Dear Parents and Guardians
When students are in school … they learn. Attendance over the past three years has continued to improve – considerably!
Students who missed less than 10% in
2022-23: 42.12%
2023-24: 61.54% and last year
2024-25: 78.09% an improvement of 35.97% over the past 3 years! It is no surprise then, that the reading levels of the grade 1-3 students improved dramatically last year, too. Missing less reading lessons means that the students were learning new literacy skills every day! Such good news!
Bowcroft School currently has 67 (was 82 a week ago) students with incomplete Demographic Verification Forms (DVFs). Parents, please, if you have not updated your DVF, do so asap. Danke!
Log in Here at MyCBE
Orange Shirt Day Assembly
The Grade 2/3 team prepared a wonderful assembly for the school. Most grade 2/3 students played a part in the assembly presentation; either as MC, drummers, or presenters. Everyone was engaged and listening well. At Bowcroft, as some students are sensitive to noise, we don’t clap, we …. Go and ask your child!
Grade 1-3 teachers have been busy doing reading and numeracy assessments with their classes. Assessments that are mandated by Alberta Education. The same tests will be administered in January and again in early June to track progress.
German Program
As you know, German students contact us to spend 4 weeks up to 5 months with us here at Bowcroft, working alongside our German teachers.
I am now in conversation with Katrin Kaiser, Stellvertretende. Abteilungsleiterin Internationale Mobilität (Abt. 93) , Deputy Head of Department International Mobility , Universität zu Köln - University of Cologne , D 9 - Internationales / Division International Affairs. A brand-new initiative and opportunity for students there to spend 5 months at a school outside of Germany – and Canada is popular! I met with Katrin Kaiser on TEAMS and discussed how the process for selecting candidates looks like on her end. We would be happy to take 2-3 students who are willing to start in September with us, as most of the requests I receive throughout the year want to be at Bowcroft in February to June. Having students come Sept to January from the university of Cologne, would be wonderful.
Irene, the German language consultant from Germany, who works out of Alberta Education in Edmonton, stopped by on Monday to deliver German teaching materials that we had chosen from her ‘free’ list a couple of months ago. Irene is instrumental in advocating for German in West Canada and administering the A1 and A2 exams.
The German-Canadian Association of Alberta has two $3,000 scholarships for students of German who are going into post-secondary education. While this may seem far away, I would suggest you write down the name and timeline for applications (and the requirements). This organization is also discussing have more and higher scholarships.
https://www.gcaa.ca/scholarships-funding
If you have never been on the new LearnAlberta website for parents, this is a wonderful link to lots of information.
A note from BPAC - Wellness Wednesday Teacher Appreciation Treats!
Show some appreciation for our amazing teachers, admin and support staff!
Signup by yourself, or with a friend - share the load! There needs to be enough for 40 staff members, with 2 gluten free. There are some fun ideas listed in the signup below, or come up with your own idea. The treats should ideally be dropped off before 4pm Tuesday, or around 7:45/8am Wednesday. Other arrangements can be made with Ms Corey in the office.
Warm Regards,
Meike Thomsen, principal/Schulleiterin
Dates to Remember:
September 25: Orange Shirt Day; Meet the Teacher 4:30 to 6:30pm
September 26: Clothing “Winter Shopping”, everything is free
September 29: No school; IPP meetings with parents
September 30: No School, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
October 7: Tessier’s class on a field trip to Fish Creek Provincial Park; BPAC, 6:30pm
October 6, 8, 15, 17: Learning on the Land: Inuit games with Danica Taylor
October 15: Frau Hauck, Ms. Erickson-Flegg and Ms. Kristalovich going on a field trip to Kananaskis
October 23: Frau Hauck and Frau Faszer’s class: Jack Singer Concert for “Oscar” performance
October 23: Family Literacy Night, 6:00-7:00pm
November 4: BPAC, 6:30pm
November 10-12: fall break
November 13: Classes resume
November 26-28: Book Fair
November 27: Parent-Teacher Conferences, 4:15 to 8:00pm
November 28: No school, Parent-Teacher Conferences, 8:00 to 1:00pm
Dec 9 (Tuesday) is the day of the COMMUNITY winter performance, 6:00 to 7:30pm
Dec 10 (Wednesday) is the German winter performance, 6:00 to 7:30pm
Spring Concert during the school day:
May 21: German program in AM and Community program in the PM