Hello Pacific Heights Commuity

We are using a different format for our newsletters. Please follow this link to the Phoenix Flyer https://sway.office.com/WAXr3Gtwn7KHKoYj?ref=Link

Thanks.

We are excited to see you tomorrow! Attached are instructions for the day to help everything go smoothly.

Please note the change in time for grades 5-7. New time is 11:00 instead of 10:00 to help avoid unnecessary contact and to help ease traffic congestion.

Kindergarten will join us at from 1:00-2:00

Dear Pacific Heights Community

I know that many of you will have heard by now that one of our students, Kolbi MacPhee Fraser, has passed away after a long and heroic struggle with cancer. I never met Kolbi but from descriptions of him, he was a truly extraordinary person who will be dearly missed.  One parent has organized a GoFundMe for Kolbi’s family to help support them during this difficult time.  It can be found at the following link https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-kolbi-amp-his-family?member=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_email%2Binvitesupporters

A loss such as this affects people in different ways.  If your child requires support during this time, please do not hesitate to contact the school and we will do what we can to support them.  If you are looking for resources to help with talking to your child about grief, the following website has some helpful guidance https://www.heysigmund.com/building-emotional-intelligence-in-children-talking-about-sadness-loss-and-grief/

Steve

NOTE: This information has been emailed to our school community as well.

On August 26^th, the Surrey School District shared its plans to safely return to in-class instruction. These plans reflect the measures put forth by provincial health experts and the Ministry of Education and include the important steps our schools will take to safely welcome our students back in September.

We are confident in our plans, but we know that many of our families are nervous. In response to parent feedback and concerns, we will be offering an Elementary Transition Program that will available to all families who are not yet ready to have their child return to full-time face-to-face instruction when school begins in September.

This program is a combination of online and face-to-face learning through your local school, with a gradual transition back to full time in-class instruction by January 2021.

For more information on this transition program, please review the following resources:

• Elementary Transition Program fact sheet
• Superintendent video message for August 31

All parents interested in registering for this program will need to complete this form by 4:00 p.m. September 8, 2020.

Thank you and we hope you are having a great summer.

Hello Pacific Heights Families,

The following email as was sent today. If you did not receive this information, please read and complete the survey below.

I hope that you all have had a great summer and that in the midst of all the uncertainty you have had a chance to enjoy time together as a family.

September is just around the corner and in order to prepare for re-opening, the district has asked us to survey our families to understand their thoughts about returning to school.  This survey is an important way to communicate with the district so that we can better service and support your family.  Please complete the short survey at the appropriate link below by August 30.

Pacific Heights families follow this link:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=z-m0CBOBDUK6B1L31N-KzWFD1F8-JnpFhikKCQEO31JUMDhSTVBZTU1LWTUyVVpGVE9IRjhFQ01FNy4u

Edgewood families follow this link:

https://sway.office.com/TXGDg0YfD4HcOBDZ?ref=Link

If you have any questions about the survey, please feel free to contact the school.  Please only complete one survey per family.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Steve

Stephen Hardy

Principal – Pacific Heights Elementary

 

Dear Pacific Heights Families,

Preparing to say a final farewell has been emotional. Pacific Heights has provided me the honour of meeting and working with a community that is kind and caring.

As I reflect, I am grateful for the teachers, parents, and students of this community as they have shown me much support and embraced every new adventure with enthusiasm. Some of these new ventures included playgrounds, adding more portables, a brand new beautiful 12- classroom addition.  We also had our share of tangles including traffic, the morning and after school pick up, power outages during the Christmas Concert Finale, and now ending the year with COVID-19. Each challenge brought us together and made us a stronger community.

I am proud to have worked with all of you to implement programs and events that benefited students. Together we implemented “Kindness Counts”, Maker Faire, Canada-thon, Family Math Night, Halloween Dances, and so much more. Each event was beyond successful and done with pride – our school pride is something that sets us apart and is to be inspired.

Thank you to the PAC and parents who have been a positive force.  Their commitment to making our school great is shown through the weekly hot lunches, numerous fundraisers, and most importantly – school spirit.  I have great respect for our parents and their consistent dedication to maintaining school spirit and a sense community. This is demonstrated through Winter Breakfast, Year End Barbeque, stepping in during Book Fairs (and even running them), the willingness to drive on field trips, and their happy nature during morning drop offs and after school pick-ups.

Most of all, I will miss the students so very much; it has been a great privilege to watch them grow over the years and develop strong relationships.  I have watched our students come into their own as they learned from their mistakes, learned how to pay it forward, and learned how to take ownership of their learning.

I love Pacific Heights.  Thank you for being a part of my journey – what an amazing chapter this has been with so many memories and experiences that will stay with me forever.  I will miss you all.

Sincerely,

Ms. Chohan

Happy Retirement

We were fortunate enough to have Ms. Crosland be our Teacher-Librarian for a year.  Ms. Crosland has accomplished so much in her successful career. She was Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing for 20 years.  She created (and the program is still running) an in-school program for deaf children at Bear Creek Elementary.  Ms. Crosland decided she needed a change and new challenge so decided to become a Teacher Librarian (TL).  In her 12 years as a TL, Ms. Crosland worked at Georges Vanier, Martha Currie, and Pacific Heights Elementary.

To say that Ms. Crosland is a trailblazer in the world of TL’s would be an understatement.  She presented to TL’s at both the district and provincial level. She transformed every library she worked in – her collections were diverse because it was important that “children can see themselves on the shelves”.  Ms. Crosland kept a close eye on her circulation and made sure it was quality reading, yet high interest.   Ms. Crosland did not use a book drop, she ensured when students entered the library she saw what they were returning and asked if they liked the book or not.  She took great pride in knowing what the students in the school were reading.

The students truly benefited from the instruction and programs Ms. Crosland brought to her library.  She has held book clubs for reluctant readers, where she was able to recruit entire classes, she did book give-aways at the end of the year so every child would go home with a “good” book that would be read. She gave it her all in every library she entered, and she left her libraries in tip top shape – places of reading, inquiry, and a place where we could be “makers”.  Innovation, diversity, inclusion, and kindness were felt on a daily basis in our library.  We wish you great adventures on your retirement!

Teacher Goodbyes

There are three teachers who have been a part of the Pacific Heights community for a long time and are now onto new adventures. 

Mrs. McKelvey has been part of Pacific Heights since it first opened in 2006!  Ms. McKelvey has decided to TOC in the district.  We will miss her calm and steady manner.  She could be counted on to go above and beyond when pitching in.  She modelled kindness for staff and students.

We must also say goodbye to Mrs. Beare who has been at our school for 10 years.  We could always count on Ms.Beare’s spunky personality and her contributions during our theme days and various other committees.  Ms. Beare has gone out of her way to support staff and parents throughout her years at PH – her presence will be missed. Ms. Beare will be teaching at Adam’s Road in September.

We also say goodbye to another amazing teacher – Mrs. Fadum.  Ms. Fadum worked hard to build strong relationships with her students and our staff.  We are sad to see her go, but also happy that she will be Vice Principal at Fraser Wood Elementary. Congratulations, Mrs. Fadum!

We say farewell to Ms. Tillberg who has been our school counsellor for the past 6 years.  Ms. Tillberg has helped so many students in our school, and has helped teachers create more supportive classrooms.  She will be greatly missed. She is leaving to be counsellor at Douglas Elementary.

We must also say goodbye to teachers who have been with us for this school year.  With school boundaries changing and Edgewood Elementary opening in February 2021, we will be decreasing in divisions and next year we are projected to have 16 divisions.  So this means, we also say goodbye to an amazing group of teachers who were only able to be with us for a year.  These teachers contributed team spirit, positive energy, kindness, and excellent teaching. We wish the following teachers all the best at their new schools:

Mr. Litt (going to Rosemary Heights)
Ms. Pather (going to Goldstone Elementary)
Ms. Duncan (going to White Rock Elementary)
Ms. Dubrovskaya (going to Woodward Hill)
Ms. Polok (going to Douglas Elementary)
Ms. Kerslake (going to Coyote Creek Elementary)
Mr. Roth
Ms. Ames
Ms. Temple
Ms. Gardin

 

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been wonderful having our students back in the building.  Seeing our students and sharing stories with them has been great these past two days.

Many parents have inquired about school supply pick up.  We have drafted a schedule that will allow parents to pick up supplies and maintain physical distancing.  Supply pick up will happen next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Where do I pick up?

Teachers will have tables set up outside their classrooms or in front of their classroom exit/entrance door.  On the table will be your child’s supplies in a labelled bag.  If your child’s classroom is upstairs in the new wing, then those tables will be set up by the bike racks.

When do I pick up?

Monday, June 8:  pick up will be for students with last names A – K from 10 am to 2 pm.

Tuesday, June 9:  pick up will be for last names L – Z from 10 am to 2 pm.

Wednesday, June 10:  pick up will be for parents who were unable to pick up on Monday and Tuesday.

If this schedule does not work for you, please contact your child’s classroom teacher and make alternate plans.

Library Books that are at home?

We ask that when you come pick up your child’s supplies that you also bring your library books and leave them on the table.

Dear Families,

Thank you for your patience as you have waited for our return to in-class instruction plan.  We hope that you and your family are safe and healthy during this time.  We have missed our students being at school and are looking forward to their return.

Remote learning will continue for all students until June 25th, however, schools will also be offering in-class learning, beginning on June 1st. In class learning is optional and the decision of each family.  We will continue to support students whether at home or as we welcome them back to school.  To assist us with our planning, your child’s classroom teacher will send you a survey today about whether or not your child(ren) is returning to in-class instruction.  Please complete the survey by Wednesday May 27th.

The model for instruction is guided by two key priorities:

1. Schools will adhere to provincial and district health and safety protocols; and
2. In their planning, schools will use the provincial protocols to limit gatherings, transitions of students and to support physical distancing.

We have composed an A/B class structure that considers composition factors such as: family/siblings on the same day, class composition, unique learning and support needs, etc. If your child is attending in-class learning, please send your child to school on his/her designated day as we cannot exceed the 50% density maximum for K-5 and 20% density maximum for grade 6/7 on any instructional day.

Monday: K-6 Group A and the children of Essential Service Workers (ESW)
Tuesday: K-6 Group B and the children of ESW
Wednesday: Deep Cleaning Day and the children of ESW
Thursday: K-7 Group A (no grade 6’s) and the children of ESW
Friday: K-7 Group B (no grade 6’s) and the children of ESW

*Our grade 5/6 and grade 6/7 class are considered community of learners; therefore we are not splitting these classes by grade level. Instead, the grade 5/6  class will be split into group A/B and will have the option of coming Monday and Thursday or Tuesday Friday.  The grade 6/7 class will be split into an A/B group and will attend Monday or Tuesday.

Ensuring Safety:

1.What is the District Safety Plan?  Click on safety plan  and go to https://www.surreyschools.ca/covid19/

2. Following the Surrey School District health and safety plan, we must request all parents refrain from entering the classrooms or school, unless it is necesssary. So this means:

• There is no dropping off lunches – please send your child to school with a recess snack and lunch.
• Parents who typically walk their child to school and wait with him/her in the classroom lineup are asked to park their vehicles, walk their child to his/her classroom door and after they see their child has safely entered the class, the parent can leave.  Please read below about our soft start plan (no more waiting in line ups outside the classroom doors).

FAQ’s

1. Bell Schedule and what will recess and lunch look like?

• Our bell schedule will remain the same.
• We will have indoor recess and lunch hours – students will be supervised at recess and at lunch (as they have been all year).  Teachers will follow our regular supervisions schedule at recess – to ensure students are physically distancing as they eat snacks and play.  At lunch the students will play in the class and our regular noon hour supervisors will supervise as they would on an indoor day.
• Students can bring their own toys from home to play with during lunch.
• So when do students go outside? Teachers will sign up for a spot to take their class outside (this may happen more than once a day – recess and lunch). We will create a schedule where teachers can sign up their class to play in a particular zone (gym, playground, or field).  On this schedule teachers will need to indicate number of students they have that day playing in this zone.  More than one class can sign up for a zone  – as long as the count does not go over 50.

3. Will we have a staggered start and end time of day?

• Start and end time for the day will be the same (classes in session at 8:35 am, school ends at 2:27 pm)
• We will have a soft start in the morning. Teachers will have their outside classroom doors open from 8:15 – 8:35 am.
• Parents of primary students (K-3) will walk their children to class and leave. For those classes that are upstairs in the new wing, there are 5 different entrances on the main floor in which students can enter and head upstairs to their classes.
• A soft start like this will allow students to come in and wash their hands and get settled. This will also support physical distancing before school.
• After school: primary parents can come to the classroom door from 2:25 – 2:45 pm to pick up their child. Once the teacher sees the parent, the teacher will dismiss the child to the parent.  Intermediate students will be dismissed at 2:27 pm (no waiting for parent pick up at the door).

4. Will the school playground be open before and after school?

• Playground equipment will not be available before and after school.  We will be opening our playgrounds for school use only (during school hours) from 8:35 am to 2:27 pm.

 If you have any questions or concerns, please call the school or email Ms. Chohan.

Sincerely,

Ms. Chohan

 

Please see this video message for parents, students and staff regarding ongoing preparations leading up to next week’s return to optional in-class instruction.

What can you expect in the coming days? Likely two things, says Supt. Jordan Tinney:

• A timetable for your school, likely with alternating days Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday for elementary and, for secondary, a schedule where your child can receive direct support from their teacher on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
• A survey asking you if you are certain that your child will not be attending school. We need to know this information because we are planning for all children and if students don’t arrive at school, we will be phoning home as part of our safe arrival programs and we don’t want to make unnecessary calls. We also need to know how many students will be attending so we can plan for bussing.

 

“All along we’ve been talking about slowly and steadily, we’ll get there,” says Tinney. “This week, teachers are preparing and doing their orientations to a whole new look and feel to school for them. Next week, when parents arrive, you’ll also encounter new routines and we will need your patience and support.

“We have never done this before, and so we’re all learning together.”

The video, as well as full written transcripts of the superintendent’s message in English, Punjabi and Chinese are available at https://www.surreyschools.ca/covid19, where you can also find other helpful information and resources.

Thank you.