Welcome Back Picnic - Save the Date!

Westgate School will be holding a Welcome Back Picnic on Friday, September 9th from 11:40 am until 12:28 pm. Any family members who are able to come are invited to bring a blanket and their lunch to school and we will all have a picnic outside (or in classrooms if it is rainy). It will provide a chance for parents to meet their child’s new teacher, some of their classmates and their parents. We understand this is during the day and that not everyone will be able to make it, but we hope you will come if you can.

Back to School Information for Next Year

Information about bell times and the Westgate school calendar has been posted on our school website at www.cbe.ab.ca/b140. We anticipate that bus routes will be posted by the end of July.

The first day of school for students is Tuesday, September 6, and the morning bell will ring at 8:15 am. All classroom teachers will be contacting families a few days prior to the first day of school to let them know who their teacher will be and where to meet the first day.

The Week Ahead: June 20 - 24, 2016

Monday, June 20
Grade 1 Spanish - Artist in Residence
Grade 3, Rms. 8, 20 & 28 Reptile Presentation
8:30 - 11:30 Grade 1 French, Rms. 1 & 2 at Westbrook Library

Tuesday, June 21
Grade 1 Spanish - Artist in Residence
Grade 3, Rms. 9, 19 & 26 Reptile Presentation
Grade 4 Lego Robotics Workshop
8:30 - 11:30 Grade 1 French, Rms. 30, 33A & 33B at Westbrook Library

Wednesday, June 22
10:15 Stream of Dreams Unveiling

Thursday, June 23
Grade 5 French Farewell Assembly 10:30 am

Friday, June 24
Last day of school
8:15- 11:15 Play Day (In Support of Right to Play)
Report Cards go home

Play Day

Play Day (also known as Sports Day) is almost here! On Friday, June 24th from 8:15 - 11:15 am all Westgate students will be participating in “Right to Play” activities to help raise awareness about equality issues. This organization is working hard to fight inequality and does so through play. As part of the grade 4/5’s project, they have created activities and games to foster equality at our school. They have encouraged and motivated students to play fair and treat each other as equals. Now they will do what kids do best, PLAY! We are asking each student to bring a donation of a toonie to raise money for the Right to Play organization. Please send your donation on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday to help support this great cause.  Please remember sunscreen, a hat and a water bottle.

If you would like to volunteer, please contact your child’s teacher. Volunteers should arrive at 8:15 am to set up their station.

The grade 4/5 class is also hosting a bake sale on Tuesday, June 21! Each treat will be $1.00. All money raised will go to support the Right to Play.

The Week Ahead: June 13 - 17, 2016

Monday, June 13
Grade 1 French, Rms. 1 & 33A Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Presentation

Tuesday, June 14
Vaccination Catch Ups - Grades 1 & 5

Wednesday, June 15
Grade 1 Spanish - Artist in Residence
Grade 1 French, Rms. 2 & 33B Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Presentation
Grade 2 French, ABC Bees Presentation
11:40 - 12:28 Jr. Supervisor Celebration

Thursday, June 16
Grade 1 Spanish - Artist in Residence
2:45 - 3:45 Grade 4-5 STEM Labs, Robotics Program

Friday, June 17
Grade 1 French, Rm. 30 Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Presentation
Grade 1 Spanish, Butterfield Acres

Penny Carnival

Wow can you believe it has been almost a month since the 2016 Westgate Penny Carnival!

Thank you so much for coming out with your families - it was a record breaking year.

I say it often - but the Carnival is really one of my favourite days of the year! I absolutely love walking around and seeing smiling faces, teachers getting soaked, obstacle races, cakes being won, and so many Westgate families having fun together!

Over 2000 people attended this year's very successful Carnival. The fun was also a fundraiser - and thanks to your generous support we raised  over $13,400! In addition, we raised over $1,200 for the Fort McMurray fundraiser.

A huge thank you to the organizing committee who spent many fun days and many long hours making sure the Carnival was a success! This dedicated committee consisted of:  Michelle Dirk, Susannah Thomsen, Deb Rath, Rosario Stevens and Carol-Ann Titus.

Many more wonderful volunteers helped gather donations, shopped, numbered tickets, sorted prizes, spent afternoons helping with count days and baked cakes. Plus hundreds more helped run stations, cleaned up, sold tickets and made cotton candy the night of the Carnival - thank you all!

A special great big thanks to the very patient, always helpful and caring office staff Donita and Dana, and to John and Jose, the amazing custodians who are always willing to lend a hand with a smile!  To Scott and Adriana and the fabulous and supportive teaching staff - thank you for your participation and excitement around the Carnival!

Our vendors who all helped out by giving special discounts and providing great service include: Tubbies, Leap Studios, Majestic Tents, Ernie's Mobile BBQ, Sign-a-Rama and Open-a-Party Party Supplies,

All raffle prizes were donated by the following businesses in our area:

Colour on Fire Art Studio, Dry Cleaning by Dave, Indigo, Mastermind Toys, City of Calgary, Gaucho Brazilian BBQ, Montana's, Cineplex, Marble Slab Aspen, Westside Recreation Centre,722,  Toys-R-Us, Purple Saurus, Julie Marwood Photography, Co-op, Safeway, Calgary Flames, Marwood Group Inc., Michael's, Calgary Corn Maze, Calaway Park, Butterfield Acres, Flying Squirrel, Calgary Cycle, Ca Va Bien Day Spa, Superstore, Sobey's, Play Play Play, Tommy K Play, Karma Hot Yoga, Union Fitness, Best Buy, Stride Fitness, plus anonymous donors of individual prizes.

I would love to hear from you if you would like to help make the event even better by sharing suggestions or offering your time  to help the committee next year!

Mark your calendars for May 26, 2017! Plans are already in the works to make next year the best Carnival ever - it will be amazing - can't wait to see you then!

Sheri Bolitho
Westgate Penny Carnival Committee Chair
pennycarnival@gmail.com

Next Year Planning

Taking into consideration input from teachers and School Council we have been busy planning the organization of the school for next year.  Using projection numbers for September 2016 our school organization for the 2016-17 school year will look like this:

	French Immersion	Spanish Bilingual
Grade 1	4 classes
Grade 2	4 classes	3 classes
Grade 3	4 classes	3 classes
Grade 4	3 classes	3 classes
Grade 5	2 classes	2 classes
Grade 6		2 classes

It is important to note that this organization is based on our projected enrolment.  We will adjust as required depending on actual enrolment in September. As we have been working through this process, our focus has been on keeping our pupil-teacher ratio as small as possible.

A second issue that we look at is our use of space in the building.  Our priorities are: 

• different kinds of spaces for each grade/language configuration
• windows for at least one class in each grade/language configuration
• classrooms of the same grade/language configuration are in close proximity

Our teaching teams will be looking at how they can use their classrooms and space to meet the learning needs of all of the children in their grade/program configuration.

If you have questions regarding school organization or any of the other issues mentioned above please call or email.

Scott Fehr

Principal | Westgate School

skfehr@cbe.ab.ca

Bike to School Day

Bike to School Day was a huge success!

What a beautiful day for a bike ride!  A huge thank you to all of the students and parents who rode to school today, either as part of one of the organized group rides or on their own.  We had approximately 240 riders overall at Westgate (up from 215 last year), including 130 Westgate students who were registered (up from 101 last year) as well as siblings, some of whom attend kindergarten at Rosscarrock.  It was great to see the school grounds crawling with bikes again and many happy, smiling (and slightly sweaty) faces.  The kids were thrilled to see some of their teachers on the ride and also generously helping with bike tagging and parking.

A special thank you to the team of parent volunteers -- Alison, Carolyn, Diane, Erik, Jeannette, Ketty, Magdalena, Marisa, Paul, Shauna and Sheri -- who helped this morning coordinating the groups at the various "stops" for bike-to-school day.  Thanks for keeping us on time, on route and safe!  Thank you also to parent volunteers Susan and Betty who helped with "site support" handing out bike tags and buttons. Finally, many thanks to Isabel for designing the logo for the buttons.

Thank you also to Srta. Usoa, Srta. Tamara and Mr. Fehr for your support in planning the event and most of all for biking with us today.  Nothing makes a kid's head turn more than seeing a teacher or principal "in the wild!"

See you next year on the first Tuesday in June for Bike to School Day 2017.

¡Buen trabajo a todos! Merci beaucoup!

Susannah Thomsen

The Week Ahead: June 6 - 10, 2016

Monday, June 6
Grade 2 Spanish - Artist in Residence

Tuesday, June 7
Bike to School Day
Grade 3 French Calgary Zoo
11:40 - 12:10 Grade 5 Baseball Club
11:40 - 12:28 Grade 2 Fun Club

Wednesday, June 8
Lee & Sandy Paley Performance
11:40 - 12:10 Grade 5 Baseball Club

Thursday, June 9
11:40 - 12:25 Grade 2 Nature Club
2:45 - 3:45 Grade 4-5 STEM Labs, Robotics Program

Friday, June 10
Subway Special Lunch

Register for Westgate Bike to School Day on June 7th

Next Tuesday, June 7th is "Calgary Bike to School Day" and many Westgate School families and teachers are planning to participate again this year. This extracurricular event is geared at celebrating the joys of biking, encouraging kids and parents to be active together and demonstrating that "pedal power" is a feasible and fun way to get to school. Last year, nearly 8000 students and parents from over 70 Calgary schools took part. At Westgate, over 200 riders (students, parents and staff) participated. We are hoping for even more this year!

To make Bike to School Day a fun-filled community adventure, parent and teacher volunteers have established four routes (including a new Coach Hill route), each with an initial meeting point and a second "stop" along the route. Volunteers have generously committed to acting as informal coordinators at these meeting points.

To find out more and to register for this free event, please visit the Westgate Bike to School Day website at biketoschool.eventbrite.ca.