GORDON HAPPENINGS
I cannot believe that we only have a few weeks left of school. I am sending this out a little early as we have a number of events and activities happening. Our last Spirit Day is Beach Day on June 14. Huge thank you to our Student Council who has done an amazing job this year bringing spirit to our school community! Thank you to Ms. Ubeda and Ms. Parr for sponsoring this club!
School Calendar 2023-24 – please visit our website to download the school calendar for 2023-24. This calendar includes our school professional development days when school is not in session for students as well as early dismissal dates for student/parent conferences.
Grade 7 Farewell. Grade 7 Farewell will be held on Thursday, June 22 at 1:30 pm. Grade 7 families will be receiving additional information with more details shortly. A notice will be going home next week.
Are you moving? We are asking families to reach out to the office if you know you will not be attending Gordon in the Fall. It is very helpful for us to know before September if you are leaving Gordon so we can offer a space for those families on our waitlist.
The last day of school for all students is on Thursday, June 29. This is a full day; school will be in session from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. Communicating Student Learning (CSL) Year End written reports will go home on this day as well. If your family will be leaving school early, we will hold the report card to be picked up in September. We are not able to mail report cards or give them to anyone but the legal parent or guardian of the student.
Walk & Wheel Event – May 29 – June 2
Monday marks the start of our Walk & Wheel Event. All students are encouraged to use the power of their own feet to either Walk or Wheel to school, so that means bikes, trikes and scooters and maybe even a skateboard! Please remember to equip your child with a proper fitting helmet and a bike lock. Thank you to our parent volunteers who will be helping with this event. We will be having random prize draws for some great prizes that promote active transport to school.
It is not too late to help! Please click on the link below to sign-up. We really appreciate the support from our Gordon PAC.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f45adac2ca0f4c34-walk
Bike Parking – if we have more bikes than our bike racks can accommodate, then we will use the inside of the fence on the gravel field to lock bikes on. Parent volunteers will be helping direct traffic.
Scooter Parking – we will use the front hallway outside the gym to park scooters. Please park your scooter by your division sign.
Bike Bus – Hop on your bike, or any other mode of active transportation – every day, rain or shine during the week of Walk and Wheel – and join us:
North Route Bike Bus will leave Tatlow Park at 8:45 am
East Route Bike Bus will leave Kits Neighbourhood House at 8:40 am
Riders are welcome join from any corner along 8th Ave after 8:40 am
Please arrive a few minutes early. Parents/caregivers of younger students should accompany their kids. Older students are welcome to join on their own as long as they are comfortable riding on the road. Please visit the Gordon PAC website for more information. Also, join us on Friday before school to celebrate our active transport to school with coffee provided by the PAC.
Remember, you do not have to have a bike or scooter. Our amazing feet can take us anywhere we want to go, and it doesn’t cost us anything! Please park 5 minutes away and walk to school. The exercise will have a lasting effect on your child’s readiness to learn and creates healthy habits.
We also ask that parents and caregivers follow the no parking signs and the rules of the road. There might be VPD traffic officers or City Bylaw officials out to enforce our city bylaws and traffic laws. Dropping students off on the opposite side of the street and having them walk across in-between cars or doing U-turns in alleyways or in cross walks are just a few examples of driving habits that endanger our students. Please take those extra few minutes to circle the block and drop your child off on the right side of the street so they can exit the car safety. We really appreciate your support in keeping our children safe!
Spring Fling
Looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday, May 28 at the Spring Fling. Visit the Gordon PAC website for all the information. Huge thank you to the Gordon PAC and all the volunteers who have made this happen!
Sports Day – Friday, June 9
Sports Day will be held on June 9 from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Your child will participate in fun and silly activities with their classes between 9:15 am – 11:30 am. Students will then have lunch in their classrooms followed by their regular outside play from 12:05 – 12:52 pm. We will meet outside again for Grade Races and the Grade 7 Teachers water balloon toss. Sports Day should end around 2pm. If you are planning on taking your child out of school early that day, please let your child’s classroom teacher and the office know prior to June 9. Your child’s teacher will assign your child a team colour. Please send your child ready to be outside for most of the day with a hat, water bottle and sunscreen. Parents and family members are welcome to watch on the sidelines. Thank you to the PAC for providing a treat for the students on the day.
PRIDE Month & National Indigenous History Month
Congratulations to our SOGI Club for facilitating several activities for our school community. They raised over $700 for Rainbow Refugee. This month is PRIDE month and there will be some activities happening around the school. Special thank you to Mr. Nylund and Ms. Poon for all their leadership and dedication.
- Rainbow Week – June 12-16 (each grade level will be given a colour in the Pride Flag and will be encouraged to wear that colour all week).
Teachers are continuing to embrace the teachings of Indigenous history, culture and principles of learning on our path towards truth and reconciliation. The Canadian Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has a number of great resources on their website.
Message from our Librarian, Ms. Macdonald
Hi Gordon Community! As we approach the end of the school year, we need to begin gathering all the library books back. All student books are due back on June 8. I will begin sending out notices around that time that will include any books still checked out, and any fees from lost books that may have been incurred during the year. Please have a look at the notices and support your kids in collecting and returning books. Any payments that need to be made can be in cash or cheque made out to the school, and can be delivered to me in the library. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if there is any confusion about the notices going home.
Thanks for your help!
Ms Macdonald
RBC Race of the Kids – Sunday, June 11
Mr. Carter and Division 4 would like to extend our sincerest thanks to the school community in helping us achieve an outstanding 10K in donations towards the BC Children’s Hospital. Over the past three months, students at General Gordon have cultivated an enthusiasm for participating in this years RBC Race for the Kids, raising money for the BC Children’s Hospital and assisting them in the research of childhood cancers and mental health initiatives.
We could not have accomplished this without the support of this terrific school community, so from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you. Not enough can be said about how gracious our school community is. I will be sad to say goodbye in a few weeks.
Grateful,
Mr. Carter
You can still join our team, The General Gordon Penguins, here:
https://fundraise.bcchf.ca/join/GeneralGordonPenguins
When prompted, enter our team passcode “gordon2023” to proceed to the sign-up site. When selecting which team you’ll join, you will have to scroll down to find Gordon, even if it already says our team in that section!