RES FAMILY DANCE NEEDS YOU!

We're still in need of volunteers to help make the FAMILY DANCE this week a success. If you have even 30 minutes to spare and don't have the time to make refreshments or a cake to auction we'd love to have your help at the dance to ensure it runs smoothly. Please follow the link below to sign up. Thanks!
https://www.volunteersignup.org/WA4FJ

September RES Council Meeting Minutes

RES Council Meetings are always open to parents to attend. Next meeting is Wed. Oct. 14 at 9 am in the Gathering Room next to the school library.

RES Council Meeting

Sept. 9, 2015

-        Welcome and Introductions

-        Looking at 740 students this school year.

In attendance:

Marlin Hogg

Elaine Ross

Jaime Jensen

Alana Sala

Loretta Cahoon

Natalie Ball

Lindsay Baldry

Jenn Smith

Nancy Rose

Cheri Gilbert

Jen Wegwitz

Christal Bevans

Rachael Miller

Carmen Lowry

-        Voting of new members

o   Assistant Volunteer Co-ordinator -- Nancy Rose

o   Preschool Rep-- Loretta Cahoon

o   Pizza Volunteer for div I (Wed)-- Karen Salmon

o   Pizza Volunteer for div II (Thurs)-- Lindsay Baldry

o   2 Member-at-large positions-- OPEN

-        Proposal for new member ( community member) – Loni --

-        Thoughts on having a community member or parent link liaison or a grandparent figure

-        discussed and  motioned seconded by Natalie ball   changes to by-laws in accordance with motion

-        Calendaring

o   For council members and Future meetings to BE 2nd wed of each month @ 9am

o   November meeting to be November 18th @ 9am

o   Jan/ May will have evening meetings

o   AGM in May vote and move new council changes

o   PARENT REP wording to replace Room Mom

-        Planning Goals for 2015/2016

-        TBD at next meeting

-        Family Dance progress – Natalie

o   Progress - outside dance fences put up to tie off area allowed

o   Needing a DJ and equipment available for outside

o   2 parents a class to make treats and bring cakes

o   possibly meet the teacher night the same night TBA

o   Meet the teacher would be from 5:30-6:20 /dance at 6:30-8:30

o   Any new items?

o   Discussed wish lists from each class to allocate funds from our fundraising to go towards, and towards A.R prizes grades 3-6

o   %age of money raised- WAS decided on 50/50 with overflow for use in next council fundraiser

-        Communication with parents

o   Facebook page (RES parent awareness)

o   LIKE ON FB make cards to pass out to bring more awareness to the page and going ons

§     How can we increase members? Excite people recruit people

§     Keeping it positive

§     Making it useful -problems that arise refer to chart to solve them (it exists in the front of the school agenda)

-        Mr. Hogg

o    Hot lunches/fundraising- this year the goal of fundraising for the school is to purchase 3 water bottle filling fountains and hurry the lines up at the fountains, 100 dollars from pizza sales goes to teachers in each classroom for supply funds

o   New training for the teachers- Next meeting discussion

-        Next council fundraising project  - Natalie

-        Silent Auction idea for gift baskets display at town Christmas - have 15 classes contribute to donate to baskets

-        Council to put them together to auction off

                                                                           

Meeting adjourned till OCTOBER 14th @ 9am

Drop everything and read during International Literacy Day

"I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp." JK Rowling

International Literacy Day is being celebrated across the world on Tuesday September 8 with this year's theme being "literacy and sustainable societies". The day was first observed in 1996. Students and participating parents were able to drop everything and read for 30 minutes together in classrooms.

"It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength." Maya Angelou

 Ashley Hill reading with her children.

Mr. Stone reading to some of his grade 1 students.

Changes to 2015/2016 Daily Schedule

The Bell schedule has changed for this school year. 

2015/2016 DAILY SCHEDULE:
Grade 1-6 Monday-Thursdays:
8:20 AM-Warning Bell
8:25 AM-Classes Begin
10:00-10:15 AM-Div II Recess
10:15-10:30 AM-Div I Recess
12:00-12:20 PM-Div I Lunch Break Inside
12:00-12:20 PM-Div II Lunch Break Outside
12:20-12:40 PM-Div I Lunch Break Outside
12:20-12:40 PM-Div II Lunch Break Inside
12:45 PM Classes Resume
2:00-2:10 PM-Div II Recess
2:10-2:20 PM-Div I Recess
3:20PM Students Dismissed
GRADE 1-6 FRIDAY SCHEUDLE:
8:20 AM-Warning Bell
8:25 AM-Classes Begin
10:00-10:15 AM-Div II Recess
10:15-10:30 AM-Div I Recess
12:00 PM-Students Dismissed
 
KINDERGARTEN AM & PM:
8:20 AM-Warning Bell/Classes Begin
11:20 AM-Students Dismissed
12:20 PM-Warning Bell/Classes Begin
3:20 PM Students Dismissed


KINDERGARTEN FRIDAY SCHEUDLE:
8:20 AM-Warning Bell/Classes Begin
12:00 PM-Students Dismissed

2015 Swimming Schedule

Upcoming RES Council Annual General Meeting (AGM)

This is to notify all parents of RES students or the RES Council Annual General Meeting (AGM) which will be held on Thursday, June11 at 7:00 pm in the gathering area at the school.  At this meeting we will propose and vote on changes to the RES Council by-laws, and elect the Executive Members for the 2015-2016 school year Council.  Any parent of RES students present at the meeting may volunteer/be nominated for executive positions and other parent-volunteer positions. Parents must be present at the meeting to vote on by-law changes and executive positions.

The following changes to the RES Council by-laws will be proposed at the meeting:

1.       We propose that the Volunteer Coordinator executive position on the Council be changed to two positions.

2.       We propose that the Communications Director executive position be changed to two positions.

Following is a list of the Council positions that need to be filled for the 2015-16 school year and a description of the duties and time commitment for each position.  If you are interested in volunteering for any of these positions please attend our meeting on Thursday, June 11 at 7:00 PM at the elementary school. Those interested can be nominated by others or can nominate themselves at this meeting. Only those in attendance may vote for members of the executive. So if you want to have a voice in the formation of the school council for the next school year please attend the meeting. We appreciate parental involvement and interest and we encourage you as parents to attend school council meetings in order to stay informed about events at the school, how the administration makes decisions, and about current issues in education and specific to our school.

1.      Council Chair

This position does require someone with leadership, organization and communication skills. The Chair is responsible for making sure the Council runs smoothly and functions as a group including coordinating with the principal, preparing meeting agendas, calling regular council meetings, being the official spokesperson for the School Council, attending training and Divisional School Council meetings etc. Previous experience on the Council is not a requirement but would be a great asset. We have been making changes over the last couple of year in increasing the Council’s involvement in the school community and an understanding of what we have been doing would be helpful.

The number of hour per month varies depending on what activities and meetings are held but four to eight hour a month is a reasonable estimate.

2.       Communications Director(s)

The communications director is responsible for regular communication between the school council and the parents of the school's students including announcing School Council meetings and activities and reporting on Council activities. This is done through newsletters, posts on Facebook, emails, and posts on the school council section of the RES website. This past year the communications director has also been responsible for computer related activities such as surveys and other digital communications. This position requires some experience with computers using webpages and other forms of digital communication. We also hope to make more use of photographs as a means of communicating with parents about activities at the school so coordinating the taking and/or collection of photographs is another potential responsibility. 

3.       Volunteer Coordinator(s)

This has been one position and hopefully will be changed into two positions because it can become very busy at times. The responsibilities involved arranging for volunteers for special events such as the book fair and school council sponsored activities. The volunteer coordinator also communicates with room moms to help arranging for volunteers. If this changes to two positions the proposal is that one person would be responsible for the more a day today volunteering at the school and the other would be responsible for coordinating volunteers for special events. The volunteer coordinators attend monthly school council meetings and then spend time as needed when arranging for volunteers for the things mentioned above.

4.       Pre-school Rep

Preschool representative is a position open to any parent who has a child in preschool at RES. Responsibilities involved representing the preschool at the school council meetings and communicating with the preschool as necessary to act as a liaison between The preschool and the school council.

5.       Members-at-large (2 to 3)

This is for two or three people. The members at large attend monthly meetings. They are voting members of the Council and are available to help with special events and volunteering as needed and as they are available to.

The following parent-volunteer positions need to be filled for the 2015-2016 school year:

1.       Pizza Day

Pizza day volunteer is a position requiring two people. The responsibilities include sorting out pizzas juice and chips on pizza day once a month. One person is responsible for Division I and the other is responsible for Division II. This usually takes about 45 minutes each pizza day. These volunteers also usually attend our monthly school council meetings although they are not voting members of the council. 

2.       Room parent

The responsibilities include coordinating parent volunteers for classroom needs such as preparing treats for party days.  We hope these responsibilities may expand to include helping to coordinate volunteers for more day to day help in the classrooms as the teacher needs/asks for.

Next Meeting

Our next RES Council meeting will be on Monday, May 11 at 10:00 am in the gathering area at the school. As usual all parents of RES students are invited to attend. I strongly encourage all who are able to come to be there. Here are the topics we will be discussing:
- How the new provincial budget affects our school specifically in relation to staffing and class sizes
- Long term goals and plans for the RES Council
- Ways that you can become more involved in the school (School Council and volunteering in your child’s classroom)
- Elections for the 2015-2016 School Council – what positions are available and what you need to do if you want to run for a position
Attending School Council meetings does not commit you to volunteer for anything, but it will help you to be more informed on what is going on in the school day to day, how decisions are made by the administration, what the long term goals and plans are for the school and what you can do as a parent, if you choose to, to be more involved and positively affect the culture of the school. 
Again I invite and encourage parents to attend the meeting. Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, June 11 at 7:00 pm in the gathering area at the school. At this meeting elections will be held to fill available positions for the 2015-2016 School Council. More information regarding what positions are empty and how to tell us of your intent to run for a position will be sent out soon.
Jenn Smith
RES Council Chair

Upcoming Book Fair!

Now that one event is over, another is just around the corner! We need volunteers for the Book Fair, on Tues., April 21 and Wed., April 22, for the following times each day: 8-10:30, 2 volunteers for 10:30-12:45, and 1 for 1:30-3:30. If you would be willing to help out at one of these times, please let me know. The Book Fair helps provide new books for our library. Thanks!!!

Book Fair

Still need volunteers for the BOOK FAIR next week.
Tues., April 21: 8-10:30 and 10:30-12:45.
Wed., April 22: 8-10:30, 2 for 10:30-12:45, and 1:30-3:30.
We appreciate your help!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

A big thank you to all of you for your help with the movie nights!!! The movie nights brought in about $375 for the donations to the LRH pediatrics. With the sale of the Rice Krispie squares, the school was able to donate just over $1000.  
Also, I thought the movie nights were a fun family activity at the school. Those that went seemed to have fun!!!
Thanks again everyone!!!

One School, One Book Assembly

To those who are planning on attending the one school, one book assembly on March 2nd at 1:00 pm: in order to keep the surprise of the book and add to the excitement of the announcement of the book, the assembly will start in the dark - everyone will be led into the gym in the dark. So, please be aware of this if your small children with you will have issues with the dark; you can remain in the hallway until the lights are turned on. Also, for those in the gym, please keep the lights on your electronic devices (phones, iPads, etc) off.