Dear Tom Baines Families,

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Many exciting things continue to happen each day at Tom Baines. We welcomed 11 University of Calgary student teachers to spend the next two weeks with us learning from and observing our staff. They bring an amazing energy and enthusiasm into our school. We also continue to have field trips, guest speakers and a variety of learning opportunities for each student. As always, we thank you for all of your support. We couldn’t do it without you! Please read below for important information.

Important Dates:

Monday, October 16 – School Council Meeting @ 7:00 pm in the Learning Commons. Click here to join the meeting if you can’t make it in person.

Friday, October 20 – Professional Learning Day. No school for students.

October 19 – 26 – Some Grade 7 classes attending Fish Creek Park (remaining classes to attend in April)

Friday, October 27 – Back to School Pep Rally!

Thursday, November 2 - Picture Retakes

Jacket Racket - every year Tom Baines supports Jacket Racket. This amazing group takes gently used winter clothes and puts them in the hands of Calgarians in need. If you have any clean, gently used winter coats, snow pants, mitts, toques, or scarves, please consider donating them. Have your child bring the items to school and we'll give them to Jacket Racket. Thanks in advance for your support.

Friday snacks – just a reminder that our cafeteria is closed on Fridays. Many students bring cash for our vending machine but the line can get quite long and they often run out of time. Please ensure your students pack a snack on Fridays so they can eat during our 10-minute break between periods 4 and homeroom.

Traffic Safety – we have received some complaints from our neighbors over the past few weeks about parents not following traffic rules when dropping off and picking up their students. Calgary police have been contacted and they will be out sporadically to monitor traffic. Also, a reminder not to enter the staff parking lot. We are also working with our students to make sure they cross the streets carefully before and after school and during the lunch hour if they go off campus. If your child walks throughout the community during the day, please have a conversation at home about traffic safety.

Athletics – soccer and basketball are in full swing and we are excited to see how our students perform. Go Boas!

Fees - Issues that we were having with school fees have been resolved, and most fees have been assigned to MYCBE/PowerSchool accounts.  Attached to this email is our 2023-24 School Fee Information form, which answers most questions regarding school fees.  All Complimentary (“Option”) course fees have been assigned, including courses students are enrolled in next semester.  Parents are not expected to pay the second semester option fees until that semester starts in February.  Please note that fees for activities and field trips are added as they occur, so it is important to check your MYCBE/PowerSchool account periodically. If you feel that a fee has been assigned in error, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Ruether at lrruether@cbe.ab.ca or 403-777-7190.

Online fees give you the added benefit of paying in installments over the course of the school year, but we ask that you please have all fees paid by May 31, 2024.   A reminder that this year, yearbooks must be ordered directly from Jostens website.  The deadline for the early bird price of $35 is October 27^th.  After that, the price increases to $40.00.  We have attached information about yearbook purchases to this email. 

If you have any questions or concerns about school fees please feel free to contact Mrs. Ruether.

Attendance – a reminder that the preferred method of letting us know about lates and absences is email, not phone messages. If your child is going to be late or absent, please email tombaines@cbe.ab.ca to report it.

Thank you,

Derek Siakaluk, Principal

Jen Bartlett, Assistant Principal