Upcoming Dates: 

• January 20-26 Celebrating Family Literacy Week Events at School 
• January 27 Family Literacy Day 
• January 30 Report Cards will be available in parent MyCBE accounts.   
• Feb 1- 29 Kindness Month with Random Acts of Kindness 
• February 15, 16  Teachers’ Convention - Schools are closed 
• February 19 Family Day - Schools are closed 
• February 22 School Council Meeting 
• February 28 Pink Shirt Day 

The 2024-2025 instructional Calendar is now available on the CBE Website 

Family Literacy Week  

Family Literacy Week takes place every January to raise awareness about the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. Teachers will be taking up this week-long event in their classrooms.  

Kindness Month 

February is Kindness month, and as a school we are continuing to build connections within our school and wider community.  Each grade team and classroom will be planning activities throughout the month that will focus on lifting up others, building our own self-esteem and participating in anti-bullying lessons culminating in our Pink Shirt Day assembly on February 28.  Much like previous years, we will not be encouraging students to bring in cards or treats from home. Rather, students will be engaged in Random Acts of Kindness, learning alongside their buddy classes and reaching out to our local retirement and nursing home communities. Families do not need to purchase cards for classroom distribution.  As always, we ask that students do not send in food or candy for sharing with others.  Your children's teachers will reach out through their weekly message to share with you their plans for Kindness month. 

Traffic in the Morning in Winter Conditions 

Traffic congestion in the morning in front of the school has been awful in January. Compounded by snowy conditions, we are seeing unsafe and impatient drivers. Some parents have inquired about having AMA Safety Patrols at the crosswalk.  After consultation about the crosswalk with the Calgary Police Service, they deemed it too risky to have students patrolling this crosswalk. This is why we have an adult managing this busy area.  

Reminders about traffic safety: 

• Teach your child(ren) to use the crosswalk 
• Teach children to exit the car on the sidewalk side rather than into traffic 
• Teach children to “Stop, Look and Listen”  

Drivers  

• Slow down in the school zone, watch for pedestrians crossing 

• Do not stop in the bus zone 

• Do not stop or park in the crosswalk 

• Do not drop of students in the parking lot 

• Never make a U-Turn in a crosswalk or in a school zone. This is the one we see most, and it is very dangerous. 

Please be kind to staff outside - we are trying to keep our community safe.  

SEEDS of S.P.I.C.E 

Parents with children in the before and after school program are welcome to drop off in the parking before 8:00 am and after 4:00 pm 

If parents are interested in volunteering to help with traffic safety by wearing a safety vest at the crosswalk and joining the administration team, we would love to have the extra support. Please just send us an email or give us a call.  

Fun Lunch for Grades 1-5  

You can order your students lunch at www.healthyhunger.ca by creating a parent account or updating your existing account with your child’s current grade and teacher. Orders will be closed 5 days prior to the lunch date.  Please note Fun Lunch is for Grades 1-5 only. 

Dates:  

Thursday, February 22 - Papa John’s 

Thursday, March 14 - The Lunch Lady 

Thursday, April 18 - A&W  

Thursday, May 16  - McDonalds 

Tuesday, June 25 – Jugo Juice 

 Mental Health and Anxiety| Free Family & Caregiver Well-Being Sessions 

As part of a continued effort to support the well-being of students, CBE is committed to sharing valuable information about child and youth well-being with families and caregivers. This is the third (of five) sessions available for families and caregivers, this time focusing on 'mental health and anxiety’.  

Learn how to support elementary-aged children with stress and anxiety. Our partners from AHS will clarify the language around mental health and provide effective coaching strategies to help children grow more resilient. You'll also learn about the signs that indicate the need for professional assessment and support, as well as how to boost your own mental health. 

February 8, 2024  6:30 to 8:00 PM 

Please feel free to join yourself and consider sharing this information across your school community. 

Reporting an Absence or Late 

If your child is going to be absent or late, please call the attendance line at 403-817-3428 Ext. 1 or email drfredamiller@cbe.ab.ca Attendance follow up is done through our main office and therefore it is important to make sure you follow this process to ensure that the automated message does not go out to you.  

Who is Dr. Freda Miller?  

Our school was named after Dr. Freda Miller.  Dr. Miller is currently a cell and molecular developmental neurobiologist and faculty member at the University of British Columbia. Prior to her appointment as deputy director, professor at UBC, she was a Senior Scientist and Professor at the University of Toronto.  

Dr. Miller is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and at the Hospital for Sick Children she was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Research Scholar and the Canada Research Chair in Developmental Neurobiology.   

Dr. Miller has made ground-breaking scientific discoveries over the course of her career. Her discovery of stem cells in the second layer of the skin has provided the conceptual basis for using skin as a major source for genesis of human stem cells. The stem cells she discovered are critical for the repair of injured skin.  

At the same time, Dr. Miller discovered new mechanisms determining whether nerve cells live or die, findings that initiated new fields of research and that have major implications for our understanding of neurodegenerative disorders. 

Dr. Miller has made significant contributions to understanding how stem cells build the brain during normal development and how this goes awry in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. This led to her recent discovery that the commonly used diabetes drug metformin can be used to promote repair of the injured brain. 

These outstanding discoveries have been widely recognized within the scientific community and have led to clinical trials for therapies that “wake up” our own stem cells to repair the injured brain and skin. 

Dr. Miller is a proud alumna of the Calgary public school system. She obtained her PhD in Medical Sciences from the University of Calgary. She maintains strong ties to Calgary, which is still home to most of her family. 

See this one-minute YouTube video if you want to learn more about Dr. Miller’s research.