University School would again like to thank University Heights for the ongoing support, generosity, and kindness that continues to be shared with the staff and students. This ranges from driving carefully around the school or waving as you walk by to donating resources and volunteering in the school. We appreciate the relationship we have been creating with the community and look forward to finding more ways of working together in the future. If you have any ideas please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Registering for the 2022-23 School Year
Registration for the 2022-23 school year is now open. Information for registering your child is found on the main CBE website. More information for Kindergarten registration can be found on the CBE website or by accessing the following link Kindergarten – Great Learning Starts Here. Registration can now be completed online through School Engage.
Feel free to call University School for more information. While we would love to show off our incredible school, at this time we are unable to offer tours. When it is safe to do so, we will hold an open house for our new families. We look forward to welcoming your family and child to University School!
Amazing Learning at University School
Despite having to approach teaching and learning in unique ways, students continue to be engaged in wonderful learning opportunities at University School. Below are just a few examples of what has been going on.
Students in Kindergarten and in the school’s Enhanced Educational Supports (EES) program have been taking regular opportunities to interact and make connections to outdoor spaces around the school such as the duck pond. This provides hands on learning opportunities through explorations and observations in nature while supporting the connections to life outside of school.
The Grade 1/2 Community has been taking opportunities to work on designing building challenges where students have opportunities to collaborate. Some of these challenges have included building a home for a stuffie or designing something that could carry an object. The students work through the design process either through discussion or drawing, build prototypes using various materials, test and make changes as needed, and get feedback throughout with the focus being on the process rather than the final product.
Part of the Grade 3/4 Community continues to work on a yearlong project to build a pop bottle greenhouse. Over the last few months, they have been working on building connections through different subject areas as well as exploring different types of materials and skills they will need in order to build the greenhouse. In December they had collected enough pop bottles to work together, with the support of a grandparent with construction experience, in constructing the first wall of the greenhouse. They are now looking for further 2L bottle donations to continue the build. Please feel free to drop them off at the main office during school hours. The Grade 3/4 Community is also engaging in the process of narrative writing. This began with a focus on descriptive language, then went through planning a story by exploring the beginning, middle, and end. Once the ideas were on paper the students worked through revising and editing their work and they are now currently publishing their work so they can later share it.
Students in Grade 5/6 have been exploring electricity and looking at circuits. This provided them with the basic knowledge and skills required to design and build their own battery-powered miniature car as part of a culminating activity. From what we have seen so far from these students, in the not-so-distant future, there might be some new entries in the electric car market.
How You Can Get Involved
We continue to look for additional volunteers to enhance student learning by reading with students, helping organize or prepare materials, supporting in the library learning commons, or even being a guest speaker/presenter sharing your knowledge, passions, and experiences with the students. If you are interested in being a volunteer, please contact the school for more information. In order to register as a volunteer University School will verify your identity and register you in the CBE volunteer database. You will then be provided with a letter enabling you to obtain a police information check from the Calgary Police Service (CPS). Your security clearance is valid for five years and the $15 cost is covered by the CBE.
For more information about the school and all the great things happening here please visit University School’s website (school.cbe.ab.ca/school/University).
Jeremy Lang
Principal, University School