ATTENTION - School Trustee Visit

**IMPORTANT NEWS**
Jane Bouey, Vancouver School Board Liaison for Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary School, is making a special visit to the school this coming WEDNESDAY JUNE 2nd at 7pm in the school library (Lillooet Building, main floor).

The PAC strongly encourages all parents, families and neighbours to take this opportunity to speak with Ms. Bouey about your concerns regarding the Georgia Building closure and Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary School.

For further information on Jane Bouey's visit, please contact the PAC Executive via arlordpac@gmail.com.

Grade 4 News

On Thursday, April 29th, Division 4 (including Ms. Lloyd, Ms. Swan and some enthusiastic parent volunteers) visited the Serpentine Wildlife Area in Surrey. It was a fantastic trip! When they arrived they discussed the four different types of wetland habitats and the actions that humans can take to positively impact wetlands and wildlife. They learned about the invertebrates that inhabit wetland waters and classified live invertebrates found in aquariums. Students also enjoyed dip-netting in the marsh and participating in a nature walk. The class was able to walk around the marsh without disturbing nesting birds or other wildlife. The Serpentine Weildlife Area is a wonderful place for families to visit. Thank you to Ducks Unlimited for sponsoring their field trip!

Upcoming Events: In June, the Grade 4 students will participate in a special Poetry Celebration. More information to follow.

Kindergarten News

Division 8, led by Ms. Young, capped off their wondrous learning experience about the life of salmon with a fun trip to Beaver Lake at Stanley Park in April of this year. Two van loads of children, along with Ms. Young and volunteer parents transported the junior salmon (fry) to the park and released them in the stream that connects the lake to the ocean. In prior months, the children watched the salmon grow, hatched from 51 Coho eggs in a fish tank in the classroom. They also created cuddly "salmon stuffies", and learned all sorts of information about salmon and their environment, they even learned to sing the "Sammy the Salmon" song! The day at the park finished off with an amazing visit to the Vancouver Aquarium! A fun learning experience for everyone involved!

Division 8 now has caterpillars in their classroom that will grow into Painted Lady Butterflies! The caterpillars spend their days eating and eating, eventually forming a chrysalis and then emerging as butterflies - all in front of the children's eyes. The Kindergartens are very excited to watch the butterfly life cycle and look forward to releasing their butterflies into the school grounds.

From learning about salmon and butterflies, the Kindergarten students have learned amazing things about how animals grow, where they live and what healthy habitats look like. They have also become keen observers!

Next month the Kindergarten class will head over to the Hastings Park Sanctuary for the second time this spring. Since Division 8's first spring nature walk the Kindergarten students have been researching birds (ducks, eagles, or owls) with Mr. Campbell, the school librarian. They are excited to see the ducks at the pond, the eagle nest across the street, or even find some more owl pellets lying at the bottom of trees. Hastings Park Sanctuary provides students with an incredible environmental educational opportunity right in their own neighbourhood! Through walks sponsored by the Hastings Park Conservancy, led by a biologist from Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society, Kindergarten and Grade 3 students will participate in bird watching, water quality testing, pond peering, nature appreciation as well as plant and invertebrate identification.

PAC Fundraising Meeting Notice

Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Location: Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary School - Library

This meeting is an opportunity for all parents/guardians (teachers also welcome) to participate in discussion and decisions about the PAC events/fundraisers to be held in the fall 2010.

Why does the PAC host fundraising events? Money raised by PAC events gets directed into a variety of student and school needs, from teaching resources to sports equipment. Everyone is welcome to attend this meeting, whether you have specific event/fundraising ideas or would like to provide your input and vote on the PAC’s fall schedule.

If you have an event/fundraising idea, please e-mail sherri before Monday, June 7th to have it added to the meeting agenda. If you are unable to attend, please send an e-mail with your idea (including a brief outline of the details) so it can be presented and voted on at this meeting.

We encourage all parents/guardians to participate in creating a thriving school community by volunteering in any capacity for these events/fundraisers.

PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO CHILDMINDING AVAILABLE FOR THIS MEETING

Grade 5 News

Division 3 will be performing at the Vancouver Elementary Recorder Festival at Tecumseh School on June 2nd. They will be playing 2 songs in two part harmony, playing a 500 year old song in a massed performance with the other participating schools, and will have the opportunity to watch a wonderful guest performer.

Grade 2 News

Division 6, with Mrs. Marsland-Root, is very excited to be learning about the changes that caterpillars go through on their fascinating journey to becoming butterflies. They can’t wait to witness the transformation from larvae to pupa to adult butterfly first hand.

They are also getting ready to participate in an actual scientific experiment for the Canadian Space Agency. They will be planting and caring for 2 sets of tomato seeds, one of which has been exposed to simulated space conditions. They will record their observations about both groups and submit their results so that scientists can learn how to grow food in space ships for use on long flights into outer space!

PAC Elections Update

Congratulations go out to the following parents who were elected to serve as the PAC Executive for the 2010-2011 school year!

PAC Executive
Chairperson, Kathy M
Secretary, Linda D
Treasurer, Sherri R
Communications, Shannon H
Some of the roles of the PAC Executive include assessing the interests and concerns of the school community, coordinating and overseeing all PAC projects and programs as well as acting as parent liasons to the school and district administration.

Regular PAC meetings are held once per month, usually at 630pm in the school library. Free child minding is available on site during meeting times. All parent/guardians are welcome to attend any PAC meeting.

If any parent has questions, concerns or ideas please don't hesitate to contact any member of the PAC Executive (arlordpac@gmail.com). For furthing information on our Parent Advisory Commitee, please view We'd Like to Welcome You.

Out-of-School Care Needs Assesment

The A.R. Lord PAC is researching the potential of an out-of-school care program set up at our elementary school.

In order to present prospective organizations with our proposal, we're looking to have a waitlist of 20-30 interested students.

This would include current or upcoming students of Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary, students at neighbouring schools (Begbie, Franklin, Hastings, Garibaldi, Chief Maquinna, OLS), or those who may consider transfering to Dr. A.R. Lord if before/after school care were available. (Those who may be interested in care do NOT have to attend A.R. Lord, if pick up can be arranged at your school.)

If you think you might be interested in such a program now or in the future, please send us your information (Parent's name, Child's age, Phone #, Email Address, Year Care Needed, Current School).

Sports Day!

Friday, May 21st
8:30am-12:30pm **

Please have students arrive at school by 8:30 on Friday morning to get organized for this fun morning of games, races and lots of laughter! Parents and families are welcome to come and share in this exciting event - cheer for your child, take a photo or two...simply enjoy! Your support is always appreciated!

Sports Day will be celebrated come rain or shine. If the day is rainy, Sports Day will be held inside or undercover (though raincoats are recommended).

Primary students have been divided into animal teams with an assigned team colour. Please encourage your child to wear his/her colour. Students are also encouraged to wear running shoes for comfort and safety.

The morning will begin with a Spirit Raising Pep Rally on the feild. Intermediate grades will kick-off the day with their House Cheers. Primary grades will start with their Animal Song - "Down at A.R. Lord".

A hot lunch of cheese pizza, juice and a cookie will be provided for those that signed up in advance. The A.R. Lord PAC will also be selling a variety of foods throughout the morning (donuts, coffee, hot dogs, freezies).

Students will participate in a variety of relay games and races such as the Ring Toss, Water Relays and Hurry Up Hoops for the primary grades, as well as many other challenging events for the intermediate students.

Always a high energy, exciting event - please join us for this years Sports Day!

**Please note this is an EARLY DISMISSAL day for all children. Please pick up at 12:30pm**

Kindergarten Welcome a Success

What a wonderful event to kick-off our new Kindergarten community!

New students and their families were welcomed to A.R. Lord by our wonderful Kindergarten teachers, Ms. Young and Ms. Anderson, plus the principal, Mr. Murton, as well as a number of other valued staff members. The activity room was decorated with colourful signs painted by our primary classes and parents, with a number of interactive 'stations' set up at little tables around the room.

In addition, there was an inspiring display by the REAL (Relevant Education for Adult Learning) parents group showcasing their educational and social opportunities for local parents. Translators were available for those needing help with any questions or information. There were also a number of Grade 7 students helping out at each station around the room. Plus, there were A.R. Lord PAC members present, chatting to new parents and welcoming families to our community.

Each child was personally greeted and given a decorated name tag with a coloured animal. After a friendly introduction by Mr. Murton, the eager young kids split up into their animal groups and settled down to some fun! With playdough, hat making, story-time, alphabets and shapes, plus some yummy snacks, the kids and families had the opportunity to get to know each other and make new friends.

The afternoon wrapped up with Mr. Murton giving some general information about how the Kindergarten year would begin and lots of thanks all around to the amazing teachers, staff, students and parents that helped put this welcome event together!

A Little Jewel of a School!

Did you know there is a wonderful little school in our neighbourhood?

It is the Primary School Building at the corner of Nootka and East Georgia Streets, which is part of Dr. A. R. Lord Elementary School, welcoming children from Kindergarten to grade seven.

The primary school is a beautiful one-level, fully wheelchair-accessible building, on the lower grounds, dedicated to the teaching and nurturing of our smallest students, from Kindergarten to grade 2. It has specially designed rooms for the little ones, from classrooms to bathrooms, an indoor playroom for when it rains and a large, bright activity room which is also used as the lunchroom for the entire school, including grades 4 to 7, who attend classes in the upper two-level building. We have a fully-equipped resource classroom to facilitate sessions for children with special learning challenges. The upper building has classrooms for the older children, and also contains the gymnasium with a theatre stage. You may have been in it, as it is our local voting station for provincial and federal elections!

Unfortunately, there appears to be a plan in the works to close the lower building, supposedly to save a few thousand dollars. But at what cost? The financial cost of upheaval, retrofitting, moving all the classroom contents, the chance we may lose potential students because other schools are now more attractive to parents and the stress to the little ones being in a building designed for the older ones. The primary building was the original school opened at this location and the upper building was constructed to accommodate the older children, when attendance grew. Granted, these past couple of years, attendance has been lower. However, we all know, we all can see that the neighbourhood is blossoming, families are building, buying, expanding. Enrollment will increase; Kindergarten sign up for September has doubled from last year! Would the building be maintained or left abandoned and rundown? Will it invite ne'er-do-wells' to throw stones through its windows, spray paint its walls or leave trash laying around? Do we want our little gem of a school, the beautiful grounds, our neighbourhood softball, picnic and play park to be neglected and forgotten in the midst of our thriving, growing community?

We must get the message out, we want to save our primary building, and we want to expand its capabilities and uses. Currently it is used for community-focused after school programs, R.E.A.L. meetings, Chinese language classes, multicultural group meetings and education, Mother Goose sessions, as well as a multitude of regular school programs and activities. Potential uses could include before and after-school care, for which there is a high demand, as well as daycare, adult education and E.S.L. classes. Our activity room uses include music and gym classes for the primary group, Mother's Day and pancake breakfasts, school-driven fundraiser picnics as well as all-grades lunch break. Without this room, the only space available for lunch would be the gymnasium, and then there would be no room for noontime sports activities and inter-mural games, which would be a terrible loss for all students and the teachers involved.

Please write and email letters to all the officials listed below. Let them know we want to save this precious asset for our present and future students and that the “proposed cutbacks" are not acceptable for our elementary school. Growing Minds ~ Growing Hearts, what we are achieving and protecting. If we lose this valuable part of our neighbourhood, we may never retrieve it. As a group, let us do all we can to save our primary building, our beautiful school with its wonderful teachers, awesome support staff and community spirit.

Officials to Contact
Margaret MacDiarmid, the Minister of Education
104 – 1245 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC , V6H 1G7
(604) 660 – 7061
minister.educ@gov.bc.ca

Gordon Campbell, Premier
Gordon.campbell.mla@leg.bc.ca

Shane Simpson, MLA for Hastings Sunrise constituency
shane.simpson.mla@leg.bc.ca

Vancouver School Board of Trustees
Jane Bouey - jane.bouey@vsb.bc.ca (Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary representative)
Patti Bacchus - patti.bacchus@vsb.bc.ca (VSB Chair)
Ken Denike - ken.denike@vsb.bc.ca
Sharon Gregson - sharon.gregson@vsb.bc.ca
Mike Lombardi - mike.lombardi@vsb.bc.ca
Carol Gibson - carol.gibson@vsb.bc.ca
Allen Blakey - allen.blakey@vsb.bc.ca
Ken Clement - ken.clement@vsb.bc.ca
Allan Wong - allan.wong@vsb.bc.ca

Clean-up a Success!

This Satuday, May 9th some of the A.R. Lord moms, dads, kids and even extended family met at the little building and spent a few hours mowing, weeding, planting, raking, etc.

All their hard work created a much more welcoming entrance to our school. They had a great day and made some good memories!

BEFORE:


AFTER:









Thank you to everyone for all the effort and support - from mowing/weeding/etc. to supervising the kids to getting pizza..... every person there helped to make it happen!

Hoppin’ Good Fun: Frog Hollow Garden Walk

Date: May 15
Time: 11am-1pm
Starting Location: Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House
Address: 2131 Renfrew Street, Vancouver


Community garden walk starting at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House and ending at Clinton Park. Participants follow a route passing the gardens of keen community gardeners, including the Frog Hollow Community Garden plot at Clinton Park. Along the route stations will be set up providing participants with the elements needed for planting a garden: at one station pots, another dirt, finally seeds.

The other stations will provide clippings/ transplants or free Move for Health Day Promotional Material such as safety reflectors, pedometers…

For more info, please contact Amy at (604) 251 1225 ext 237

Walk BC is a joint initiative of the BC Recreation and Parks Association and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC & Yukon. Funding is being provided by the Healthy Living Alliance, with support from ActNow BC.

HELP SAVE THE PRIMARY BUILDING!

Although parents received a yellow school notice stating the decision was made, this closure is only proposed on the VSB budget and will not be accepted officially until June 2010.

So, let’s TELL the VSB that our primary building is not an out-building (as described in the budget proposal) but our children’s school!


Think of all that happens in the Georgia/primary building:

our kitchen for sports days, corn roasts as well as school-based food programs

our music room and gym space for the primary grades

our after-school eductional programs that draw in children from neighboring schools

our children’s lunch room

the REAL parents program which fosters community amongst our student's caregivers

resource staff teaching rooms

rainy day space for inside play at lunchtime

The Georgia/primary building has amenities that the Lillooet building does not:

washrooms for small children within the kindergarten room

low profile water fountains that primary children can reach

sinks in the classrooms to facilitate art and frequent hand-washing

sinks and soap dispensers that are low enough for small children to reach

in close proximity to the playground

school access to a non-staff room kitchen

Closing the primary building is said to possibly save $40,000 annually – but what will be the financial cost of moving the classrooms’ contents up to the big building? What will it cost to adjust sinks and soap dispensers and perhaps add sinks to classrooms? What will happen if our enrollment increases but we are at capacity?

Many options are available for the primary building that have not been pursued by administration. Having an after school care program in our school would not only offset overhead costs, but would also attract additional students and increase our school's enrollment. Having a daycare would be another option beneficial to the school as well as the community.

Unless we let the VSB know that our primary building is more than just an outbuilding and has potential for our community – we have very little chance of saving it!

Please email/phone/write our Vancouver School Board Trustees and let them know how important the Georgia Building is to our kids!

Dr. A.R. Lord's Trustee
Jane Bouey
Vice-chair, Vancouver Board of Education
Phone: (604) 345-4246
jane.bouey@vsb.bc.ca

Chairperson, Vancouver Board of Education
Patti Bacchus
Phone: (604) 250-1130
patti.bacchus@vsb.bc.ca

Vice-chair of Planning and Facilities Committee, Trustee, Vancouver Board of Education
Ken Clement
Phone: (778) 866-0317
ken.clement@vsb.bc.ca

Vancouver-Hastings MLA
Shane Simpson
shane.simpson.mla@leg.bc.ca
http://www.shanesimpson.ca/
Constituency:
2365 Hastings Street E
Vancouver, BC, V5L 1V6
Phone: 604 775-2277
Fax: 604 775-2352

Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for Early Learning and Literacy
Hon. Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid
margaret.macdiarmid.mla@leg.bc.ca
Constituency:
104 – 1245 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC, V6H 1G7
Phone: 604 660-7061
Fax: 604 660-7065


Please leave a comment, or contact the A.R. Lord PAC if you have any questions or ideas about helping to save our primary building.

A.R. Lord Sports Day

A. R. Lord Elementary School would like to invite EVERY child and family member to our annual fun-filled Sports Day!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Games!
Activities!
Food!

Further information to follow.

Community Notice - Food Scraps Recycling Program

Turn Your Food Scraps into Compost
If you currently receive the City yard trimmings collection service, you will now be able to add uncooked fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, teabags, and eggshells into your yard trimmings cart for composting.


Why is the City of Vancouver starting this collection program? About 35 per cent of garbage from single-family residences is made up of compostable food scraps. By collecting food scraps, we can turn what was considered garbage intovaluable compost, cut down on greenhouse gases, and keep tonnes of organic material out of our landfill every year.

The food scraps collection program will roll-out in two phases.
In phase one, starting April 22, 2010, uncooked fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, teabags, and eggshells will be allowed and collected bi-weekly as per your current yard trimmings collection schedule.

In phase two, in 2011, all food scraps (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, bread, cereal products and food-soiled paper) will be allowed. It is expected that food scraps and yard trimmings will be collected weekly and garbage will be collected bi-weekly in order to minimize odours and insects from decomposing meat, fish and dairy scraps.


For further information visit http://vancouver.ca/projects/foodWaste/guide.htm

Dr. A.R. Lord School Newsletter #10

School Fundraiser - Cross Canada Walk-A-Thon
The PAC wishes to thank everyone for participating in this event to raise funds to enhance and improve the school experience for all students. Our school raised a total $3981.50!!

Summer School Registration
The Vancouver School Board will be offering FREE summer school classes at Nootka Elementary School through the Continuing Education program. Continuing Education offers a wide variety of courses at every grade level. Summer School brochures will be available soon.

For further information go online to http://www.continuinged.ca/nr/vsb/cie/session.asp.

Earthquake Preparedness
A.R. Lord Elementary School will be participating in the Vancouver School Board's Earthquake Preparedness Drill on Thursday, May 6 at 2:00pm.

Get Your Child Ready for Kindergarten

Welcome to Kindergarten™
Thursday, May 13
1:45-2:45pm
Activity Room in the Small Building (Georgia)

A.R. Lord Elementary School would like to invite all children and families enrolled in Kindergarten this fall (Sept 2010) to a special orientation program.

This program has been developed to provide pre-school children (and their families) with the resources and experiences to begin their formal education with a foundation in early learning nurtured in their homes.

Children are given preparatory resources and experiences to position them for school success and lifelong learning. They receive the early learning resources in the Welcome to Kindergarten Bag and learn strategies for using the resources at home.

At the orientation, families connect with kindergarten teachers, school resource personnel and staff from community support agencies. These early years educators provide training on why family planned activities, using the resources in the Welcome to Kindergarten Bag, will help their children be better prepared for school and learning.

We look forward to see you there!

Developed by

Sponsored By

PAC Elections for 2010-2011

TUESDAY, MAY 18TH
630pm
A.R.LORD LIBRARY
(child minding available)

A.R. Lord Elementary School's PAC is hosting annual elections for its executive committee for the 2010-2011 year. Any parent or guardian of an enrolled child is automatically eligible to be nominated. All parents/guardians are encouraged to attend the meeting to vote in this election.

POSITIONS FOR ELECTION
• Chairperson
• Treasurer
• Secretary
• Communications
• Fundraising

Positions have a one year term. Regular meetings are held once per month, usually at 630pm in the school library. Free child minding is available on site during meeting times. All parent/guardians are welcome to attend any PAC meeting.

If you are a parent or guardian interested in volunteering on the committee as an elected executive or general member but are unable to attend, please contact the PAC for further information.


We look forward to working with you,
The A.R. Lord Elementary School PAC

Welcome!

Dear Parents and Families,
Every family connected to A.R. Lord Elementary School is part of our school’s community. How that community takes care of its members is up to all of us.

Each parent or guardian of a student enrolled at A.R. Lord Elementary School is automatically part of our school`s PAC. As soon as your child is part of the school, you are part of the PAC.

What is a PAC?
PAC stands for Parent Advisory Council. PAC is the officially recognized collective voice of parents of their school.

PACs are the forum within each school community to discuss matters affecting your school and the education of your children.

A PAC may advise the school board, the principal and staff of the school respecting any matter relating to the school (other than matters assigned to the School Planning Council).

Parents are encouraged and invited to bring forth issues, suggestions, or concerns relating to the needs of your school community.

These issues can be brought forth by:
• contacting a PAC executive member directly
• sending a letter to the school addressed to the PAC executive
• attending a PAC meeting

A.R. Lord Elementary School`s PAC would like to extend an invitation to you as parents and guardians to get involved with your school. Being an active part of the PAC is a wonderful opportunity to meet other parents, become part of a great school community and make a difference to the quality of your children’s education.

We look forward to working with you all,
The A.R. Lord Elementary School PAC