McKenzie Towne School Parent Association: Key Communiqué

This bulletin comes from the CBE's Communications Advisor and is to be shared with the school council and parent community.

System Orientation Session - Follow Up:

Thank you to all who participated in the webinar. If you missed it you can check it out here. It was a great opportunity to try something new and we hope you found it useful. I am working on getting written answers to a few more questions that were asked using the chat feature, and will post them online next week.

The details for the next System Session are as follows:

When: January 27, 2010
Where: Central Memorial High School
Time: 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:00)

Area Meetings:

Area	Date/Time	Location	Topic
I	TBA	TBA	TBA
II	Thursday, January 21 & Monday April 19 with	Mountview Centre 2004 - 4 Street N.E.	TBA
III	TBA	TBA	TBA
IV	TBA	TBA	TBA
V	TBA	TBA	TBA

Fine Arts Curriculum:

Alberta Education is revising the Fine Arts programs of study. A K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework will provide vision and direction for new programs of study. The draft K–12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework proposes a unified vision for Arts Education in Alberta, across the four arts disciplines from elementary through senior high. It outlines opportunities for learning in, about and through the arts.

Alberta Education has been gathering feedback from interested Albertans and have decided that more time is needed to respond to the draft framework, so the timeline for feedback has been extended to January 31, 2010.

You have the opportunity to add your feedback, suggestions and comments to the online discussion questions here. Two new questions have been added.

Read the Arts Education Fact Sheet or visit the Alberta Education Website for more information.

Stakeholder Consultations on School and Playground Zones:

Alberta Transportation is conducting stakeholder consultations regarding School and Playground Zones. They are proposing to initiate changes to standardize the start and end times for school and playground zones and increase safety across the province by providing consistency for motorists, parents and children.

Click here to see the stakeholder letter from the department that includes their schedule of consultation dates.

Changes to Diploma Exam Dates in January/June 2010:

Click here to see the changes to the Diploma Exam dates, and click here for more information on Diploma Exams from Alberta Education.

Removal of Written Response in Math/Science Diploma Exams:

In Alberta, the mathematics and science diploma exams will no longer include a written component. The exams in these subjects will be composed of multiple choice and numerical response questions. Students in math and science 30 classes this year will be affected by this change.

if you have any questions about this change, you can contact Ken Marcellus, Director of Mathematics and Science Diploma Examinations at (780)427-0010 (toll-free in Alberta) or ken.marcellus@gov.ab.ca.

Key Communicator Steering Committee:

There are some vacancies (Areas I, II & IV) for the Key Communicator Steering Committee this year. We are meeting Friday November 20th for our first meeting of the year to evaluate the System Meeting and help plan the next one in January. If you are interested, please email me for details.

CBE's 125th Anniversary:

On March 2, 2010, the Calgary Board of Education will reach a remarkable milestone as it proudly celebrates the 125th anniversary of its constitution as a public school board.

Throughout the 2009-2010 school year, the CBE will be honouring the significance of the anniversary with a variety of activities.

We invite everyone to celebrate in the way that means most to you. Dust off your fond memories of teachers or students who made a difference in your life, dig out your school year books and take a moment to chuckle at your hair and clothes, tell your children about when you were in school, touch base with the school(s) you attended, or participate in one or more of the activities and check out the 125 Website to keep up-to-date on the activities.

Excellence in Teaching Awards:

Nominations are open for the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Awards.
Albertans are urged to recognize dedicated teachers and principals for the exceptional work they do with K-12 students across the province. Nominations for the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Awards are now being accepted.

A nomination package, including details of eligibility and selection criteria, is available at www.education.alberta.ca by clicking on the “Teachers” tab and then on “Excellence in Teaching Awards.”

Nominations can be submitted to Alberta Education until February 5, 2010.

Registration Forms:

Thank you for submitting your forms. I have received forms from the majority of schools. If you still need to submit yours, here is the form. Please ensure that it is filled out and faxed to 403-294-8172 Attn: Katie.

CAPSC:

CAPSC is Calgary’s city-wide, public school parent association. CAPSC’s primary goal is to keep parents up to date and involved in their children’s education, and to help make individual school’s Parent Councils as effective as possible. CAPSC provides parents with resources, learning and sharing opportunities. They represent parent concerns to the CBE and all levels of government. For more information or to subscribe to their newsletter, visit www.capsc.ca.

School Council Development

School Council Development (SCD) provides workshops and resource materials to assist school councils.

School Council Development provides the following services: