Newsletter #1 – August 25, 2025

Dear Highland Park Elementary families,

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year.  I certainly hope you were able to experience some fun, friends, family and adventure this summer. In addition to setting up classrooms, the school staff will be busy this week with IPE parking.  A big thank you to our staff, PAC, parents and community who organize, participate in and contribute to this big fundraiser.  These efforts will definitely benefit our school and our students.  Thank you. 

As communicated by email earlier this summer, our school had a flood sometime during the evening of Monday, July 25 (caused by a leak in the irrigation line in our mechanical room) that affected all spaces on the one side of our building – the spaces off the hallway connected to our main entrance.  Little Seedlings, our good neighbour was also affected.  Needless to say the team of restoration staff and SD83 Operations staff have been working hard to resolve the issue and undergo repairs so the school is able to welcome staff back this week and students back on their first day on Wednesday, September 3^rd.  Many classrooms will undergo additional repairs once school is back in session.  We will develop a coordinated plan and share it with our school community in the first couple weeks of September, once students are in their assigned classes for the year.  Needless to say, the finished classrooms are looking very good.  I am very excited that all classrooms affected by the flood will reach that same state eventually.

We are so looking forward to seeing students in grades 1 – 5 for a part day on Wednesday, September 3^rd.  Dismissal on this first day will be at 11:00 am, three hours early. Busses will run as usual but will arrive at regular stops, three hours earlier.  We look forward to welcoming our approximately 50 new kindergarten students who will attend on Thursday, September 4^th for their first day.  CLICK HERE to access the gradual entry schedule for 2025 – 2026 kindergarten students. We wish our last year’s grade 5s much success as they transition to Len Wood Middle School.  And of course to any families that have moved to new schools in other communities; you ALL will be missed very much here at HPE. 

New student registration is tomorrow, Tuesday, August 26^th.  We invite new families to come in and register. Office hours are from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm. 

Below you will find information about our school start up and the USUAL important information at start up for students and families at our school. These processes, procedures and routines are in place to ensure our school is safe, caring and welcoming.  Please refamiliarize yourself with them so you can help your child find success and contribute positively to the school experience of others.  

VOLUNTEERING: If you have a desire to volunteer at the school and have not yet completed the necessary requirements, please email hpe@sd83.bc.ca and request the link so you can complete the Approved Volunteer Package.  For more information about the SD83 Volunteers in School Policy 240, CLICK HERE.

BUSSING: In order to ride a school bus, your child must be registered with SD83 Transportation.  Please contact the SD83 Transportation department at 250-832-9415. For all things related to SD83 bussing, please CLICK HERE.  Kindergarten students are unable to ride on the school bus until their first full day of school on Monday, September 15^th.

CALENDAR: CLICK HERE to access the SD83 Calendar so you may update your personal calendars with days students are not in attendance.  Please note the Student/Teacher/Family Conference Day on Monday, October 20^th where students only attend for their scheduled conference time. More information will be available in early October. Also, in your calendars, please save the date for our very first PAC meeting of the 2025-2026 school year on Wednesday, September 10 at 2:30 pm in the school library and the Welcome Back to School Event on Thursday, September 18 at 5:00 pm. More details of the BBQ will be shared soon by our wonderful PAC who are planning this event our HPE families and staff. 

THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL PLAN: For the first week of school, we are planning for students to return to their last year’s classrooms. Please have your child line up a their last year’s outside classroom line up. Their assigned teacher will let them know where to meet them at the bell moving forward for the rest of the week. Returning to last year’s class allows an opportunity to connect with their previous teacher and classmates.  It also allows our staff to consider any last minute registrations and make adjustments to our school configuration if necessary.  At this time our enrollment looks pretty stable and our configuration of 14 divisions is looking secure.  Having said that, please encourage any new families with school aged children in our area to contact our office at 250-546-8723 so we can be as proactive as possible with our planning and get students into classrooms as soon as possible.  For any families that have moved, please also encourage them to advise the office.  We are hopeful that students will transition to their assigned classes for the year on Friday. If that is not possible, the transition to their assigned classes for the year will happen on Monday.  Attendance is important this first week so we can ensure all students are counted in our enrollment numbers.  

REPORTING ABSENCES: We ask that you continue to contact our office by phone 250-546-8723 or email hpe@sd83.bc.ca to report any absences.  Please remember this week and throughout the year when reporting absences to include your child’s first and last name, teacher’s name and reason for the absence.  Thank you for your assistance in helping us ensure all students are accounted for each day. The time it takes to track down this information can take away time from other important tasks in our office.  We thank you for making the reporting of student absences an ongoing priority throughout the year. 

WHERE TO GO ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL: On the first day, all students are asked to line up outside at the line up spot they used last school year.  In most cases, students will be with their last year’s teacher.  There are some classes where the last year’s teacher is not returning to HPE, and in those circumstances, students will be able to learn from one of our newly hired teachers at HPE or other familiar teachers from our HPE staff.  A special welcome to Ms. MacDonald (our Vice Principal) and Ms. Bergman who will be teaching one of the grade 4/5 classes this year, Ms. Rickard (formerly Ms. Thomas) who will be teaching grade 3 this year and welcome back to Ms. Johnson who will be teaching the K/1 class for Ms. Brandoli while she is on leave. In addition, I’d like to welcome Ms. Wright, our new librarian, Ms. Nichols, our part-time secretary and Ms. Turner our full-time secretary, to our HPE team.  CLICK HERE to access our 2025-2026 staffing list thus far.  Any new students to the school are asked to report to the office for instructions.

STUDENT PLACEMENT INFORMATION: Regarding student placement, please know that the HPE staff work very hard, given the constraints of class size and composition, on a variety of scenarios to best meet the educational needs of our students schoolwide.  We work hard as a staff to consider the best learning environment for your children.  The goal is to create balanced classrooms, taking into account a variety of factors that affect the overall composition of the class.  We know that change can be difficult but your trust in our staff and our rationale with the placement of students is important to us and much appreciated.  Once our placement process is complete, and children have been assigned to their classroom for the year, rarely are requests for changes considered as they can negatively affect the overall classroom composition we have worked hard to create in each class.  For those parents who provided input in April and May we thank you for sharing your insights.  All input was considered as a valuable piece of the complex puzzle.  Having said that, we will not be able to accommodate all requests.  You know your child best.  We use our knowledge of your child and the many other students from their experiences in the classroom and school environment. We look forward to a fantastic year of learning, growth, and working together.

If you wish to reread the information about providing parent input into classroom placement, please click on the April Newsletter.  Information about school configuration planning can be found in the June Newsletter.

CLICK HERE to access the SD83 process for communicating with your school. 

SCHOOL BELL SCHEDULE: CLICK HERE to access our bell schedule. It is the same as last year.

BEFORE SCHOOL SUPERVISION: Supervision is available for students before school at 7:40 am. We ask that students who walk, bike and get dropped off not arrive to school before 7:40 am.  This is for student safety so we may provide adequate supervision. 

AFTER SCHOOL SUPERVISION: The school is responsible for your children from the time they leave home for school until they return home after school.  For this reason, it is important that all students go directly home at the bell after school, unless of course parent supervision is present on the playground.  Supervision is provided after school for bus students ONLY.  No students are allowed behind the school at the end of the day unless they are with their care giver.  If students wish to return to the school to play after checking in at home, the parent is then responsible for their safety. Please be vigilant with teaching your children about safety to and from school.  They should always walk with a buddy or group. 

AFTER SCHOOL PLANS: Please ensure your child is aware of their after school plan each day.  If changes are made from the usual plan, please contact the office at 250-546-8723 before 1:30 pm so we can ensure your child is aware. 

DROP OFF AND PICK UP: We put in a lot of effort in our parking lot to improve student safety and the flow of traffic at the end of last school year.  We would like to take this opportunity to remind families of the important instructions to navigate our parking lot successfully.  Please CLICK HERE to read more.  In short please remember these points:

1. Allow space for two lanes of traffic along the kiss and ride lane.  One for Kiss and Ride and one for Through traffic.  Imagine a center line and stick to the LEFT side for THROUGH traffic and the RIGHT for the Kiss and Ride Lane. This ensures people behind you can access the Kiss and Ride Lane and can pull up to the very end at all times so other drivers can follow suit.
2. When using the Kiss and Ride Lane for pick up or drop off, use your signal and pull up to the very end of the Kiss and Ride Lane.  Be sure to signal to enter back in the Through Lane. Be quick, stay in your vehicle, have children load and unload on the passenger side of the vehicle onto the sidewalk, not in the Through Lane.   As vehicles in front of you exit the Kiss and Ride Lane, drive ahead to maximize the space available to others behind you. 
3. Turn right ONLY onto Wood Avenue during our busiest times (7:40 – 8:00 AM and 1:50 – 2:10 PM).  Outside of these times, two vehicles can fit at the stop line if the vehicle turning left keeps to the very left of the line.
4. Do not park in staff designated areas during our busy times (see picture below).  This prevents the need to turn around and back up into congested areas.  The road leading to the back of the day care is for staff parking, accessible parking permit holders and daycare traffic ONLY.  If you must park during our busy times, please utilize the IPE grounds.
5. Use the crosswalks to navigate your child to the school grounds from your vehicle. Especially to cross the two lanes of traffic – the Kiss and Ride and Through Lane. 

CROSSING GUARD: You may notice an increase in RCMP presence, just like at the end of last school year, helping train parent volunteers to assist students and families crossing Wood Avenue from the IPE grounds.  If you are interested in helping out at drop off and pick up times, please CLICK HERE to complete the form to indicate your interest. RCMP training will be taking place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the first week back to school.  You must be an approved volunteer in order to help out in this capacity.  You can request the link to the Approved Volunteer Package by emailing hpe@sd83.bc.ca.

BICYCLES AND WHEELS: If riding a bike or scooter to school, a helmet must be worn.  Students are expected to dismount their bicycles or scooters upon entering the school grounds and walk them to the bike rack to lock them up.  They are not be used during the school day. 

SCHOOL FEES: Fees are due on October 15^th so payment anytime before that would be appreciated. CLICK HERE to access the notice outlining the 2025-2026 fee structure.  We encourage you to purchase your school supplies from our PAC as this creates greater consistency in classrooms.  If you choose to purchase your own supplies, the school supply lists can be found HERE.  These were also handed out in the Learning Summaries at the end of the school year.  If you are currently experiencing financial hardship and require support with the payment or partial payment of these school fees or supplies, please contact Shelly Cull, principal. 

THE HUSKY WAY: At HPE we are focusing on important skills that we hope will improve our school culture and climate.  Our goal is to build a greater sense of social and personal responsibility in order to contribute in positive, productive and expected ways at school and beyond.  We call this the HUSKY WAY and being HUSKY STRONG.  We will continue to have monthly schoolwide assemblies to promote behaviours that contribute to a safe, caring and welcoming learning environment; one where EVERYONE feels that they belong. 

STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT: Please CLICK HERE to access our Student Code of Conduct.  We also believe in the importance of solving problems when problems are small, communicating about problems early.  We can only intervene if we are aware of the problem. It is important to report unwanted behaviour to the school as immediately as possible in order to be effective in making the problem stop. Your child’s classroom teacher or Principal can help investigate and find resolution to challenges your child might be facing. CLICK HERE  to access the SD83 Problem Solving Brochure for parents. Students can access strategies to solve problems using our Problem Solving Wheel. Students are also encouraged to seek help from a supervising staff member.

RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DEVICES: To learn more about the Ministerial Order, SD83policy and regulations, please CLICK HERE .  Simply put, student use of personal digital devices is no longer permitted during the school day during both instructional and non-instructional times for students in elementary and middle school grades (including before school, break times and after school). Electronic devices are encouraged to remain at home. If you need to reach your child at any time, please contact our office.  Please ensure messages regarding transportation and after school plans are received no later than 1:30 pm.

FAIR NOTICE FOR VIOLENT AND OR THREATENING BEHAVIOURS: As a school district, we have a district procedure for responding to any and all situations in which students may be posing a threat to themselves or others. School District No. 83 requires principals to activate a threat assessment protocol in all cases where students are making significant high-level threats to harm themselves or others. The procedure is called a Threat Risk Assessment.  CLICK HERE to learn more about this process and protocol.  If you become aware of a violent or threatening situation in which any student at HPE may pose a risk or be at risk, please contact Shelly Cull at 250-546-8723 or scull@sd83.bc.ca. This includes incidents that occur outside of school in the community or even online.  Parents are also able to contact RCMP. 

HEAD LICE: Schools no longer conduct schoolwide checks as the primary responsibility for the control of head lice rests with the family.  To prevent the spread of head lice, it is important that families check for head lice regularly.  If a case of head lice is made known to the school, it is managed confidentially and sensitively. Students are no longer sent home.  A notice will be sent home to parents of students in that classroom so parents can assist in the prevention of the spread by checking even more regularly.  In support of regular checking, principals provide reminders when returning from breaks, Summer, Winter and Spring. Please consider this your reminder . Teach your child about prevention of head lice (avoiding head to head contact, not sharing hats, brushes, helmets, tie long hair back, etc.).  CLICK HERE for more information. 

SCHOOL GOALS: We will be working on the following school goals for the 2025-2026 school year: 

1. To improve in the area of literacy, in particular the specific writing area of style, for greater impact.
2. To improve student numeracy skills – we will have specific goals for each grade level.
3. To improve students’ sense of belonging – focusing on feeling welcome, safe and connected.
4. To improve students’ sense of well-being – focusing on positive self-identity and personal/social responsibility.
5. To develop students’ competencies to be successful in a career path of their choice – focusing on the engagement of students in goal-setting and self-assessment opportunities.

ORANGE SHIRT DAY: Our school will be observing the September 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Friday, September 26.  In recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, K̓wsaltktnéws ne Secwepemcúl’ecw School District (SD83) is selling orange t-shirts and hoodies, as a part of the commemoration of this very important day. This year’s winning design comes from Al Fortune student, Aryanna, who will receive one of the hoodies for recognition of her beautiful contribution.  CLICK HERE if you wish to purchase an SD83 Orange Shirt.  Orders must be placed by September 15^th. 

TERRY FOX RUN: Our school will be participating in the annual Terry Fox Run once again.  The tentative date has been set for Thursday, September 18 in the afternoon. More information will be forthcoming.

Please continue to check our website http://www.hpe.sd83.bc.ca for additional information about school procedures, expectations and upcoming events. 

As always, Ms. MacDonald and I welcome your thoughts, questions, suggestions, feedback and input regarding all aspects of Highland Park School. 

Warmest Regards,

Mrs. Cull 😊