Dear REDFISH Families,

Happy March! The February 29 quadrennial ended wet and rainy at REDFISH as winter staged a comeback higher up in the mountains around the province. I sincerely hope that you and your family are out there somewhere this weekend enjoying the proverbial mixed bag (i.e. ‘all seasons in one day’) kind of weather that late winter can bring.   

As we look ahead to our final two weeks of school heading into spring break, here are some important updates and housekeeping items for your attention, perusal, and follow-up…

SWIMMING + WATER SAFETY EDUCATION DAYS

This morning, REDFISH successfully completed its fourth and final Swimming and Water Safety Education session at the NDCC. I can honestly say that the experience exceeded my initial expectations from a couple of months ago when I first sat down to work out logistics around taking almost 100 students, half a dozen staff, and 10+ parent volunteers to the pool. Thanks again to our REDFISH + SD8 Transportation staff, our parent volunteers, our RPAC, and the NDCC/RDCK for all the support! Our school community is healthier, happier, and stronger because of your efforts.

2024/2025 ENROLMENT SURVEY

Calling all REDFISH families! Please take a moment this week to complete the extremely short, but important, online survey (i.e. one survey per student) attached to the parent email as we continue to prepare for the 2024/2025 school year. Thank you for your ongoing help!

T2 LEARNING UPDATES (MyED Parent Portal)

As previously mentioned, REDFISH is going paperless for its next set of learning updates which are scheduled to be uploaded to the MyEducationBC platform on Friday, March 8, 2024. As we head towards and prepare for this date, please take a moment to ensure that you are able to access and log in to your MyED Parent Portal account.

Please note that we have added a MyED parent letter and a new page on our school website for additional information, instructions, and support if needed. Please reach out to clerical.red@sd8.bc.ca if you are having any difficulties beyond what is covered in these resources.

PINK SHIRT DAY

At the conclusion of our Pink Shirt Day assembly this past Wednesday, our school community was led by a touching rendition of Bill Withers’s “Lean on Me” from our K/1 class with the support of our very own REDFISH Music Teacher, Ms. Keraiff. The assembly afforded a timely opportunity to connect the important themes of kindness, respect, and understanding across all our various meeting points, assemblies, and school events throughout the year so far.

ROBIN HOOD VISITS REDFISH (March 13+14, 2024 @ 6PM)

Homeroom 5’s class production of Robin Hood will be coming to the GYM stage at REDFISH on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 and Thursday, March 14, 2024 with a 6PM showtime on both evenings. Admission will be by donation and will help support Homeroom 5’s class trip to Fort Steele in June 2024. Please mark your calendars!

GLASS CONTAINERS

At REDFISH, we understand the rationale behind choosing glass over plastic for food storage. That said, we want to let families know that we have had a few glass containers break at school over the past couple of weeks. Please keep this in mind as you are preparing and packaging lunches and snacks for your kiddos.

REDFISH PAC EMAIL

Your REDFISH PAC (RPAC) is looking for help. Please refer to last week’s email from RPAC Chair, Chris Goggins, for more details. If you would like to be added to RPAC’s email list, or are interested in helping out by taking on a role with the RPAC Executive, please reach out to Chris directly at redfishpac@gmail.com.

UPCOMING DATES

MARCH 8 (T2 Learning Updates Published in MyED)

MARCH 11 (School Assembly – Secwépemc Dancer)

MARCH 13+14 (Robin Hood Production | 6 – 7 PM)

MARCH 14 (REDFISH Fire Drill # 4)

MARCH 16 – APRIL 1 (Spring Break | SD8 Schools Closed)

Take care!

Mark Bonikowsky | Principal

REDFISH Elementary School (SD8)