DRE Dynamo News

October 19, 2026

What's Happening at DRE?

Halloween Reminders

Teachers are planning some fun Halloween activities for their students on Thursday October 30th. Students are invited to wear orange or black clothing or a Halloween costume on this day. Please remember these guidelines for costumes worn at school:

Masks that make students unidentifiable, or cover a student’s entire face, should not be worn.
Costumes that depict violence or blood are not appropriate. Fake weapons cannot be brought to school.
The blow-up or fan-driven costumes are not permitted at school. Please save these types of costumes for home.
It is everyone’s responsibility to create a safe environment for all students and think about how costume choice may impact others in the building.

We ask families to refrain from sending any homemade treats which are to be shared to school. Our safety plan only allows store-bought, pre-packaged, individually-wrapped food items.

Fire Chief for the Day

Fire prevention week offers us another great learning experience. We are grateful to the teachers who supported learning activities in classes and especially to Mrs. Bagnall for coordinating this for all the students and staff.

Emma was very excited to be selected as the Fire Chief for the day and the whole school waited to greet her as she was driven to school in the fire truck.

Roadway Reminders

Thank you to all families for your patience during pick up and drop off at Davidson Road. We recognize that our school access can be challenging when the volume of traffic builds up before and after school. We want to remind everyone of some safety expectations on the roadway entering the school. Please ensure that the crosswalk area remains open an visible. Parking too close to the crosswalk upon entry to the school creates a visibility safety issue, and we ask that the last vehicle in the line be far enough up the hill to prevent sightlines from being blocked. In addition, vehicles cannot impede the flow of traffic on Davidson Road. Families turning left into the school cannot stop in the lane and remain on the roadway. Parking along the road is limited but it remains the only option if the parking lot is full. Thank you for your courtesy and patience as we come and go from the school.

Help wanted

We are seeking the support of our school community to offer some additional supervision at the crosswalk on Davidson Rd as school starts in the morning and at dismissal. In the past, a parent from our school supported additional safety at the crosswalk during these busy times. If you are able to help with part or all of this additional supervision, please contact john.morrone@sd23.bc.ca. If the whole week is too much of a commitment, we are happy to organize a schedule with multiple parents sharing days over the week. We appreciate your support.

Photo Retakes

Artona Photography will be returning on November 2nd for photo retakes. If your child was absent during photo day, or if you would like retakes, please plan for November 2nd. Please bring the QR code photo card to the retake session.

Before and After School Supervision

Please remember that adult supervision outside the school begins at 8:00am. Thank you for waiting until at least 8:00am before dropping off your child(ren). After school supervision ends at 2:45pm. We need to keep everyone safe, so thank you in advance for staying within these time frames for drop-off and pick up.

Wildlife Awareness

As we see the orchards filling with ripe fruit, we can also anticipate an increase in wildlife in the area, including but not limited to bears. Teachers are engaging students in learning about wildlife encounters, and we would encourage families to do the same as well. WildSafeBC is a helpful learning resource. Please visit their website to learn more about how you can support this learning at home.

LITTERLESS LUNCH - “Pack it in, Pack it out”

Litter free lunches help us to keep our school clean and are the best form of recycling. We ask that whatever comes to school in your child's lunch kit, goes home in their lunch kit. This also helps families monitor food consumption and make adjustments as needed. Thank you for your help in creating a safe and clean place for your children to learn.

How to Sign Up and Use SchoolMessenger.mp4

reporting Absences and Early departures

Please note that our Absence Reporting System through SchoolMessenger is our sole absence reporting system for school attendance. Families have three options on how they can report an absence, late, or early departure:

Use the SchoolMessenger App on your smartphone. This method is by far the easiest way to report your child’s absence. (Follow this link for instructions on how to sign up and get started (http://bit.ly/2FrTa0p).
Use the SchoolMessenger Parent Portal at go.schoolmessenger.ca
Phone the school and push "1" to report using the SchoolMessenger automated system

Visit http://www.sd23.bc.ca/SchoolMessenger for family resources to help you get started with SchoolMessenger. In the past, Kindergarten families have told us that it’s better to wait until after the school year begins before setting up SchoolMessenger in order to avoid any setup errors.

A reminder to all of our Davidson Road Community that we are an All-Nut Aware School. As we have many 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. This includes chocolate hazelnut spreads like Nutella. Thank you for being proactive in your decision on what your child can bring to school.

A Note About Homemade Treats

Given a number of students and staff who have serious, life-threatening allergies to nuts, we also ask that homemade baked goods, such as birthday cupcakes, are not brought to school. If families wanted to send foods on special occasions, please limit items to store-bought, pre-packaged, individually-wrapped food items. Thanks for your help in ensuring the safety of our students.

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