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Website: http://www.sd45.bc.ca/bowen/Index.htm professional development day of the year. We spent a very Principal’s Message
productive day together in collaborative planning andcoordination to get the year underway smoothly. We areworking on a number of new initiatives and strategies to Welcome back to a new school year! Every one seems truly promote the achievement of our school’s strategic excited to be back at school and catching up with friends All our new students in grades 1 - 6 had a nice reception andorientation in the library on Tuesday morning. Mrs. Misener, You may send in your child’s school supplies tomorrow. If Mrs. Painter and others provided a warm welcome to our you have not yet purchased school supplies, we encourage newest families. The new students were placed in grade you to stop by Cates Pharmacy for a copy of the school appropriate classes pending the transition to the new classes supplies list. All the necessary items are available from our local pharmacy. Class supplies lists for all grades may alsobe picked up from our school office.
We want to extend a warm welcome to all our new schoolfamilies who are beginning this year at BICS. We have 47 Kindergarten students registered, which is second only tothe 1995-96 school year when there were 68 Kindergarten students at BICS! In addition to them, we have ten newfamilies joining our school in grades one to five.
The new Kindergarten students will be having a ‘staggered entry’ on Thursday and Friday in small groups to meet their 10:30 a.m. Morning Instructional Classes Resume teacher. Mrs. Johnston and Mrs. Watson will be meeting newstudents and their parents to orient them and help the little ones begin to feel comfortable in their new classroom. Thefirst regular day of classes for the Kindergarten students will 12:50 p.m. Afternoon Instructional Classes Begin Staff has worked carefully and thoughtfully to finalize the new classes for this school year. Creating balanced classeswas a top priority. It is also valuable for parents to note that there are provincial class size and class composition We would like to welcome the following students new to our regulations that need to be adhered to and time must be taken Staff work toward ensuring that each student is placed in a productive learning situation with the students’ best interest in mind. Today, after recess, all grade 1-7 moved to theirnew classes and were introduced to their new teacher and classmates in a calm, caring manner .
The teaching staff began working together in preparation for the new school year on Monday this week during our first This is a reminder that Grade 6 and 7 Band will begin on All schools in our school district have made the transition Tuesday, September 15. A number of students as of June now to ‘paperless’ newsletters to their families via email once have indicated interest or have already enrolled in the 2009/ per month. Starting with the next newsletter, we will be 2010 band program. Mr. Santos would like to encorage all providing electronic issues to e-mail addresses provided by grade 6 and 7 students to sign-up for band to futher develop your musical talent and to help strengthen and build the BICS All BICS newsletters are posted on our website, as well. Go Band program. Band forms are available at the office please to www.sd45.bc.ca/bowen and click on the newsletter link return all forms to the office by Friday September 11. I f you to open the current and past issues of the school newsletter.
wish to rent an instrument, information is provided in the bandform package.
If you have any futher questions or concerns please contactLaurence Santos. E-mail: lsantos@sd45.bc.ca Every student is required to attend school daily and not todepart early without parental permission and notification to the office. Bus students must remain on school grounds beforeand after school Tomorrow your child(ren) will be bringing home a pack- When a student must be absent from school, it is important age of forms to be completed. Please complete all forms in that the parent/guardian communicate with the office, the attached package and return them to your child’s teacher indicating the reason for absence and expected length of
absence. Please report absences or late arrivals to the
as soon as possible. The deadline for returning all com- Callback-Line at 604-981-1234 (3001).
pleted forms is the Parent - Teacher Conferences on Sep-tember 17 & 18.
If a student must be excused from school early, a note fromthe parent/guardian is necessary.
Parent / Teacher Conferences (Gr.1-7)Thursday / Friday, September 17 and 18 Your child’s teacher looks forward to meeting you at a
scheduled appointment time on September 17 or 18. A
Mountain West Studios will be taking all individual student parent / teacher conference near the beginning of the year photos on Friday, September 25. The photographers sug- allows for an early exchange of valuable information. Your gest bright coloured clothing for the portraits. All families child’s teacher receives insight into the unique qualities that will receive a package for approval with 2 poses. There is your daughter or son bring to our school. You benefit from no obligation to purchase your child’s photo.
receiving important curriculum information and establishingpersonal contact with the teacher in the initial stages of theschool year. Meeting at this time helps all of us in our joint effort to provide the best educational experience possible foryour child.
We have completely revamped our school’s webpage! Pleasecheck it out at www.sd45.bc.ca/bowen/ Sign-up sheets for all classes will be posted in the foyer byThursday next week. Please come by the school to find a We will be using our webpage much more regularly to post suitable timeslot for a conference with your child(ren)’s news and announcements of school events and functions.
The calendar will be the authoritative source for confirmedevents. As well, there are many useful documents in the Handbook section of our new webpage.
Do give us your feedback on the new webpage and any All students in Kindergarten to Grade 7 will be dismissed
suggestions for documents, etc. that you wish to have included.
one hour early (at 1:40 p.m.) on Thursday, September 17
Send your ideas to Dr. Langmuir or Sarah Haxby. Thank and Friday, September 18, to accommodate parent / teacher
conferences. School bus departures will also be advancedone hour on those two days.
Community School Coordinator’s Corner
Sept. 9 BICS Action Groups PAC and CSA meeting, 6:30pmin the BICS library Welcome back to BICS for another exciting school year!Fall is in the air, but the BICS school garden is still in full Oct 3 Applefest –Bowen Island Heritage Preservation bloom. The Teddybear sunflowers are a cheery new addition to this year’s bouquet of flowers. Susan Ballou’s class plantedthe big sunflower in the middle of the garden and the perennial Nov. 7 Community Health Fair at BICS 10:30am-3:30pm - Beebalm was the favourite of a hummingbird who stayed at tables & demo time still available
BICS over the summer. Thanks to a donation from BowFeast,there will be more improvements to the school garden soon.
Nov. 29 The Island’s Biggest Garage Sale, PAC fundraiser in Can you guess how many pumpkins we will grow in the
Dec. 6 CSA Craft Fair at BICS 10 am – 4 pm –tables still
I am happy to report that there are many exciting plans for available
the upcoming year. The BICS Community Learning Fall/Winter Programs have something for all ages! Check out the Dec. 13 The music of the Nutcracker,West Coast Symphony, new brochure which offers programs through to Feb 2010 to Admission by donation at the door. Youth Q&A with symphony Every year many Community Learning programs are offered at no-cost to participants. These programs are supported bya wide array of funding and granting agencies andorganizations. Programs that are offered at no cost to theparticipants may cost the funders hundreds or thousands ofdollars to offer to the community. These programs include:Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions Self-Management Program, Understanding Parental Influence(UPI) for parents of youth 11-18, The Gift of Dyslexia -Understanding a Learning Challenge, First Nations and FriendsArt Club, Rhyme Time on the Rock: A Parent-child MotherGoose program, Free Youth Art Workshop fundraiser,Homework Club for Grade 4-7 Tuesdays and Thursdays atthe BICS library and Homework Help Grade 8-12 * NEW!*on Wednesdays at the Bowen Island Public Library.
(Homework club start dates to be announced soon.) With the exception of a few drop-in programs, pre-registrationis required to ensure programs run, even the no-costprograms, so that preparation can occur prior to the program.
A general rule of thumb is: programs will be cancelled if thereis insufficient registration one week before the programoccurs. So, if you are keen on a program, please tell yourfriends! It is impossible to individually promote over thirtyprograms individually, so we rely on word of mouth to get theword out! For more information, to register, volunteer, rent rooms orequipment, contact: Sarah Haxby, BICS School Coordinator, at 604-947-9337, shaxby@sd45.bc.ca · Regular cleaning of schools (wiping of hard surfacessuch as countertops, desks, and doorknobs) is a priority. InWest Vancouver School District, this will be carried out byboth day and evening custodians.
The Province of BC has produced a number of resources toensure people have the most current and up-to-dateinformation available to protect themselves against the H1N1 H1N1 Flu Virus Information
flu virus. Please check the website below regularly for thelatest updates on the H1N1 flu virus, including fact sheets As we prepare for the fall influenza season, West Vancouver School District is working closely with provincial healthauthorities to ensure measures are in place at schools to http://www.sd45.bc.ca/news/swine-flu.html protect students and staff from both seasonal flu and thepotential for a resurgence of the H1N1 flu virus.
The majority of H1N1 virus cases in British Columbia have The school calendar is now online. Please go to been relatively mild. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry www.sd45.bc.ca/bowen/ and click on the calendar link for a Kendall advises that schools in BC will not be closed in the complete year of events and activities that are of broad interest event of an H1N1 outbreak, which is of little benefit to Instead, Dr. Kendall says the greatest defense against the spread of H1N1 or any flu virus is prevention. Everydayactions in schools that can help prevent the spread of flu Please keep in mind that children go outside to play every day at recess. They need the appropriate coats and footwearfor the weather forecast for the day.
· Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for20 seconds, or use a gel or alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
· Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when yousneeze. When you cough, do so into your upper sleeve.
· Students and staff who are ill are asked to stay home.
Students who show flu symptoms at school will be isolateduntil they can be collected by a parent/guardian, and areadvised to stay at home until they are well.
BICS Newsletter
Bowen Island Community School
Mission Statement
Tuesdays, if there is a holiday Monday.
Community School Association (CSA): Wednesday the week prior to publishing.
Bowen Island Community School
Call Back: 981-1234(3001)

Source: http://www2.sd45.bc.ca/schools/bowenisland/Publications/Newsletters%202009-2010/Newsletter%20(Sept2-09).pdf