Weekly Updates, Monday, 12 October, 2026

Dear colleagues,

Sports Day will kick off a busy week of learning and conference preparation. Amazing community 

Thank you to those who completed Lindsey's Pulse survey. We recognize the confusion and questions regarding the new duty schedule. We will review the options to ensure lunch and recess best serve students and that teachers have adequate time to eat lunch. We will share the updated recess schedule as soon as it is ready.

On Wednesday, we will meet as a whole school during Lindsey’s Town Hall, and after that we will learn about the overall role and purpose of the Student Success teams (LS and EAL).

Recess Information and Guidance

Two Rotations - We will keep the two lunch rotations in effect until changed. Students will be dismissed from the cafeteria as they finish eating, giving them additional time to play outside.  Duties can be found here. Tab 1 is regular duties. Tab 2 has heat/rainy day duties, if needed. 

12:15 - 12:43	1st, 2nd, 3rd in Cafeteria	4th, 5th outside
12:43 - 1:10	4th, 5th in cafeteria	1st, 2nd, 3rd outside
1:10 - Most students will be outside, ready to line up. 4th and 5th graders who are still eating will be dismissed to classrooms by 1:15

Soccer Rotations 

Although the two rotations create more availability for soccer, feedback indicates a desire to limit soccer to two days a week for each grade. This gives students opportunities to try other sports and activities and helps create better balance, so all students have access to the fields. This sign about soccer days will be outside the cafeteria. Finding other options for field use during recess is a great topic for community time. Please let Jill know if students request any specific equipment so we can explore other activities. 

Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	No Soccer
Mondays	Tuesdays	Wednesday	Thursdays	Fridays

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Mon, 12 Oct	Sports Day	School day finishes by 1 pm / when the last student has been picked up
Tue, 13 Oct Day 3
Wed, 14 Oct Day 4		14:40 Town Hall 15:30 Student Success Team
Thu, 15 Oct Day 5
Fri, 16 Oct Day 6	8:45 Parent Workshop: Meet the Counselors

Future Dates: Wed - Sun, Oct 14 - 18, APAC Volleyball Thu-Fri, 22-23 Oct, Parent-Teacher Conferences Oct 24 - Nov 1, Fall Break Tue, Nov 3, Faculty briefing Tue, Nov 10, ES November Assembly Mon-Tue, 16-17 Nov, Author visit, Sam Satin Mon, Nov 21 - 23, Long weekend - Thanksgiving

Upcoming Wednesday PD topics  Oct 21, New Report Card update & Conference Prep Nov 4, SEEDS & PYPX with Specialists, Reading K - Gr 4, PreK/KA training Nov 11, UDL in the Elementary School Nov 18, Report Card writing guidelines

Weekly Updates, Monday, 5 October, 2026

Dear colleagues,

As we approach Parent-Teacher Conferences, we are gathering evidence to share each student’s starting point, progress so far, and next steps with parents. Alongside academic learning, please give attention to students’ social and emotional development, particularly their friendships, emotional regulation, and daily physical and emotional energy levels. Please also revisit your notes from the Listening Conferences in August so that you can follow up on the hopes and concerns parents shared with you.

This week’s October briefing will cover upcoming events and dates, emergency drill information, and guidance for Parent-Teacher Conferences. There will also be an opportunity to share important messages across the Elementary School.

On Wednesday, we will launch our SEEDS sessions and review the Sports Day logistics.

Sports Day Plan B

Monday, 12 October. We hope Sports Day will go ahead as planned. However, if it is cancelled due to inclement weather, we will follow a Day 9 schedule until 12:00, when students will be dismissed early as planned.

Assembly

Thursday, 8 October, 9:30–10:15. Please choose a student from your class ahead of time to participate in the hula hoop contest.

Let’s have a great week ahead!

Katie, Jill, and Heikki

Weekly Update, Monday, 28 September, 2026

Dear colleagues,

Cooler weather and rainy days are welcoming us into October! We finally have a full week of learning ahead, giving everyone a chance to settle back into familiar routines and bring greater consistency to teaching and learning. We are now well-versed in our Restorative Justice plans and looking forward to the impact we will see in building relationships and taking accountability as the week goes along.

Once again, a huge thank you to the teams who flexibly covered absences last week when all our substitutes were in use. Your support helped keep the days running smoothly for our students and colleagues.

This Wednesday, we will revisit the CA guiding statements, which are still relatively new to many of us. Together, we will consider how they translate into an Elementary School vision and inform our future goals. During the second half of our time, we will work in Toddle now that the units have been updated, ensuring that information about Units of Inquiry, specialist units, and math units is current.

The Learning Support team will work with LSAs across the school to explore the philosophy and practices of Student Success services and what they mean for the LSA role. Thank you, Ginna, for taking this time to support the growth of our wonderful LSAs!

PYPx date change 

PYPx has been moved to the week of March 8-12. Specialist teachers, please note this in your unit planning and shift accordingly. 

Recess Information and Guidance

Two Rotations - We will keep the two lunch rotations in effect every day. Students will be dismissed from the cafeteria as they finish eating so they have additional time to play outside.  Duties can be found here. Tab 1 is regular duties. Tab 2 has heat duties, if needed. 

12:15 - 12:43	1st, 2nd, 3rd in Cafeteria	4th, 5th outside
12:43 - 1:10	4th, 5th in cafeteria	1st, 2nd, 3rd outside
1:10 - Most students will be outside, ready to line up. 4th and 5th graders who are still eating will be dismissed to classrooms by 1:15

Soccer Rotations 

Although the two rotations create more availability for soccer, feedback indicates a desire to limit soccer to two days a week for each grade. This gives students opportunities to try other sports and activities and helps create better balance, so all students have access to the fields. This sign about soccer days will be outside the cafeteria. Finding other options for field use during recess is a great topic for community time. Please let Jill know if students request any specific equipment so we can explore other activities. 

Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	No Soccer
Mondays	Tuesdays	Wednesday	Thursdays	Fridays

Heat Protocols - The stations for measuring the heat index are set up and connected to this site to indicate whether there will be outdoor play. Please sign in to the site and save it as a web clip to your desktop or phone so you can check recess locations before going outside. 

• Site: https://kem-iot.iotstation.net/

• User name: CAHeatSafety

• Password: 3XyvOCPvjpIa2FZ8

No Hat No Play: To stay consistent and avoid disagreements with students, we will keep No Hat No Play in effect for everyone every day from now until about the middle of October, when temperatures are predictably cooler. We will start No Hat No Play again in late spring as temperatures rise and will communicate this at the time. We will post signs outside the cafeteria as a third point of reference if students have questions. 

Next Assembly 

October 8th, 9:30 - 10:15. If any student performances or classes are ready to share learning, please let Jill know by Friday, Oct 2. 

CA WAY

Student Bus Meetings 

Jill will meet with G1-2 bus riders on Tuesday in the G1/2 resource room during community time and with G3-5 bus riders on Thursday in the G3/4 resource room during community time to review bus expectations. Please send your bus riders there. 

Here is some important guidance from the Health Office. Please read carefully.

Let’s have a great week ahead!

Katie, Jill, and Heikki

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Mon, Sept 28 Day 2	9:45 Earthquake and Tsunami Drill
Tue, Sept 29  Day 3	8:45 MAP information session for  parents in grades 3 - 9
Wed, Sept 30 Day Day 4		14:40 Exploring the CA guiding statements and ES Vision 15:30 Updating Toddle session (homeroom, specialists)
Thu, Oct 1 Day 5
Fri, Oct 2 Day 6

Future Dates: October 12, Sports Day (No school, community event; all families invited;  all faculty and staff joining for organization and supervision)

Upcoming Wednesday PD topics  October 7 - Seeds/ Sports Day

Weekly Update, Tuesday, 22 September, 2026

Dear all,

What wonderful timing we had with this long weekend. After the thought-provoking, inspiring, and timely training on relationship building, accountability, and using circles with our students, the weekend offered a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the learning and, most importantly, to take a deep breath.

This short week brings a less hectic schedule and, hopefully, more consistent routines for organizing learning in our classrooms. Well done to our Grade 3–5 students and teachers for almost all getting through MAP testing. It takes a significant time commitment and inevitably means some time away from regular classroom learning. However, this baseline data, together with the other information we have collected so far, helps us triangulate learning needs and goals for all of our students in Grades 3–5.

Duties This Week

Find this week’s duty schedule here. Remember to look at the first tab for the regular schedule if we are able to be outside. Some folks have requested support with reading the duty schedule, so please refer to this video if that is helpful. You may also want to add your duty to your Google Calendar with both locations noted: Regular Location / Heat Location. Thank you, and hopefully we will soon be finished with the heat locations altogether!

CPOMS

This Wednesday, we will practice using CPOMS by entering a fake incident report attached to a fake student, Quentin Rat. To prepare, please make sure you can log in to CPOMS so you are ready to participate on Wednesday.

If you are struggling to log in, please reach out to the CA Tech Team or use this CPOMS Login Help Guide to troubleshoot.

Please also note that on Friday morning, Katie, Jill, and Heikki will be taking some time to reflect, plan ahead, and look at our next steps together. As a result, we may not be able to respond quite as quickly as usual to needs that arise during the morning.

Let’s enjoy yet another four-day week with our students!

Katie, Jill, and Heikki

Soccer rotation (if playing outside this week)

Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	No Soccer
Mondays	Tuesdays	Wednesday	Thursdays	Fridays

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Mon, Sept 21 Day	Respect the Aged - Day - No School
Tue, Sept 22  Day 7
Wed, Sept 23 Day Day 8		14:40 Wednesday PD: Community time, Restorative practices
Thu, Sept 24 Day 9
Fri, Sept 25 Day 1

Future Dates: September 22-23, Gr 3 - 5 MAP testing continued October 12, Sports Day (No school, community event; all families invited;  all faculty and staff joining for organization and supervision)

Upcoming Wednesday PD topics  September 30 - ES Vision/ Writing Curriculum / LSA training October 7 - Seeds/ Sports Day

Weekly Update, Monday, 14, September, 2026

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for navigating a strangely divided and somewhat fragmented past week. With interruptions to our usual rhythm, it may have felt difficult at times to maintain coherence and momentum. This week brings several important disruptions, including MAP testing in grades 3-5, Elementary School photos, Dot Day, Restorative Justice training for leaders on Thursday, and whole-faculty and staff training on Friday.

Even exciting changes to a familiar schedule can create additional stress and uncertainty for children and adults. Thank you in advance for providing the calm, consistency, and reassurance our students need. Your thoughtfully designed learning experiences, clear routines, and steady presence create the conditions for children to remain engaged, curious, and ready to learn even when the week looks different from usual.

MAP Growth Assessments

Students in Grades 3–5 will begin MAP Growth assessments on Monday. Please help students approach the sessions calmly and confidently, reminding them that MAP is not a high-stakes test but one source of information that helps us plan their next learning steps. Students should take their time, persevere when questions become challenging, and simply do their best.

Professional Growth

Our Restorative Justice training offers an important opportunity for our organization to come together around our strategic commitment to belonging. Restorative practice is not simply a response to conflict or challenging behavior. It strengthens relationships, builds trust, and helps students understand how their choices affect others and the wider community.

This work connects closely with our daily Community Time and the language we use when guiding children through disagreements, mistakes, and difficult emotions. It can help us establish a more consistent approach to developing connectedness, accountability, empathy, and conflict-resolution skills across the school. Restorative practice does not mean avoiding consequences or compromising expectations for student character and integrity. Instead, it helps us ensure that consequences are purposeful, proportionate, and connected to learning, reflection, responsibility, and repairing harm.

When students experience conflict, our goal is not only to stop the immediate behavior. We also want them to understand what happened, recognize its impact, take responsibility, and develop the skills to make a more thoughtful choice next time. This is demanding and important work, and Friday’s training will give us shared language and practical strategies to support it.

Duties

Please review the Week of September 14 tab in the duty schedule for this week’s updated assignments. Please search for your name to ensure that you do not miss an assigned duty.

The weather forecast is looking slightly cooler. If recess can take place outside, please refer to the regular duty schedule for your assigned location. If it rains, the classes scheduled for the greenbelt will go to their classrooms, not the library. The two colleagues assigned to greenbelt duty will supervise students on that floor.

Thank you for staying attentive and flexible as we continue to balance movement opportunities with safe, effective supervision.

School Photos, September 15 and 17

Elementary School photos will take place on Tuesday, September 15, and Thursday, September 17. Please review the schedule here and prepare your students for their assigned time.

Your support with transitions and punctuality will help the process run smoothly and minimize interruptions to learning.

Dot Day, September 16

On Wednesday, remember to wear polka dots as we celebrate creativity, courage, and a growth mindset!

Dot Day reminds us that even a small mark can become the beginning of something meaningful when someone is encouraged to take a risk, explore an idea, and believe in their potential. I look forward to seeing how our students and many faculty and staff members bring the day to life.

Wednesday Professional Learning and Reflection

On Wednesday, we will follow the same program and schedule we used last week. We will begin by launching our annual SEEDS work and then spend time together as an Elementary School team reflecting on our somewhat unusual start to the school year.

We will identify the practices, structures, and experiences that worked particularly well and should be protected or strengthened. We will also consider what we could adjust next time to make the beginning of the year even more coherent, welcoming, and rewarding for faculty, students, and parents.

This reflection is not simply about evaluating events. It is an opportunity to learn together and improve the systems that support our community. Your observations and practical ideas will help us keep building a school where people feel known, supported, and able to contribute.

Although the week will be busy, it also brings meaningful opportunities to celebrate creativity, deepen our learning, and strengthen our shared approach to belonging and relationships.

Have an exciting week ahead and keep one eye on the approaching weekend, which generously extends all the way through Monday!

Katie, Jill, and Heikki

Soccer rotation (if playing outside this week)

Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	Grades 1, 2 & 3	Grades 4 & 5	No Soccer
Mondays	Tuesdays	Wednesday	Thursdays	Fridays

Day	Morning	Afternoon
Mon, Sept 14 Day 3
Tue, Sept 15  Day 4	School Photos
Wed, Sept 16 Day 4	Dot Day	14:40 - 15:30 SEEDS 15:30 - 16:30 Reflection Session
Thu, Sept 17 Day 6	School Photos
Fri, Sept 18	PD Day; No School for students

Future Dates: September 14-17, Gr 3 - 5 MAP testing September 18, Whole School PD Day: Restorative Justice September 18- 21, Long weekend, Respect for the Aged September 22-23, Gr 3 - 5 MAP testing continued October 12, Sports Day (No school, community event; all families invited;  all faculty and staff joining for organization and supervision)

Upcoming Wednesday PD   September 23 - Community Time, Behavior, CPOMS refresher  September 30 - ES Vision/ Writing Curriculum  October 7 - Seeds/ Sports Day