Bears Beat - June 7, 2026
Information
Opening Ceremony
Last week we held our official Opening Ceremony for the school. We were honoured to be joined by many members of Josette Dandruand's cherished family, by leadership and elders from Kwantlen First Nation, and by SD35 leadership staff. We thanked everyone involved in the school, from the purchase of the land to keeping the place running. We have special, huge thanks to our staff speaker, Ms. Bouvier, and to our student presenters, Evan and Aria. All three made it apparent that our goal of bringing together a community is moving in exactly the direction we hoped. Here's a bit of what Ms. Bouvier had to say:
“More than anything, this school feels grounded. It feels like a place where relationships matter and where learning is something we are all a part of,” she said. “Having (Dandurand’s) name on our school feels like a daily reminder of what education truly matters for.”
“This is not just a beautiful new building. It’s already a deeply rooted community,” she added.
You can read a detailed story about the ceremony here.
Reunification Drill
Thank you to everyone involved in our reunification drill on Friday. This drill allowed us to test our emergency plan in terms of site layout, traffic flow, supplies, staff deployment and more. We appreciate the flexibility of families in Ms. Warwick's class who came early to help us test our emergency sign-out procedures. These drills are critical in helping us build robust plans that we hope never actually to use.
In the event of a major emergency, we will ask families to sign out each and every child through Ms. Davies & her reunification team under the red tent. Even if we rearrange things, the red tent is your target.
Block Party!
Read in your best monster truck voice: 'Be there! Be there! Be there!'
Tattoos??? In kindergarten? Not exactly.
In the week's cutest and most community-awesome news, I walked around the corner at lunch the other day to see a line-up of Kindergarten kids waiting for a group of older students on the stage outside the gym. I investigated, of course, and found an impromptu 'tattoo parlor' ('It's washable ink, Mr. Oliver, don't worry) being held by some of the grade 4s and 5s. The little kids were so proud of their artwork, and some even had paper drawings of their ideas for the big kids to convert. Then, of course, we all went in for lunch, washed our hands, and the tattoos were gone. It is so neat seeing kids of different age groups doing this sort of thing together, and making each other feel so cool. And some of the artwork is really remarkable, particularly when you consider that the tool is a blunt Crayola marker, not a fine needle.
Traffic& Parking Lots
We have noticed a disappointing increase in poor adult behaviour in the parking lot of late. Both inappropriate merging and speeding, particularly coming from the parking lot exit down the hill towards the southwest corner of the property, have been noticeable. Please make note that maximum speeds inside the parking lot and driveways should be 15 km/h. In most vehicles (including scooters and bikes), that means dragging the brakes.
Also, please make a point of being courteous as people merge back into traffic. The students are brilliant at making way, and at taking turns, and I would hope that our adults can behave in the same way. We should be able to merge like a zipper here, just the way we do on the road, especially when our kids are watching.
We will be asking that the RCMP come to help us remind all community members about safe conduct in the parking lots and driveways.
Lost & Found
On Wednesday, June 24, any useable items left in our Lost & Found will be donated to a 'free store' run by a local church. Please stop in and check the lost and found before that time to see if any of your child's clothing (or bottles, or otherwise) is there. The volunteer team managing the donation will be picking up shortly after 1:00 that day.
Learning Summaries (aka Final Report Cards) are coming...
Teachers are already hard at work on final learning summaries for our first year at Josette Dandurand Elementary. These will be published to MyEducationBC on June 25, and you will be able to access them through the MyEdBC parent portal. Given the frantic pace in a school office on the last day of school, now is a good time to make sure you can log into your account.
- Passwords are reset every 90 days
- You can also log into MyEdBC using your BC Services card, then you do not have to keep resetting the password.
- If you need assistance navigating the website please visit MYEDBC – Family/Student Portal Help
If you need your account reset, please email jdes@sd35.bc.ca the following information:
- Student First and Last Name
- Grade
- Division
- Parent First and Last Name
- Address
- Phone number
- Please note that report cards may not be posted until the late afternoon/evening on June 25, 2026. You will receive an email from Mr. Oliver that tells you when they are published. Also, remember they are published one grade at a time, so if you receive one child's report and not their siblings, nothing is wrong. We just haven't made it to the next grade yet.
School supply lists for 2026-2027 (repeat)
Parents in grade 1-5 have the option of purchasing their child’s school supplies on their own utilizing the grade supply list or, for your convenience, you may wish to purchase supplies as a package through . Payment is made directly to School Start and orders will be sent to homes. Costs for supplies vary based on grade.
Early Start or Late Return for Summer Break? (repeat)
If your student(s) will be starting summer break sooner than the last day of school, June 25, 2026, or returning after school re-opens September 8, 2026, it is very important to let the office and your student’s teachers know. If a child is marked absent, but the office has not received an email or a telephone call from the parent advising of the absence/tardiness, a phone call home will be made to ensure the child is safe. Please email our attendance email with the name(s) of your student(s) and what dates they will be away from school.
Moving/Withdrawing? (repeat)
Parents are asked to inform the school as soon as possible if/when they know that their children will be leaving our school or not returning in the fall. Please complete our withdraw form and return it to the office.
Quote of the Week
Something to Read (or watch)
Check out this short film by Langley's Bella Woelders about girls vanishing from sport. It is my hope that our students all choose to stay active throughout their lives. And that they all have a sport or more that they love and that lets them soar.
Thinking about traffic in our driveway got me looking for ideas. I came across this, which probably isn't useful in our context, but which I did find interesting.
Calendar Items to Remember
There's a lot going on in June, so we'll put the whole calendar on here now, so you have notice of what's coming up. Remember to check back, though, as items may be added from week to week, and don't forget your child's class calendar which may have class-specific additions that we don't include here.
Monday, June 8
- Culture Fair after lunch (Divisions 5-6-7)
Wednesday, June 10
Thursday, June 11
- Track Meet - all day at McLeod Athletic Park (selected students only)
Monday, June 15
- Grade 5 Swimming Program
Tuesday, June 16
- Grade 5 Swimming Program
Wednesday, June 17
- Grade 5 Swimming Program
Thursday, June 18
- REMSS Grad Walk
Friday, June 19
- Grade 5 Swimming Program
Monday, June 22
- Grade 5 Farewell Ceremony
Tuesday, June 23
- Sports Day (rain or shine)
Wednesday, June 24
- Lost & Found Donation picked up - 1:00 pm
Thursday, June 25
- Last Day of school for students - Dismissal at 11:30
Friday, June 26
- Administration Day - Students do not attend
Friday, August 3
- Office Closes for the Summer