IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES
August 29 – First Day of School for K-5. (School is out at 3:35)
August 30 – Second Day of School for Gr. 1-5. (School is out at 1:05) – No school for Kindergarten on Friday
September 2 – No school (Labour Day)
September 13 - Completed Parent Questionnaires due back to the school
September 13 - Grades 2, 3, 4, 5 - Digital Citizenship Forms due back to school with signatures
September 13 – Terry Fox Fundraising Begins
September 14 – Subway Fun Lunch orders due by midnight if ordering (healthyhunger.ca if ordering)
September 19 – Terry Fox Run
September 19 – Subway Fun Lunch day for those that order
LUNCHROOM SUPERVISION SERVICES
Lunch supervision services provide participating students with supervision while they are eating and during the lunch period activities. Families of students staying at school during the lunch period are required to pay the annual Lunch Supervision Fee. Revenue from these fees are used by schools to hire lunchroom supervisors. Income tax receipts are issued for Lunch Supervision Fee: Receipts may be included as childcare expenses for income tax purposes.
Children are not required to participate in lunch supervision services if other arrangements are made for their supervision outside of the school and families have taken responsibility for ensuring care is provided.
At Northern Lights School, lunch supervision is provided for students in Grades 1 and 4, as well as Grade 3 (Qi and Schumacher) from 11:30 am – 12:10 pm and for Grades 2 and 5, as well as Grade 3 (Read, Pham, Muma) from 12:15 – 12:55 pm.
Students have approximately 20 minutes to eat and 20 minutes outside to play. If a child requires more eating time, this is permitted and accommodated for. No children are told they have to be done eating and must go outside before they are finished.
If you notice that your child is not eating their lunch, please reach out to your child’s teacher so they can communicate with the lunch supervisor. This will help us address the situation.
Once the registration opens, families will be able to register and pay by using MyCBE/PowerSchool.
For questions on waivers parents can email feewaiver@cbe.ab.ca
For general program inquiries parents can email noonservices@cbe.ab.ca
Information for parents can be found at this link: Fees & Waivers
REMINDERS
· Students need to bring their own spoons and forks for their snacks and lunch.
· Pack in, pack out - Lunch garbage and uneaten food is to be taken home. (With the exception of open yogurts or apple sauces, etc. that would make a big mess.)
WE ARE AN ‘ALLERGY AWARE’ SCHOOL
Northern Lights School is an Allergy Aware school and has many safety protocols in place for students with severe or life-threatening allergies. Due to the extreme wide range of food allergies (including peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, wheat, strawberries, eggs, soy, fish and shell fish just to name a few), we are not allergen free.
While we are not allergen free and do not ban any foods, in many classrooms that have students with severe allergies, many families attempt to reduce the allergen present by choosing to send other foods with their child.
If your child has medical needs, severe allergies, or medications / Epi-Pens that they will be storing at school, please fill in the Student Health Plan and the Student Health Emergency Response Protocol, and send the forms in with the medications as soon as possible (preferably for the first day of school).
CBE K-9 PERSONAL MOBILE DEVICE POLICY
As you may have already heard, CBE is implementing restrictions on Personal Mobile Device & Social Media Use in Schools effective Aug. 29. This policy will comply with the Ministerial Order provided by the Government of Alberta this past June based on survey feedback provided by families.
The CBE cares about the mental health and well-being of students. Restricting access to personal mobile devices and social media is expected to improve student achievement and learning outcomes. CBE strongly recommends students simply leave their devices at home, because in most cases, personal mobile devices are not needed to support student learning.
For students in Kindergarten to Grade 9, CBE will use ‘away for the day’ guidelines similar to what many schools have been using in recent years. Personal mobile devices brought to school including cell phones, tablets, gaming devices, laptops, smart watches, Bluetooth speakers/headphones or any personal electronic device that can be used to communicate with or access the internet must be powered off or set in silent mode and stored out of sight in student backpacks for the duration of the school day, (including recess and lunch).
If a student is found to be using a personal mobile device in class, at recess, or at lunch without permission from the teacher, the CBE will work with the student to ensure the rules are understood. We rely on good communication and other existing processes to ensure students know what is expected. When necessary, schools will use a progressive student discipline approach in working with students.
These new rules will apply to all students, with exceptions for students using devices for health and medical needs, to support specialized learning needs and for educational purposes.
For students who require access to a personal mobile device for health and medical needs, it is advised that parents complete and submit a Student Health Plan as soon as possible or contact Mrs. Brinson at mlbrinson@cbe.ab.ca.
For students who require access to a personal mobile device to support an identified educational need, families should contact the school to discuss this being included as an accommodation or support in the student’s Individual Program Plan (IPP).
For English as an Additional Language Learners who require access to a personal mobile device, a new PMD Exception form will be approved by School Administration in conversation with parents/guardians.
Also, aligned with the Ministerial Order, the CBE will restrict student access to all known social media platforms on the CBE network.
This policy will be in place for the first day of school. However, it is set to be reviewed in December, 2024. At that time, any feedback from schools will be considered before the Administrative Regulation is finalized as of Jan. 1, 2025.
Thank you for helping us to make this transition successful. For further resources, please view additional information on our website at https://northernlights.cbe.ab.ca/.
Mrs. Michelle Brinson, Principal
Mrs. Charney Docherty, Assistant Principal