September, 2021

Dear Parents and Families of Division 3 Students,

Welcome to Division 3 at Parkcrest Elementary! We are excited to be working with your child this year! A bit of background about us: we are in an 80% / 20% job share split; Brenda Montagano will be teaching Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and Nelly Gaster will be teaching on Wednesdays. We have known each other for many years and have both been teaching in Burnaby for over 20 years. We share the same teaching philosophy, where safety & connections with students are priority one, followed by helping your child grow and develop along their own learning continuum. We are so grateful to be teaching within the fabulous Parkcrest community. We are eager to share our enthusiasm for learning with your child, along with the ongoing safety measures in place as we continue to live with the Covid variant virus, desiring that we all continue to stay healthy & remain teaching & learning in schools. We look forward to working alongside you this year to help your child build confidence and to grow as a learner.

We also are fortunate to have an SFU student teacher for term one. Nathan Drisner was with Brenda in the spring for his first practicum, and we are so glad he is back to do his major practicum in the upcoming months. Mr. Drisner will be taking over the majority of the teaching for October and November. As a collaborative group of three, we are always communicating and working together to provide the best possible education for your child.

We strongly value open communication with parents and invite you to contact us through email at brenda.montagano@burnabyschools.ca, or nelly.gaster@burnabyschools.ca, and/or through notes in the planner. Please read through the following newsletter to learn about some of our classroom routines and expectations, and complete and return the form at the end.

Homework and Planners:

All homework is expected to be completed; however, if your child is unable to complete any assignments for extenuating circumstances, they will be expected to complete them by the following day. We will write a note in the planner to explain any missed or outstanding assignments. For the month of September, teachers will be signing planners and we are asking parents to sign the planner as well. For October onwards, if your child is showing they are responsible with homework completion, we won’t be requiring signatures; however, if your child is struggling with getting work in on time, or is forgetting things at school, we will support them with checking their planner daily. Students will tuck any notices in the front pocket of their planner. If you or we write a note in your child’s planner, it will be your child’s responsibility to show us/ you the note, and we will respond in the planner or send an email if more detail is required.

We also encourage you to help your child find a private and quiet place that is free of distractions for them to complete their homework. Places away from televisions, phones and other siblings tend to work best.

Social Expectations:

A lot of time will be spent in class working on achieving a positive sense of self as our students, your children, grow academically, physically, and socially. Much of the focus will be around treating themselves and others with respect. We have high expectations for them and hope they will of themselves as well. We will do what we can to support your child to make wise and responsible choices while at school. Over the next few weeks, we will be collaboratively creating the Classroom Contract. Every student will sign this contract, agreeing to help create a safe, respectful learning environment. We will do our best to communicate with you should any major problems arise while at school. If you are noticing a problem that is happening at school, in the classroom or on the playground that is not being addressed at school, please inform us and we will do our best to help sort out these issues.

Absences/Lates:

During Covid, it is imperative to stay at home if your child is not feeling well. Mrs. Gaster has done all she can to protect herself, however she does have some underlying health issues and therefore we appreciate you being especially diligent about your child’s morning screen health checks. Specific guidelines around how long you need to stay at home and protocols around returning to school have been provided in the BC Provincial Guidelines. While your child is away, we will gather work missed in a folder for their return, and/or can send the folder home with a sibling or meet a parent at the door. If it is an extended absence, we will communicate via email key work to be completed if the child is feeling well enough, or they will get caught up upon their return.

Reading:

Home Reading: Students are expected to read at home for at least 20 minutes every day (grade 5s) and 30 minutes every day (grade 6s)! We encourage you to find a way to incorporate this into your daily routine in a way that is habitual and free of distractions (Ex. Read in bed before bedtime).

Calling all volunteers!

Volunteering will look a little different this year. At this time, no parents are allowed to help out within the school. If you are willing to help with communications with the class, tech support from home, or have other talents to share outside the classroom (ex. a science background for a field trip, an art lesson done outside, helping to create materials for activities in class, etc.), please complete the form at the bottom of this newsletter.

Donations:

If you are able to donate some plastic spoons or forks to the classroom for students who forget to bring one for their lunch, that would be greatly appreciated! If you have any age-appropriate books you are ready to part with, our class library is always excited to receive donations! Finally, if you have any four gallon buckets (or a connection that we could reach out to), we need a few more buckets to use as seats for our ‘outdoor classroom’. Thank you!!

School Supplies

A school supply list went home last week. Thank you for getting these supplies into school as quickly as possible. Also, during this time where we are to be limiting the sharing of resources, thank you for labeling each item with your child’s name (including EVERY pencil, felt and crayon, please!) Supplies that are not needed right away can be stored at home and brought to school when needed (for example, pencils, erasers, etc.) Our apologies with some supply items being left off the list: most students already have or have written down these items to bring, but if you could please provide a clipboard (we do a lot of learning moving around and outside), 4-5 dry erase markers and eraser, we would greatly appreciate it! Grade 5’s also need a binder with dividers. Many thanks!

Questionnaire
We look forward to meeting with you at Parent-Teacher conferences next week! We encourage all of you to take a few moments to fill out the Questionnaire below and bring it to the conference. This helps us get to know more about your child and will provide us with valuable insight into how best to support them. Thank you for taking the time to fill this out!

Devices

Further to Mr. Lee’s email, IF students bring phones to school, they are not to be used between 9am and 3pm (including recess and lunch). In rare occasions, when we do not have access to laptops, students may use their phone to look up information for an assignment (when asked and permission granted by their teacher). At no time are phones to be used for social media and/or gaming during school hours. If phones are being used during school time, the phone will be taken away and returned at the end of the day. If it happens again, a phone call will be made home to come up with a plan in regards to the phone coming to school.

Outdoor Ed

We will be outside as much as possible for lessons and PE throughout the first term. Please dress appropriately for the weather every day. It is recommended that students have a change of shoes, extra socks, tshirt and a pair of shorts or pants (these can be left in a bag hanging on their hook in the coatroom). Please make sure students have running shoes at school EVERY DAY.

Use of Masks

At this time, masks are required at school for all students grades 4-12 (when inside). Please consider having an extra mask in your child’s backpack if their first mask gets dirty, wet or goes missing. We will be reviewing all Covid safety procedures regularly over the next few months until it becomes part of our regular routine. Please let us know if you have any concerns or questions via email and we will do our best to address them promptly.

We are looking forward to an exciting, enriching year with your child! Thank you for taking the time to read through this newsletter right to the end! ;0)

Sincerely,

Mrs. Montagano and Ms. Gaster