Hello Parents and Guardians,
Wow, we are in the final few days before Spring Break. It is lovely to see the warmer weather and lighter evenings. There is lots of information below with some key info about upcoming school dates and PAC events. There will be one more e-mail coming from me this week that will outline how to access your child(s) online report card. Please watch your inboxes.
With thanks,
Sarah Winkler
Principal, George Jay Elementary
SPRING BREAK
Don’t forget that this Friday is the last day before Spring Break. Students are not in session from March 20 – 31st. We look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday, April 3rd.
STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES
Save the date: Wednesday, April 19th from 3:30 – 5:00 pm will be our Student Led Conferences for this year. Families are welcome to come anytime between 3:30 and 5:00 pm and visit their classroom and see some of the learning your child is doing and then visit some other learning spaces in our school.
SPRING MUSICAL
Save the date: Thursday, May 11th at 1:30 pm and 6:00 pm we are hosting our Spring Musical. Ticket info will come out closer to the event. We hope that all students can be here to perform and showcase all of their hard work.
RUN CLUB
Run Club is back and practices will be, Tuesday mornings starting April 4th until April 25th from 8:10 until 8:40 a.m. Permission forms will be coming home this week.
If you would like to come out and support our runners, we would love additional volunteers. Typically, the four corners of our school have at least one adult – more are always welcome to cheer on students. We also have volunteers with a stop sign if front of the staff parking lot for safety. We always appreciate people at the basketball court and side gate on Queens street cheering on the runners as they run their laps.
The 34th TC 10K & Thrifty Foods Family Fun Run 1.5K will be on Sunday, April 30th. To join the “George Jay Elementary” school team please sign up at the link below. Register for a “team” then search for, and select “George Jay Elementary”. School teams get a discounted fee of $59 for the TC10K and the 1.5K Thrifty Foods Family Fun Run is a $25 registration fee. We have confirmed that students under 12 are able to run the TC10K however they need to be accompanied by an adult. In addition, if your child is participating in the Thrifty Food’s Family Fun Run 1.5K a parent/guardian does not need to pay an additional fee they only need to register. https://www.runsport.ca/2023-tc10k
More information will follow for those that are registered for either race however if you have any questions please contact Lila at llund@sd61.bc.ca
Happy Running!
FRANCO FEST
The Société francophone de Victoria is inviting all members of the community to their annual FRANCO FEST. This festival celebrates francophone cultures through a range of community activities and events. For more information, see the posters attached or check out the festival at https://www.sfvictoria.ca/en/our-activities/.
UPDATE FROM THE PAC
Help Wanted
We have some awesome events coming up, and we can’t do it without you! Can you help out with any of these events? Please let us know.
- GJ Wake Up the Garden Work Party (Monday, March 20th) – come between 1:30 and 3:30pm to help wake up the school garden spreading wood chips and compost. Please reach out to georgejaypacsec@gmail.com if you’re able to help out!
- Spring Fling Dance (April 14th) – we’re looking for volunteers to help with planning, with set-up/decoration, to be at the door during the event, to help sell pizza and juice boxes and to help with the bake sale – organizing, baking (or bringing something from the grocery store), or selling goods at the event. Please reach out to georgejaypacsec@gmail.com if you’re able to help out!
- Silent Auction Fundraiser (April 11th to 21st) – are you able or do you know a business that might be able to donate an item or service towards our silent auction fundraiser? Are you able to help reach out to local businesses? Donations of services (cleaning, babysitting, etc.) also accepted. Please contact Roberta at gjpactreasurer@gmail.com if you can help!
- Pizza Day #2 (May 3rd) – we need volunteers to come to the school at lunch time and help distribute pizzas to classrooms. There is a very short window of time in which to get the pizza to the kids, so the more hands the better, and this is a pretty quick commitment. Please reach out to Kim at georgejayfunlunch@gmail.com with any questions or if you’re able to help out!
- Movie Night (May 18th) – Our last movie night of the year! We’re looking for a couple people to help sell pizza and juice boxes – it’s fairly busy from about 5:30pm to 6:00pm, then slows down quite a bit once everyone has eaten.
Nominations
Nominations for next year’s PAC Exec will be open starting at our next PAC meeting. No experience necessary – please reach out to georgejaypacsec@gmail.com if you’re interested in learning more about the available roles and time commitments needed. Happy to chat, no pressure if you decide it’s not for you.
Thanks,
Kendall Salahub
Secretary | George Jay School PAC
Cobbs Bread
I am excited to share that we have a member of our community is able to pick up Cobbs Bread again and we welcome anyone who is interested to come to the gym on Thursday morning to help bag bread. Bread will be available for families to pick up at our main entrance on Princess before or after school.
Parking / Driving around our school
As the weather starts to turn we are seeing more traffic around our school. Please help us keep our community safe by being aware of little people moving and others on the road. We recently had a car U-turn on Princess Avenue and almost strike a bike. Thank you for taking a little extra care around of school to keep us all safe.
SFAF (Student and Family Affordability Fund)
This year the Provincial Government gave school districts funds to support our families as we see inflation rise. Here at George Jay our team has met and we are moving forward with the following initiatives to support you in these tough economic times. For more information on the provincial SFAF please click here.
Family Breakfast
Starting, November 25th we will be hosting Family Breakfast every Friday morning for the remainder of the school year. Families are welcome to attend and enjoy a hot breakfast, no cell phones, please. Individual students are also welcome to attend. If you plan to attend Family Breakfast please let us know at this link. Drop-ins are also most welcome.
Lunch Program
Our lunch program is currently a needs-based program. For the remainder of this school year only, we are extending this program to any family who would find the extra support of not buying lunch to all of our students. Students must complete a registration form each month and these can be picked up from our office. Please note it is not because you don’t want to make lunch each day.
Field Trips
For the remainder of this school year, all of our permission forms for Field trips will come with a box you can check to have the SFAF pay the fees associated with that field trip.
Fruit and Veggie Program
Currently, in partnership with the PAC we provide fresh fruit, and healthy snacks to each of our classrooms for students to access if they are hungry. We are going to grow this program to bring even more healthy snacks into each classroom.
Wishing you all well.
Calendar: Never miss an update again. If you go to this link and click add calendar at the bottom of the calendar it will add to your device. This calendar will include Pro D days, early dismissal, sports, and PAC events.
Upcoming Important Dates
March
March 15 – Strings Performance at 2 pm
March 16 – Bread Morning
March 17 – Spirit day – wear green to celebrate all things St. Patrick’s day
March 17 – Family Breakfast
March 17 – Report cards Home
March 18 – April 2 – Spring Break
April
April 3 – First day back for all students after spring break
April 3 and 4 – Kindergarten Hearing and Dental Screening with Island Health
April 7 – Good Friday – no school today
April 10 – Easter Monday – no school today
April 11 – PAC Event – Silent Auction Starts
April 13 – Bread Morning
April 14 – Family Breakfast
April 14 – PAC Event – Spring Dance
April 19 – Student Led Conferences from 3:30 – 5:00 pm
April 21 – PAC Event – Silent Auction Ends
April 24 – 28 Literacy Week