Vista View | Principal Message for December

Good Morning Vista Heights School Community, 

It’s hard to believe we are moving into our final month of 2023! 

Reminder | Attendance & Arriving on Time

Instruction in the classroom begins at 8:50am. To ensure there is sufficient time to prepare for instruction start time and be ready to learn, please arrive before the bell during our soft entry time of 8:40am.

Reminder that if you are away, please contact the attendance line 403-777-6000 extension 1 to ensure that the school does not send you an unnecessary School Messenger, and can monitor your reasons for absence in a way that can be supportive and understanding for your family needs. 

Winter Solstice Celebration of Learning | December 21, 2023

Our Winter Celebration of Learning will take place during the day on Thursday, December 21, 2023 at 10:30-11:30am. This will be a performance-based assembly with the support of our newly hired Music teacher, Mr. Graham, in addition to the classroom teachers. Parents are invited to attend this assembly and are asked to call the school to RSVP for attendance due to gym capacity.  

Following the assembly, we wanted to provide an opportunity for our student community to celebrate together with a shared pizza lunch and common recess together (weather permitting). This amazing opportunity has been made possible by the generous donation from a private donor. This special lunch will have cheese and pepperoni pizza slices available for students; parents are welcome to still send their own child a lunch. The shared recess on this day will have additional supervision outdoors to ensure it is safe. 

Elementary Clubs | Friday December 22 

With the colder weather on its way, we wanted to provide opportunities for classes to mingle and have some fun. Students will be able to sign up for various elective clubs occurring Friday mornings; we are calling this ‘Flex Friday.’

Students will sign up for a teacher-hosted club of their choice and these will start on Friday, December 22, 2023. Students from K-6 may be in these groups and have the opportunity to see friends and siblings in a fun learning setting. Students will have 12 exciting clubs to choose from in December, which will lead into lunch recess clubs starting up in the new year. 

School Updates | Staffing & School Development Plan

We want to welcome Mr. Graham to our Vista Height’s family. As mentioned earlier, he will be supporting our music program every Tuesday. 

In addition, we would also like to welcome Ms. Nende as our new Educational Assistant who will be supporting in multiple grades and classes and Ms. Jahraus as our new lunchroom supervisor.  Both staff will begin on Monday December 11, 2023. 

Thank you for your patience as we continue to finish our staffing decisions for the year and analyze student data to determine where best to offer supports from a school-wide perspective. All students benefit from additional supports and we are ensuring that all grades are given considerable attention and care when offering supports. 

We are excited to announce that a recent schedule change offers an additional teacher joining our Division 2 classes for literacy and math support within our flexible groupings that supports both the community program as well as the Literacy and Learning specialized classes. 

Our School Development Plan is now posted on the Vista Heights Website for viewing.

Kindergarten Assessment | Assessment of Foundational Reading Skills (AFRS)

During the month of December Kindergarten children will be participating in an early learning diagnostic assessment tool that screens children for foundational reading skills (oral language, phonological skills and phonics) to identify those who may be at risk of reading difficulties. The Assessment of Foundational Reading Skills (formerly RRST), developed by the Right to Read program through the Learning Disabilities Association of Alberta, is intended for use in all kindergarten classrooms, and provides next steps in teaching. 

CBE Digital Decodable Library | A Collection of Digital Resources 

Recently the CBE shared their online Digital Decodable Library, a collection of digital decodable books that align with the CBE Scope & Sequence for learning to read.  This library will continue to be added to and refined over the next few weeks, so please continue to refresh and revisit this link. This is a great online tool to support reading instruction at home. 

https://sites.google.com/educbe.ca/cbe-decodable-digital-library/home?authuser=0

Student Safety During Arrival & Dismissal | Grade 5&6 School Safety Patrol Team 

We are grateful for the staff and students who volunteer their time to support our AMA sponsored School Safety Patrols program.  This commitment has many expectations and privileges.  Ensuring student safety and taking a leadership role are critical parts of being a member of the Patrol team. To keep crossing at our sidewalks safe we are kindly asking families to please support your child arriving at 8:30am to have students volunteering for patrols prepared to start at 8:35am. 

Patrol team arrives for morning shift 8:30am (Monday - Friday) 

Patrol times for the morning shift are 8:35 – 8:50 am (Monday – Friday)

Patrol times for the afternoon shift are 3:20 – 3:35 pm (Monday – Thursday)

Patrol times for the Friday afternoon shift are 1:05 – 1:20 pm

Ms. Crone has been supporting the morning supervision as our patrollers get organized. Thank you, Ms. Crone, for supporting this window of time, especially with the winter changes impacting visibility. 

In addition to Patrollers, Vista Heights is looking into additional signage as we would love to organize a parent drop-off location on the north side of the school to allow enough space for the various buses who require the east side of the school for drop off. 

Volunteer at Vista Heights! 

This is a good time to consider volunteering at the school and getting your police clearance. Please bring in your police clearance to receive payment.

To register for a police clearance, please use the online system https://www.calgary.ca/cps/public-services/police-information-checks.html

Remember to review the school calendar to know when the school is open or closed, especially with Winter Break approaching. 

2023-2024-Traditional-Calendar - Vista Heights School.pdf 

Thank you for your support. 

Ms. Jessica

Principal, Vista Heights School