Chief Tomat Elementary Community Connection Newsletter

June 7, 2024

CTE PAC Carnival

Thank you to the PAC and all the other fantastic volunteers who made last night's Carnival such a success!  Thank you to everyone who attended to make it such a fun night. A great time was had by all.  One of our vendors even commented about what great kids and families we have here at CTE! I couldn't agree more!!

Wolverine Assembly

We had our final Wolverine assembly this week and handed out many prizes from our Kindness ticket draw. We also cheered on our family groups while competing in minute-to-winnit challenges.

CTE Track and Field District Team 

Congratulations to all the Grade 4 and 5 athletes who made it to the district track meet this week.  We are super proud of your hard work, sportsmanship and encouragement! Way to go Wolverines!

CTE Duckling Joy

Thank you Ms. Robertson for all your hard work in bringing the ducklings to CTE. We will miss Peep, M&M, Lollipop and Skittles!

End of the School Year

Dear families, it's hard to believe that we are almost at the end of the school year.  Just a few things to note:

** Please note we will update this information as more becomes available**

Chief Tomat Elementary School in West Kelowna to be expanded

You may have heard that the provincial government has announced an expansion of Chief Tomat Elementary School in West Kelowna. The province is spending $10.5 million on a prefabricated addition to the school that will add 165 students spaces for 2025.  To read more, please see the Castanet article. As we learn more about what this look like, we will let you know.

Biking and Scootering 

If your child rides to school on a bike, scooter, or skateboard, please have a conversation with them about traffic safety. Thank you for reminding them to walk (not ride) their bikes, scooters, or skateboards on school district property and for walking up and down the hill until they reach the road.  While travelling to and from school, students must wear a helmet. Bikes should be secured with a good lock in our bike racks located at front of school. Thank you for your help in keeping our students safe.


Next School Year - 2024/25

It is hard to believe that we are heading into our last month of school already this year.  We have been busy preparing for a successful year and giving a lot of thought, care and consideration as we build classes.  However, these often change over the summer as new families move in and families move out of CTE and new staff is hired. For this reason, we will not be sharing class information for next year until the first week of school, when classes are reviewed and confirmed.  We will send out 'back to school' information the last week of August and look forward to welcoming students and families back on Tuesday, Sept. 3 from 8:30 - 11:00.

2024/2025 Chief Tomat School Calendar 

 Click here to see the 2024/2025 CTE school calendar.

Kids In The Know - Safety Tips!

Phones offer both communication and safety benefits for parents and kids. However, like most technologies, they also pose some safety risks to adolescents. In order to better protect your child, it’s important to know the steps you can take to make their phone use safer. Click here to learn more.

As a parent/guardian, it is important to remain informed about the spaces online where your child may be negatively impacted. The following tips (click here) are designed to inform any conversations you may wish to have with your tweens/teens regarding apps.

Over the past few years, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has witnessed a marked increase in reports to Cybertip.ca from youth ranging from 13 to 17 years of age. A large percentage of these reports are with regard to sexual images/videos being created and distributed among their peers via the Internet and/or electronic devices, sometimes as a form of cyberbullying. Educators, school-based resource (liaison) officers, families and the community-at-large play a fundamental role in assisting and supporting youth who are cyberbullied. If you are concerned that your child may be affected by cyberbullying, consider the following strategies. Click here for WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CHILD IS BEING CYBERBULLIED.

Phones and electronic devices are not allowed to be used at school. Please leave them at home!

Please note that students are NOT allowed to use their cell phones or devices at school.  We prefer that they be kept at home as we do have an office phone for students to use in case of emergency.  Cell phones are never allowed to be used at school (unless I have approved for a medical reason).  Occasionally some students bring a cell phone, it must stay in their backpack for the entire day. They will never be needed at school.  We have a phone in the office that students can use.


If a student has their cell phone out, it will be taken by a staff member and kept in my office until you come and pick it up.  In a very rare instance, a student may be able to use their phone to call you if they are standing beside a staff member and have their permission.

What makes CTE special?

Ms. Sikora's Grade 2 class wrote and shared with Mrs. Adamson all the many ways that makes our school so special.  Many of the grade 2 students shared their writing and pictures.  They had many reasons why CTE is so special: we get to make so many great friends; that everyone is kind and respectful; we learn something new every day; amazing teachers and staff; kindness tickets; wolverine days, assemblies and family groups; we are caring and welcoming wolverines; we have caring hearts; and the playground, the Gaga Ball pit, dances and the Hot Dog days all because of our great PAC.  We are proud Wolverines and as the grade 2s wrote "We wolverines are really lukey to be at this school!" "Our school is jest awesome!" and "CTE is AMMASING!" I couldn't agree more! I feel very lucky to be the Principal of CTE!

Thursday is Wolverine Day! 

Please wear your Wolverine shirts! 

The Importance of READING

One of our school priorities is that "All students will grow in their reading skills and read at grade  level."  To help your child reach this goal and read at grade level, please have them read every day! If you want to know more about how to do this, please email Mrs. Adamson!

Thank you PAC for all that you do and for all the opportunities that you provide our students!  Families, please consider supporting the CTE PAC as everything they do, helps you child!

2025/2026 Draft Calendar and Survey 

Please see the attached letter regarding the 2025/2026 school calendar, as well as a survey.  Click here to see the draft 2025/2026 school calendar.

At CTE, we are Caring Together Everyday!  Wolverines care for themselves, others and the land.

Popcorn Sales

The Grade 5s will be selling popcorn to raise money for their year end experiences!  Sales will open on Monday and will close each Thursday night. Popcorn will be handed out to classes on Friday.  Please go to School Cash Online to purchase popcorn.

CTE Wolverine Day

Although every day we celebrate Caring Together Everyday as CTE Wolverines, Thursdays we are going to have school assemblies and will be encouraging our students and staff to wear their Wolverine shirts or swag. 

Please note that we don't have cutlery or microwaves for students to use. Please send your child with cutlery if needed. Thanks

Preschool at CTE

The Boys and Girls Club runs a preschool out of Chieft Tomat and they have space for 3 and 4 year olds on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Preschool is a great way to prepare your younger children for Kindergarten. If you are interested, please contact Christine Crumb at 250-862-6165 or ccrumb@bgco.ca

Please Be Nut Aware

A reminder to all of our CTE Community that we are an All-Nut Aware School. As we have students and staff with life threatening allergies to nut products, we ask that families are extremely vigilant in ensuring that nuts or food containing nut products are not sent to school. Thank you for being proactive in your decision on what your child can bring to school. 

Chief Tomat Elementary is fundraising with Mabel’s Labels! If you’re not familiar with Mabel’s Labels, they are personalized, durable, waterproof labels. They are great for everything from shoes, clothing tags, water bottles and backpacks. You can
customize them with your name and a design, and they are dishwasher, laundry and microwave safe. Added bonus: 20% of all sales are returned to CTE and go toward activities, events, and gear for your child!

Mabel’s Labels also offers clothing stamps, silicone bands for water bottles and medical alert labels. This is a great way to ensure your items don’t end up in the lost & found or mixed up. To reduce the spread of germs, we highly recommend labelling but they are also useful for everyday life.

To support our school, click here and select Chief Tomat Elementary. You can pick out whatever labels or product you want, and it will ship for free directly to your house!

Savings Tip: If you haven’t already joined, sign up to Mabel’s Labels mailing list and receive 20% off you next order. Unsubscribe at any time!

Thank you for supporting Chief Tomat Elementary!
Chief Tomat Elementary PAC & Students

*Please remember to enter Chief Tomat Elementary as the organization you are supporting so that we can earn money for our students.

 


Volunteers

Parents, caregivers and families are always welcome at CTE. Many have expressed interest in volunteering at our school. All volunteers must have a criminal record check completed through our school district. The process is free and criminal record check forms are available at the school office. A successful criminal record check is valid for four years. Please note that criminal record checks that are offered for a fee on various websites are not accepted by the school district, and neither are criminal record checks done for other organizations. If you have had a previous criminal record check and want to see if it is still valid, or have any questions, you are encouraged to contact the school office.

Parent Advisory Council (PAC) - Get Involved with the CTE Community!

PAC is the acronym for the Parents' Advisory Council. Each parent/caregiver at Chief Tomat Elementary is a member of the CTE PAC. The PAC offers a great way for parents/caregivers to be involved with the school, their children, and the student body. The PAC helps the school with a variety of activities, volunteer opportunities and input.

There are a number of ways to connect with the PAC  - including their Instagram page at https://www.instagram.com/chieftomatelementarypac/ 

We encourage everyone to attend monthly meetings to get up to date information on what is happening around the school and give input on how PAC funds are spent. Please check the school website and Weekly Community Connections Newsletters for meeting dates and times.