Hello Families,

Tomorrow is the last day before spring break and we are excited for the sunshine showing itself today. We know the mud is coming but along with that the new life of spring. Our staff take that as a reminder that God wants to give each of us a new life 🙂 An exciting time of year.

Report cards are going home with students tomorrow. Below is a reminder of the provincial grading scale that we are moving toward (implemented with many grades already). Please contact the teacher if you have any questions about the report card.

	Emerging	Developing	Proficient	Extending
Proficiency Scale	The student demonstrates an initial understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant to the expected learning.	The student demonstrates a partial understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant to the expected learning.	The student demonstrates a complete understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant to the expected learning.	The student demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the concepts and competencies relevant to the expected learning.

We also have a few lost and found items not claimed. Please contact the school immediately if you recognize any of the items as the ones remaining will be given away during spring break.

A reminder that all our students will be going to the Rec Centre tomorrow after lunch for skating. Please ensure to bring skates and helmets if possible. Those not participating can stay in the stands or be picked up early. Otherwise pickup is at 2:30 at the Rec Centre.

We are wishing each one a restful spring break and that all will come back refreshed for the last term of the year 🙂

Warmly,
Mrs. Atherton

Hello Families,

A reminder that we are having our school wide ski trip this Friday. As it is a school day, learning assignments will be given to those students who are not coming to Powder King. We encourage our parents to facilitate students in getting their work done at home on Friday as staff will be at Powder King.

For those going to Powder King, our bus will drive students out to PCS at the regular time and then those at school will join on the bus to go to Powder King. We will be there for the full day, returning to the IGA parking lot about 6 pm.

And if you’re seeing this in time, a reminder that it’s 1:30 pm dismissal today and tomorrow.

Happy rest of the week!
Mrs. Atherton

Hello Families,

Happy Valentine’s! Thank you to all who supported the grad fundraising sale today and helped make it a success.

We’ve sent a couple of paper notes home the last few days. If you have not received them please let us know and we will get you one. Here are notes about our plans between now and spring break.

Skating – All of our students will be taken to the Rec Centre at 1 pm this Friday. We encourage everyone to come skating as we will be having house team activities as part of the afternoon. It’s also a fun time to try something new for those who haven’t been before. If rentals are needed, we need to have a list beforehand to ensure enough are available so please let us know your family plans. Gr 7-12 students not skating will be allowed to leave the arena early; younger students will need to stay and watch until dismissal at 2:30.

Powder King & Horsemanship – A note went home asking interest in these two events. We are currently missing a response from many families and will need to cancel these plans and have regular classes without more interest. Please let us know if your child(ren) would or would not like to participate (or unsure). Our family assistance fund can help cover these events if cost is a concern.

Other dates to note:
Tomorrow & Thursday – Student-led parent teacher conferences
Mon Feb 20 – No school for Family Day
Tue Feb 21 – Kindergarten Open House (for anyone interested in attending K next school year)
Tue Feb 28 – Trades route for high school students at PCS. Parents & students are welcome to come out at 6:30 pm for a presentation and Q&A session.
Fri Feb 24 – Wear team colour day
Mon Feb 27 – Anti-bullying day (wear pink)
Wed & Thu Mar 1 & 2 – Early dismissal (1:30 instead of 2:30)
Fri Mar 17 – Last day before spring break and tentatively planned skating trip, depending on participation this week.

We plan these events as part of our goal for students to be ready for the world as well-rounded individuals able to love and lead those around them. Thank you to all those that participate and help make them happen!

Mrs. Atherton

We have evaluated the highway road conditions and are going to continue with our ski trip today. The shuttle bus will be outside Windrem this morning about the normal time (potentially a few minutes late). We will be leaving the ski hill earlier than planned to allow plenty of time to return home to the IGA parking lot for 4:00 pm. —

Hello Families,

Last week we had a special guest speaker, Melody Illacas, from Burman University, sharing spiritual insights with our students each day. We are grateful for her being here and the presentations she gave.

Here are items to note for the next few Fridays:
Fri Jan 20 – Wear team colour day

Fri Jan 27 – Ski day to Bear Mtn for all students (and parents are welcome). Those not wishing to ski/snowboard can come and assist with younger learners. Permission forms went home yesterday. Please return these by this Monday, Jan 23.
Fri Feb 3 – No school for a non-instructional day

We also have a few items for our upper high school students next week:
Tue Jan 24 – Numeracy 10 assessment
Wed Jan 25 – Grad photos
Thu Jan 26 – Literacy 10 assessment & Job fair for Gr 10-12

Attached to this email is a letter from Northern Health for your review.

It’s mid-winter and many are struggling with illness. We are encouraging health practices here at school and wish health for all!

Happy remainder of January!
Mrs. Atherton

2023-01-Notice for Families-Immunization Information coming from Northern Health.pdf

Hello Families,

It’s chilly out but our hearts are warm with Christmas cheer this week. Come out to our Christmas program Wednesday evening to celebrate our students and see the doors our house teams decorated. Please see the details below and a reminder for our last day before break.

Wed Dec 14 6:30 pm – Christmas program put on by our students. We encourage all to come out. Participating students should arrive between 6:00 and 6:15 pm.

Fri Dec 16 12:00 pm – Early dismissal. There will be a bus in the morning but there will not be an afternoon bus taking students back to town at the end of the day.

May you have the gift of faith, the blessing of hope, and the peace of God’s love this Christmas season. We look forward to seeing our students back on Tuesday, January 3.

Warm regards,
Mrs. Atherton

Dear Families,

We had a shelter-in-place lockdown at school today. The RCMP were dealing with an event in our area and asked that no one leave the building as a preventative measure. We are thankful our communication between staff worked well, students cooperated as asked and everyone stayed safe. After about 15 minutes, the RCMP called back to give the all clear and classes returned to normal.

The RCMP are happy to respond to any questions you may have regarding this incident. They may be reached at 250-788-9221.

Stay well!
Mrs. Atherton

Dear Parents,

At Peace Christian School our mission is to Prepare Caring Students who Love, Learn and Lead. We continually evaluate aspects of our program to see how we can best fulfill this mission. Currently, we are moving toward more proficiency based learning practices. This focuses on a set level of expectation during instruction and assessment of students.

What does this mean? Our teachers will move toward focusing on the end goal with students so they have a clear understanding of what they are working to achieve. Assessments such as assignments, quizzes, tests and projects will still provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their progress in learning. This year, for K-Gr 8, grades will be determined and reported on whether a student is emerging, developing, proficient or extending in their knowledge of curriculum subject areas. Next year, Gr 9 will be included in this grading scale.

Why are we doing this? Educational research shows that students’ learning improves when clear targets of information and skill are established. We want to give students and families better, more specific information both before and after instruction to facilitate better learning. The province of BC is also moving toward proficiency based reporting. A handout is attached to explain the provincial proficiency scale, as well as what you can expect to stay the same and what is changing in terms of reporting.

Our teachers are working hard to learn and adjust to a new way of reporting student learning. We do ask for you to be patient with us as we make this transition. We anticipate there will be changes throughout this school year and into next year. These changes will ultimately make our program stronger and our students more likely to succeed.

We do want you to understand where your child(ren) is/are at in their learning throughout this transition so if at any point you have questions, please reach out and ask. We are happy to discuss what we are seeing and the progress they are making.

Warm regards,

Mrs. Atherton

2022 student_reporting-brochure_for_families.pdf

Hello Families,

Just a few reminders for you of upcoming events:

Fri Nov 25 – No School

Mon Nov 28 at 6:30 pm – Trade Program Presentation for families of students interested in entering trade related careers and what it can look like while attending PCS

Wed Dec 14 at 6:00 pm – Christmas program for all our families to attend, presented by PCS students

Fri Dec 16 – Early Dismissal – School is over at noon.

We appreciated connecting with our parents during parent-teacher conferences. Thank you for supporting your child’s education!

Warm regards,

Mrs. Atherton

Mom’s Pantry orders arriving this Friday November 18 and will be ready for pick up.