Hello Tom Baines Families,
We have made it to November! Halloween was great fun and we had many staff and students dress up – congratulations to Ms. Brazel and Ms. Lloyd for winning the staff award for ‘Best Dressed’. November is Hindu Heritage Month so we will do some celebrating with that. We have our Remembrance Day Ceremonies on Thursday at 10:50 am and 1:15 pm. Thank you for Mr. Dougherty, Mr. Hartling, Ms. Lloyd and all other staff and students who continue to put time and effort into making this a memorable and impactful ceremony.
Please see below for important information.
Important Dates:
November 4-7 - Veterans Food Bank collection of non-perishable items. Please drop off in boxes in front of the office
November 5 – Lockdown Practice @ 1:15 pm
November 7 – Remembrance Day Ceremonies @ 10:50 am and 1:15 pm
November 8 – System Indigenous Education Professional Learning Day for staff
November 8 – 13 – Fall Break – no school for students
November 14 – Classes resume
November 14 – MADD presentation for Grades 8 and 9
November 18 – School Council @ 7:00 pm in the Learning Commons
November 19 – Grade 6 Vaccinations
November 20 – 22 – Grade 8 Band Camp
School Council – our next meeting is November 18 in the Learning Commons at 7:00 pm. Please plan on attending as we value and need parent participation at Tom Baines.
Fees – For Grade 6 students - please register for lunch supervision on your myCBE parent account. The $30.50/month fee applies to any child from grades 1-6 in the CBE system who stay on school property during the lunch hour.
Please see the following page for more information:
https://cbe.ab.ca/programs/noon-supervision/Pages/default.aspx
Traffic Safety – we have a Crossing Guard program before and after school to help direct traffic and make things go more smoothly. Please follow their directions. We want to remind parents to not drive into the staff parking lot and the drop off zone in front of the school is a one way.
Athletics – our soccer season has just wrapped up and our Boas performed very well. Thank you to Mrs. Cicoria, Mr. Khakh, Mrs. Ngo-Saito and Ms. Brazel for their help, mentoring and coaching. Basketball is in full swing and we have amazing teams. Wrestling has also just begun. Good luck Boas!
Food Bank - we are collecting non-perishable food items for the Veterans Food Bank from November 4-7. Please consider supporting the very people who have made so many sacrifices so we could have the lives we do.
Remembrance Day - we are asking all students to purchase a poppy to wear to the Remembrance Day assembly on Nov. 7. Poppies will be for sale on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at lunch and during period 1 on Thursday.
Please send a loonie (or an amount you can afford) with your child as a donation to the Poppy fund.
Social Media – Save the Date – thank you to the parents on our school council for organizing a presentation for parents on how to better understand, support and guide youth with their technology usage. There will also be a presentation for students during the day. We are seeing an increase of issues occurring online that happen outside of school, but find their way into the school. Our main focus continues to be teaching and learning and we are all working together to ensure our students feel safe, welcomed and included at school. The date for this presentation is Thursday, March 13, 2025. Please save the date.
Thank you all for your continued support. We love being part of the community.
Derek Siakaluk, Principal
Chelsea O’Leary, Assistant Principal