New Heights Newsletter
School News
Upcoming Important Dates
February 11th and 12th: PD Days for Staff Convention (no school or ECS classes)

February 15th: All programs closed for Family Day
Indoor Dismissal Days
Thank you to all the parents and guardians who have been working with us as we practice our “indoor dismissal” routine on the very cold days this winter.
When it is below -15 degrees, or when the windchill brings the temperature below -20 degrees, instead of the students lining up for dismissal outside, we let the students stay in their warm classrooms and dismiss them as their rides show up, according to our covid protocols.
Way to Go!
Each month at New Heights there is a Way to Go! draw. To be entered, students have to be “caught” going above and beyond for others.
 
Some examples of this might be: helping out another student to solve a problem, holding the door for others on the way outside, or letting someone else have a turn on a favorite game.
 
Teachers fill out a ticket for the students to drop off in the jar in the office, and each month, Mr Williams and Mrs Newfield pull a ticket from the jar, most likely during the assembly. At the end of the year, all the tickets are put back in the jar for a final mega-draw at the end of June.
 
The winner of the Way to Go! draw in January was Kaysen from Mount Kidd! 
Gala/Silent Auction Update
In April PAC will be hosting this annual fundraiser online.

Although we cannot celebrate in-person we are working hard to make this a fun and successful event.

More details coming soon - stay tuned!
#YouBelongInCHV Art Bench
#YouBelongInCHV Art Bench Program pairs local artists with local non-profits in the diversity and inclusion space to create a piece of functional art to live in the Crescent Heights Village, giving pedestrians a place to rest and people watch along Centre Street while creating awareness and support for the important work the non-profits do every day.

Each bench will have a QR code that points to a page on the Crescent Heights Village website that introduces the artist, explains the piece and describes the diversity and inclusion non-profit with links to donate to their causes.
New Heights School and Learning Services as partnered with a local artist Yiting at Yiting Creatives. This artist has a unique art style which is whimsical as well as eye catching. This project will debut on February 12th to February 14th, with media presence on the initial debut date. We would love to welcome the families from New Heights to see the final product of Yitings creations.

The bench is divided into 3 main sections to represent 3 of the New Heights qualities that Yiting chose and expressed:
 
• Journey (teachers and kids together) 
• Exploration / unlimited potentials within the kids 
• Blossom (teachers prepare the kids and family for their bright future) 

“The bench is a whimsical piece to celebrate the exploration process and the bright future for the kids. The idea is to make a piece that gives an uplifting energy - like a box full of colours waiting to be exploded - to represent the potentials within the children waiting to be explored and discovered. 

Mountains and pathways represent the teachers and kids walk together through ups and downs, they create a community together – it is where trust and love are built. Through walking together, staff prepare the children to explore their unlimited potential within themselves; the universe represents the unlimited possibilities. The children can be their own “star-catcher” to catch and discover their “potential” and go far with it. Kids dressed in animal costumes symbolize the children’s uniqueness, their interests and qualities - to be who they truly are and who they love to be cheerfully. With the guidance today, the children will be able to blossom beautifully and confidently tomorrow!”
Changes in the Administration Office
Our Assistant Principal, Kate Newfield, will be heading out on maternity leave at the end of February. We are going to miss her, but are excited for her to grow her family. Congrats Kate!  
Kim Brocanier will be covering the assistant principal position during Kate’s leave, joining principal Katie Blasetti on the New Heights school administration team.

Kim is a familiar face for many of our staff, students and families. She has been a teacher with New Heights for many years, as well as covered the Transition to Adulthood Coordinator position last year during Jen’s maternity leave.
Kim will be joining us onsite as of February 16th, 2021.
More Masks from Alberta Education
Alberta Education has sent a limited number of child sized face masks and youth/adult sized face masks for students and staff who may need to refresh their supply.

We still have a limited number of each size in stock. If your student requires a new mask, please send an email to info@newheightscalgary.com. They will be first come, first served until our supply runs out.

The child sized masks are the same Old Navy ones we received in September.

The youth/adult sized masks are different this time, using a t-shirt like material. Our SLP Jasmine is modelling this new design in the photo below.
Tech Spot
Featured App: Libby, by Overdrive
New Heights will be participating in a free pilot of Read&Write and EquatIO over the next six weeks. Teachers & Students will have access to both these programs via their school GSuite Accounts.

Read & Write is a software tool bar that offers literacy support features that can help students to create and engage with content at any grade level. Some of these features include reading text out loud, understanding unfamiliar words, researching projects, and proofing written assignments.

EquatIO allows you to do things such as create mathematical equations, and formulas directly on your computer. You can dictate, handwrite or type any math sentence and EquatIO will transform it into accurate digital math.

Below are links to a couple of videos on how these work.

Read&Write

Equatio
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