Feb 2 Parent Message

Happy Friday Bayside Parents! The beautiful weather we are experiencing has created some unexpected challenges around Bayside school with respect to the melting and freezing snow and ice*. This week we found it necessary to close the fields for part of the day early in the week and all day on Thursday due to extremely icy conditions. Thank you to our lunch room staff for their incredible flexibility in adjusting the lunch hour to ensure our students had enough space to play safely outside in the sunshine and to Mr. Cheng, our facility operator, for working so hard to keep the pathways around the school accessible. With constant freezing and melting occurring, it is nearly impossible to avoid the ice, mud, and puddles that are forming. School staff are marking off particularly wet, slippery, and unsafe areas and students are being reminded to stay out of the puddles as much as possible. We would appreciate if parents can please also have conversations at home about making safe choices when playing outside at this time of year.

*Our landscaping is still under warranty and so CBE, Alberta Infrastructure, and the contractor are aware of the drainage challenges around the school. We anticipate more work will be done in the spring to improve drainage in certain areas.

Updates & Reminders:

February School Council Meeting: Our school council meeting on February 20 will be a little different! Please note that the time for the council meeting has been changed to 5:00 PM to allow for a special parent presentation about Internet safety by Calgary Police (CPS) to begin at 6:30 PM. Both the meeting and presentation will be in person at Bayside School and light refreshments will be served.

Please click the link below to sign up:

signupgenius.com

Topics for discussion will include important concerns for many parents. As we are well aware – online gaming, cellphone, and social media usage is growing evermore popular and becoming increasingly common, even for younger children. This comes with increased risks. The CPS presentation will cover important details including Social media and youth mental health, Privacy Protection, and Cybercrimes. There will also be a handout full of parent resources on parental Wifi controls, gaming controls and many other resources regarding cyber safety. The Bayside School Community is looking forward to seeing you there!

Traffic and Pedestrian Safety: Traffic and Pedestrian Safety is a shared responsibility! See Parking and Drop-off and Getting to School for important reminders and tips.

** If you see a traffic safety concern, please visit https://www.calgary.ca/cps/traffic/traffic-service-requests.html to make a request or report to the City of Calgary.

School Spirit Days: See the School Spirit page on our Website for updates about Winter Walk Day (Feb. 7) and Valentines Day (Feb. 14)

Kindergarten Registration Update:  Due to a high volume of kindergarten registrations and space limitations in our school, we anticipate we will need to do a draw for AM and PM kindergarten placement for the 2024-25 school year. There are currently more requests for morning (AM) kindergarten than spaces available.

Students who are registered in School Engage on or before February 13, 2024 will be included in the draw. Students who are registered in School Engage after February 13 will be added to AM and PM classes as space allows in the order the registration is received. Parents can anticipate we will notify you of your child's placement in AM or PM Kindergarten in April once the Mahogany lottery/overflow process has been completed.

Families who do not receive their preferred placement in AM or PM will be added to a wait list and will be offered placement in the order of the draw as spaces become available.

More information about Kindergarten Registration is available here.

2024-25 Registration for grades 1-5: Students who are currently enrolled at Bayside in K-4, and who live within our designated attendance boundary, will automatically be enrolled in the next grade at Bayside for the 2024-25 school year. There is no need to register your child again.

Grade 5 parents are encouraged to see Lakeshore’s Jan. 15 message for registration updates.

CBE Child & Youth Well-Being Webinar - Mental Health & Anxiety (Grades K-6): The Calgary Board of Education invites all parents and guardians to join us in an online series focusing on child and youth well-being. These sessions will be hosted in partnership with experts from Alberta Health Services and will explore topics such as vaping, brain development, mental health, and sexual health.

When: Feb. 8, 6:30-8:00 PM

Link: Child and Youth Well-Being

Share Your Voice – CBE Education Plan: The CBE is preparing for the 2024-2027 Education Plan and parents are invited to voice opinions in online and in-person opportunities. See all information HERE.

Alberta Education Assurance Survey: Parents of students in grade 4 will have received an invitation to complete the Alberta Education Assurance Survey. The information shared by parents will be used to help guide our planning at Bayside School. Click Here for more information.

Coming Up/ Dates to Remember:

February 7: Winter Walk Day

February 8: AHS Grade 1 Immunizations (only applies to students whose parents have received a letter)

February 14: Lakeshore Lottery Process (See Lakeshore’s Jan. 15 message for Registration Updates)

February 14: Valentines Day

February 15 & 16: Teachers’ Convention, No school for students

February 19: Family Day, No School

February 20: School Council, 5:00 PM* followed by a special presentation by Calgary Police regarding Internet safety (*Note the earlier time)

February 22: Healthy Hunger (Boston Pizza)

February 28: Pink Shirt Day