Newsletter #9 - June 1, 2026

Dear Highland Park Huskies,

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE: It’s June!  This school year has flown by.  I know our students are looking forward to the following year end activities: more recreational swims, additional fieldtrips, District Track and Field Meet on Tuesday, June 2, our whole school assembly on Wednesday, June 3, our HPE triathlon on Friday, June 5, our last PAC meeting of the school year on Wednesday, June 10, Hot Dog Day (funded by PAC) on Friday, June 12, the HPE Grade 12 Graditude visit on Wednesday, June 17, Bannock Day on Thursday, June 18, Indigenous People’s Day Celebration on Friday, June 19, Fun day on Monday, June 22, our Year End Assembly and Grade 5 farewell on Thursday, June 25 at 8:30 am.  The last day of school for students is on Thursday, June 25 and dismissal will be 4 hours earlier, at 10 am.  Busses will run as usual, just 4 hours earlier.  Your child’s final learning update – the written Summary of Learning, will be available online and sent home on the last day of school.  If you have questions about your child’s learning or progress, teachers can be reached by calling the school on Friday, June 26.  For a more comprehensive list of all the upcoming field trips and events, CLICK HERE. For more information about the happenings and news at HPE, CLICK HERE.  CLICK HERE to access previous Newsletters.

If you have children in grade 5 heading to Len Wood Middle School, the countdown is on—with only 20 days left in their elementary journey. They will be missed considerably at HPE, and the school simply won’t be the same without them. This group has left a lasting mark through their leadership, kindness, and school spirit. While we are sad to see them go, we are incredibly proud of all they’ve accomplished and excited to see what lies ahead for them.  A reminder that there is a meeting for grade 5 parents at Len Wood Middle School on Tuesday, June 2 at 5:30 pm in their library. 

Our Glow Gallery was featured in the Morning Star News.  CLICK HERE to read all about it. 

As the school year comes to a close, I wish to express what an honour and a privilege it has been to serve this school community.  I look forward to next school year at HPE and as always appreciate your encouragement, feedback and support in making our school the best place for our students to learn and grow.  The main purpose of this newsletter is to keep you informed of what’s in the works for the 2026-2027 school year.

As always, please reach out if you have questions or concerns regarding any and all aspects of Highland Park School.  If you need to reach me over the summer months, please email scull@sd83.bc.ca.

Warmest regards,

Shelly Cull 😊

HOT LUNCH: A reminder that there is no Hot Lunch offered in June.  However, PAC Is providing a Hotdogs to students and staff on Friday, June 12 to supplement lunch from home.  Please remember to bring healthy snacks to compliment your child’s lunch on this day. 

31^st ANNUAL TRIATHLON – Friday, June 5, 2026: This opportunity is provides to all classes with students in grade 4 and 5.  CLICK HERE for more information.  Approved volunteers that have been arranged with Mr. Byrnes, our coordinator, will need to check in at the office and obtain an HPE Approved Volunteer Lanyard.  In addition, when bringing bikes and helmets to school on Wednesday, June 3 and taking them home on Friday, June 5, we kindly ask that you find parking and walk your bike to the black top area outside the gym.  For pick up of the bike, you can access the outside entrance of the gym.  A reminder that the IPE grounds are available for parking.  Please come early to beat the usual morning drop off or after school pick up traffic.  Bikes will be stored and monitored outside for the first part of the day while we have our whole school assembly.  Once our assembly is over, bikes will be stored in the gymnasium. 

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY CELEBRATION – Friday, June 19: On Friday, June 19, HPE students and staff will acknowledge National Indigenous People’s Day.  Currently, our students are practicing singing an Indigenous song entitled O’Siem by Susan Aglukark, the first Inuk performer to secure a Top-10 hit in Canada. The song will be sung as a whole school. We chose O Siem because it shares an important message about inclusion, friendship, equality, and respect—values that are central to Indigenous cultures and to the spirit of National Indigenous Peoples Day. By learning and singing this song, students are engaging with an Indigenous artist’s voice and reflecting on how we can treat one another with kindness and understanding. In addition, our lovely Ms. Laura will be singing and leading the grade 5’s in drumming.  Ms. Laura has organized a group of PAC volunteers in the making of Bannock.  Due to volunteer availability, Bannock will be made and offered to students and staff on Thursday, June 18. 

On Friday, June 19 students are encouraged to wear the following colours representing the colours of Canada, our school and also when put together, represent the colours of the Nunavut flag, where Susan Aglukark is from. 

Sandberg, Myhre, and Johnson, Terrell and Cooper (Grade k/1) – red

Kalf, Fassbender and Ricard (Grade 2 and 2/3) – white

Coombs and Daughtry (Grade 3 and 3/4) – yellow

MacDonald, Benge, Byrnes and Vallance (Grade 4/5) – blue

PAC NEWS: First, I want to take a moment to recognize the extraordinary dedication and commitment of a dynamic trio that has maintained roles on our PAC executive for many, many years - Julie De Boer, Amanda Shaw, and Brittany Gee. Their leadership, time, energy, and care have made a meaningful and unforgettable difference in our school community. Through their efforts, they have supported students, families, and staff in countless ways, often behind the scenes, and we are incredibly grateful for everything they have done. Please join me in thanking them for their outstanding service to our school.

As we look ahead, we welcome our new PAC executive team. Taking on these important roles are:

• President: Kelsey Wagner
• Vice President: Andrea Campbell
• Secretary: Tiffany Skoreyko
• Treasurer: Tamara Versteeg

Each of these individuals brings enthusiasm, fresh ideas, and a shared commitment to supporting our school community. We are confident they will build on the strong foundation established by the outgoing team and continue to keep our important HPE traditions in place.

Please join the HPE staff in warmly welcoming our new PAC executive and in expressing heartfelt appreciation to those who have served.  We are still looking for parent volunteers for hot lunch, safe arrival, and crossing guard.

Their first fundraiser will be the IPE Parking at HPE.  More information about how this works and the sign up process will be emailed home soon. 

Our last PAC meeting of the school year on Wednesday, June 10 at 2:30 in the library. Hope to see you there.

SCHOOL FEES: As communicated previously, parents are asked not to purchase school/classroom supplies for the 2026 – 2027 school year.  CLICK HERE for information from March 4. Next year will be charging families the SD83 Board Approved Fee of $45 for each child for classroom supplies.  This ensures that our students have the supplies they need when they need them and ensure that the supplies are consistent in quality, for a much lower price.  In addition to the $45 classroom supply fee, we have the usual fee for the planner ($10) and cultural fee ($10).  Additional costs and/or donations of items may be requested by the teacher throughout the year for extra opportunities, such as fieldtrips and special activities.  CLICK HERE to view the fee structure for the 2026 – 2027 school year.  Payment is due by Friday, October 2, 2026.  If you would like to pay fees for next year before the end of this school year, please see our lovely secretary Tammie, she would be happy to assist.  As noted on the form, we have an e-transfer option to make this process easy for families.  As always, if you are experiencing financial hardship, please contact Shelly Cull, principal to arrange support. 

BELL SCHEDULE: There will be a slight change to our bell schedule in order to meet the required hours of instruction.  Due to the contractual start day (after labour day) and end day of the year (last Friday in June), we need to add 7 minutes each day to accommodate the later start and earlier end of the school year.  We are currently at 296 minutes per day and will need 303 minutes in order to meet the mandated hours of instruction required by the School Act. We need to have 182 instructional minutes in the morning and 121 minutes in the afternoon. We also need to keep in line with other schools in our area for bussing. After consultation with staff and PAC, here is the bell schedule for next school: 

Kindergarten students will continue to start their dismissal process at 1:53 as this process is a big part of their instructional time for safe supervision. 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2026 - 2027: Please contact our office at 250-546-8723 as soon as possible if you are moving or know of anyone moving into our catchment.  Throughout the summer you can also email me at scull@sd83.bc.ca.  This information is vital for planning purposes.  The more secure we are with our enrollment, the faster we can get into assigned classrooms for the school year. The first day of school for students in grade 1 – 5 at Highland Park is Wednesday, September 9.  Students will be returning to their previous classroom (where possible) for the first day and for as long as it takes to solidify our enrollment and balance out student placement given any unexpected moves and new registrations.  Dismissal on the first day of school (Wednesday, September 9) for students is three hours earlier, at 11:03 am.  Buses will run as usual, just 3 hours earlier.  In order to ride the bus, your child must be registered.

2026 – 2027 KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION: The first day of school for our new kindergarten students is on Thursday, September 10.  We are excited to welcome approximately 48 new kindergarten students for the 2026 – 2027 school year. CLICK HERE to view the gradual entry schedule and the instructions specific for our new kindergarten crew shared at our Kindergarten orientation on Wednesday, May 27. The gradual entry schedule for our new kindergarten students is pictured below for your planning.

SCHOOL LEARNING PLAN 2026 – 2027: Our school learning plan will look very similar in terms of our areas of growth. You can CLICK HERE to access the 2025 – 2026 School Learning Plan.  The 2026 – 2027 version will be available at the start of the school year.  The school learning plan represents our collective focus and efforts as a school community. This year our staff worked incredibly hard focusing on the narrowing of our goal area of Writing and Numeracy.  We also worked hard with our efforts at our monthly assembly and related classroom follow up on topics to help improve student belonging and wellness related to HUSKY STRONG ways of being at HPE.  I am proud of our staff for their efforts and our students for the growth they are making.  Once again, we will be inviting parents to a School Learning Plan Meeting in October or November to review our data and gain insight from our families into our goal areas.   As always, your feedback and input is important to me and our Highland Park team. 

FAREWELL TO SOME HPE STAFF: I’d like to wish the following school based staff members farewell as their positions have come to an end at our school.  At this time we bid farewell to teachers, Emily Ricard in grade 2/3, Olivia Johnson in grade k/1, Jessica Bergman, LRT and grade 4/5 teacher, Vivian Jacobs, Thursday music teacher, and Darby Brandoli, a k/1 teacher currently on leave as well as CEA Stefani Pollen.  There are all kinds of moving pieces with staffing but this represents what we know at this point. While we bid farewell, I suspect we will see some of these individuals return in the new school year at some point in some capacity.

STUDENT PLACEMENT AND PARENT INPUT: I thank you for all the parent input that was provided regarding student placement.  The due date for this input was Friday, May 22. If you emailed input to Mrs. Cull, you should have received a follow up email to confirm it was received. If you did not receive a follow up email from Mrs. Cull, please contact the office and CLICK HERE to review the instructions for providing input which were also emailed to families on May 6. The student placement process is already well underway given what we know at this time regarding our enrollment and current school configuration plan.

While student placement remains a staff decision, based on many different factors observed at school, parent 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 creating class lists, teaching teams discuss each child’s strengths and needs related to their social/emotional and academic contributions 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. In most cases making changes is next to impossible due to contractual constraints related to class size and composition. 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.

2026 – 2027 SCHOOL CONFIGURATION: Given what we know about our student enrollment and staffing at this point, the table below outlines our school configuration plan for the 2026 - 2027 school year.  With our enrollment of approximately 280, we can fit into 13 divisions and still have limited space for new comers.  It is important to remember that this plan could change if enrollment changes significantly over the summer.  Again, please keep the school informed if you are planning on moving or know of anyone moving into our catchment.  We may be in a position where new families may be put on a waitlist.  The configuration proposed below allows for the possibility of greater balance, teaming among our teachers and the potential for some looping (having students for more than one year, if deemed in their best interest).  While the building of classroom community takes priority, we will look for ways to bring our grade level groups together for various events/experiences and activities.

At this time, we will be posting a K/1 position, .2 classroom position (grade 4/5), and .4 Learning Resource Teacher position.  Stay tuned for more information about the changes to our HPE staff team. 

2026- 2027 SCHOOL CALENDAR: CLICK HERE to access the 2026 – 2027 school calendar and record all the pertinent dates in your family calendar.  CLICK HERE to access a pdf to download and print for your reference.

HPE APPAREL: CLICK HERE to access HPE Apparel options if you are looking to add to your collection in preparation of 2026 - 2027 spirit days.