HAPPY VALLEY ELEMENTARY
3291 Happy Valley Road,
Victoria, B. C. V9C 2W3
Phone: 250-478-3232
Fax: 250-391-9624
Principal: Ms. DeCicco
Vice Principal: Mrs. Sarah
Laughton
Newsletter
#1 – April 2015
APRIL
16th –Early Dismissal 11:28
16th- Parent Teacher Conferences 1-7
17th- Professional Development Day
20th- Cadence 1:15
21st- Jump Rope for Heart
23rd- Artist in Residency Begins
MAY
1st- Professional Development Day
4th- Axe Capoeira 1:15
4th- Music Monday am
8th- Artist in Residency Ends
14th- Spring Fair
20th- Class Photos
27th- 28th- Annual ART SHOW
APRIL IS THE BEGINNING
OF OUR ART ADVENTURE
Don’t forget this month we will have parent teacher
interviews on the afternoon and evening of the 16th.
Some classes are doing individual interview times only
while others are also including an open house for
parents. We are looking forward to seeing you all at
the school celebrating your children’s growth.
Take care,
Karen
SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
The Scholastic Book Fair will take place from April
13th to 16th . The 14th and 15th is 8-9 am and 2-3:30 pm.
On the 16th it is open 8-9 am and then 11-7pm. See you
there!
I must first apologize for not sending out a newsletter in
March. It was such a short month, I thought I would
wait until April to send out information about our
upcoming adventures. The months of April and May
will offer the students many opportunities to explore
their artistic sides!
On April 23rd we begin our Artist in Residency
Program. We will welcome a dance teacher and a
spoken word artist to our school to work with the
students for twelve days. The students will explore
dance in their PE classes and spoken word in their
music classes. They will bring these two genres
together near the end of the residency to create original
pieces. On May 8th the students will showcase their
work in two short assemblies. We are all very excited
about this incredible learning opportunity.
On May 27th and 28th we will also be hosting our annual
Art Walk. Stay tuned for further details of the times the
school will be open for you to come and see all the
beautiful art created by our students.
Two different visiting artists will provide even further
opportunity for students to experience the wonders of
music and movement. Cadence, "Canada's premiere
jazz-pop a cappella group", will be visiting us on
April 20th at 1:15 and then Axé Capoeira, one of
the premier capoeira organizations in North
America, will perform for us on May 4th at 1:15.
Wow- it is going to be a fantastic two months of
ART!
ANXIETY AND YOUTH
PRESENTATION- May 5th
On May 5th , we will have the privilege of welcoming
Dr. Kristin Buhr to speak at our school on the issues
surrounding anxiety and youth. We will be hosting an
evening meeting to any interested parents, caregivers or
community members. I have seen her speak twice
before and it was extremely informative on the
challenges facing the youth of today. Further
information on the exact times will come out later in
the month but please save this date as this is an
important informational session. Parents from any
school are welcome to join us.
Dr. Kristin Buhr is a Registered Psychologist and
Director at the North Shore Stress and Anxiety Clinic.
She specializes in the assessment and treatment of
stress, anxiety, and mood difficulties in adolescents and
adults.
Dr. Buhr also works as a Consultant for AnxietyBC. She
provides educational lectures and workshops on selfhelp strategies for managing anxiety. She has also
developed website content aimed at helping adults,
parents, and youth cope with anxiety problems.
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In addition, she has been involved in the production of
an educational DVD series (Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder: A parent’s guide to helping your anxious
child; Effectively Managing Panic Disorder; and
Separation Anxiety Disorder: A Parent’s guide to
helping your child).
Dr. Buhr was a lead contributor to the development of
Mindshift, a mobile app aimed at helping youth and
young adults manage anxiety and challenging
situations.
Update on PAC News
Spring fair is coming along quickly. Melanie and
Tamara have been working overtime to make sure
we all have an amazing time. Newsletters have
been coming home and we are excited to see all the
jars coming in already!!!
We are having our next PAC meeting on Thursday,
VICE PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
April 23rd in the library with a focus on fundraising
for next year. If you are interested in joining us, we
Jump Rope for Heart! Help us with this fun and
exciting fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke
Foundation. Fundraising envelopes have gone
home with students with information on collecting
pledges and prizes. Thank you to the students who
inspired us with their skipping demo at our kick off
assembly. We had an excellent turn out for our
impromptu skipathon last week. Happy Valley’s
Jump Rope for Heart event of skipping and fitness
takes place on Tuesday, April 21 and fundraising
envelopes are due back to school by Friday April
24.
will have babysitting in the multi-purpose room.
If you are interested in any of the PAC
positions we would love to hear from
you, please email [email protected] or
join us at the PAC meeting.
Newsletters will be coming home regarding the
theme baskets that each of the classrooms
contribute to. The students will be given a raffle
ticket for each item that is donated and will be
Mrs. Sarah Laughton
SPRING FAIR – MAY 14TH
Our amazing PAC is working hard to prepare for the
annual Spring Fair. It will take place on May 14th rain
or shine! They can always use more volunteers, so
please feel free to contact the PAC at
[email protected] to offer your assistance for this
event.
Club Opera!!
entered to win something at the end. Basket
donations will be due on May 1.
May 7 t h w i l l be the annual AGM PAC meeting.
On May 9th we would love to see as many
volunteers as we can get! It is the Spring Fair work
party and many hands make for little work.
See you soon!
Last week, club opera members enjoyed their final
opera of the season, Madama Butterfly - it was an
amazing evening of music! Thank you to all of the
parents who supported the club this year and we're
looking forward to another fantastic season next year
with Otello, The Barber of Seville, and A Midsummer
Night's Dream.
Music Monday
You may have heard your child singing this year's Music
Monday anthem, We are One, written and sung by
Connor Ross, a grade 11 student in Ontario. We will be
joining over 10 other schools in our district at the Q
Center on the morning of May 4th to sing with around
two thousand SD62 students and with hundred of
thousands of students across Canada. Permission
forms will be coming home soon with more information.
Thank you to the PAC - without their support, we
would be unable to participate in this musical,
community-building event!
Mrs. Kosolofski
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