Sexsmith Child Development Centre
9802-93rd Street T0H3C0 Sexsmith, AB, Canada

Cutting paper snowflake patterns

Make sure you drop your Santa letters into our mail box to get a letter back! we have our very own post box inside the store for you.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020: All buses in the southern PWPSD high school attendance areas are cancelled today due to icy roads: Beaverlodge Attendance Area (in...cludes schools in Beaverlodge, Elmworth, Hythe, Wembley) Ridgevalley Attendance Area Sexsmith Attendance Area (includes Sexsmith Secondary School, Robert. W. Zahara School, Teepee Creek School and LaGlace School) Peace Wapiti Attendance Area (includes schools in Grande Prairie, Bezanson, Clairmont and Grovedale) View the cancellations at https://transportation.pwpsd.ca. Please note that the email notification system is not working this morning.

As a busy parent, you need quality child care to help you balance your family and your career. Quality early learning and child care provided by caring, qualifi...ed early childhood educators lets you feel confident that your child is being prepared for the world. Quality doesn’t just happen on its own. In any field, quality is a function of a well-planned, well-funded system. Learn more at https://aecea.ca/quality

Parents/Guardians: Please read the PWPSD Stay at Home Guide for steps to take if your child has symptoms of COVID-19. Key points to remember: Students with s...ymptoms must not attend school. Keep your child at home. Call Health Link 811 or your childs doctor, and fill out the AHS Online Assessment Tool to determine if your child should be tested for COVID-19: https://myhealth.alberta.ca//Pa/COVID-Self-Assessment.aspx Call 911 immediately if your child experiences severe symptoms of COVID-19, including difficulty breathing, severe chest pain, feelings of confusion or loss of consciousness. See more

Dont forget that school is dismissed one-half hour early (2:30 - 2:40) tomorrow because it is the first Monday of the month.

Its that time of the year again....our annual Apple fundraiser....money will be used for our annual craft/supply needs and this year the costs are greater as every child will have their own individual basket of supplies!!! Thank you for your support!!!

Self-regulation is vital for little ones to learn to manage lifes normal ups-and-downs...for concentration, social relationships, and learning. It is a major t...ask for young children to regulate their feelings and behavior consistently https://www.kidsmatter.edu.au//what-every-child-needs-lear . . See more

Children develop self-discipline through the loving "guidance" of caring adults. Little ones dont wake up in the morning thinking "how can I drive the adults i...n my life crazy today?" Self-control and self-discipline are learned behaviors. Children arent born knowing they shouldnt take toys from other children or throw tantrums...Its our job as adults to be patient, help them learn, and set examples through everyday experiences. See more

My sweet educators. Some of you have already been back in the classroom for a week, figuring out your new normal, and some of you are just stepping back in tod...ay, or many even next week. The anticipatory anxiety can be debilitating, topped off (for good measure) with uncertainty, fear, anxiety and nervousness, often leave very little room for hope, optimism, and gratitude. Concerns for safety are top of mind, for your students, but most importantly for yourself. Here are five things I want you to think about this week: 1. Connection and relationship is the only thing that matters 2. Collect before you direct 3. Give yourself grace 4 Find some joy and belly laugh. At least once a day. 5. You will fuck it up, drop the ball, forget your why. None of these things last forever. Now - take this Wednesday on like its your job. And dont take no shit. xo #collectbeforeyoudirect #reconnectionrevolution #drjodycarrington #stepbackin #benicefucker #joyisafuckingchoice #communitylove #educatorsruletheworld #educationiskey #connectioniskey #staylit

Okay folks, school starts this week and we want you to know that we are so very excited for our little people to be back in the building. We know that many of ...you may be nervous about Covid and unsure of the new routines. Please know that we are doing everything that we can to keep your kids safe and happy while they are in our care. The kids get their cues from us. As the adults, we have to be the calm ones (even if we are crumbling a bit inside) to help our kids be positive and excited about this school year. It just might surprise you. See more

Two days until our doors reopen to students and parents and we cant wait!! 2 is also for the number of reusable masks that the provincial government is giving ...every student and staff member. We received our masks on Friday afternoon. Mrs McKeith and Mrs Rorem put them in packages of two and they are ready for distribution. We will be in the drop off loop (in front of the school) starting at 10:30 am on Monday. You can drive through and pick them up. A reminder that all students in grades 4-6 and all adults must have a mask on when they enter the school. We will also have disposable masks available this week for anyone who requires one. If students in K-3 would like to wear masks they are welcome to pick up a package and wear them at school. Yes, you are absolutely able to wear your own masks. Four more days until our first two grades begin school! There are also 4 new names on our RWZ staff list this year. Two of our teachers got married over the summer and changed their names. Miss Lovrod became Mrs. Goodwin and Miss Sunde is now Mrs James. Same great teachers with new names. Congratulations to you both. We also have two new(ish) faces on staff. Miss Mullen will be teaching Grade 2C this year and Mr Toews will be teaching 6B. Miss Mullen is a former RWZ student and SSS graduate. She also did some subbing at our school last year. Mr Toews is also an SSS graduate who completed two rounds of student teaching at RWZ and coached our volleyball program for two years. We are very happy to have these two local kids become part of the RWZ family. A reminder that we have a staggered start to the school year: Tuesday, September 1 - Grades 3 and 6 Wednesday, September 2 - Grades 2 and 5 Thursday, September 3 - Grades 1 and 4 We cant wait to see everyone next week!

This is so true and basically applies to all children before entering school

A reminder to residents that school zones are in effect starting on Tuesday September 1, 2020 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Watch for the Sexsmith Fire Departmen...t and Enforcement Services to be patrolling in these areas. Children will be excited to get back to school and may not be paying attention so please keep an eye out for them. See more

School contact info: http://www.pwsd76.ab.ca/SchoolInfo/Pages/SCInformation.aspx

In order to best meet the needs of our students and staff in starting our school year, we are going to take some lessons from Kindergarten! Because we have a s...ignificant number of new routines around entering and leaving the school, and recess, we want to give our students and staff a chance to practice them with smaller numbers of students. We are going to stagger our starting days so that two grades are in the school for each of the first three days (Sept. 1st - 3rd) and then have all our students attend on the 4th. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause families, but smaller numbers will allow parents to accompany their children into the school on their first day, to meet the teacher and get them settled. We do require that all parents and students in grades 4-6 wear masks when entering the school.

We know you are curious about class lists. We are working on them and will let you know when they are ready. Today is the last day to indicate if you would lik...e to participate in the PWSD online learning option. If you would like more information or would like to pursue that option please call 780 532 8133 today. If your family is participating in another home learning option please contact the school and let us know so our class lists can be as accurate and numbers can be as balanced as possible before school starts.

Deadline is Wednesday to let Naomi from FCSS know whether your child needs a backpack and school supplies. Contact Naomi at 780-568-4345 or [email protected]

Back to school this year is ideal for NO ONE. Not for teachers. Not for parents. Hybrid is not ideal. Virtual is not ideal.... Face-to-face in the midst of a pandemic is not ideal. For every kid who is anxious to get back to the classroom there is another who has anxiety about returning. For every parent who wonders, How am I going to manage this? There is a teacher wondering, How am I going to manage this? Often, a person wears both titles. For every kindergarten parent who is sad that this is how their child will begin their education, there is a parent of a senior who is bummed that this is how their child will end theirs. For every person angry about their child having to wear a mask, there is a person who is petrified their immune compromised family member will get ill. Life has thrown us a huge curve ball. A plot twist if you will. It will not be easy. We will be challenged. We will get frustrated. I hope we rise to the occasion. I hope we help one another. We will all need help. I hope we treat each other with grace. We will all need grace. I hope we realize that at the end of the day, our kids need us to be the light. Set the tone. See the good. Take a really unfortunate situation and do our best to make it okay. For them. For us. - Stephanie Krause

While we are (rightfully) discussing kids going back to school, and the risk that poses teachers, please keep daycare teachers in your thoughts. Daycares are a...lready open. Very young children cant wear masks. Social distancing babies, toddlers and preschoolers is difficult. Kids that age require constant supervision and ratios cannot be broken to do things like extra cleaning. They regularly handle bodily fluids. Daycare teachers are paid criminally little, less than half of board teachers. They work long hours (they teach 8+ hours a day not counting what they do at home.) They are not protected by a union. They do not have fantastic benefits, if they have any. They get very few sick days, if any, and only once they have worked there for a while. They do not get summers or spring break off. They do not get the same respect as board teachers. We should be discussing how unfair it is that no one is thinking about the teachers when we discuss opening schools - but please also advocate for those daycare teachers who dont get a choice, and are at a high risk.

Play is really the work of childhood.

Schools will welcome students back to class for the 2020-21 school year. This means they will reopen under scenario 1 near-normal operations with added healt...h measures in place, including: cleaning surfaces frequently placing hand sanitizers at school entrances and classrooms grouping students in cohorts planning the school day to allow for physical distancing, which could include staggering start times for classes, recesses and lunches To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, all students, staff, parents and school visitors will be expected to check for possible symptoms and health risks daily using a self-screening questionnaire before entering the school. If a COVID-19 case happens, outbreak protocols will be in place to quickly identify and isolate confirmed cases and close contacts. Parents will be notified and public health officials will contact those who were in close contact. School authorities will support students and staff who are required to learn or work from home due to self-isolation. A re-entry toolkit has been developed to help parents and students prepare for the new school year. Learn more about the back to school plan: alberta.ca/returntoschool

The government is announcing their plans for the fall today. Whatever they decide can we please all promise to follow the advice below? I dont think everyone w...ill be unhappy, but we will certainly be uneasy. Our kids are the most important part of this plan. If were okay, then theyll be okay.

I know a few children who would love this place

Some kids are more stirred up by the world around them through their sensory systems. They have an enhanced sensorium meaning the sensory signals can be heighte...ned to varying degrees. Sensory overload is common with some sounds being too loud, smells too powerful, or even touch or tags too much to handle. They can have heightened reactions and emotions, and are often intense and passionate in how they express themselves. There are also many gifts that come with being sensitive too ... To download a copy of this infographic see http://macnamara.ca/downloads/