Afterschool Basketball extended to Intermediate Students

Friday After school Basketball offered through the Templeton Community Schools  program has been extended to include Intermediate Grades (4-7). Space is still available for signup. Contact Chelsea Tekonomy at 604-713-5898

Talent Show - Save the Date: Feb 23rd

Can your child sing? Dance? Play an instrument? Do magic? The 2017 Student Talent Show is coming up on Thursday the 23rd of February.  Mrs O'Neill has started having meetings with students at lunch to approve and monitor the acts. There will be rehearsals for various acts on various days so your little star needs to be prepared and listen to daily announcements.
There will be a full dress rehearsal on Tuesday the 21st and  Wednesday 22nd, between 11-12 in the gym.
Please make sure that your child has all their props/costumes/music etc with them that day.
The talent show will be on Thursday February 23rd at 10 am. It will be before and after recess to give the audience an intermission break.

If you have any questions you can call the  school 713-4620 or reach us by email. 
poneill@vsb.bc.ca  or  aburke@vsb.bc.ca

There is also notice outside Mrs Burke's class with information.

School Calendar Jan 30-Feb 3

Monday January 30th - Professional Day - School not in session
Tuesday January 31st - BC Lions Presentation - Energy Champions
and Parent Advisory Council Meeting at 6:30pm in the Library - All are welcome
Friday Feb 3rd - PAC Hot Lunch for those who have preordered

Lunar New Year - Gung Hay Fat Choy

Accessing the "VSB Digital Library"

Our “digital library” (Dr. AR Lord’s library catalogue and the VSB’s electronic resources) can be accessed online from any computer that has internet access. This sheet gives you basic instructions on using most of the resources and tools. It is a handy reference for you to keep at home. If you have a computer, that would be an ideal spot to post this sheet. 

This school year, our library will not be changed around as much as it was last year! We really love how it looks and feels now. We have plenty of different and comfortable options for sitting and reading, new plants, and lots of places to work. Please feel free to come in as early as 8:30am from Monday-Thursday.

Sincerely, Ms. Kasey McCandless (Teacher-Librarian)

Kids Lit Competition

The Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary Kids Lit Trivia team went downtown to compete in regionals on Friday, January 20th. Lead by Coach- Teacher Ms. McCandless, they answered 100 questions on ten different themes  of questions about kids (age 3-11) literature (eg. bears, females, furniture)! 

Each of our two teams won a round of ten, which was quite impressive. That also means that each of the competitors came back to Lord with brand new books, donated by Kidsbooks! We are not quite headed to Toronto for Nationals, but we all had a great time and did an excellent job representing our school. Ms. M is very proud, and will definitely be coaching a team again next year!

Light Water Drums This Weekend

On January 12th, A.R. Lord Students made lateens out of recyclable materials and crafts for the Light Water Drums Festival. The event will be held at Hastings Park on Saturday January 21st at dusk. There will be a light procession to celebrate the wet dark winter in the beautiful Hastings Park Sanctuary.  Come and see performers, fire dancers, and musicians and a finale of Circus Performers in the auditorium on the PNE grounds. This is a family friendly free event.

Winter Programs and Pro-D Activities for School Age Kids

Registration for 2017 Winter Programs held at Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary through the Templeton Community Schools Team started this week.  Lunch and After School Programs include:

* Lego Club

*Melty Beads

*More Sports Dance

*Homework Club

*Piano Lessons

*More Sports Basketball

Link to Registration form

Hastings Community Centre is also offering one-day camps on the upcoming school Professional Days when school is not in session.  These day camps include in centre activities and a fun out-trip. Optional Aftercare is also available from 3-5pm
January 30th:  Swimming  HCC Swimming Day Camp Link
February 24th: Skating   HCC Skating Day Camp Link

Students Learn about Nature and Wildlife

Dr. A.R. Lord students had the opportunity to see wildlife up close at a recent presentation from Biologist, Darren Colello of the Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society. In class demonstrations were accompanied by observation of habitat in the natural environment at the nearby Hastings Park Sanctuary. They also learned about skunks, raccoons, great blue herons, eagles and coyotes which can often be found nearby.  Students spotted Mallard Ducks, Mergansers, Cormorants and Crows on their outing and ice and snow covered much of park. Lessons for older students included scientific studies and testing of the temperature, pH and water quality.       http://northwestwildlife.com            http://www.hastingspark.ca

Hastings Community Association Membership Renewal for 2017

The Hastings Community Centre is an important community hub and the Hastings Community Association which is run by a volunteer board is an important community partner to Dr. A.R. Lord Elementary.

How do we work together? Here are some examples of how important this community centre is to our neighbourhood:

Last year the Hastings Community Association donated in-kind meeting space to A.R. Lord parents to discuss important school issues on potential closures and seismic upgrades. These meetings were vital to our community to come together to organize and successfully lobby the Vancouver School Board to get conditional removal from the school closure list.

An annual family membership at Hastings Community Centre only costs $8 per year or individual child membership is $2 or $6 for an adult.  

Memberships help support the Hastings Community Association in delivering many important community events and programs. The Reconciliation in Action event was held yesterday, along with Canada Day celebrations, Lunar New Year even are a few examples along side numerous recreation programs for seniors, children, youth and adults related to fitness, health, art, and music. 

Childcare offered through the Hastings Community Centre is accessible, economical and enriches the lives of our children while making it possible for working families to manage. The out-of-school care program was created in response to direct needs to our school.  A broad variety of day camps keep our kids active and engaged over the holidays and summer. Youth and pre-teens can access to the free games room and gymnasium time throughout the year. Educational bursaries are awarded to students attending Templeton high school. 

Last year, the Hastings Community Association provided space and monetary donations to the Hastings Little League Canadian Championship tournament in our neighbourhood and supported our local team all the way to attend the Little League World Series.

In the event of a natural disaster or emergency,  the centre will serve as a key disaster support hub to our neighbourhood. It manages important critical emergency supplies, trained staff and volunteers and will allow for communication to coordinate efforts.

We are asking A.R, Lord families and neighbours to take some time out of your day and go to the registration desk and purchase this nominal membership fee and support the Hastings Community Association.

The Annual General Meeting will be held in April later this year and all members are welcome. The association is also seeking new volunteer board members to help continue to shape our community and support the ongoing partnership with A.R. Lord Elementary families. 

January Events

 Parent Advisory Council HOT LUNCH FORMS are due on Tuesday January 10th. Plese submit your form and payment to the PAC Mailbox at the front office.

• Jan 12th Thu- Lantern Making Workshop for all grades
• Jan 20th Fri - PAC Hot Lunch 
• Jan 26th Wed - Emergency Preparedness Presentation 11:00am in the Gym
• Jan 30th Mon - Professional Day - School not in session
• Jan 31st Tue - BC Lions Energy Champions Presentation
• Jan 31st Tue - PAC Meeting at 6:30pm in the library. All welcome. 

Kids Lit Quiz

Some brave intermediate students have decided to join the ever-exuberant Ms. McCandless in attempting WORLD DOMINATION in a new area for AR Lord. Eight students will soon be attending the regionals for the international Kids Lit Quiz competition.

This is a test of ONE HUNDRED questions, on ANY literature written in English for kids aged 3-11. It's a vast subject area, and we have been practicing and reading hard for months now! This year, the national and international levels will both be held in Canada. Kids Lit Quiz is a registered charity, and is sponsored in part by our local Kidsbooks! 

For more information, check out their website, http://kidslitquiz.ca/​ .... and good luck Lord Lions! 

Book Exchange - Pyjama Day

A.R. Lord students came to school in their pyjamas on PYJAMA DAY on the very last day of school before winter break.  Another successful and fun school book exchange was also held on the same day. Donations of gently used good condition books were collected and then laid out for students to peruse and select books to take home. We think that sharing books is a great way to encourage literacy and the love of reading in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner.

As Mark Twain once said: "Good Friends, Good Books and a Sleepy Conscience: This is the ideal life" 

Thanks to all those who helped organize this event! It was great fun!

Happy New Year - 2017!

Saying thanks to all for a wonderful 2016 and wishing for a happy new year ahead.