOL COUNCIL AND FUNDRAISING SOCIETY

School Council

Our first School Council meeting will be on Monday, September 25th from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Bellevue Staffroom.  All parents are welcome to attend.

School council is a collective association of parents, teachers, principal, staff and community representative(s) whose purpose is to advise the principal and the board respecting matters relating to the school.  It is a means for parents and community members to work together with the school to support and enhance student learning.  All parents are welcome to attend the School Council meetings.  Decisions at meeting will follow a “Town Hall” style format with each parent having an equal vote.

A school council cannot be incorporated under the Societies Act or Part 9 of the Companies Act.  Although a school council can fundraise, it cannot undertake fundraising endeavours that require a gaming license from the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, such as bingos, casinos or raffles.

School Council Executive Members:

Chairperson – Colleen Spingle
Co-Chairperson – Erin McCall
Secretary – Annie Savard

Communications Officer – Trisha Bauer

Fundraising Liaison – Carrie Blumenthal

Left to Right: Annie Savard, Trisha Bauer, Colleen Spingle, Erin McCall, and Carrie Blumenthal

Fundraising Society

Our first Fundraising Society meeting will also be on Monday, September 25th from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Bellevue Staffroom.  

The Fundraising Society has been hard at work planning fundraising efforts to build our school playground.  We are fortunate to be working with PlayQuest Recreation and have plans and drawings already in the works.  The Provincial Government announced $250 000 towards our park, but we must continue to fundraise more to cover the total cost. 

All Executive positions are available (President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer) as well as Board of Directors (three positions).  If you are currently in one of those positions and would like to be nominated to do it again you can either nominated yourself at the meeting or email.

Draft Agenda:

• elections
• yearly financial statement
• proposed bylaw changes.  
• Currently the only proposed bylaw changes are to change notification by mail to email for scheduling meetings.  If there are any other bylaw changes that you would like to propose please email.

RUNNING CLUB

The Champs Vallée Running club has started for students in Grades 3-6. Students are still welcome to join.  Registration and more information are available at this link.  

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, September 11th, 2017-  First full day for Kindergarten students.

Tuesday, September 12th, 2017 - First Day for Prekindergarten for students with funding (PUF, Mild/Moderate, and ESL)

Week of September 18th - Class begins for Prekindergarten students without funding.

Friday, September 15, 2017 - PD Day, no school for students.

FUTURE EVENTS

September 29th - Terry Fox Run

October 11th and 12th School Photos Pre-K to 6

• The majority of classes will be photographed on October 11th
• Tuesday/Thursday Pre-K and students who were absent will be photographed on October 12.
• More information will be sent out closer to the date.
• Retakes will take place November 6th and 7th.