Welcome Back to the 2023-2024 School Year!
We hope you are all enjoying these final days of the summer holidays! We will be back to school on Tuesday, September 5th for Grades 1-7 from 8:45 – 10:00am.
We have put together some information below to help you get started with the year ahead.
First Day:
- Students will return to their last year’s class and will meet their teacher on the field upon arrival. The students will see their teacher’s name on a large sign. Students can head to the sign and line up with their teacher. While most of our teachers are returning to Signal Hill Elementary, we will have some new teachers holding up the signs. The teacher holding the sign will be their teacher for the first week of school.
- We will do a quick welcome and then drum the students to their classes.
- Any students who are new to the school can come to the office upon arrival. A staff member will bring the student out to the field to join a group. They will then head to the library to be assigned a class.
- Students will be dismissed at 10:00am. The buses will leave shortly after dismissal.
Kindergarten:
- Gradual entry will begin on Wednesday, September 6th
- Families with Kindergarten students should have received an email indicating the gradual entry plan for Signal Hill Elementary and to sign up for your child’s first one-hour time slot for either Wednesday, September 6th, Thursday, September 7th or Friday, September 8th. Please call the school at 604-894-6378 if you have not signed up or have any questions regarding Kindergarten.
- Some more Kindergarten information can be found on our website here.
First Week:
- Students will remain in their classes from last year for the first week of school.
- Students will arrive to school for the remainder of the week (Wednesday – Friday: 8:45am – 2:58pm) at the exterior door of their classroom.
- We hope to have students in their new classes by Friday, but this may happen the following week on Monday. We will keep you informed as things unfold.
- Kindergarten students will begin full-time on Wednesday, September 13th, and will know which class they will be in prior to this.
- A reminder that class placement is a complex process ensuring that thoughtful consideration of each child’s social, emotional, and intellectual strengths are aligned with the need to create balanced and effective learning environments that honour student diversity. We thank you for your trust in our educators as we take great care in this process.
- Please bring water bottles, indoor shoes, and dress for the weather each day (more info to come on what specific teachers will want you to bring when classes are made).
- Pack in and pack out –snacks and lunch waste –let’s try to go litter-less!
Bell Schedule:
- We will have one recess and one lunch break again this year. The morning recess has been moved back 20 minutes and will now begin at 10:20am each day. Please see the 2023/2024 Bell Schedule.
- We plan to offer extra-curricular activities during break time to allow for more space on the playground and to build a fun, safe, and caring school culture at Signal Hill!
- The Kindergarten students will have a gradual entry onto the primary playground this year. They will begin their break time outside at an alternate time each day with the goal of being out on the primary playground with all of the students by November.
School Supplies:
- School supplies have been purchased by the school again this year. We are asking that parents not send supplies from home so that all students have the same supplies that the teacher needs to run the class. You can purchase your children’s supplies through our Cash Online Program. You will receive an email within the next two weeks requesting to pay for your child’s school supplies. If you do not see an email for Cash Online, please check your junk/spam folder and give permission to your email program to receive emails from us. Thank you!
- If you have not yet set up your Cash Online account for your children, please go to https://www.sd48seatosky.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1093692&type=d&pREC_ID=1369077 to set up your account. If you do not set up an account, you can pay at the office with cash for your children’s school supplies.
- More School Supply information can be found on our website here.
Calendar:
- Please see the Signal Hill Calendar for the 2023/2024 school year on our website here.
Bussing
Truth and Reconciliation:
- The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is on Saturday, September 30th, with the Statutory Holiday on Monday, October 2nd. We will focus our learning and activities around Truth and Reconciliation leading up to this day.
- At Signal Hill we are committed to reflecting upon and learning about the Truth of our history and how to move forward in a good way. As part of our learning, we will begin the year with the following events and activities:
- We will be raising The Survivors’ Flag in September. Please stay tuned for more information about the ceremony and date. We will raise our Canadian flag to full-mast once the Survivors’ flag has been raised.
- We will begin the year with the Project of Heart
- All staff and students will design their Orange Shirt for our Truth and Reconciliation Assembly on Thursday, September 28th. Orange shirts will be provided to all staff and students.
Communication:
- We will send out a Daily Announcement email to help families keep up to date on the daily and weekly events taking place at Signal Hill.
- Our Signal Hill Circular newsletter will be published every Friday. Here, our focus is on keeping our families informed on the learning and events taking place at Signal Hill. We also offer safety tips and education advice to help students and families navigate through the school year.
- You can also check our website for up-to-date information at Signal Hill Elementary.
- Your child’s teacher will set up a system of communication once the school year begins.
Please let us know if you have any questions. The school will be open this week (Monday – Thursday) for any families that need to register or have any questions leading up to opening day.
Enjoy these final days of the summer holidays and we look forward to welcoming all of our students and families back to Signal Hill next week!
Kúkwstum̓ckacw | Merci | Thank you
Krista
Krista Brynjolfson
Principal, Signal Hill Elementary School