Posted: August 31, 2023
Information
Welcome back!
Summer is great and all, but we’ve really missed seeing you. We hope your summer was filled with adventure and learning, but we also hope that you’re ready to get back to school. We are certainly eager to start another year of learning with you, and to continue to be part of the team that helps your child reach their full potential! When we work as a team, great things will happen for everyone! Click on the image below to learn about that amazing sort of teamwork. Except the gulls. They’re freeloading.
First Day & Week of School
Grades 1-5
Students in grades 1-5 return to us on Tuesday, September 5, attending from 8:48 to 10:10. If you are a returning student, you will go to your lineup spot from last year, and will dismiss from that spot also. A couple of classes will receive instructions that day about a new meeting place for the rest of the week, as we have changed a few teachers, and added a pair of beautiful new portable classrooms as well.
The vast majority will meet at their old spot for the entire first week, though. Starting Wednesday, September 6, students in grades 1-5 will attend full days (8:48 to 2:33).
If you are new to the school in grades 1-5, please meet us at the front doors on Tuesday, September 5. We will gather in the gym to meet, and then will disperse. As we determine the best groupings to work with in the first week, we will provide new instructions for drop-off and pick-up. On Day 1, pick-up will be in the gym. Please meet us inside at 10:10.
Kindergarten
Kindergarten students begin their gradual entry to school on Wednesday, September 6, and will be in full-time attendance beginning Monday, September 18. You are going to LOVE Kindergarten!
Sick is sick
We hope you all stayed healthy during the summer, and that you stay healthy all year. While there are not any specific COVID-19 (how is that almost 4 years ago, now?) procedures this year, we would remind you to please keep your kids home if they are sick. New variants of COVID, and all the other less-prominent but just as unpleasant viruses, are still out there, and we want to keep our community as safe as we can.
Stomach ailments, in particular, go through a class (or a whole school) like wildfire, so if a child has been throwing up, they should be staying home for a day afterwards to make sure the virus has cleared their system. Otherwise, we risk all just passing the same germs around all school year long. If we work together, we can keep everyone as healthy as possible.
We are growing…
We don’t think we could possibly fit many more students in here, but we have! As of this writing, we have 625 students registered, including 91 Kindergarteners, and 51 grade 1-5 students who were not Bulldogs last year. Welcome, all of you! We know you’re going to love being an RBE Bulldog!
Communication from the school
Communication from the school can come through a number of channels. We will send information through the school webpage, our Facebook page, and direct emails or phone calls, as well as through your child’s planner and the occasional paper sent home. This document, This Week at RBE, is a weekly newsletter that conveys most, if not all, of the information you might need. You can subscribe to TWARBE, but you should also get an email every Sunday evening with a link to that week’s edition. If you do not, it can be found on the News link on the school webpage.
The Langley School District also uses a notification system called SchoolMessenger to communicate information to families. As we welcome our new families to our schools, some parents/guardians may receive a text message notifying them about SchoolMessenger. For more information about the system and how to opt-in to receive text messages, visit the District webpage here. At the school level, only the most urgent communications would include text. Routine communication will come via email and the website.
Traffic is terrible
With more students, unfortunately, come more cars. Our driveways are, as many of you know, not well-designed for drop-off and pick-up. And our catchment is quite small. In fact, all but about 30 homes that could have RBE students are within 1km. Whenever you can, please do not drive to school. Walking (or scooting, or riding) is so much healthier for young learners, provides a wake-up and perk-up for the day, and protects both the environment and the tempers of drivers. If you absolutely must drive, please try to park a block or two away and walk the last little bit. It will almost certainly get you back on the road faster than waiting in the driveway.
Where there’s smoke…
We learned this summer (again) that we don’t have to have fire nearby to have smoke. Lots of smoke. When wildfire smoke results in poor air quality, we will adjust our outdoor activities to minimize exposure. Mr. Oliver has two different weather and air quality screens running on his computer for all of September, and makes decisions about going outside based on the most current information available.
Wet Coast Recess
While it has been plenty hot and dry this summer, it will be no time before we’re reminiscing fondly about days without rain. Please remember that we follow the West Coast Recess philosophy, and will be outside pretty much all the time for recess and lunch. Please make sure that your child has proper outerwear and footwear for the weather, and that there is a spare set of clothes at school (covering everything, top to bottom). While older kids don’t have the kind of bathroom accidents younger ones might, they still are prone to hitting that one, unfortunately slippery spot and crash-landing in a puddle. A spare set of clothes here can save a parent phone call in December.
If conditions are truly horrendous, or present a legitimate threat to student health or safety, we might stay in, but mostly we’ll be outside. The kids, frankly, love it. It’s only us adults who don’t.
Welcome, new staff!
We are excited to welcome (or welcome back) a number of new staff to the school for this year and beyond. Please join us in welcoming (in no particular order) the following new members of the team:
- Ms. Corapi – Learning Assistance/Literacy Support
- Mr. Nam – Resource teacher
- Ms. Olic – Classroom teacher
- Ms. Moore – Classroom teacher
- Ms. Jo – Classroom teacher
- Ms. Lowry – Classroom teacher
- Ms. Kalan-Gill – Classroom teachers
- Ms. Rochford – Classroom teacher
- Ms. Cripps – Classroom teacher
- Ms. Mueller – Classroom teacher (Kindergarten)
- Ms. Gannon-Snow – ELL teacher
- Ms. Ryu – ELL teacher
- Ms. Perkins Kortus – Special Education Assistant
- Ms. Naghib Zadeh – Special Education Assistant
- Ms. Madrano – Special Education Assistant
Parent Consent Request
Each year, Langley schools asks families to complete a set of parent consent forms for their child. These consent forms are required by our schools to ensure the health, safety, and security of all students. Langley schools use a secure web form to collect this information. Beginning mid-September, please watch for an email request (subject Parent Consent Request) that contains one link for you to submit consents for all children in your family attending any Langley school. If your email address or contact information has changed, please call your school to correct it in our files. If you have not received an email regarding Parent Consent Request by the end of September or have any questions/concerns, please contact Mr. Oliver.
Thanks, Maintenance Department!
Many thanks to the women and men in the maintenance department who did a fair bit of cleaning and painting this summer. Our east wall is actually all one colour again! Yay!
Accidents Happen
In the event you require accident or critical illness insurance, this plan, or something similar has been offered to families for as long as I have been an educator or student (that’s pretty long). Click here for details.
PAC News
Kona Ice is coming!
On Friday Sept 8th, Kona Ice will be coming after school at 2:30 PM to celebrate the first week back to school. They’ll be in our school driveway.
Quote(s) of the week
Things to Remember from the Calendar
Monday, September 4
- Labour Day Holiday
Tuesday, September 5
- First Day of School for grades 1-5 – Students attend 8:45-10:10
- Meet the PAC Coffee 8:30-10:30 am in the courtyard
Wednesday, September 6
- First Day of Kindergarten Gradual Entry
- Full Day for grades 1-5
Friday, September 8
- Kona Ice after school (PAC)
Monday, September 11
- Move to permanent classes (predicted)
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