Dates to Remember
February 12-13- Teachers' Convention (no school for students)
February 16- Family Day (no school for students)
February 27- Non-Instruction Day
March 5- Evening Student-Led Conferences
March 13- Afternoon Student-Led Conferences
Happy Groundhog Day from Terrace Road School! As we head into a full week of learning, there’s lots to be excited about around the school. We’re thrilled to introduce our new Terrace Road School SWAG and logo, and we can’t wait to see our school pride on display. This week also includes Division 2 intramurals on Wednesday, adding some fun and friendly competition to our days. As a reminder for families, next week will be a three-day week due to Teachers’ Convention, so please plan accordingly. Here’s to a great week of learning and connection ahead!
TRS Online Store!
Our TRS School Council will be paying for a t-shirt for every child in our building that has our new Student-Designed logo. As well, we will be opening an online store for parents and families to purchase additional adult and children's gear. Please access the store here. Thank you for all of you support as we went through our design process- the students are absolutely thrilled with how it turned out! The store will close on February 8th!
Alberta Education Assurance Survey
The Alberta Education Assurance Survey is an important opportunity for students, parents, and teachers to share their perspectives on learning, school climate, and overall well-being at Terrace Road School. Students in Grades 4–6, along with parents and teachers, are invited to participate. Parents will receive their random access codes via email, which are required to complete the survey. In past years, between 18–20 families have completed the parent survey; we are hoping to increase participation this year to ensure we receive clearer, more representative data. The feedback gathered through this survey helps guide school and division planning, supports continuous improvement, and ensures that decisions are informed by the voices of our school community. We greatly value your participation and appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.
Our Work With Our School Development Plan
Each week, I will be adding a section to this communication that will be a showcase for the work we are doing in regards to our School Development Plan. At our February School Council Meeting, I will take take to go into more detail about our published school development plan, and the amazing things happenig at TRS as we work towards continual improvement.
This week, I am highlighting our work in regard to writing from Kindergarten through to grade 6. Two weeks ago, the entire building took 45 minutes with a common picture prompt, and wrote individual stories. These stories will then be assessed by the grade teams in order to calibrate what a 1-2-3 & 4 look like at each grade level. We will be using rubrics that the CBE has made in order to understand where are students are at in writing, and what our next steps as a staff will need to be to support their writing skills.
We will then place grade specific rubrics onto our writing bulletin board from kindergarten through to grade 6 in a horizontal line so that we can see the common trends in our school in terms of areas of strength and areas for growth.
This data will help us in our next moves as writing instructors to focus in on greatest areas of need.
Fees
Two weeks ago, we sent home paper copies of school fees. Please make every effort to pay your fees or come into the office for support with signing waiver forms with the CBE.
Internal Fund-Raiser- New Laminator
Our laminator at TRS is dying a slow and painful death. The laminator is a tool that we use routinely to support learning across each grade in our school. Because our school funds and council have limited resources this year, we have opened up a fundraising and donations page to support us in purchasing a new laminator via Education Matters. The great thing about Education Matters is that nearly 100% of the donation goes directly to the school, which is great when we are fundraising for specific items. Please access the Terrace Road School Fundraising Page here: https://www.educationmatters.ca/schools/terrace-road-school. Thank you so much for your support!
TRS Flex Time- After-School Learning Support
We are excited to introduce TRS Flex – Homework Help, a new after-school learning support opportunity for students. TRS Flex will take place every Wednesday from 3:15–4:00 p.m. in the Learning Commons and will be facilitated by Mr. Buchanan and Ms. Hassen, beginning January 21.
This program is intended to support students who may need extra assistance with assignments or learning concepts. Students are encouraged to bring work they would like help with, ask questions, and strengthen their understanding in a calm, small-group environment.
A parent consent form was sent home last week. Once permission is received, students may choose to sign up on a weekly basis, depending on their individual needs. Participation is flexible and designed to respond to student learning needs as they arise.
We are pleased to offer this additional support and look forward to helping our students build confidence, skills, and independence in their learning.
Student Lates
We continue to see a number of students arriving late to school on a regular basis. Prior to the break, we were averaging 20–25 late arrivals each day. While we understand that weather and occasional road disruptions can occur, frequent late arrivals can have a significant impact on both students and classrooms. Students who arrive after 8:43 a.m. miss important instructional time, and late entry into learning spaces can interrupt the learning of others.
Did you know? Arriving just five minutes late each day adds up to approximately 15 hours of missed learning time over the course of a school year. We appreciate families’ support in ensuring students arrive on time whenever possible.
Thank you so much for your continued support of our programming and community at TRS!!
Cheers,
Dan