Thank you so much to our WPS community for supporting our school and students this year. Our School Council meetings were well attended each month by parents and guardians interested in hearing what is happening at our wonderful school. We also hosted guest speakers who shared presentations on executive functioning skills, ADHD in children/teens, stress and anxiety management for youth and more. We plan to continue to bring in guests who will address issues facing our students. We hosted two very successful fundraisers and have an upcoming casino June 30th and July 1st. We couldn't do it without the support from all the many volunteers who give so generously of their time and the families who support their students with the fundraisers. Thank you! Also a very special thank you to those who have held positions on our School Council executive this year. Our wonderful secretaries Trina and Nancy who record the discussions at council meetings, Lacey who keeps the financials in order as our treasurer, Jennifer for her tireless work on organizing the fundraisers, Lynette for the HUGE undertaking of organizing and running the casino fundraiser, Juanita for always keeping us informed of all the happenings of the WPS music program, Dawn for finding volunteers for school events and Angela for assisting with getting the Wellness Committee up and running. At our AGM in May we elected a new council executive but there are still roles that are vacant. We still need a Vice-Chair, Volunteer Coordinator and Casino Coordinator (there will not be a casino in the 2017/2018 school year but we do require someone in the role.) If you are interested in being a part of the best School Council in Calgary, please send us an email! We would love to have you join us. Thank you to all who joined us at our meetings this year. We love our School Council meetings and enjoy the time we spend together while helping to make this the best school environment for our children. Enjoy your summer with family and friends and we look forward to seeing you in September! Danielle and Karen WPSC Co-Chairs The mandate of our School Council Executive is to work together to make Willow Park a better place for our children and all students. In order to achieve this, the Council requires volunteers to fill a number of important roles. The purpose of these roles is to consult with our school administration and staff to ensure school performance, programs, and priorities meets the community’s expectations. We also use School Council and our Fundraising Society to coordinate special projects and fundraising initiatives that enhance the learning environment for all of our children. In order to continue to achieve our goals, we need your help! Our last Council meeting of the year will be held on Tuesday May 16. We will start the evening at 6:30 pm with a special guest speaker, Raquel Ricardez from CMHA, on the topic of Stress Management for Teens. We will start our meeting at 7:30 pm, at which time we will be nominating and electing the Council Executive for next year. If you are interested in joining School Council or have any questions about roles and their time commitments, please see the attached information. You may also contact us through our contact form. Most positions require a very small time commitment outside of work day hours, and Council is a great way to support the school you have chosen for your children to attend. We look forward to seeing you on May 16th for our last meeting of the year. Please join us! Sincerely, Danielle K. and Karen C. Willow Park School Council Willow Park Fundraising Society We are pleased to host some upcoming special presentations before our regularly scheduled School Council meetings. These will be held from 6:30 - 7:30 pm.
On April 18, 2017 Dr. Cheryle Sherwood will be presenting a workshop on ADHD from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Join Registered Psychologist Cheryle Sherwood at our parent seminar where she will present on the neurobiology of ADHD, its impact on executive skill functioning and how symptoms present and change across the lifespan. Cheryle is a registered psychologist specializing in ADHD assessment and treatment. Cheryle was a member of the team that began the Foothills Hospital ADHD clinic 9 years ago and until recently was also employed with AHS. Our School Council meeting will be held after Dr. Sherwood's presentation. On May 16, 2017 we will have Raquel Ricardez from Canadian Mental Health Association speak to us on Managing Teen Stress and Anxiety. From the website: Attainment of a healthy mind and body begins with understanding how to balance the demands of life. Understanding stress is foundational in maintaining personal health. The interactive “Stress Management” session provides students with an overview of what stress is, how it affects the body and mind, and the many ways to achieve a healthy balance to cope with stress at school, home, and in day-to-day life. These presentations will be held from 6:30 - 7:30 and we will hold our Council and Society meetings after, starting at 7:30 pm. As always, everyone is welcome to attend these meetings. Our May meeting is also our Annual General Meeting as well as our Year-End Social so we will run the meeting a little later, until 9:00 pm. We hope you will join us! We are looking for volunteers for the following positions: Starbucks Art Framing As you may know, Willow Park Village Starbucks displays artwork made by our talented students. We are looking for someone who can commit to 2 - 3 hours a month replacing and framing artwork for display. All supplies are provided and we have a wonderful parent volunteer who will show you the ropes. This is something that can be done at the school or taken home to work on. The ideal volunteer will have an artistic eye and be able to commit to this project for the remainder of the school year. Wellness Committee Do you have an interest in wellness? If so, we need YOU! Our School Council would like to continue bringing wellness to parents at Willow Park School. There is a minimal monthly commitment for this committee. Fundraising Committee Our School Council hosts two fundraisers a year to support our school. The Magazine fundraiser in October and a Cookie Dough fundraiser in the spring. Our Fundraising Coordinator could use an assistant, ideally someone who would be interested in carrying forward in the following years. You will always have support and assistance from other parent volunteers but we need help organizing and running it. This role is busy for a few weeks during the campaigns. If you are interested in any of these positions and would like more information for what is involved and time commitments, please contact us below. We would love to have your support!
Thank you for your support of our Magazine Fundraiser. Did you know you can continue to support our school throughout the year? Any purchases made through this link will continue to raise funds for Willow Park School. Thank you!
Please join us for our School Council Holiday Social this Tuesday November 15, 2016 from 6:30 - 7:00 pm
before our monthly school council meeting in the Learning Commons (upstairs.) We will provide drinks and a cheese plate and everyone is welcome to bring an appetizer or dessert to share, if you wish. Come and meet and mingle with other parents and Dr. Robertson and Ms. Faulkner. We look forward to seeing you! A Willow Park parent has shared some information that may be of interest to WPS families:
Share the excitement of the Youth Singers experience with your friends and family. Pass the word along - tuition is free for NEW (first time registrants) male singers JUNIOR HI (Monday evenings 6:00 - 8:30 pm) SENIOR HI (Tuesday evenings 6:30 to 9:00 pm) & ACT3. REGISTER NOW! Anyone interested should come out September 12th just to see what it’s about. Thank you very much to the parents and staff that have supported our School Council by attending our meetings this year. We have benefitted from sharing ideas together, had great success with our casino and two fundraisers and enjoyed guest speakers and wellness presentations. We would especially like to thank the following parents who devoted so much time and energy in their various roles: Lynette S, our Casino Chairperson. She had a big job this year organizing the casino volunteers with a month turn-around time from the start of the school year. This role comes with lots of paperwork and time constraints and takes a very organized person, especially to do it in such a short amount of time. Jennifer S, our Fundraising Coordinator. This year we added a second fundraiser in the spring, so Jennifer had the busy task of running two fundraisers, both of which were extremely successful. Shoya W, our Volunteer Coordinator. Thank you to Shoya, a new parent who immediately stepped up to help in this vital role, for doing such an amazing job organizing volunteers for the various programs and activities at the school! Jan L and Juanita B, our Music Program Liaisons. These two worked tirelessly for the music program hosting and organizing many successful events with other music program parents. They came to meetings each month to share what they were doing and their enthusiasm is contagious. Marnie H, our Treasurer. Thank you Marnie for keeping our books and accounts in order and letting us know each month where the money was going and what the school had left to spend from our fundraising efforts! Melissa R and Martine M, our Secretaries. Thank you ladies for keeping the minutes at our meetings, otherwise we may never remember what we've planned to do! Thank you also to the many, many Volunteers who attended field trips, supported the band, helped with the drama production, drove students for athletic competitions, assisted with fundraisers, supported students with reading, worked in the Learning Commons, helped in the classrooms, framed artwork, assisted with PAT exams and many other activities at the school. We have a wonderful volunteer base at Willow Park School and love our school community. Thank you for your support! Wanda L and Danielle K School Council Co-Chairs PS from Danielle: A special thank you to Wanda L, our Co-Chair who is moving on from Willow Park School. You have volunteered in many areas at our school over the years and were a fantastic support to our School Council. We will miss you! Our Fundraising Society is making plans for the 2016/2017 school year and we would like your feedback. Please click HERE to answer a very quick survey. Thank you for your support of Willow Park School!
Willow Park School Council and Willow Park Fundraising Society Executive Nominations The mandate of our School Council Executive is to work together to make Willow Park a better place for our children and all students. In order to achieve this, the Council requires volunteers to fill a number of important roles. The purpose of these roles is to consult with our school administration and staff to ensure school performance, programs, and priorities meets the community’s expectations. We also use School Council and our Fundraising Society to coordinate special projects and fundraising initiatives that enhance the learning environment for all of our children. In order to continue to achieve our goals, we need your help. At our upcoming Council meeting on Tuesday May 17, we will start the evening at 6:30 pm with our Year-End Social. Drinks with a cheese plate will be provided and we invite you to bring an appetizer or dessert to share, if you wish. We will start our meeting at 7:00 pm at which time we will be nominating and electing the Council Executive for next year. If you are interested in joining School Council or have any questions about roles and their time commitments, please contact Danielle and Wanda at HERE to allow your name to stand for a position. Most positions require a very small time commitment outside of work day hours, and Council is a great way to support the school you have chosen for your children to attend. We look forward to seeing you on May 17th for our last meeting of the year. Please join us! Sincerely, Danielle K. and Wanda L. Willow Park School Council Willow Park Fundraising Society The Calgary Board of Education is working at improving their communication with parents and is interested in your feedback.
Please read the following message from the CBE: We have committed to reviewing our transportation model to ensure we continue to deliver safe and reliable transportation that is financially sustainable. Over the next couple months, parents, staff, students and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to be consulted before any potential changes to transportation service levels and fees are made for the 2016-17 school year and beyond. We are facing some tough budget choices, and all families could be impacted. We encourage you to get involved. More information will be coming soon. If you want to receive updates on this engagement directly to your in-box, please visit our website and subscribe to our circulation list. Please visit their website on public engagement for more information HERE Check out this amazing resource from the Calgary Public Library! Links to online tutoring help for curriculum grade 1 - 12, test prep worksheets, registering for homework help at the library, etc. EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING WORKSHOP Tuesday, February 16th Willow Park School in our Learning Commons 6:30pm - 7:30pm; Parent Council meeting to follow Special Guest Speaker: Emma Zacharias, Occupational Therapist CBE Area V They say my child has weak Executive Functioning skills - what does this mean? Are we able to strengthen these skills? Executive Functioning is a set of skills that include self-understanding, organizational skill, time management ability, emotion control, behavior control, flexibility, initiative, attention, working memory and persistence. A person may have a weakness in any one of these areas or multiple areas. CLICK HERE for a brief video on executive functioning. Who should attend? Anyone who is interested in learning more about these critical skills which help us all function and organize our daily lives. Everyone Welcome. Please RSVP if you wish to attend this free workshop CLICK HERE to sign up if you can attend. Don't miss this opportunity to learn to better connect with your teenager AND support the Willow Park Music Program! CANCELLED CAPSC (Calgary Association of Parents and School Council) are hosting a presentation on the keys to Math excellence. This may be of interest to many of our parents. Please see the the link below for more information and how to purchase tickets.
Keys to Math Excellence A very big thank you to all those who volunteered (and offered to volunteer, it was nice to have extra volunteers available!) at our recent casino. It ran very smoothly and efficiently and we are grateful for the time you spent volunteering on behalf of Willow Park School.
A special thank you to Lynette S, our Casino Coordinator who managed to organize and schedule all the volunteers on an extremely tight timeframe. It is a lot of work to put together and we appreciate her efforts. Willow Park School has put together an excellent resource for parents. Included is information on helping your child navigate social media, bullying and other issues facing our children today. Check it out! http://willowparkparents.weebly.com/
Our School Council wanted to share an upcoming conference, Parents as Partners, presented by the Calgary Regional Consortium.
Parents As Partners Conference Saturday, October 3, 2015 - 9am - 4pm Mount Royal University Join parents and educators for a day of engaging conversations that will both celebrate and inform the important role that parents play as partners in the education of their children. Breakout sessions include: - Supporting the home and school needs of all learners - Physical wellness - Emotional wellness - Supporting your child's literacy development - Digital Citizenship - lead by our own Ms. Munroe! For more information and registration forms CLICK HERE CLICK HERE FOR FLYER |
Willow Park School CouncilArchives
September 2017
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