Avondale School
March Newsletter
- Learning and succeeding together!
- Welcome to Avondale School’s Monthly Newsletter
Work hard, be kind
and good things
will come your way
Mrs. Thiemann
Please keep up to date with Avondale
news and important updates by reading
through the
newsletter and following the buttons and
links provided.
February
April
Dates to Remember
- School Division
Calendar
March
- Feb 14 - School Spirit
- Wear Red and Pink Day
- Mar 26 - Parent Teacher Interviews
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
- Feb 17 - Family Day
- No School
- Feb 26- Pink Shirt Day
- Anti-Bullying
Feb 11- Nitehawk Ski Trip Grade’s 5 and 6
- Mar 17 - School Spirit
- Wear Green Day
- Mar 29 - April 6 - Spring Break
- Mar 21 - Professional Learning Day
- No School
- Apr 7 - First Day Back from Break
- Apr 1- Apr 6 - Spring Break
- No School
- Mar 20 - Term 2 Report Cards
- Mar 27 - Parent Teacher Interviews
- 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
- No School - Enjoy Your Spring Break
- Apr 18 - Good Friday
- No School
Feb 28 - Professional Learning Day
- No School
- Mar 6 - Mar 7 Teacher Convention
- No School
- Feb 13 - Munch-a-Lunch - McDonalds
- Mar 13 - Munch-a-Lunch - Pizza Hut
- Deadline to order Mar 6/24 @ 3;30 pm
- Apr 17 - School Spirit Day
- Sports Day
- Apr 21 - Professional Learning Day
- No School
Mar 26 - Kindergarten Grad Photos - AM
Our Grade 3 students have been hard at work designing and building their own Rube
Goldberg machines! Using their knowledge of simple machines, they created a machine
that “worked”—although maybe not in the way they intended.
The classroom buzzed with conversation, creativity, and teamwork. The skills they
developed seamlessly carried over to their next project: crafting candy boxes! 🍬🔧✨
- I can explain how simple machines reduce the effort needed to move objects
- I can design a device that uses simple machines
- I can safely work with tools, materials, and equipment
Avondale’s
Learning Corner
Grade 3B:
Update From
Miss Backlund’s
Class
Always Learning New Things!!!
Avondale’s
School Clothing
Spirit Wear Store
Open!
- Order Now
Nitehawk Ski Day for Grade 5 &6
February 11, 2025
It was a fantastic day for everyone! Smiles, great company, and amazing
moments made it truly special—we couldn’t have asked for a better day!!
School Council
- We are always seeking new individuals to become a member of our School Council.
Being a member is one way to gain a better understanding of the leadership and
direction of the school and be a part of the process for providing input into the
variety of programs we offer students. - If you want to get involved with a great group of caring individuals, we welcome all
parents and legal guardians, and would love to see you join us! - School Council Contact Information:
- Chair: Mark Sandul
- Phone: 780-831-4015
- Email: mark.sandul@gmail.com
Vice Chair: (Position Still Open)
- Secretary: Angelina Burrows
- Treasurer: Naomi Bressey & Angelina Burrows
- Teacher Representative: Lynn Vanderveen
- Come Join Us!
Upcoming meetings
Meetings are held in the Avondale
School staff room from 6:30 p.m. -
7:30 p.m. Child care is not
provided.
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18
All parents and guardians are
welcome to join, no registration
required.
Our school council is a collective association of parents,
guardians, teachers and our school principal who work together
to effectively support and enhance student learning.
School Spirt Day
Wear Green Day
March 17,2025
Parent Teacher
Interviews
www.gppsd.ab.ca/school/avondale
March 26 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
March 27 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Please see below for your scheduling link to select a convenient time for your
conference. If you have any questions before then don’t hesitate to reach out.
Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to meeting with you
and discussing with you your child’s progress.
book
fair
Family and friends are invited to join us
during Parent teacher Conferences
MARCH 26th 5-8 pm
mARCH 27TH 4-7 PM
In the Library
Avondale
Scholastic
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO SHOP DURING THEIR REGULAR LIBRARY BLOCKS
Cash, debit and credit will be accepted.
Indigenous Programming
FROM OUR INDIGENOUS LIAISON
- DANICA NAPESIS
- February 6, 2025
Thank you to everyone who
attended our GPPSD
Indigenous family circle on
February 6th. It was a
wonderful evening making
connections!!
February's APPLE Schools theme was "Show Your Heart Some Health"
where students were able to write heart healthy ideas onto the bulletin
board's hearts. Classes also participated in a school-wide bingo with
activities that encouraged healthy eating habits, exercise, and being kind
and helpful to others.
APPLE Schools Update:
The Grade 2 class enjoyed puzzle
time in the library for APPLE-a-
day on February 12, an annual
event showing how small
healthy actions can have big
impacts. Calmly completing a
puzzle is a simple way to relieve
stress while working on
creativity and teamwork.
Avondale has begun
intramurals during recess on
Tuesdays and Thursdays. The
students have been having
fun playing tag, capture the
bean bag, dribble and freeze
and basketball.
Kindergarten & Kinderpal
Registration Opens
Mark your calendars!!
2025-2026 online registration for
Kindergarten and all new students
officially opens
March 10, 2025, at 8:30 a.m.
Kindergarten & KinderPAL will be
open to children born in 2020.
For more information and steps on how to
fill out your child’s registration form please
click the link below:
Volunteers Wanted
We are always looking for volunteers! From
school council members to field trips, please
contact your child’s teacher to learn more.
Once a month, students also have the
option to take part in ordering Munch-a-
Lunch. Funds raised go towards School
Council initiatives.
March 13th Munch a Lunch will be
Pizza Hut. *Please note cut off to
order is March 6th at 3:30 pm.
Visit: https://munchalunch.com/.
Citrus Catering
Reminders
Citrus Catering will be providing hot lunch
options to our students. To see the menu or
order, please visit:
https://www.citruscatering.ca/school-
orders/avondale
Munch-a-Lunch
There are special dates and daily menus.
Order cut off is 8:30 am daily.
- Please do not park in our traffic loop. If you
need to park, please use the visitor parking lot.
Be sure to check out our Arrival and Dismissal
Map. On the map you'll find labeled entryways
and a brief rundown of the parking lots and
roadways on campus.
- Parent Vehicles
- Students come to school on all sorts of vehicles
like bikes, scooters, and skateboards. Some are
human powered but more and more are
battery powered. Some of these student
vehicles are quite fast. Students are not
permitted to ride on sidewalks during busy
times to ensure pedestrian safety.
- Student Vehicles
Please use crosswalks if you need to cross the
road. Our school uses the AMA School Safety
Patrollers program. Most days we have Safety
Patrollers and a supervising teacher managing
the crosswalk that connects our campus to the
Circle K parking
- lot.
- Crosswalks
3 Reminders:
Keeping our students safe
Reminders
- To help us manage students arriving in the morning and leaving after school, students are
to use the exterior doors designated as their entrance where their boot racks are located. - In the morning and after school, parents or guardians are asked to pick up or drop off
their child at the designated exterior door.
Drop Off & Pick Up Doors
- If students need to leave school during the day, please make sure you have come into the
office, through the main doors to sign them out.
Leaving School Early
- All visitors, including parents/guardians, are required to check in at the office upon
entering the school; therefore, we ask parents and guardians to only use the main doors
enter or exit the building.
Visitor Sign In
- Please keep everyone safe by
following the parking lot rules at
our school. See map to right.
Parking
Parents/Guardians, you can keep track of your child's school bus by
downloading the free FirstView App. You will be able to stay up-to-date on
its location, including unexpected delays or cancellations:
- kEEP tRACK OF YOUR CHILD’S BUS: DOWNLOAD THE FIRSTVIEW APP
If you are using the mobile app, it is suggested that you set up push
notifications for real-time alerts.
For bus cancellations, Grande Prairie Public School Division also supports
the app by contacting local radio stations and posting an alert banner on
the division's website (gppsd.ab.ca) and Facebook page (@GPPSD 2357).
Make sure to sign up and
stay connected with our
school!
How to Create Account
Reporting Student
Absences
To simplify reporting and responding to
student absences we are using
SchoolMessenger’s reporting system called
SafeArrival.
Reporting student absences can be done in
three ways, choose the most convenient for
you: mobile app, email or phone call.
For students marked absent and the absence hasn’t been reported in
SchoolMessenger, SafeArrival will contact parents/guardians by automated
phone call, text message, email or mobile app push notification (depending on
how you have set your preferences in SchoolMessenger-Attendance) for you
to indicate a reason for the absence.
Pre-Warning Bell (line up outside): 8:17 am
Warning Bell (enter the school): 8:20 am
Start of Instruction: 8:25 am
Lunch: 11:25-11:55 am
Lunch Recess 11:25-12:55 pm
School Done: 3:10 pm (for pickup)
Bell
Times
Morning Supervision Begins at 8:05 am
East and West side of Avondale School. (*Please
do not send you child to school earlier than this
time.*)
After School Supervision Ends at 3:25 pm
(*Please have your child picked up by 3:15.*)
Supervision
Times
Your Logo
Here
10226 108 Ave
Grande Prairie
Alberta
- T8V 1P5
- our location
- 780-532-3230
- phone
- avondale@gppsd.ab.ca
Jae LeClare
- Vice Principal
Tracey Thiemann
Principal
Avondale School
- Learning and succeeding together!
Tracy Doerkson
Admin Assistant
March 29-April 6