Superintendent’s Update

Dear Parents and Caregivers:

Thank you for your hard work engaging in learning, learning updates, and preparing for winter concerts and celebrations. As we head into Winter Break, I want to highlight stories connected to our District values of Relationships/Connections in our 2022-2027 District Strategic Plan.

South Sa-Hali Elementary School – December 16, 2024

Principal Blais was dressed as “Elf on the Shelf” and had hidden in a Christmas tree, where students had to find him. All classes then went to the gym and Principal Blais was leading carol singing in French.

Principal Blais, Vice Principal Corea, and I began classroom visits and took time to view the winter villages created by every class and grade level. The village lined the hallways on tables (three dimensions) and bulletin boards (two dimensions). M. Dunn who teaches Gr. 5-6 showed us some of his favourite details in the cardboard houses including the tiny shelves, dishes, chairs, and tables.

Mme Graf’s Gr. 4-5 students were engaged in graphing that resulted in holiday scenes, and Mme Mahoney’s Gr. 4-5 students were making tiny touques, and they were also solving word puzzles. All Kindergarten classes were practicing for their concert that was planned for Wednesday. While waiting to line up on stage, one student, Gemma, showed me the school’s stuffy, “Lightning”, and she had received it for “being safe in the gym.” Students earn the chance to have the stuffy for a day when they demonstrate their school value commitments: Sécuritaire Attentionné Gentil Engagé. Principal Blais shared that students really enjoy catching each other being good and doing things that connect back to their positive behaviour matrix – SAGE.

TRU liaison, Rob Wielgoz, was volunteering in Mme J. Williams’ Gr. 2 class to support Roots of Empathy, an international, evidence and empathy-based classroom program designed for children ages 5 to 13 in rural, urban, and remote communities. The program teaches students how to care for and interact with babies. Mme Magalie’s Grade 4 class was learning about how to solve a math problem to graph what ended up as a winter holiday image. She shared with the students, “You will see that the depictions are inspired by a famous artist, Escher”. Mme Palson was sharing a holiday scene on the wall and labelling the items in the scene as students identified them. This vocabulary development activity meets their school learning plan, to improve students’ French literacy.

M. Clyde was engaged in writing conferences with the Grade 6-7 students. Mme. C. Williams’ grade 6/7 class was working on literacy activities. As we met with staff in the staff room at break, it was evident that everyone was looking forward to the winter concert and took pride in all that had been invested to make it a great night.

Dufferin Elementary School – December 18, 2024

Principal Cumming and student leaders greeted me at the doorway, welcoming me to their holiday concert. He started by welcoming the parents and extended family members to the concert and emphasized his goal of building a close connection as a school community through events like this one. Student leaders were the masters of ceremony and did an outstanding job!

They first called on Gr. 7 students to do the “Jingle Bell Dance”, which was an uplifting start. Then, we enjoyed the signing, dancing, and movement in the songs, “I Want to Be an Elf” (K-1), “It Must Be Santa” (Gr. 6-7, 3-4), and “Blitzen’s Boogie” (Gr. 2). For “Blitzen’s Boogie”, several students wore sunglasses as they were singing.

A trio of singers (Claire, Tyanee, Idane) sang “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”. They sang mainly a cappella (with no backup instrumentation) and had command of the notes, volume, and clarity of words.

The MCs then introduced Ms. Dalsin’s Gr. 4-5 class who sang, danced, and moved to “Happiest Christmas Tree” followed by Grade 1 students singing and moving to “Old Toy Trains”. The last piece in this set was “Let It Snow” sung by Gr. 1-2 students who finished by throwing puff balls as snow balls. The trio of singers returned to sing “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey. Their voices were well pitched and they sang with style and grace.

Then, Ms. Eacrett’s Gr. 4-5 class sang, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” followed by Ms. Lofgren’s Gr. 2-3 class who sang “This Little Light of Mine” and had live flashing lights as part of their celebration. Grade 7 students then performed “Run Run, Rudolph” and Gr. 6-7 and 3-4 sang “Happy, Happy Holidays” to conclude the wonderful concert! Principal Cumming called almost all of the Gr. 7 class to be recognized for taking care of lights, sound, actions, preparing the gym, greeters, and technology. Thank you to Dufferin students, staff, and parents for supporting the students to design and implement an uplifting concert for everyone!

Westsyde Secondary’s Second Annual Empty Bowls Fundraiser – December 5, 2024

On Thursday December 5, 2024, Westsyde Secondary School hosted their second annual Empty Bowls fundraiser – an event that aims to raise awareness for individuals living in poverty both globally and locally. Since mid October, WSS students and staff have been busy planning their Empty Bowls event by making over 150 bowls and more than 100 bowl warmers and creating and taste-testing various soup and dessert recipes, each of which had a story connected to the ingredients and flavours. Thank you to the Westsyde Secondary students, staff, families, and community who support this important event. Read more.

Sníne Elementary Community Engagement

With the District’s newest school, Sníne Elementary, currently being built and anticipated to be opened in the Fall 2026, we are engaging with school communities who would be sending students to the new school. We’ve enjoyed connecting with Sa-Hali Secondary, Aberdeen Elementary, McGowan Park Elementary, Dufferin Elementary, South Kamloops Secondary, and Summit Elementary staff and parents, and held webinars on December 4 and 10. To see the maps of the proposed catchment change, watch the webinar presentations, and explore FAQs, please go here.

Wishing you a restful and rejuvenating winter break. Take time to enjoy the season with those you love. Have a wonderful, well-deserved holiday.

Rhonda Nixon, PhD
Superintendent