Superintendent’s Memo · THIS NEWSLETTER? Please send your comments or suggestions to...
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE Superintendent…...................2 Technology ........................... 3 Transportation…………………..4 Around BTPS ........................5 Continued on next page Superintendent’s Memo For the Week of April 13th-17th, 2015 COMMENTS ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER? Please send your comments or suggestions to [email protected] We’d love to hear from you! BUFFALO TRAIL PUBLIC SCHOOLS 1041 10A Street Wainwright, AB T9W 2R4 P: 780.842.6144 F: 780.842.3255 E: central_of[email protected] www.btps.ca Twitter: BTPS#28 MISSION: Buffalo Trail Public Schools is committed to maximizing student learning, in a safe and caring environment, supported by a highly effective team. FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT... Email: [email protected] Answer the queson on page five and have your name entered for a prize! WELCOME BACK! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed your Easter break. The weather towards the laer part of the week was more summer- like than the first part and I hope you had a chance to get out and en- joy the sunshine. As always, coming back aſter Easter is typically the start of the sprint to the end of the school year. With only approxi- mately 45 school days to the first diploma exam, I know that classes will be focused on those things that need to be completed by the end of the school year. We are also just 14 days away from the BTPS Superintendent’s Public Speaking Compeon. We have been in contact with Lakeland Col- lege and are once again excited to be able to use the Alumni Hall Thea- ter for this event. We have been working on an excellent addion to this year’s event. We are a very large jurisdicon and being able to travel to this event to support our peers is costly and challenging. To allow everyone in BTPS to be involved in this event, we are in the midst of making arrangements to broadcast it to all of our classrooms through a Google Hangout. This will change the event as we will move from an audience of what was 50-60 people to one that has the poten- al to be over 4500! Our very talented technology department is work- ing hard to make this happen. Details on how we can all connect and support all the students who are involved in this final compeon will be made available once they are confirmed. I want to express my sin- cere appreciaon to our tech team for their hard work on helping to make this happen! This is a reminder to all schools that the school level compeons need to be completed by April 24 th and the Contestant Submission Form needs to be submied to Jody Wolosiak by 4:30 p.m. that day. This will allow us me to put the program for the day together and send it out. I want to personally thank all school staff for their help and support in making this event happen. I look forward to sharing in your student successes on the 30 th ! On March 26 th , the Alberta Provincial Budget was tabled in the legis- lature by the governing party. The budget saw many changes to the status quo and educaon was not immune to the changes that were proposed.
Transcript of Superintendent’s Memo · THIS NEWSLETTER? Please send your comments or suggestions to...
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Superintendent…...................2
Technology ........................... 3
Transportation…………………..4
Around BTPS ........................5
Continued on next page
Superintendent’s Memo
For the Week of April 13th-17th, 2015
COMMENTS ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER?
Please send your comments or
suggestions to [email protected]
We’d love to hear from you!
BUFFALO TRAIL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
1041 10A Street
Wainwright, AB T9W 2R4
P: 780.842.6144
F: 780.842.3255
www.btps.ca
Twitter: BTPS#28
MISSION: Buffalo Trail Public Schools is committed to maximizing student learning,
in a safe and caring environment, supported by a highly effective team.
FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT...
Email: [email protected]
Answer the question on page five and
have your name
entered for a prize!
WELCOME BACK! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed your Easter break. The weather towards the latter part of the week was more summer-like than the first part and I hope you had a chance to get out and en-joy the sunshine. As always, coming back after Easter is typically the start of the sprint to the end of the school year. With only approxi-mately 45 school days to the first diploma exam, I know that classes will be focused on those things that need to be completed by the end of the school year.
We are also just 14 days away from the BTPS Superintendent’s Public Speaking Competition. We have been in contact with Lakeland Col-lege and are once again excited to be able to use the Alumni Hall Thea-ter for this event. We have been working on an excellent addition to this year’s event. We are a very large jurisdiction and being able to travel to this event to support our peers is costly and challenging. To allow everyone in BTPS to be involved in this event, we are in the midst of making arrangements to broadcast it to all of our classrooms through a Google Hangout. This will change the event as we will move from an audience of what was 50-60 people to one that has the poten-tial to be over 4500! Our very talented technology department is work-ing hard to make this happen. Details on how we can all connect and support all the students who are involved in this final competition will be made available once they are confirmed. I want to express my sin-cere appreciation to our tech team for their hard work on helping to make this happen!
This is a reminder to all schools that the school level competitions need to be completed by April 24th and the Contestant Submission Form needs to be submitted to Jody Wolosiak by 4:30 p.m. that day. This will allow us time to put the program for the day together and send it out. I want to personally thank all school staff for their help and support in making this event happen. I look forward to sharing in your student successes on the 30th!
On March 26th, the Alberta Provincial Budget was tabled in the legis-lature by the governing party. The budget saw many changes to the status quo and education was not immune to the changes that were proposed.
FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT (FROM PAGE 1)
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The winner from
last’s week ??? is
Linda Kjenner @ SOL
Congratulations
Linda!
Thank you to
everyone
who participated.
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While some dollars were provided to address salary increases for some employees, cuts in other areas limit our ability to meet the obligations that we had in other areas without reduction to parts of our operations. We have assessed the impact that this new fiscal situation will have on BTPS and are now working toward solutions to address an overall funding shortfall for the 2015-2016 school year. We will be looking at absolutely every budget line to try to find a way to reduce our costs and minimize the impact on the classroom. Your Board of Trustees has worked very hard every year to try to protect services at the school level. They have often authorized allocations to instruction that exceed the fund-ing provided by cutting where they can in other areas. Our schools have enjoyed the benefit of their commitment. As we continue to see budgets that do not accommodate the rising costs that we are facing, the ability to shield the classroom becomes much more challenging. As in the past, we will be working with our directors and school level leaders to find efficiencies and evaluate everything that we are doing to ensure that we are spending the limited dollars we have on the right things. Once this consultation is complete, we will take the information back to the Board of Trustees with the hopes of being able to present a preliminary budget for their approval in the May meeting. There is no doubt that we will all feel the impact, but our commitment to do what is best for students will help guide us through these difficult decisions.
Take care,
Number Rumble 2015 is a math competition for
students in grades 1-4, in elementary schools all
over Canada. Our mission is to encourage children
to learn math and utilize digital devices in elemen-
tary school.
AROUND BTPS…..
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TECHNOLOGY
Changes happening in the Technology Department: Unfortunately we are preparing to say goodbye to one of our long term department members. Jason Yaremchuk has accepted the position of Director of Technology with the Northern Gateway Public School Division. Jason will start his new duties on July 2nd but will remain in our employ to help transition the depart-ment. I would like to publicly congratulate Jason on his new position and also express my heartfelt thank you for all Jason did for BTPS. Jason put his heart and soul into his position of Network Manager and made a real difference for all of the staff and students in BTPS.
Parents and online Knowledge: Do you have Parent asking you about where they can get information about their students’ online world or how do I make sure the privacy settings are correct on my social media account. A good source to point people to is our web page http://www.btps.ca/Parents%20-%20Links.php At this location we have posted the following;
Web Safety: eParenting guide - Media Smarts website to help parents with Child's online world
Define the Line - Clarifying the Line Between Cyber-Bullying and Responsible Digital Citizenship (McGill University)
Google Safety Center - Google's page to help parents deal with the online world
Understanding Facebook settings - Provided by RCMP to help users with Social Media
Understanding Google+ settings - Provided by RCMP to help users with Social Media
Understanding Twitter settings - Provided by RCMP to help users with Social Media
Understanding LinkedIn settings - Provided by RCMP to help users with Social Media
Helpdesk:
Volume is at normal levels. Remember a ticket is not closed if you feel the problem is not fixed. You can com-ment back to your assigned technician through the ticket. Please continue to contact us with your technical problems using BTPS equipment so we can deploy solutions faster and track problems to become more proac-tive. Reminder: Do not call the main central office switch board as they are not trained to help with technology. Email: [email protected] tech problems [email protected] for PowerSchool PowerTeacher problems Phone: 780-806-2053 Text 780-806-9228 Twitter #btps28 BTTube: new videos this week Remember your asset tag number on all tickets!
The data received from this survey is an essential ‘tool’ used in the planning of professional learning
needs in support of professional learning areas of focus for all jurisdictions served by the L.N.E.S.
This survey is intended to open on Monday April 13, 2015 and will close at the end of the work day
on Friday April 24, 2015.
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1988810/Learning-Network-Educational-Services-Professional-Learning-
Needs-Assessment-Survey
The Learning Network Educational Services Professional Learning Needs Survey 2015–2016
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TRANSPORTATION
REMINDERS:
S ENDORSEMENT COURSE: We will be offering the S Endorsement Course for Bus Drivers from Monday, April 20th - Thursday, April 23rd, 2015 from 5:30pm until 9:30pm at the Central Office in Wainwright. If anyone is interested, please email Valerie Warchola at [email protected] to register.
TRY-A-TRADE:
Please review the Try-A-Trade Schedule below so you can get your permission slips and times out to parents. If you have any questions about the schedule or the bussing, please call Valerie Warchola, Transportation Assistant, at
NEW BELL TIME SCHEDULES:
A reminder to fill in the Google Form with your anticipated arrival and departure bus times for the 2015-2016 school year. https://docs.google.com/a/btps.ca/forms/d/1-nZJ9rRkWzwVizXjPe9WLca-WiMtBZCf3XeOX3M93uk/viewform
Chrysti Mannix
Director of Transportation
Buffalo Trail Public Schools
(780) 806-2051 Office
Who is our
Edwin Parr
nominee?
AROUND BTPS….
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Congratulations Clandonald School!
You're a 24th Annual Emerald Awards Finalist!
Since 1992, the Emerald Awards have recognized and celebrated over 450 finalists and 250 recipients
who have made a significant contribution to preserve, protect and enhance the environment locally,
provincially, nationally and internationally. This year, your project, Warriors of the Rainbow, was
selected by our panel of knowledgeable third-party judges as a finalist in the Education category, plac-
ing you in the running for a 24th Annual Emerald Award. On behalf of the Alberta Emerald Founda-
tion, our supporters and donors, we offer our congratulations.
This is the second year in a row that Clandonald School has been chosen as a finalist. This is all due to
the hard work and persuasiveness of Geralyn McCormack. There will be film crew coming out to do a
short clip of our school that they show at the awards ceremony in Edmonton in June when the win-
ner is announced.
Great work Ms. McCormack!!
Submitted by: Sandra Beres
Edgerton School Science Fair
Grade 7-9 Winners
Submitted by: Cheryl MacIsaac
