Happy New Year!
Welcome back and happy New Year! I hope you all had a restful and joyful winter break, filled with time for relaxation and connection. As we step into this exciting second half of the school year, it’s a wonderful opportunity for reflection—both on the progress we’ve made so far and on the goals we want to set for the months ahead. This time of year invites us to renew our commitments to growth, learning, and community. We look forward to continuing our journey together, supporting each student in reaching their fullest potential and making this a memorable and impactful year for all. Thank you for being an essential part of our school community!
Reminders and Updates:
Kindergarten Registration: Registration for the 2025-26 school year will open on Monday January 13 through School Engage. For information about the Kindergarten registration process, please visit: https://bayside.cbe.ab.ca/news/get-ready-get-set-kindergarten-2025-26. For additional information about process and timelines for determining AM and PM kindergarten enrolment, please visit Bayside’s Kindergarten page.
Mid-year Call-backs to Mahogany School: At this time of year, Mahogany school will be reviewing their enrolment and inviting some families on the callback list to attend Mahogany school beginning in February. The Calgary Board of Education prioritizes keeping students and families as close to home as possible and call-backs are an opportunity for families to choose to attend the community school closest to home. If your family receives a call-back, it is helpful to inform Mahogany school as quickly as possible of your decision. If a family chooses to attend Mahogany school, then we will be able to get the transfer process underway. If you choose to stay at Bayside, Mahogany will need to offer the available spot to the next family on the call-back list. Please feel free to reach out to either school if you have any questions (Bayside@cbe.ab.ca or mahogany@cbe.ab.ca)
Parents can read information about the CBE lottery process and Mahogany School in this week's Mahogany Messenger.
Staffing Update: We have received some additional funding from the Alberta government to support intervention for literacy and mathematics work in our school. Beginning in February, our language and literacy teacher, Joanne Hahn, will be adding an additional hour each day (Monday-Thursday) to be able to work with more students.
We will be saying goodbye to two of our Education Assistants beginning on January 20. Sara Biegun will be moving into a new role with CBE Transportation and Shital Panchal will be returning to a school she previously worked at. While we are sad to say goodbye, we are excited for both Sara and Shital and the next steps in their careers. I am working with CBE Human Resources to fill their positions and our team is working to ensure a smooth and thoughtful transition for students.
Reminder to update Demographic Information: A reminder to parents to keep your home address and contact information up to date if there are any changes. In addition to ensuring we have current contact information in case of emergencies, the home address is used to determine designated school, access to transportation etc. and is important to keep up to date. Please contact our office if you have any questions about updating your contact information. 403-817-3436 or bayside@cbe.ab.ca.
Personal Mobile Devices: A reminder to families that student personal mobile devices are not permitted in school, as per the government of Alberta’s ministerial order introduced in September. This includes cell phones, iPads, and other devices that can be online such as SMART watches. If a child brings a device to school, the expectation is that it should be kept inside their backpack and off. More information is available on the CBE Website:
- Administrative Regulation 6008: Student Personal Mobile Devices
- Personal Mobile Devices and Social Media Use in Schools
Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions.
Traffic and pedestrian safety: A reminder to everyone to be safe as you travel to and from school.
Pedestrians:
- Remember to cross at marked crosswalks. Do not step out from between parked vehicles to cross the road.
- If crossing at the School Safety Patrol crosswalk, please follow the students’ instructions and wait until they say “proceed” before walking into the crosswalk.
- Always stop and look both directions before crossing the road.
Drivers:
- When driving through a school zone, remember, children do not perceive traffic like adults do – extra caution is needed.
- The maximum permitted speed is 30 km/hr from 7:30 a.m. until 9 p.m.
- Passing is not allowed within a school zone during the hours that the zone is in effect.
- ABOUT U-TURNS - Parents are often seen making illegal u-turns in school zones. Save yourself a fine by reviewing the Alberta laws on u-turns
- DO NOT park:
o within 5 m of a crosswalk. This ensures children are visible to other road users.
o in a bus zone. No vehicle other than a Calgary Transit vehicle or school bus may stop or park in a bus zone. You may not stop even momentarily in a bus zone.
o within 1.5 m of a driveway or garage.
o within 5 m of a fire hydrant, corner, intersection, stop sign or yield sign.
- DO look for a parking spot in a nearby street a short distance from the school and walk.
More safety tips can be found on the City of Calgary Website: https://www.calgary.ca/roads/safety/pedestrians.html
Concerns and requests can be made through the City of Calgary Traffic Service Requests Portal: https://www.calgary.ca/cps/traffic/traffic-service-requests.html
Report Cards: Report Cards will be available online beginning Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, through MyCBE.
School Council BSFA Updates:
Our next School Council and BSFA meeting is on Tuesday January 14 at 6:00 PM. This will be an in person meeting at the school and we hope you can join us. The grade 5 team will be sharing about the learning happening in grade 5 this year as well as beginning to talk about plans for the grade 5 farewell at the end of June.
In February (February 11, 2025), School Council will be hosting a special Cyber-security presentation with Calgary Police aimed at families with students in grades 3-5. Our Kindergarten team will also be sharing. The times for the meetings will be:
- 5:00 PM School Council & BSFA meeting (Kindergarten sharing)
- 6:30 PM Cyber-security presentation
More information will be shared soon!
January Healthy Hunger: Our next Healthy Hunger fun lunch (Mucho Burrito) is coming up on January 23. The cut-off for ordering will be January 17 so don’t miss out! More information is available on our Website.
Playground Committee Needed: Our School Council is looking for parents interested in forming a playground committee to begin the process to expand our current playground. We have a small and dedicated School Council but more help is needed! If you are interested in being part of this exciting work, please reach out to schoolcouncilbayside@gmail.com or come to our next meeting on January 14.
Coming Up/ Dates to Remember:
January 13: Kindergarten and New Student registration begins for the 2025-26 school year
January 13: Grade 2 (Robinson) field trip to Heritage Park
January 14: School Council & BSFA meeting, in-person, 6:00 PM at Bayside
School
January 20: Grade 1 field Trip to Telus Spark (Dennis and Mumford)
January 23: Mucho Burrito Healthy Hunger
January 27: Report Cards available for viewing in MyCBE, Spirit Day- dress as your favourite book character
January 29: Lunar New Year, Grade 4 field trip to Telus Spark (All classes)
January 30: Spirit Day- Jersey Day
January 31: Non-Instructional Day (No school for students)