October 30, 2020

The Aldor Acres Pumpkin Patch event was a big success!  The smiles on the students’ faces as they got to experience the farm animals and pick out their pumpkins brought much joy to all of the staff.  Perhaps we should make this a new tradition at Blacklock where the entire school participates in an on-site pumpkin patch?  Kudos to Aldor Acres for being so creative during these difficult times!

Thank you to all of the parents who participated so willingly in this year’s remote Parent Teacher Conferences.  It was my privilege to sit in on many of them and hear of the wonderful progress your children are making.  At this time, I would like to thank my teachers for their hard work and dedication to all of the children in their class.  They are exceptional educators and our children are blessed!

As we write this, there is much excitement in our school around Halloween.  The children’s costumes, the sharing of in-class activities, along with dancing in the gym have made for a super fun day all around!  I wish you all a safe and happy Halloween tomorrow.  Please take care of yourselves.

I would like to say Thank You to all of the parents and caregivers, who have been so diligent in following our COVID-19 safety protocols.  Your attention to these many details will continue to help keep us all safe and secure during these uncertain times.  We would like to remind you of the protocol if you have something you need to drop off for your child.  You may enter through the Main Entrance and leave the item(s) at the Office.  A staff member will deliver this to your child.  Our goal is to limit any cross-cohort contact and we appreciate your help with this.

We are excited to invite Rhythm Resource with Daniel Duggan to our school on Thursday, November 5th.  Each student will experience a hands-on and interactive Afro-Peruvian drumming workshop.  Students will be drumming with Cajon drums which is energetic, engaging, informative and educational.  Students will be immersed in a creative cultural experience, while learning new skills and building community with their classmates.  There will be no charge to you for this workshop.

We have begun one of our initiatives to raise money for our Christmas Hamper program; namely, the selling of Purdy’s Fundraising bars for $2.00 each.  A staff member will continue to go around to each classroom every Tuesday and Thursday to offer these bars for sale to the students.  If you would like your child to be able to purchase one of these, please send some money to school with them on Tuesday or Thursday so that they can take part.  We will be offering these for sale until we run out of the chocolate bars.

Here are the current House standings:

Mome Raths – 733; White Rabbits – 826; Cheshire Cats – 861; and Deck of Cards – 994.

Have a great Halloween weekend!

Susanna Eppich, Principal

REMEMBRANCE DAY POPPIES

This year, due to COVID-19, there is an opportunity for you to purchase your poppy through School Cash Online.  You should have received an e-mail regarding this.  All students will be receiving a poppy, regardless of whether or not a donation is made.  We look forward to sharing with you how Blacklock Fine Arts will honour our veterans on November 11.

MESSAGES FROM THE PAC

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be able to go ahead with the Craft Fair this year.  Hopefully, we can bring back this great fundraiser in 2021!  The Blacklock PAC would like to thank Nancy Wingham and Maggy Hencheroff for donating back their Craft Fair Table Fee refund.

Also, due to the pandemic, we will not be able to offer a Hot Lunch Program for the students this year.  We will be revisiting this decision in 2021 and hope that restrictions are lifted soon.

Here are our current and upcoming fundraisers:
Purdy’s – Open now – Order deadline is Nov 13; Pickup is Dec 2
Darvonda Poinsettias – Order forms go home on Nov 2; Order deadline is Nov 13; Pickup is on Nov 27
Neufeld Farms – Forms go on MunchaLunch on Oct 26; Order deadline is Nov 12; Pickup is on Nov 25

Year Round Passive Fundraisers –
Mabels Labels is a longtime favourite of parents and offers 20% back on all purchases made. You just need to click on the “support a fundraiser” link on the website and choose Blacklock Fine Arts Elementary from the dropdown menu before placing your order.

Natures Fare (Langley location only) offers us 3% back on all pre tax purchases made. You save your receipts and drop them off in the box on the front counter by the Office. We only submit these a couple times a year, so no need to drop them off weekly. We just tallied our latest batch and it totaled $5100 which means the school will be receiving a cheque for $150 for doing absolutely nothing except making purchases we would already be making!

FlipGive is a website that has partnered with many retailers that parents are already shopping at. Our specific school code is KKK6L3. They offer a variety of ways to shop and earn percentages back. The percent the school earns varies based on retailer; for example, Old Navy gives 4%, Ardene 10%, Amazon 2%, Wayfair 3%, Sephora 2%, Home Depot 1%, Indigo 6%, The Gap 6%, Childrens Place 3%, etc. There are many more retailers than what I have listed but I would imagine that I named at least one that you regularly spend your hard earned dollars at.

All you need to do is make an account with FlipGive and start at their website when you are about to do some online shopping. Once you have registered and input our specific school code you can take their link to your preferred place to shop and earn the school money on the purchases you were already making. You also have the option of linking one of your payment cards to their app so that when you shop IN store at one of those retailers you will also earn the school cash back on those purchases. A card needs to be linked as that’s how the retailer gets the notification that you are enrolled in the program. The other option they offer is purchasing gift cards through them to either use yourself for purchases or to gift and the school also earns cash back that way.

The PAC executive really appreciate your support, especially this year when fundraising has become more difficult due to COVID and we are not able to utilize the traditional ways of fundraising like hot lunches, treat days, pub nights, craft fairs etc.

Here are the Minutes from the last PAC meeting –> PAC Meeting Minutes – SEP 29, 2020

INFORMATION ABOUT SCHOOL STATUS DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER

Snow closures and power outages are an annual occurrence in Langley School District. So, where do you go to get information about the status of schools during periods of inclement weather? If you are able to access the internet via computer or smartphone, current information about Langley schools can be accessed on all school websites or www.sd35.bc.ca. Updates are also posted to Twitter @LangleySchools and Facebook at www.facebook.com/langleyschooldistrict. If you don’t have internet connectivity but your phone is working, call a relative or friend in an area that has not been affected by the storm and ask them to check the district website for you. Local radio stations are also informed of school status in Langley. Tune in to CKWX 1130AM, CKNW 980AM, Country Radio 107.1FM, Pulse 107.7 or CBC 690AM or 88.1FM for updates.

Please note that Langley District schools are all considered ‘open’ until a decision to close is required. Decisions on school closures are usually made by 6:30am. As always, it is a parent’s decision whether to send their child to school based on safety and individual circumstances. If you feel it is unsafe for you or your child to travel to or attend an open school for any reason, please keep your child home and report an absence to the school.

DAILY HEALTH CHECK

Health and Safety continues to be our top priority. Thank you for completing daily health checks with your child and doing your part to ensure our school community is healthy and safe.

Health Check Form – Revised 2020Sep

Please read the Daily Health Check Form (by clicking on the above link) and use it as a reference when completing the daily health check with your child.

AGENDAS

Agendas are provided to you at a reduced cost of $5.00 and we ask that you submit payment through School Cash Online by October 31.  Please note that to register for the first time, you will need your child’s legal name, Student ID#, and date of birth.  If you need help with signing up/logging into School Cash Online, please contact the Office.

CALENDAR

Here are the upcoming calendar updates:

November 11 – Remembrance Day Statutory Holiday

November 23 – Report Card Preparation and Design & Assessment Day – No Students

December 11 – First Term Report Cards Published

December 18 – Last Day prior to Christmas Break

January 5 – School reopens

For access to our District Community Bulletin Board, please click here:  Community Bulletin Board.      There are always new flyers that may be of interest to you.