Important Dates

November 11 Remembrance Day Holiday
November 17 PAC meeting at 6:30 pm in the library
November 24 Theme Day (theme is TBD)
November 30 Emily Carr Small Wonders Theatre performance at 10:45 am
December 9 Winter Breakfast and Pajama Day
December 15 Winter Concert
December 16 Last day of classes before Winter Break

Communicating Student Learning

Our teachers and students have been hard at work. The teachers at Pacific Heights have been responsive in changing their work and practise to continue meeting the needs of our learners. Our staff has embraced both the curriculum changes and the changes in how we communicate student learning. The traditional report card was one where you received information on your child’s achievement three times a year. We have moved on from that to providing a ‘window” into the classroom.

Our goal is to make information between parents, teachers, and students descriptive and collaborative. How well does your child understand core concepts being taught in the classroom? How can you support your child in his/her learning at home? What goals has your child set for him/herself? In mid-October we held our conferences with parents and students. This was an opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts being taught in class.

Our teachers are using either FreshGrade or a PDF template (created by our school district) to communicate student learning. With our curriculum and reporting changes, our teachers are doing their best to reach the goal of communicating frequent updates of your child’s progress in the areas of Language Arts and Math, along with other Core Competencies being taught. Parents are being updated by the use of emails, phone calls, and student-led activities being sent home, etc. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress. We are all doing our best to support our learners and it is important we work as a team to do so.

In the month of December all parents will receive communication as to their child’s progress this term. This will come in the form of your child’s FreshGrade portfolio or a PDF document. Click here to learn more about communicating student learning

Remembrance Day

It can sometimes be a challenge explaining the significance of Remembrance Day to children. At Pacific Heights we approach the significance of the day with compassion, honesty and pride. Children will understand what they can and each year they will understand more. Each classroom has a variety of discussions about the day: the significance of the poppy as a symbol, what to think about during the moment of silence, discussion around hero’s, what does peace look like, and teachers read a variety of books to help students understand what Remembrance Day means.

Below are some pictures of performances and artwork students completed to demonstrate the importance of Remembrance Day.

Emergency Drills and Preparedness

On October 20th the students and staff of Pacific Heights joined millions of people worldwide in the Great Shakeout Earthquake Drill. Students did an excellent job of “drop, cover, and hold on”. Teachers debriefed with students on the procedure and ensured all students felt safe and calm.

District policy requires we practise the following emergency drills: fire drills, earthquake drills, and our School Safety Alert System. Please remember our goal is to ensure students feel safe during these drills.

Images of October Events & Learning

Ms. Holmes and Ms. deLeeuw were busy with the new critters for our Seaquarium. As you can see below, our students were excited to meet and learn about the new additions to the aquariums.

STEM Learning

Students in Ms. Beale’s class were busy making Pom Pom slingshots. I walked into a class full of blueprints, rulers, elastic bands, pom pom’s, and very excited kids! The students in Ms. Shear’s class were busy building and testing their structures. Learning is so much fun.