Dear Parents and Guardians,

We hope this message finds you well. Here are some important updates and reminders for the upcoming weeks:

1. Earthquake Drill: We had a very successful earthquake drill. The students all left the building in a controlled and safe manner. Thank you, everyone, for supporting us as we educate our children in safety.  We encourage all families (staff and student families) to come up with an earthquake plan.  Good tips about how to organize our families ahead of time can be found at the Shakeout BC website https://www.shakeoutbc.ca/

2. Early Dismissal: Next week, we will have early dismissal on Wednesday and Thursday so that parents can meet with teachers. Classes will finish at 2 pm on both days. Please ensure your children are picked up promptly at that time.

3. Conferences: We will be holding parent/teacher or student-led conferences next week. If you have not yet received an invitation email from your child’s teacher, please contact them directly to schedule a time.  We hope this is a good time for staff and families to get together and support each other as we help children grow and learn.

4. PAC Halloween Movie Night: Join us for PAC Movie Night on October 24th! The movie will be "Encanto".  The gym doors will open at 5 pm, and the movie will start at 5:30 pm. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

5. Weather Advisory: We love Vancouver weather, even if it is raining. We are experiencing our first atmospheric river this weekend. Please ensure your children come to school prepared for the weather — boots, rain jackets, umbrellas, change of clothes, gloves, small towel to dry off, etc. If it rains, all children will be outside for recess and lunch. In the event of a weather warning from Environment Canada, Kindergarten through Grade 3 students will have the option to stay inside.

6. Voting Day: We would like to thank our building engineer, Mr. Surinder Padam for opening and staying at David Lloyd George Elementary this Saturday so that election BC could use it as a polling station.  Thank you for allowing the community participate in our election by spending your Saturday at our school.

7. Professional Development Day: There will be no school on October 25th due to a province-wide professional development day.

8. Visiting the School / Using the Washrooms: If you need to pick up your child during the day, please come to the office, and we will have your child come and meet you. Although your child knows you, other children may see you as a stranger. Please do not go into the teaching areas past the double safety doors. Additionally, if any visiting adult needs to use the washroom, we have single-stall washrooms on each floor (in the east hallways towards the parking lot) — the children’s washrooms should be adult-free.  All visitors should sign in at the office.

9. Halloween Parade: On Thursday, October 31st, we will have a Halloween parade in the gym from 9:15 - 10:00 am. Parents who are able are welcome to attend and see all the fun costumes. Please do not send your children to school with guns. Other weapons are allowed for the parade, but children will have to leave them inside for recess and lunch.

10. Halloween Costumes:  We love fun and thoughtful costumes.  Costumes allow children to be creative and can be a source of great joy.  However, we do want to be respectful in our costume choices.  Please see the attached flyer. At DLG, we want to respect all cultures and not use costumes to stereotype or appropriate peoples’ histories and cultures.

11. Online Safety Resources: Many parents, caregivers, and educators are continually looking for resources to help children stay safe online. Safer Schools Together is an organization used by the BC Ministry of Education and the Vancouver School Board as a resource in this field.  We also use SST's tools to help us teach the digital literacy components part of the BC Curriculum.  Safer Schools Together offer valuable parent resources, which you can find here: https://saferschoolstogether.com/resources/parent-caregiver-resources/ .  Please have a look.

12. Cross Country: Our fleet-footed team of DLG runners will be competing in their final meet at Trout Lake this Tuesday. Special thanks to Ms. Mah for organizing and doing all the hard work behind the scenes to prepare our students every year. Good luck, runners!

Thank you, everyone, for making our community such a special place.

Best regards

Jonathan Weresch