Welcome Back

We hope that University School students and families had time over the winter break to rest, relax, and refresh, as we finish off the first half of the school year this month. There are many fun events planned like the SoundKreations dance residency, a photography residency by Visual Hues Photography, the Spring Concert, field trips, pond school, and other amazing events and activities. Stay tuned! 

Thank you for your continued support of University School and your child(ren)’s learning here. If you have questions or concerns about your child, their learning, or their social and emotional well-being please contact their teacher right away. We do our best to help all students but we also don’t catch everything. We value families being part of their children’s learning and also the role you play in their development. Let’s continue to work together to help your child(ren) increase their confidence, develop their resiliency, and have the highest level of success possible in their learning and life. 

We look forward to an incredible second half of the school year! 

Snacks and Lunches for Students 

University School continues to have many students who are looking for snacks to support their learning and give them a little extra energy throughout the day. As of Friday, we have distributed all the snacks available at school and currently have none left to distribute.

If your family is able to help, we would be grateful for donations of food items such as fresh fruit (apples, bananas, oranges), packs of goldfish, granola bars, dried fruit, apple sauce packets, fruit bars, and individual packs of cheese, pretzels, tuna or chicken snack packs, etc. All items need to be single-serve and prepacked. Items can be brought to the main doors of the school or your child can bring them down to the office. Thank you so much for your help! 

Also, University School is part of the Brown Bagging for Calgary’s Kids (BB4CK) program which provides prepared healthy lunches for free to Calgary Schools for students who are in need. Through this program, we will be able to provide daily lunches to some of our students. If you feel as though your family would benefit from this program, please contact Ms. Bonanno (ljbonanno@cbe.ab.ca). 

Kindergarten Registration - 2024-25

Kindergarten Registration begins on Monday, January 15. 

Information for registering your child for kindergarten can be found on the CBE website or by accessing the following link Kindergarten - Great Learning Starts Here. Beginning on Monday, January 15 registration can be completed online through School Engage.

Or, feel free to call University School for more information. We are planning an open house in later spring for all families interested in attending University School for the 2024-25 school year. More information to follow in the coming weeks.

We look forward to welcoming you and your child to University School!

Report Cards - January 30

University School continues to support students in developing a growth mindset while enhancing their resiliency in learning. As such, much more emphasis continues to be placed on the process that students go through rather than the final product they produce. Students are encouraged to take risks, push the boundaries, and see what is possible. 

We do our best to focus on student progress and help students see where they were, where they are, and where they are trying to get to in their learning. This way the priority is the learning rather than the “mark” and students’ confidence increases as they begin to take more ownership over their learning.

We hope that you see this reflected in the report card comments, which along with the achievement indicators, provides a better perspective of how your child is progressing in their learning. The area(s) that students see the most progress in and the rate at which they progress are just as unique as each student. We would like you to be proud of and focus on celebrating your child’s successes as we work together to support their learning.

We are continuing to use, “Progress in Learning,” and “Areas for Growth,” as heading titles to reflect this way of thinking about learning.

Please note that the Term 1 Report Cards will be available for viewing in your MyCBE account on Wednesday, January 30. 

If you require any support in ensuring you can access this digital Report Card, please visit the CBE Parent and Student tech support webpage

Absences and Lates

It is important for the school to keep accurate attendance to ensure all students are safe and accounted for. To help us with this we ask that you please call the school’s attendance line if your child will be absent or late for any reason (ie. illness, holiday, appointment). To call dial 403-777-6240 and enter “1” when prompted. Please remember to include your child(ren)’s first and last name, their teacher’s name, and also the reason they are absent or late. 

Attendance is a growing concern at University School with close to 30% of students missing more than 12% of school so far this year. Anything above 12% absenteeism is concerned to be a chronic problem. This has a huge impact on individual student learning and personal growth. It also makes it hard for students to feel connected to their peers decreasing their confidence and social and emotional well-being. Did you know that:

• by grade 3, students with regular attendance are more likely to read at grade level
• by grade 6, regular attendance is a predictor of high school completion
• by grade 9, regular attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than test scores
• students who attend daily are less likely to fall behind in school
• concerns with school attendance may indicate other challenges in a student’s life or concerns at home

We are also asking families to make a greater effort to have their children attend school on time which means inside by 8:00 am as approximately 15% of students have been late to school more than five days. This not only disrupts your child’s learning but also the learning of their peers and impacts the continuity of schedules.

Colder Weather - Dress for Success

This last week we had some extremely cold days and could not go outside for morning or lunch recess. 

Please make sure to send your child(ren) to school with warm winter clothing in this colder weather including boots, jacket, snow pants, toque, and mitts. If you require any help in acquiring warm clothing for your child please let your child’s teacher know as the school would be happy to help. 

University School is following CBE recommendations for cold weather and we monitor the conditions to ensure students are safe. However, we will continue to go outside whenever possible as we value unstructured play time for students as it supports their well being and learning. Generally speaking, we will go outside as long as the temperature, with windchill, stays below -21. Please click on the image below to access more information about how to properly dress for the weather.

Community Skating Party

University Heights Community Association Skating Party - Weather permitting!

January 21, 2024,  1 to 3 PM

Come to University Heights community skating rink (green space between Utah Crescent and Utah Place, next to the sound wall, see map below) to enjoy a skate with friends and family, some hot chocolate and timbits from Tim Hortons and then warm up by the fire.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Andrea, andrea@uhcacalgary.org. Hope to see you there!

https://goo.gl/maps/WXfxG2977XaVTEpM7

This Week

Monday, January 15

• No School - Non-instructional Day

Tuesday, January 16

• Grade 4 - Calgary Humane Society Presentation
• Junior Choir (Rooms 1, 5, and 17)
• Grade 5 & 6 School Council

Wednesday, January 17

• Grade 1 & 2 School Council

Thursday, January 18

• Junior Choir (Rooms 2, 3, 4, and 22)

Month Ahead

Jan 15 - No School - Non-instructional day

Jan 15 - Kindergarten Registration opens

Jan 16 - Humane Society - Grade 4 presentation

Jan 22 - Visual Hues Photography Residency begins

Jan 24 - School Council & Parent Association Meeting (6:45pm)

Jan 25 - School Spirit Day - Backwards Day

Jan 29 - Sound Kreations Dance Residency begins

Jan 30 - Report Cards are viewable online

Feb 15-16 - No School - Teacher and Staff Association Convention

Feb 19 - No School - Family Day

Dates of Significance

Jan 13 - Lohri - Maghi

Jan 14 - Orthodox New Year

Jan 24 - World Day for African and Afrodescendant Culture

Jan 25 - Mahayana New Year

Jan 27 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Jan 27 - Family Literacy Day

Jan 29 - National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia

Feb - Black History Month

Feb 1 - Winter Walk Day

Feb 1 - World Hijab Day

Feb 7 - World Read Aloud Day

Feb 10 - Lunar New Year - Year of the Dragon