Update – iPad use in Ross Road classrooms

/ Ross Road PAC

Dear Ross Road parents,

Last year the Ross Road PAC decided to fundraise for iPads as we felt it was paramount to get more IT (Information Technology) into the classrooms. The reality is that there is a significant lack of funding for IT from the North Vancouver School District. Here is a summary of how they are currently being used in the classrooms:

  • They are consistently being used in both the primary and intermediate grades for various purposes and and in different ways.
  • Some teachers are utilizing them with their buddy classes and having the older students work with with their younger buddies on specific activities such as math games and watching science clips to support learning.
  • Other teachers are using Safari to explore on-line educational sites for research projects such as social studies. In particular, several teachers have had great success using the iPads for math drills and mapping skills.
  • The NASA app is excellent and popular.

An IT committee of teachers has been established to provide education and information on iPad use and apps. Each month at a staff meeting they provide a presentation for staff. The North Vancouver District also provides educational camps which include some instruction on using iPads in the classroom.

Of course with any new technology there is a huge learning curve as well as challenges that that are continually being worked out. Ross Road teachers continue to learn and experiment with this new technology to further enrich and support our children`s education.

— Ross Road PAC
rossroadpac@gmail.com

ipad_rossroad

SPELLATHON 2013 update

/ Ross Road PAC

spellathon_heartsDear Parents,

You should have received the fabulously fun SPELLATHON results and can now complete the pledge sheets and return them to school.  For administrative simplicity, we ask that you send ALL pledge sheets and a SINGLE cheque, made out to ROSS ROAD PAC, to your YOUNGEST child’s class to hand in to his/her teacher on or BEFORE February 28th.

Thanks so much for your and your student’s participation in this popular event.

— ROSS ROAD PAC

New signs help establish a bike route to Ross Road

/ Ross Road PAC

Dear Ross Road parents,

Some of you may have noticed the new signage to control the flow of traffic down Kilkenny during the busy morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times.

My daughter, Sadie, and I ride bikes to school almost every day, and we’re happy to see them.

The engineers at the department of transportation at the District of North Vancouver took an opportunity to install new “Do Not Turn” and “Bicycles Excepted” signs in early February.

The signs may have changed but nothing has practically changed for motor vehicles coming to the school.

  • Motor vehicles are prohibited from turning westbound onto Kilkenny from Hoskins and must get to the school by turning onto Bushnell from Ross Road.
  • What is different is that bicycles have been clearly and officially excepted from the turn restriction. This establishes Kilkenny as the preferred route for bicycles to get to and from Ross Road. See map below.
  • Drivers of motor vehicles should please note that while you cannot turn onto Kilkenny during the restricted times, Kilkenny remains a two-way street. You should be prepared to share the road with bicycles.
  • Bikes should come to a complete stop at the intersection of Bushnell and Kilkenny.
  • Parent volunteers with the Valet Service will stop motor vehicle traffic from making the turn so cyclists can safely cross Bushnell to the school grounds.

Sadie and I hope to see more bicycles joining us on the road, especially as the weather starts getting warmer. And drier.

If you need a little extra encouragement, you might find it in a new study [http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/02/kids-who-walk-or-bike-school-concentrate-better-study-shows/4585/] released last year. It found children who walked or biked to school performed better on concentration tasks than kids who didn’t. The effects lasted for up to four hours after school began.

Thanks for driving safely, and for sharing the road.

– Blaine Kyllo
(Ross Road parent)

Ross-Road-bike-route-map

Earth Day Essay Contest

/ Ross Road PAC

Are you passionate about the environment and like to write?

Ross Road students who demonstrate a commitment to the environment could win their school a brand new set of computers.

Staples Canada is donating computer labs, valued at $25,000 each, to 10 elementary and secondary schools across the country. The program is part of the company’s 2013 Recycle for Education Computer Lab Contest, this year presented in collaboration with Earth Day Canada.

  • To enter, submit a 500-word essay on how your school has become environmentally responsible. For every entry, Staples will donate $25 to Earth Day Canada. Only one student from each school can apply, so we’ll be collecting essays and submitting just the very best one.
  • Submit entries here or drop at the school office by Wednesday, February 20, 2013
  • Winners will be announced in early April.
  • More details at staples.ca/recycleforeducation.

Thank you,

Environment Club parent volunteers

102_0220

Count-down to the 2013 SPELLATHON on Thursday!

/ Ross Road PAC

spellathon_heartsOnly one more day to go!

SPELLATHON Schedule

  • Monday Feb. 4th:  SPELLATHON parent letter, word list and pledge sheet go home with students. (If you did not receive a SPELLATHON package, click here to download a PDF version.)
  • Feb. 4th to Feb. 14th:  Seek pledges.  Practice words at home.
  • Thursday Feb. 14th:  TEST DAY!
  • Friday Feb. 22nd:  SPELLATHON scores will be sent home. Collect pledges.
  • Thursday Feb. 28th:  Return pledge money by this date.

If you have any questions please email Janice Sardari at j_blok@excite.com

Thank you Ross Road families for supporting our Valentine’s Day SPELLATHON!

– Ross Road PAC

Ross Road SPELLATHON 2013

/ Ross Road PAC

spellathon_heartsIt’s SPELLATHON time! Please check your kids’ backpacks for a letter, pledge sheet and word list about this event.

We hope you will enjoy the beautiful Valentine-themed words.  Please practice these words with your child and help them collect pledges for the event.

The funds raised by this year’s event will be directed to updating the library to help ensure its relevance within the new BC Education Plan (see http://www.bcedplan.ca/assets/pdf/bc_edu_plan.pdf).  The new plan calls for going beyond the four walls of the school to the world; to that end, we would like to purchase a projector and computer to be permanently stationed in the library for the purposes of led and collaborative research and to replenish/supplement the books.
 
The Schedule

  • Monday Feb. 4th:  SPELLATHON parent letter, word list and pledge sheet go home with students.
  • Feb. 4th to Feb. 14th:  Seek pledges.  Practice words at home.
  • Thursday Feb. 14th:  TEST DAY!
  • Friday Feb. 22nd:  SPELLATHON scores will be sent home. Collect Pledges.
  • Thursday Feb. 28th:  Return pledge money by this date.

If you did not receive a Spellathon package, click here to download a PDF version.

Thank you Ross Road families for supporting our Valentine’s Day SPELLATHON.

If you have further questions please email Janice Sardari at j_blok@excite.com

PAC GM Wednesday February 6th: Agenda and important voting information

/ Ross Road PAC

Dear Ross Road Parents,

Here is some important info about our upcoming PAC GM. We hope you can join us at this informative and engaging evening!

When: Wednesday, February 6th, 2013
Where: Ross Road School Library
Time: 6:45 pm – Enjoy coffee and treats and the opportunity to chat with other parents!
7:00 pm – Barry Forward (School Trustee) presentation and Q & A
7:30 pm – General Meeting (see Agenda below)

Babysitting available!
Please RSVP to rossroadpac@gmail.com by Wednesday, February 6th at noon to confirm a spot for your child(ren).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

AGENDA
ROSS ROAD PAC GENERAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013, 7:30 PM
SCHOOL LIBRARY

Pre-Meeting, 7:00 PM
Barry Forward, School Trustee for Ross Road School, North Vancouver School District:
Presentation and Q&A

General Meeting, 7:30 PM

***FULL AGENDA LISTED BELOW!!!***

The Evening’s Focus:

  1. We’re all looking forward to meeting Carla Orr, our new principal, so the Principal’s Report will no doubt be especially interesting! Of course, we’re also delighted that Anami Naths will attend the meeting!
  2. What’s the PAC all about anyway? Why do we have a PAC at Ross Road? Why is this important? How can I get involved? Come find out!
  3. We’re going to VOTE on four items! Read about them here and come prepared to cast your vote!
  • a) OUTDOOR PLAY EQUIPMENT REPLENISHMENT
    Outdoor playground equipment for students wears down, breaks, sometimes a ball even goes missing! RR is in need of replenishment in this department and the PAC Exec. proposes to spend up to, but no more than $1,500 to purchase new outdoor play equipment for the students for the spring season and beyond. Examples of items: balls, hoola hoops, jump ropes, tetherball, sidewalk chalk etc.
  • b) 6 LAPTOPS
    Information Technology (IT) again? Well, yes! The school received 24 new laptops from the School District last school year, but we have up to 30 students in many intermediate classes. The PAC Exec. proposes to purchase 6 laptops at a cost of no more than $8,000 to top up the current set, so that we will have a full class set of them.
  • c) LIBRARY REPLENISHMENT
    Spell-a-thon, February 14: We are fundraising for the library this time. However, we can’t actually donate the money to the library without putting it to a vote at a GM, so here goes: The PAC Exec. proposes to spend the proceeds from the 2013 Spell-a-thon on library replenishment: firstly a computer and projector for the library and, secondly, books. Currently, the library is only equipped with a TV and an old VCR and so is in need of IT updating. And books… the library always needs more books!
  • d) PROJECTOR
    The school is in need of one more projector and the PAC Exec. proposes to purchase one at a cost of no more than $900 to be used for PAC presentations and meetings as well as school assemblies.

FULL AGENDA
ROSS ROAD PAC GENERAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013, 7:30 PM
SCHOOL LIBRARY

Pre-Meeting, 7:00 PM
Barry Forward, School Trustee for Ross Road School, North Vancouver School District
Presentation and Q&A

General Meeting, 7:30 PM

  1. Approval of the Minutes of the General Meeting on October 3rd. Click here to view the October 3rd PAC GM Minutes.
  2. Business Arising from the Minutes
  3. Brief updates: Bicycle Route to RR (Blaine or Cheryl Kyllo),  Canadian Parents for French (Lisa Birrell) and valet service (Nancy Barton)
  4. Principal’s Report
  5. What’s the PAC all about anyway?
  6. Treasurer’s Report
  7.  VOTES:
    a) Replenishment of outdoor play equipment (not to exceed $1,500 )
    b) Six laptops to top up our new set of 24, so that we have a full class set (not to exceed $8,000)
    c) Spell-a-thon 2013: Funds raised to be spent on library replenishment (computer, projector, books)
    d) Projector for use at PAC meetings and presentations as well as school assemblies (not to exceed $900)
  8. Other

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

For more info, please contact the Ross Road PAC Executive: rossroadpac@gmail.com

Ross Road PAC - General Meeting Poster - Feb 6, 2013

PAC General Meeting Wednesday, February 6th

/ Ross Road PAC

Please join us for the first PAC General Meeting of 2013!

The evening’s focus

  1. We’re all looking forward to meeting Carla Orr, our new principal, so the Principal’s Report will no doubt be especially interesting! Of course, we’re also delighted that Anami Naths will attend the meeting!
  2. What’s the PAC all about anyway? Why do we have a PAC at Ross Road? Why is this important? How can I get involved? Come find out!
  3. We’re going to VOTE on four items! Click here to read about them here and come prepared to cast your vote!

When: Wednesday, February 6th
Where: Ross Road School Library
Time:
6:45 pm – Enjoy coffee and treats and the opportunity to chat with other parents!
7:00 pm – Barry Forward presentation and Q & A
7:30 pm – General Meeting (click here for Agenda)

Babysitting available!
Please RSVP to rossroadpac@gmail.com by Tuesday, February 5th to confirm a spot for your child(ren).

Please note: This meeting was originally scheduled for Wednesday, January 30th, but due to the Argyle High School info session on the same evening, the PAC GM was moved to February 6th in order to accommodate the Argyle event, which will no doubt be well-attended by many curious Ross Road families!

Are you interested in volunteer opportunities at Ross Road next school year?

Although it may feel like the 2012-13 school year has just started, the PAC is already looking ahead to the 2013-14 school year. We would like to welcome any parents who are interested in getting involved in the many exciting events and initiatives that the PAC is involved in at Ross Road School. Many volunteer opportunities do not involve participating in meetings! Come to the GM on February 6th to find out more and stay tuned for a complete list of opportunities!

Hope to see you on Feb. 6th!

………………………………………………………………….

PAC General Meetings provide a great forum to voice your comments, concerns and suggestions, to learn about what’s going on at the school, and to get acquainted with other parents! Click here to read the minutes from the last GM (October 3, 2012).

Wealthy Schools Revolution update

/ Ross Road PAC

The Ross Road PAC has decided to discontinue our participation in the Wealthy Schools Revolution grocery delivery fundraising program at this time.

The WSR organization is emergent and continuing to develop its offerings and policies. Should future developments to the program make it more amenable to Ross Road’s needs, this decision could be revisited.

Thank you to all parents who have participated in the WSR – and other fundraising endeavours – this year. Your support makes our school great.