Dear William Reid families,
It has been a wonderful first full week of learning at William Reid! Students are settling back into the routines of school, reconnecting with friends, and diving into their learning. Already, we see students working closely with their teachers, building strong peer relationships, and developing their skills in areas such as letter sounds, reading, and math.
Our students are curious, thoughtful, and full of questions. One student surprised me over the lunch hour by asking, “What is the meaning of life?” After pausing, I turned the question back to them—and in that moment, I was reminded of why we come to school: to ask big questions, to develop new skills, and to learn how we can support one another in growing and succeeding.
What a fantastic way to begin the year.
Upcoming Dates and Events
Sept 22 Fall Picture Day
Sept 24 Terry Fox Run 11am (parents welcome – See # 8 below) )
Sept 25 Healthy Hunger – Subway (Parents must order- See #5 below)
Sept 25 Fall Fling / Meet the Teacher 5-7pm (See #4 below)
Sept 26 Orange Shirt Day
Sept 29 Non-Instructional Day - No students
Sept 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – School Closed Oct 22 Retake – Photo/Picture
Oct 25 Oktoberfest, save the date (evening event – See #3 below)
Event Details for your Information
1. School Picture Day
- September 22 is Photo Day. Please add this important date to your calendar.
2. Demographic Forms
- Demographic Forms are due by September 19 by every student, please complete all forms on MyCBE under online forms.
3. School Council
- Attend Parent Council meetings. Held the second Tuesday of every school month (except December), the next meeting is this Tuesday, October 14 @ 7PM. Everyone is welcome! Learn more about the meetings on the school website
- Volunteer. Parent Council is responsible for organizing a number of special activities throughout the school year. Every year we have turnover on our organizing committees, which provides an opportunity for new, enthusiastic parent volunteers to lend us their talents. We have open positions including Parent Council Chair, President Parent Society, VP Parent Society, Library volunteers, Naturalization volunteers, 2026 Casino organizer
- Be part of Oktoberfest Saturday, October 25. More details to be shared in the coming weeks - William Reid's biennial Oktoberfest raises raise needed funds to support our amazing school and staff! Oktoberfest is this year's ONLY fundraising event organized by William Reid School parents that supports the school. Please visit https://oktoberfestyyc.wixsite.com/2025 for details and if you would like to join the planning committee, please email WilliamReidOktoberfest@gmail.com with the subject line "VOLUNTEER".
Without the support of parent volunteers, the events and initiatives we organize are not be possible. Thank you in advance for your support.
4. FALL FLING/ Meet the Teacher: September 25 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Join us for Fall Fling on Thursday September 25 from 5-7pm. William Reid's annual fall festivities and picnic party to kick the school year off is back! Bring the family, picnic gear and your dancing shoes and mix and mingle with our school community! All family members are welcome to join the fun including a DJ dance party, food trucks, hula hoops, bubbles, treats and soccer games. See the attached poster for details. Events like these are made possible by parent volunteers - please sign up here to help out!
Meet the Teacher will run concurrently with the Fall Fling Event. This year, time will be organized during the evening to hear from your student’s teacher. More specific details will be provided in next week’s William’s Weekly. We would like to remind everyone that it is still early in the year and with the constraints of the evening, in-depth conversations about your student's unique learning needs would be better suited at another time. We look forward to connecting with our school community in two weeks.
5. Healthy Hunger
We are pleased to continue to bring Healthy Hunger Special Lunches to William Reid for the Grade 1-4 classes and Seeds of Spice children!
We will be having our FIRST special lunch on SEPTEMBER 25. All orders must be entered by Friday, September 20. Ordering and payment is done by going to the Healthy Hunger website: https://healthyhunger.ca/
Here's how it works:
- Login into https://healthyhunger.ca
- Create a profile for your student(s) by selecting ‘Add Student’ and entering their details and school name and select their teacher.
- Place orders and pay online. You can place orders for the whole year at one time if you choose.
- All orders will close 5 days before the date of the lunch so you must place your order before then.
*Please note that these special lunches are available only to Grades 1 - 4 students and Seeds of Spice children due to the delivery time for the lunches. All information is on our William Reid School website here.
6. Healthy Hunger Special Lunch Volunteers
We are asking for three parent volunteers each month to come help distribute the special lunches to each classroom. Lunch time for all classes is from 11:35am to 11:55am. The time expected for parent volunteers is from 11:10am to approximately 12pm.
Please click on the Sign-Up Genius link below to view the volunteer sign up for each month.
Healthy Hunger Volunteer Sign Up
7. Oktoberfest Fundraiser
Save the Date – Saturday October 25 at Last Best Brewing (607 11th AVE SW)
The William Reid School Fundraising Society holds a fundraiser every two years called Oktoberfest. This is a fun event consisting of: an evening out; a silent auction that is hosted online and a live auction held during the evening. In the past, this event has raised in the neighborhood of $20 000 for the school. These funds go directly to the school, and this is the only event that the Fundraising Society hosts for the year to generate funds
8. Terry Fox Run
Our Terry Fox school run will be taking place on Wednesday, September 24. To celebrate the 45th anniversary, our fundraising goal is $4,500. Please visit the link to visit our school page and make donations in support of Cancer research in Canada. Fundraising update – currently we have raised $175.00. Thank you to all who have donated.
https://schools.terryfox.ca/98366
9. Early Years Assessments
Universal screeners are assessments that measure a learner’s proficiency in different skills. In the Calgary Board of Education, teachers administer mandatory literacy and numeracy screening assessments in Grade 1- 3. These screening assessments will be completed with students from September 15 to October 3. If you would like to read about these screening assessments, please click on this link: Understanding Universal Screeners
10. Schedule/Calendar
Please remember that you can access our school calendar at any time on our website. The website will always be updated and will have the most current and reliable information.
Time Saving Parent Hack: You can download or subscribe to the calendar by scrolling down the calendar page, and below the filters on the left side are download and subscribe buttons!For those parents who are interested in monitoring the progress of the bus as it transports your child there is an app called MyBusStop. Click here to find more information. The code for William Reid School is: CBEG4ZA09R
11. French for Parents – Level 1
Chinook Learning Services offers courses specifically designed for parents, support staff and caregivers of CBE French Immersion students. For Fall 2024, Chinook Learning Services is once again offering French for Parents – Level 1 classes at Georges P. Vanier School. This eight-week course will help parents of bilingual students learn or refresh their French language skills, build their network of bilingual parents, and support their children’s learning at home. Here is the link on the Chinook Learning Services website: French for Parents - Level 1Here is the link for the course content: Course Outline - French for Parents - Level 1
Ongoing Fundraising Links
We have several ongoing ways that parents can contribute to our school financially throughout the year.
Financial Donations:
https://www.educationmatters.ca/project-matters/william-reid-school/
Bottle Drive:
Manchester Bottle Depot – 410 – 38aAve SE – Donate your bottles here for William Reid School
If you return your empty bottles to the Depot mentioned above and let them know that you would like your refund to be donated to the William Reid, the funds will come directly to the school.
Kind Regards, Kenzie Rushton
Principal | École William Reid School
"To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world."
- Chinese Proverb