Good Afternoon Families,
We are quickly moving through November. On Friday, teachers spent the day reviewing students’ achievement in reading, writing, and math to assess where they are as learners.

This week you will have the opportunity to speak to your child’s teacher(s) about how they are doing as learners. Parent engagement matters. Parents, guardians, and families are crucial to the academic success of children. Study after study has shown us that student achievement improves when parents play an active role in their children's education, and that good schools become even better schools when parents are involved.

• Students are encouraged to keep an extra set of clothes in their backpacks or bring into keep at school in case they are needed. Over the past couple of weeks we had to phone caregivers to bring in clothing because students’ had accidents or falls outside. Having clothes at school will reduce the likelihood of being called to bring clothing for your child.

• There is a group in our community offering to provide Christmas Dinners to families in need once again this year. Please email jhurley@hrce.ca or call the school at 464-5184 to speak with me. Your name and information will be kept private.  They also appreciate donations for this wonderful cause. If you would like to donate, please email or phone the school.  

• Report Cards will be sent home this week. We are hoping to have them emailed to families by the end of the day Wednesday, however there may be a delay. If you don’t receive your child’s report card, please check the Junk Folder in your email as sometimes that is where it ends up because of spam filters.  

• Parent-Teacher Interviews will take place on Thursday, November 25. There are no classes for students as staff will be participating in professional development in the morning.

• Don’t forget to sign up for Parent-Teacher. The link will be active until Wednesday, November 24th at 1pm. If you are looking to book an appointment with your child’s teacher(s) after this, please contact Mrs. Betts. Interviews are taking place on the afternoon of November 25 between 1pm-3pm and 4pm-6pm. Interviews will only be done over the phone; not using Google Meet as stated in an earlier email. 
You will need to create an account in order to book an appointment time to chat with your child’s teacher(s). Follow the link http://www.parentinterviews.com/gbe or go to the George Bissett homepage and click on the Parent-Teacher Portal Interview link to create an account and book an appointment time. Contact Mrs. Betts in the office if you need assistance booking an appointment.

• We are have a Pancake Lunch for students on the Monday before Christmas Break (December 20). There is an order for Subway setup in Healthy Hunger, however, we are going to cancel it for this day. We are asking families not to sign up for Subway on December 20th. Mrs. Betts has or will be reaching out to families who already placed an order. You can cancel the order by signing into your account. You may choose to get reimbursed or use the money for a future order. If you have any questions, please contact the office.

• We are excited to share with you news about our playground. Our playground is due to be updated next year. In the coming months, I will be working with staff from the Halifax Regional Municipality, HRCE, and SAC to review and plan for the construction of the new playground.

 
• Do you want to receive information from our school and HRCE by text message?

We now have the ability to send information to you by text message. To ensure compliance with Canadian Anti-Spam laws, you must opt-in to receive information by text message.

If you have already opted in – that’s great! You don’t have to read further.

If you haven’t (and would like to), here’s what you need to do:

If you did not receive the opt-in text message on November 16, please call your child’s school to update your contact information in PowerSchool. Any changes are uploaded nightly and reflected the following business day. When your number is added or changed in PowerSchool, you will automatically receive the opt-In message.
If you decide you no longer wish to receive HRCE and school information via text, you can reply to the message with “STOP” or by clicking here.
Parents/guardians can opt-in at any time by texting “Y” or “YES” to 978338. The mobile number MUST also be in PowerSchool.

This text message function WILL include school cancellation notifications.

This text message function will NOT share bus delay information.

Anyone who is NOT a parent/guardian in our system who wishes to receive school cancellations due to inclement weather must opt in via the HRCE website: www.hrce.ca/notifications . This includes staff, students and members of the community.

• Students are reminded to bring in a reusable water bottle.
• Subway lunch takes place on Monday and Little Caesar’s on Wednesday.
• If you are interested in serving as a lunch monitor on a paid or volunteer basis, please call the school at 464-5184 to speak to Mr. Hurley or Mr. Gates.

Have a great week,
Jimmy Hurley
Principal
George Bissett

Important Dates

November
22- First Day of Term 2
22- SAC Monthly Meeting
24 - Report Cards (Home)
25 - PD a.m./Parent Teacher (no classes)

December
20 - Pancake Lunch
21 – Last day of school for 2021

January
4 - First day of School after the holiday break