Maple Grove PAC eNewsletter January 15, 2010

Thank you to the many parents who came out to the January 6th tea/coffee to welcome our new Principal Stephanie Sellars, new families to our school and to congratulate Ms. Julie Weatherall on her promotion to Vice Principal of our school. The event was a big success!

Our PAC meeting this month is on Wednesday January 20, 2010 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the school Library. PAC meeting agenda can be found by clicking here. At this meeting we have a parent education session on "Mindfulness" by Dr. Andrea Grabovac - not to be missed.

Dr. Andrea Grabovac will give a 60 minute interactive presentation on mindfulness, beginning with a definition of mindfulness and a brief guided mindfulness practice. She will then summarize medical research literature on mindfulness, and the research on the effects of mindfulness practice in the school setting on learning and educational development. The last half of the talk will focus on practical mindfulness exercises that can be done with children at home and a review of print and web-based resources. Please click here for details.

Minutes from November 18, 2009 PAC meeting can be found by clicking here. Please review it prior to the next PAC Meeting.

PAC Co-Chairs: Mary Ann Lo, Tim Luu

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are needed for:Movie Night (Jan 29), Spring Festival (April 9), Car Boot Sale (May), School Apparel. We need a coordinator for a new event PAC is offering this year. It's the Boot Sale to be held in May. This is a "garage sale" out of the trunk of your car,will plan to take place on our school grounds. Start collecting your precious goods for reuse and recycle.
We need volunteers to make these events a success, please contact our volunteer coordinator Heidy Chiu at 604-254-6083 or heidychiu@telus.net.

Family Literacy Day January 27, 2010

Our school is organizing activities for Family Literacy Day January 27, 2010:
Period 1: Family ‘Picnic’ Reading in classrooms (bring books and blankets)
Period 2: Vocabulary Parade in classrooms for participating classes
Period 3: Vocabulary Parade winners will tour the school
Period 4: Student Authors from Writing Workshops present their work in library - parents invited.
Afternoon: Sign-up available for student writers to present to individual classes of a similar grades. Mrs. Fisher invites all poets to write a poem and hang it on the ‘Poet-tree’ which will be in the hall. Ms Brown will have a display of graphic novels and Writers’ Notebooks in the library. Please click here for details.

Movie Night For Haiti January 29, 2010

We are dedicating the movie night as Movie Night for Haiti, Friday January 29, 2010. All proceeds from this event will be donated to the Red Cross for Haiti. Admission is by donation. Pop Corn, Juice Boxes, Pizzas are by donation. Pajamas are attire of choice for this event. Don't forget your pillows and favourite blankets. Join us for this fun-filled evening for the whole family. A popular movie will be chosen by the students. Bring the whole family and lend a helping hand to the victims of this devastating earth quake. Please click here for details.

We are looking for donations of juice boxes, pizzas, and food items that can be sold by donation at the event. If you would like to donate. Please contact Joel Korn (604-722-4588 email kjoel@sutton.com) or Stephen Wright (wrightsd@telus.net). Thanks for your support.

Several fundraising campaigns are in progress or being being planned at our school to help the people of Haiti in the recent devastating earth quake.

Please click here for updates on the fundraising campaign for Haiti.

Shopping Cards Program Update

Thanks for supporting the Maple Grove School Shopping Cards Program in 2009. We are starting up again at the beginning of February 2010. Please fill out your February order forms, attach a cheque to your order (cheque payable to Maple Grove School PAC).

All orders to be collected by Feb 5, 2010. Submit your completed forms to your class parents or in the designated PAC mailbox in the office.

Orders will be ready for pickup by February 12 FRIDAY at the hallway above the main doors or at the office.

Please click here for detailed information about The Shopping Cards Program. Click here to download the order form. Thank you for your support!.

Student Photo Provider Review Meeting

You are invited to a meeting to help decide which company to hire as the provider of our student photo program for the school year 2010-2011. The meeting is from 6:00 to 6:30 PM next Wednesday January 20 in the library to hear 10 minutes presentation from 2 photography companies: Mountain West (6 pm-6:10 pm) & Life Touch (6:10 pm-6:20 pm), Evaluation (6:20-6:30 pm).

Lunch Time Programs

Coming soon...Cartooning and Chess Club on Wednesdays with Mr. Malin.

Library will now be open to all students every Wednesday at lunch from 12:30-1:00PM. The PAC funded brand new computers (10) will soon be installed in our library. Please remind your child(ren) to take advantage of this lunchtime quiet activities opportunity.

Start the New Year with enthusiasm! This is a reminder to all students that there are several lunch time activities from which to choose.

Day of Week Program Grades Description

Mondays
Jan 11-Feb 22 Quantum Science 1-4 A class for scientists: explore water and air elements, take home a science project and learn about constellations. $80

Tuesdays
Jan 12-Mar 2 Basketball Skills 4-7 Basketball skills, drills and scrimmages! $53

Thursdays
Jan 14-Mar 4 Multisport 1-3 Keep fit and enjoy team sports: soccer, hockey, basketball and many more games. $53

Fridays
Jan 15-Mar 5 Big Beautiful Books 2-5 Make a treasured keepsake of your writing, stories, poetry and design. $68

Since this is our first year, you can still register if space is available. To register for these programs please contact the Dunbar Community Centre, phone 604-222-6060. www.dunbarcentre.ca

Sports & Olympic Celebrations

The 2010 Winter Olympics is only days away, PAC would like to celebrate this exciting event as families together at our school. Please send us some activity ideas to commerate this very special event.

‘The Original Olympics’ presentation by Dr. John Aveline in the library will take place on Feb. 2nd. Grade 1s are scheduled for period 1, grade 2s for period 2, 3s period 3, and so on to grade 7s period 7.

The Indoor Track Meet: The indoor track meet will take place during three afternoons following last year’s format and will have the same events. Caroline has already started teaching these events to her students during P.E. and there will be a sign up for teachers to have her student leaders teach their classes the events. Please note that the three afternoons are:
Monday, Feb., 1st: Primary Students
Wednesday, Feb. 3rd: Grade 4 & 5s
Friday, Feb., 5th: Grade 6 & 7s

January 28 and 29th: SportFit Program at Maple Grove: Students complete 8 simple and fun activity stations to help identify their physical abilities. They complete a questionnaire online to find the sports that fit. 20 gr. 6 &7 students will be trained to be leaders.
February Skating at Kerrisdale Arena: Each class has three skating times booked in February.
March 15, 2010: Wheelchair Curling at Para Olympics; whole school event at UBC.

Please click here for more information

Class Parents Update

Dear Parents,

Starting in January 2010, you will be receiving all communications from Maple Grove PAC through your Class Parent. You will no longer be receiving communications through your subscription to the PAC_mg or montessori list.

If you have not sent your email contact information to your Class Parent yet, please do so at your earliest convenience so that you may continue to receive PAC communications without disruption. In addition you will be kept informed with communications related to your child's class such as field trips and messages from the teacher. Please click here for class parents information.

Winnie Hon winniehon79@hotmail.com
Bethany Froese bethany@froesebc.ca
Class Parent Coordinators

Maple Grove Kilometer Club News

Mrs. Hayes-Brown is organising a Maple Grove Sun Run team along with our kilometer club. You can receive more information for joining the team through Mrs. Brown or ask us in the morning practices. Keep in touch for additional distance practices to prepare for this run. This will be a great opportunity to get extra points towards your medals.

We have ribbons on display on our kilometer board in the hall and the medals are coming. They are beautiful! A few runners will be awarded with the 25KM ribbons very soon. There will be enough time for the senior grade students with good attendance to receive a medal by the end of this school year. I noticed a lot of of club members have not been out running lately. Please encourage your child(ren) to come out to run. Physical fitness improves body and mind,will further enhance learning. Come out to participate every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 8:30 AM.

New members (students & parents) are always welcome! Please encourage your child(ren) to come out to run by running with them. New members can sign up at any morning runs. We also need parents to help for 15-20 minutes each morning. You do not need to run. We can accommodate any availability. Please contact Pat Lok, volunteer coordinator at patricia@patricialok.ca.

On heavy rain days and snow days we will exercise indoors.You will continue to receive points towards the awards.

For detailed information about the Maple Grove Kilometer Club, please click on this link

Montessori News

You are invited to the Montessori Parent Education evening on January 26, 2010 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM in the school library.

The new VSB Task Force for the Expansion of Montessori Schools will meet for the first time on Thursday, January 21. Miranda Deis is the DPAC representative on this task force and welcomes any thoughts or ideas from parents to present at the meeting. She may be reached at mirandadeis@telus.net. After the meeting Miranda will forward to the DPAC executive & parents any information deemed pertinent or requiring action.

For information about the Maple Grove Montessori Program please click on this link

FSA Information Kit for Parents

For those who are interested, the link below is to a document created by BCCPAC regarding the FSA tests for students in Grade 4 and 7.
Please click here for details.

Maple Grove Parent Business Directory

The PAC of Maple Grove Elementary School would like to publish a directory featuring the businesses and services in which each parent is involved. Why? Simply because the directory will act as a resource for those times when you need to get your hair cut, buy or sell a house, have your property inspected or even find a new insurance agent. Anything goes!
Please click here for details.

Play R Way Update

PLAY R WAY FITNESS INC will be offering an activity program during the March Break at Kerrisdale Community Centre. Activities and games include soccer,throwing, running,jumping,skipping,Capture the Flag, Shark Attack,Freeze Tag, and lots of fun. The program is being offered Monday through Friday from 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm from March 8 -12th.
To register, please contact Play R Way.

Some Helpful Tips

One of our Parents has forwarded this handy reference: Some Helpful Tips. Please click here to view it.

Please send submissions to info@maplegroveschool.ca. Thank you for your support!