Happy Friday Families,

Room 16 students wish to let you know of a few things we have been doing in the past week and give you a glance at what lies ahead.  

We are looking forward to the Community Potluck on October 3.

Farm to School Fundraiser has been extended to Tuesday, October 1.  All fundraising helps Cappy Smart School do amazing activities.

We are now learning to write in cursive.  We practiced the letters a and c.

The Terry Fox Run is on October 2, from 2:00 - 2:45PM. Please keep your eyes on the forecast and dress for the appropriate weather.  Dressing in layers is best, as it is easier to remove a jacket than have to find one to put on.

Parents, for the safety of yourselves and our wonderful students, please use the crosswalk.  It is not safe to cross in the middle of the street as many cars do not follow the speed limit and therefore may not be able to stop in time.

Ms. Townsend read us the book titled Emmanuel's Dream.  It is about a boy in Africa who overcame his disability to ride around the country of Ghana on a bicycle.  Emmanuel reminds us of our very own Terry Fox.

We have finished Goldilocks and the Three Bears and are now moving on to legends, and stories in ELA.

Global Read Aloud begins next week and we will be reading the book Front Desk by Kelly Yang.  We will also be connecting with a grade 5 classroom in New York City throughout the Read Aloud.

In science we have talked about water and water conservation.  Parents, let your wonderful children tell you how to save water.

Please keep reading for an important message from the office regarding Orange Shirt Day and the Terry Fox Run.

Mrs. Mahon's Marvelous Munchkins.

Orange Shirt Day

We will be recognizing Orange Shirt Day on Thursday October 3, 2019. This will be an opportunity for students and staff to learn about the legacy of the residential schools, as well as indigenous ways of knowing. Staff will lead students through a variety of learning activities that will engage students in conversations about belonging, community, and inclusion. A powerful way to do this is through the indigenous pedagogy of circle. Circle defines inclusion, In the circle we are all equal. No one is above, no one is below. No one is in front, no one is behind. The Sacred Circle is designed to create unity. As a way to recognize this very important day, staff and students are encouraged to wear orange. This represents our continued commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Act as well as honoring the survivors of residential schools. If you have any questions please let us know.

Terry Fox Run

Our Terry Fox run will take place on Wednesday October 2 from 2:00pm-2:45pm. Students will gather for a short assembly, followed by a 20min Terry Fox run on the path close to the Marlborough Park Community Center. On the day of the run, students are encouraged to bring a Toonie for Terry to show their support and help raise money for cancer research. If you have any questions please let us know.

Happy Thursday Families,

A few updates to give you for the week.

In writing we are writing about Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.  We wrote an apology letter to the 3 Bears from Goldilocks.  This week we are going to reply to those letters.

We are continuing with place value in Mathematics and moving onto addition and subtraction.  You can help me by practicing my basic facts with me.

I am learning about what colour absorbs the most heat and how what we wear will also tell us whether we may be warm or cold.

In social studies we are learning about our basic human needs and comparing them to the needs of people in other countries.

We are looking forward to seeing families at the Community potluck on October 3.  Thank you for sending in your family numbers.

Have a great week and we will update you again on Friday, September 27.

Ms. Mahon's Magnificent Monsters

Hello Families,

Picture orders are due Monday.
Farm to School Fundraising is due on September 26th (our forms went home Monday).
No school on Friday, September 20th.  This is a Non-Instructional Day.
Community Potluck is coming.  It will take place on Thursday, October 3 from 6 - 7:30.  Please stay tuned for the invitation.  Book Fair will also be during this time.

We have been learning about light and shadow.  We got to help the grade 1/2 students log into the computers for their first time. We have been playing in the gymnasium with our principal Mr. Bennett. We have played a game which you get a hoop and try to get across the gym.

It has been another good week.  Stay tuned for our next update.

Mrs. Mahon and her masterful monkeys.

Hello Cappy Smart families,

It’s been a great first few weeks and we have all been very pleased to reconnect with our returning families as well as the many new families who have joined us over the past few weeks. I want to share some important information with you regarding our current class sizes as well as how we are going to ensure that we are providing the best opportunities for all of our students to be successful.

In June, we shared our projections for the 2019-2020 School Year. Our numbers have changed as we have had a few families move in and out of the community/city. The net result of these changes has created some unbalanced class sizes. Please see the chart below regarding our anticipated and current class sizes.

Class Anticipated Class Size – June 2019 

Grade 1/2 18 

Grade 1/2 18 

Grade 1/2 18 

Grade 3/4 25 

Grade 3/4 25 

Grade 4/5 26 

Kindergarten AM/PM 13/13

Current Class Size – September 2019

Grade 1/2 14

Grade 1/2 14

Grade 1/2 17

Grade 3/4 29

Grade 3/4 29

Grade 4/5 28

Kindergarten AM/PM 15/14

In an effort to ensure that all students are receiving the best possible opportunity to have a successful year, we will be redeploying some of our staff. This will create class sizes that are more typical for the grade levels and will allow us to provide new learning opportunities to all students. I have itemized the changes below:

Kindergarten: Ms. Blake will continue to teach the afternoon class. Ms. Woodward will be taking over the morning class after a one-week transition with Ms. Blake.

Grade 1/2: Ms. Woodward will be moving to half time kindergarten and half-time music (all grades). Her students will be divided between Ms. Christensen and Ms. Cheveldeoff’s classes with the same priorities that we used to create the original classes (learning needs come first). We will do our best to ensure that students are placed in the class where they will most likely learn best with their teacher and their classmates. Our Division 1 Education Assistant Ms. Mutual will now spend her time working with 2 grade 1/2 classes instead of 3 which will increase the amount of time that she can support students in the classrooms. Class sizes will be approximately 22 students per class.

Grade 3/4 and 4/5: Classes will now receive support from Ms. Blake in the morning Monday-Thursday. This will allow her to work collaboratively with these grades and provide greater opportunities for students to understand and revisit curriculum. Children will be regrouped based on current needs and the work that the students are engaged in so this number will go up and down. We are not creating a new class. Students will remain assigned to their current homeroom teacher and will regroup as needed.

SKILL 1 and SKILL 2: These classes are maintained by the system and will receive the same staffing and support as they did before.

Reorganizing our school is something that we take very seriously and I would like to assure you that we have considered many options before arriving at the conclusion that we needed to rebalance classes. Based on the number of students in each grade, it makes the most sense to retain the current grade format so that we can welcome any new students we may receive after September without overloading one class or grade.

Mr. Nyrerod and I will be available for questions after school on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and would be happy to discuss this with you in greater detail if you are interested. Please call Ms. Amanda in the office to let us know that you are coming so that we can schedule our time accordingly.

We anticipate putting these changes into effect on Monday, September 16, 2019. Thank you in advance for your support and understanding as we work to support the needs of all of our students from Kindergarten to Grade 5 and in our SKILL classes.

Sincerely,

Erin Bennett

Principal, Cappy Smart School

t | 403-777-8110

ecbennett@cbe.ab.ca

Ryan Nyrerod

Assistant Principal

Cappy Smart School

Calgary Board of Education

Twitter - @MrNrod

t | 403.777.8110 ext 2223

Hello Friends,

We get to go to our Learning Commons/Library 2 times a week, to visit, listen to stories and exchange our library books.  Ms. Townsend read us a book that gives us multiple choices on how we want the story to end.  

This week we have been learning about Light and Shadow and that we can bend light, it travels in waves, particles and in a straight line.

We have learned about what are facts, opinions and about education in different countries. Ms. Mahon says we will continue to learn more about these all year long.

We learned about patterns and have begun learning about place value in Math.  Ms. Mahon will be sending home different websites and activities that we can do at home to practice.  She will not be copying homework pages as she doesn't like to use a lot of paper, when there are so many different ways to learn.

For Social Studies and Health and Literacy, Ms. Mahon wants us to talk about where we come from, how we learn and to discuss what friendship and respect are.

In art we made geometric stars which contained patterns in each point as well as using primary and secondary colours to create art.

Please keep checking in every week as we (the students) will be blogging about our learning.

Have a great week ahead, 

Ms. Mahon's Marvelous Monsters.  :)
#SuperCappy