Good afternoon Balmoral families,

Thank you to all parents who volunteered at our school casino this week. These events raise over $70,000 for the school to use on high-cost items such as technology and residencies for students. We are grateful for your time and effort in supporting our school with this important fundraiser. All of our school volunteers contribute to a strong and united school community, and have a positive impact on all students at Balmoral. We appreciate you!

Balmoral School Recognized for Energy Efficiency

Balmoral School was selected as the Top Performing K-12 School Property by The City of Calgary BenchmarkYYC Program. Built in 1913, the school is one of the oldest buildings in the CBE portfolio. Its thick sandstone walls together with some targeted insulation and building envelope upgrades have contributed to its high overall energy efficiency.

The award plaque will be mounted in Balmoral School as a reminder of CBE’s continued commitment to the environment models and leadership in contributing to a sustainable future.

The first annual Building Energy Benchmarking Awards were presented on Oct. 26, 2023, during the 2023 Calgary Climate Symposium in partnership with the Alberta Emerald Foundation. For more information, please click here.

Balmoral Annual Holiday Fundraiser – DEADLINE EXTENDED TO NOV 29!

Balmoral School Council has joined together with Purdy’s Chocolate for a sweet fundraiser!

Our goal is to reach a minimum of $5000 in sales, in order to receive 25% of the total amount sold for the school. We have successfully achieved this goal for the past 2 years so let’s keep it up! Please email balmoralfundraising@gmail.com with any questions. Thank you for your support!

How to purchase:

• Login or create a new account at www.fundraising.purdys.com
• If you have an existing account, log in and it will prompt you to enter the code below:
  CAMPAIGN CODE: 63766

• A search bar will appear once you have logged in. Use the campaign code above and click “Join Campaign”
• Shop and place your orders! ** Please order using your child’s name so that we can organize for pick up
• You can also send invites to family and friends that would like to support our school (these will be given to you)
• Pick up will be from Balmoral School in December – more information will be sent out in the school newsletter

UPCOMING EVENT - Celebrations of Learning

Balmoral School will be holding our annual Celebrations of Learning on December 6 and 7, 2023. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents and families to visit the school, see the classrooms and work students have been doing, and watch a short performance in the gym. The schedule for each day is below:

Wednesday, December 6  – Grades 5/6 (6:00pm-8:00pm)

6:30pm               Grade 5 Performance
7:15pm               Grade 6 Performance

Thursday, December 7  – Grades 7/8/9 (6:00pm-8:00pm)

6:00pm            Grade 7 Performance
6:45pm            Grade 8 Performance
7:30pm            Grade 9 Performance

All classrooms will be open for family visits from 6-8pm, except for the performance time for that particular grade. During the performance time for your child’s grade, please proceed to the gym to watch the show. ALL students are expected to perform at this event as part of their music/band program. If your child is not able to attend, please contact their music/band teacher.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact the school office.

Lost and Found

There are many items in the lost and found right now. Please ask your child to check it carefully for any missing belongings. All lost and found items are donated to charity at the end of each month (the next donation date is November 30).

To avoid losing personal belongings, we strongly recommend that you label your child’s belongings with their name, last initial, and homeroom. This way, we can return belongings to the right person when they are turned in.

Next School Council and Parent Society Meeting

Our next Balmoral School Council and Parent Society Meeting will be held on Thursday, December 14 at 6:30pm. This will be an ONLINE meeting using Microsoft Teams – a link will be sent a few days before the meeting.

We encourage all parents to join us for these meetings, as important matters are discussed that affect all students at Balmoral.

HackerGal Announcement

HackerGal is starting up for this year. HackerGal’s mission is to create a Canada where girls have the education, community, and confidence to become leaders in computer science and technology. Together, we are closing the gender gap in technology.

…AND WE’RE HAVING TONS OF FUN ALONG THE WAY! If your child identifies as a female and is interested in learning to code, please come to room 17 at lunch on Monday, November 27th for a quick meeting.

More information about Hackergal can be found on this website (https://hackergal.org/) or please email Ms. Ho at AsHo@cbe.ab.ca

McCarthy Uniform Sale

McCarthy Uniforms will be hosting a sale beginning Monday November 20th until December 20th with discounts up to 25% off on select school uniform products!

Discounts will vary across items, check your E-Store, or your dedicated Store location for more details. Please see the poster below for more details.

The Sale will be available Online at www.mccarthyuniforms.ca, through our Call Centre 1-800-668-8261 and in our stores. Your dedicated Uniform Store is located at 5911 3rd Street SE, Calgary.

Healthy Hunger Fun Lunches

Most of our fun lunch dates are available for ordering on the Healthy Hunger website: https://healthyhunger.ca/index.php

Please note that you must register your child each year on the website (ensure you know your child’s homeroom and teacher), and then you can place orders.

The ordering deadline is always 5 days before the fun lunch date, so order early and don’t miss out!

School Bus Notifications

Please ensure you are signed up for the My Bus Monitor notification emails for the most up to date information. The link is below. You must enter your email address and select your child’s bus route (AM and PM) to receive email notifications about bus delays, etc.

https://www.myschoolbusmonitor.ca/ParentLoginNew.aspx

Important Dates

• November 23 – Parent-Teacher Conferences (4pm-8pm, in-person, regular classes for students)
• November 24 – Parent-Teacher Conferences (8am-2pm, online, no school for students)
• November 29 – Deadline to order Purdy’s Chocolates
• December 4-6 – Grade 5 Ski Day Trips to Winsport
• December 6 – Celebration of Learning for Grades 5/6
• December 7 – Celebration of Learning for Grades 7/8/9
• December 8 – Non-instructional day (no school for students)
• December 14 – School Council meeting @ 6:30pm ONLINE
• December 20-22 – Spirit Week
• December 22 – Last day of classes before Winter Break
• January 8 – Classes resume

If you have any questions or concerns, please call the school office.

Regards,

Balmoral Administration