École Qayqayt Elementary School

January 2021 Principal Karen Catherwood

Vice Principal Nadia Young

Principal’s News

Dear Families and Friends,

First let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a healthy and safe 2021!

Since our return to school for the New Year, the staff and students are quickly

settling into their usual classroom routine.

Looking back, the weather was not the greatest for our Jingle Jog on December

11th, but the students walked and ran carefully showing off their red, white

and green as well as their Santa Hats, Reindeer Antlers, Holiday shirts and

Jingle Bells.

As with other events this year, we were not able to hold our Christmas

Concert, so we had to think outside the box. I would like to thank Mrs. Leigh,

Mrs. Young, the staff and students for all the work that went into each class

being able to share a Holiday Song/Video with their families.

December also brought about traffic changes to Agnes Street and Merivale Street. Please remember Agnes St. is now one-way westbound for motor vehicles from Merivale St. to Sixth St. with a new bike lane on the sound side, and the access to Merivale St from Royal Ave eastbound is now closed. We have had the help of the City and Police this week as we adjust to the changes. We are asking that you do not:

double park

drive into the area off of Agnes by the garbage area

park in the bus stop or laneways/parking spots by apartment buildings off of Cunningham blocking traffic flow or residents from leaving.

We need to be patient and kind to each other making sure we are keeping everyone safe and setting a good example for the children.

This term will be very busy inside and outside of the classroom and I

encourage you to read this newsletter, read notices from your child’s teacher,

check out the School District website, the PAC website and continue to

monitor your email for information from the school.

As always, your support at home is appreciated and if you have comments,

concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Karen Catherwood

Upcoming Events in

January

Jan. 13- PAC mtg.

@ 7:00 p.m.- Zoom

Jan. 19-

Collaboration

Day- Early

Dismissal @ 12:24

p.m.

Jan. 25-Feb. 5-

Rhythm Resource

(Drumming

Classes)

École Qayqayt Elementary

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Registration for 2021-2022 School Year

The regular registration process for the school year beginning in September 2021 will be open

from Monday January 11 to Friday March 12.

All applications received after March 12th will be placed at a school within the District, as

space permits. Efforts will be made to place your child in the appropriate catchment school, but

where full schools or individual grades may be at capacity, placement at an alternative school

may be required.

New Westminster Schools has now moved to a centralized registration process that will operate

out of the new Welcome Centre, located at the brand new New Westminster Secondary School:

820 Sixth Street, New Westminster.

The new registration process (with new COVID-19 protocols in place) will include:

Parents must complete the intent to register online form.

The Registration team will phone you to walk through the requirements and determine whether:

You have access to printers and are comfortable enough with the process to complete your

application, so that you can use the contactless drop system in the new Welcome Centre

or whether you require an appointment to come into the Welcome Centre for more assistance.

Please note: due to COVID-19 protocols, no drop-in appointments are available.

If you have challenges accessing the form, or have other questions, please call 604.517.6200 or

email registrations@sd40.bc.ca.

In order to complete your registration, you will need to complete the following

form: Registration form and provide some combination of the documents listed in the new

Registration: A document guide for parents & caregivers sheet (coming soon).

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE!

https://qayqaytschool.ca/

École Qayqayt Elementary

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Outdoor Learning Space

As was announced in November Qayqayt was fortunate to be allocated the funding for a

permanent structure which will be located behind the basketball court. They are working

hard at getting our Learning Space ready for us.

Wash Cart

Over the holidays our district maintenance crew were busy putting in a full service washroom

for our portable classrooms. We hope that the washrooms will be in service soon.

École Qayqayt Elementary

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PAC January Update

Hello everyone!

Our PAC meeting is cancelled for December. The next PAC meeting will be Wednesday, January 13th at 7

pm. A Zoom link will be made available closer to the meeting date. We are hoping that you are able to join

us. In the meantime, please read about some of the activities we are doing to raise funds for the school.

PAC Fundraising Order

Here are the instructions on how to get started for online ordering:

Go to qayqaytpac.hotlunches.net and click on “Click Here to Register”. Enter access code

Qayqayt2020. Complete the rest of the registration form. (Including your email address will ensure

you receive reminder emails about hot lunch order deadlines, and your child’s hot lunch order for the

upcoming week). Click the “Register Now” button at the bottom. Follow the instructions to add each

child in your family who attends Qayqayt. Once your child(ren) are registered, click on “Orders”.

Proceed to order fundraising for your child(ren).

PayPal: The PAC only accept fundraising order payments through PayPal (www.paypal.com). No

cheque or cash payments will be accepted at any time. You can pay with a credit card as a PayPal

guest or set up your own PayPal account.

PAC Fundraiser - Spirit Wear

Facemasks

Help keep your friends and family safe while

rocking a rad Qayqayt Wolves face masks! Adult

and kid sizes available, $10 each.

PAC Fundraiser- Labels

École Qayqayt Elementary

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Upcoming Events in

February

Jan. 25-Feb. 5-

Rhythm Resource

(Drumming

Classes)

Feb. 10- PAC

mtg. @ 7:00 p.m.-

Zoom

Feb. 15- Family

Day (no school)

Feb. 16- Non-

Instructional Day

(no school for

students)

Feb. 24- Pink

Shirt Day

Feb. 26- Jump

Rope for Heart

January SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT

1 2

3 4 First Day of School after Christmas Break

5

6

7

8

9

10 11

12

13 PAC mtg @ 7:00 p.m. via Zoom

14

15

16

17 18

19 Collaboration Day- Early Dismissal @ 12:24 p.m.

20

21

22

23

24 25 Rhythm Resource Drumming classes start until February 5

26 27

28

29

30

31

Rhythm Resource- All the students in our school will begin drumming

lessons starting January 25th. You should have received an email from School Cash

Online asking for $4 to help fund this program. The PAC and Qayqayt will also be

contributing money toward this fantastic opportunity.

All lessons will be taking place in the gym one class at a time following strict COVID

protocol.

École Qayqayt Elementary

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École Qayqayt

Elementary

School

85 Merivale St

New Westminster, BC

V3L 0G2

Phone: 604.517.6050

Email: qayqayt@sd40.bc.ca

All Newcomer Immigrant and Refugee Families:

What is the role of the Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS)?

Settlement Workers are stationed in schools to provide information and services

for newcomer families and youth. SWIS Workers are employed by MOSAIC. We

serve students of New Westminster School District (SD 40) and their families

with Permanent Resident status. We assist newcomer students and their

families to adapt to life in Canada through 1-on-1 consultations, workshops for

children, parents, grandparents, field trips, volunteering opportunities for adults

and youth, and leadership training for youth.

SERVICE Languages: English, Chinese, Farsi, Dari, Korean, Tagalog, Turkish and

more.

Contact: Alin Arakelian (SWIS Worker) aarakelian@mosaicbc.ca 778-773-2328

RAINY/SNOWY DAYS:

Occasionally we have a few days where the weather is poor enough to

call for an inside/outside decision.

Inclement Days: New Westminster is in the West Coast Rainforest.

Learning and health require students to be outside and move. Imagine

sitting in a class all day, breathing in the same air. Imagine how difficult it

is to learn after a lunchtime of sitting inside.

We need your help-please stay aware of the weather and dress your

children for any possibility.

Occasionally, in the winter, there may be the odd day where the weather

is so bad that no one can go outside. On these few days students will be

kept inside. Typically, however, most days when it is raining and wet,

students will be outside.

On snowy days, please dress your children for being out in the snow.

Jackets, hats, gloves and boots are a necessity to keep students dry

when playing in the snow. We also request that students bring

indoor shoes so that when they are indoors they do not have to wear

their wet boots. You may want to send an extra pair of socks for your

child to change into in the event of wet feet.

Check us out on the web!

https://qayqaytschool.ca

Follow us on Twitter:

@QayqaytElem