Newsletter #7
Newsletter #7 - April 13, 2026
Hello Highland Park Huskies!
We hope you had a wonderful Spring Break and enjoyed special time together over the Easter long weekend and the warm weekend that just past. Whether your days were filled with travel, rest, celebration, or meaningful moments at home, we hope everyone is returning refreshed, recharged, and ready for the weeks ahead.
It’s been two weeks since we’ve been back in session after Spring Break and our classrooms are once again buzzing with energy, curiosity, and enthusiasm. Spring is such a meaningful time in our school year—students grow academically and socially, routines feel strong, and there are many exciting learning experiences still to come.
I know our staff are looking forward to building on the momentum of the year, setting new goals with students, and continuing to support each child’s growth as we move more into term three. We hope you notice your child becoming more confident, independent, and proud of their learning as we move toward the end of the school year.
We are so grateful for your ongoing partnership and support. Your encouragement at home, open communication, and involvement make a real difference in our students’ success and well‑being.
Thank you for being an important part of our school community. We look forward to a joyful, productive, and positive remainder of the school year. Please check our website regularly for news and information on upcoming events. To access our school calendar, CLICK HERE.
Warmest regards,
Shelly Cull, Principal
Student Learning Survey – It’s that time of year again! The Student Learning Survey is for all staff, all students in grades, 4, 7, 10, 11 and 12, and their parents. Parents of students in grades 4, 7, 10, 11, and 12 are encouraged to participate. In the next few weeks, students in grade four at HPE will be completing the 2026 Student Learning Survey. If you have a child in grade four, please check your email for more information on the student learning survey and how to access the survey to provide your input as a parent of a child in grade 4. Thank you very much. The 2026 Student Learning Survey will be open until May 1, 2026. The perceptions of our students and parents, gained through this survey, are an important part of the development of our School Learning Plan.
Communicating Student Learning – Informal Learning Updates will be available on Thursday, April 30. Teachers can choose from several formats to provide an update to parents about student learning. Options include in person or virtual discussions, telephone calls, emails, portfolios, written summaries. Most teachers at HPE have chosen student-led conferences. Teachers who have opted for a different format would have notified families in classroom communication earlier in the school year. CLICK HERE for information posted on our website about upcoming student-led conferences.
Student-Led Conferences - As mentioned, student-led conferences will take place on Thursday, April 30 from 2:30 – 4:30 for participating classrooms. CLICK HERE for information posted on our website. Students are asked to follow their usual after school getting home plan and return to school with their families. In order to ensure your child has your undivided attention at the student-led conferences, again, we encourage families to arrange childcare for their non-school aged children, if at all possible. Child minding will be available during conferences for HPE (school aged) students while their siblings participate in student-led conferences. Student-led conferences should take approximately 20 minutes per child. Parents are expected to sign their school aged children into child minding and out when their conference time is finished. There will be familiar adults from our school supervising children while in child minding. We are hopeful to have a couple of options available for our students, including a designated space outside, depending on weather. Be sure to check out the 2026 Glow Gallery with your child. It will definitely be a highlight students will be excited to showcase. Here is a list of questions you may consider asking your child during their student-led conference:
- Tell me about your learning in this work sample.
- How does your work show you have improved?
- What might you add to your work to show even greater growth?
- Which task was the most challenging and why?
- Which selection are you most proud of and why?
- How can I help you at home to achieve your learning goals?
Earth Day on April 22: On Wednesday, April 22, we are encouraging students to come to school with a litter-less lunch. CLICK HERE for more information about Earth Day at HPE. Also, in light of Earth Day, many classrooms participated in the Trees for Hope initiative, which means participating students will come home with a Douglas Fir seedling to plant and care for at home.
Cross Country Running – Cross Country Running is starting this week. A big thank you to Coach Mr. Benge for providing this opportunity for our students in grade 1 – 5. CLICK HERE to view information posted on our website about our practices and the dates for the two runs that our cross country running team will be participating in. Permission forms will be sent home to participating students by Mr. Benge. If you have a child in kindergarten, they can participate in the upcoming runs, as long as they are accompanied by a parent for the entire time.
Swimming – A big thank you to our dedicated PAC for funding swimming lessons again for classes with grade 3 students. We feel this swim at school program is so beneficial for students and a big cost savings for families. This is our second year offering the lessons. Lessons for classes with grade 3 students will happen the week of May 25 – 29. Many other classes will be taking advantage of our community pool with their classes starting that week. Stay tuned for more information coming home from your child’s classroom teacher.
Screening for Kindergarten and Grade 3 students – The following information was included in our Newsletter #6 and is included here as a reminder. On Tuesday, April 14 the Armstrong and Enderby Lions Club will be providing a vision screening process called “Your Vision is Our Vision” for students in Kindergarten and Grade 3. If you have a student(s) in either of those grades, more information has been sent home.
Technology – We wish to take this opportunity to remind families that students are not allowed to have personal digital devices at school or during school related activities. CLICK HERE to access the administrative procedure and HERE to review the initial letter from the Superintendent, Donna Kriger. For more information on Student Code of Conduct, CLICK HERE. Restricting personal digital devices at school and on the bus is really important in creating a safe, caring and welcoming school environment. This includes cellphones, tablets, game systems, smart watches, etc. Any devise that is capable of sending or receiving messages, make phone calls or take pictures, please leave at home. Thank you very much for your support with this at home.
If you ever need to reach your child while in the care of the school, please contact our office at 250-546-8723. We are more than happy to relay a message on your behalf.
School Supply Fee Notice and Change starting September 2026 – If you haven’t yet read about the changes happening with school supplies at Highland Park Elementary School starting in September 2026, CLICK HERE. It was also included in our Newsletter #6.
2026 – 2027 School Calendar – CLICK HERE to access the calendar for next school year. It contains the holidays (including winter and spring breaks), non-instructional days, early dismissal days and the full day family conference day for your planning.
Next Year Planning and Parental Input: Believe it or not, we are already thinking about our enrollment for next year and how to best configure our school. This means we are working towards confirming the number of divisions assigned to our school and the grade levels of these divisions based on our enrolment. It is imperative that we know as much as possible about your plans for next year. If you are not planning on attending Highland Park Elementary for the 2026- 2027 school year, or know of someone with school aged children moving into our catchment, please let us know as soon as possible. You can email our office at hpe@sd83.bc.ca. The more information we have from our school community, the more secure we can be with our enrolment numbers. The more secure we can be, the better planned we can be and the faster we can get students into their assigned class in the new school year.
Soon, our staff will begin to have conversations regarding student placement into our assigned divisions. While student placement remains a staff decision, based on many different factors observed at school, your input does matter to us. Student placement in classrooms is a complex process. Please understand that purposeful student placement and class design is a significant undertaking. Our goal as a staff is to create classes that are balanced with each child’s needs being reviewed and discussed prior to class placements. When drafting class lists, teaching teams discuss each child’s social and emotional strengths and needs, as well as their academic strengths and needs in an effort to create a balanced and effective learning environment for all students in that particular class. We work hard as a staff to consider the best learning environment for all children, one that prioritizes learning for all. Given the contractual constraints of class size and composition requirements, we consider a variety of scenarios to best meet the educational needs of our students, school wide. Due to the amount of effort and thought that goes into the construction of a classroom learning community (including the consideration of parental input), we are unable to accept input after the deadline. Making changes to student placement in the new school year is extremely rare as individual changes made to class lists begin to compromise the educationally sound reasoning originally intended in the classroom design. Please note that when a class contains more than one grade level, learning standards from all grade levels in the class will be taught.
Providing a rich, meaningful educational experience is important in every classroom. Thank you for your trust in our staff and their rationale for student placement. If you have input pertaining to your child for the 2026-2027 school year, parents are encouraged to email Mrs. Cull at scull@sd83.bc.ca by Friday, May 22, keeping in mind the following points. If you do not receive confirmation of your email by the deadline, please reach out to Mrs. Cull directly. Please ensure the following when providing input (this is the same as what was communicated last school year):
- subject line must state STUDENT PLACEMENT 2026-2027 so it does not get lost in the many other emails that are received.
- do not request a specific teacher as teachers and their assignment and/or assigned grade level may change.
- do not request your child to NOT be with certain children. Children continue to grow and learn more socially acceptable ways to interact with children. If ever you have concerns about your child’s school experience because of other children, it is important that this be brought to the attention of your child’s classroom teacher or myself, the school principal, so we have the opportunity to address your concerns. This is the most effective way to bring about change and work towards a more positive experience for your child at school.
- while friendships are one of the many considerations when placing students in classes, it is not the top priority when considering all of the other educational factors.
- while your input matters and will be considered, please note that not all input will be/can be accommodated.
- input provided previously will not be rolled over into the following school year
While more information regarding school configuration will be shared in May or early June, please note that changes can occur based on any increase or decrease in enrollment over the summer months.
From your HPE PAC – All position as part of our PAC executive will be open for next school year. Please check your emails for information and a nomination form. While the nomination form allows for some early expression of interest, we will continue to accept nominations and expressions of interest from the floor at the AGM on Wednesday, May 13 at 2:30 pm. We hope to get lots of parents in attendance. Please consider coming. It is really important to our students, our staff, our school and our existing PAC to find parents who are willing to keep our traditions alive and well at HPE. Every little bit of help is important and so deeply appreciated. CLICK HERE to access the HPE PAC Constitution.
If you would like to view past PAC Meeting Minutes or PAC Principal Reports,CLICK HERE.
We continue to be looking for parent volunteers to help with crossing guard in the morning and after school, safe arrival phone home program in the mornings, and serving soup for our students every second Wednesday. Please contact Shelly Cull at the office if this is something you can commit to on occasion.
Appreciation Days - If you'd like to show your appreciation, please note the Bus Driver Appreciation Day is on Wednesday, April 15 and Teacher Appreciation Day is on Tuesday, May 5.
News from SD83 – CLICK HERE to access the Strategic Focus for March where information on the district’s priorities (as outlined in the SD83Strategic Plan) are highlighted from around the district. Highland Park has been featured for our second Annual Career Fair. A big thank you to Ms. MacDonald for her efforts in making this event a success. We are deeply appreciative to the 18 volunteers who shared their passion for their varied careers with our students. You can CLICK HERE to read more about our Career Fair on our website. CLICK HERE to review information from the March 10 Board Meeting. The next SD83 Board Meeting is scheduled for April 21, 2026 at 6 pm.
