Hard to believe we are already near the end of December.  It was a busy term with students participating in many school wide activities contributing to the community; Terry Fox, Orange Shirt day, special assemblies, student leadership (in and out of school), and Christmas Community Care to name a few. We continue to encourage everyone to apply their critical thinking skills every day; sun up to sun down. Consider your options and explain your choices.

Did you know: we are growing community that keeps on growing, we finished last year in June with 203 students and now we will be at 220 students by January 2019. In addition some of you might have already heard Mrs. Hackett will be leaving us in the New Year, she has accepted a position at Brackendale Elementary starting on January 14^th 2019. We wish her a restful holiday to return to us at Valleycliffe for our first week back in January to then slip into her new position. I will keep everyone posted about who will replace her at Valleycliffe, no doubt big shoes to fill. We will miss her however we will still see her in the community. She is excited with the new adventure ahead. Congratulations!​

We wish everyone a safe, fun filled holiday with lots of laughter and surrounded by love.

This year we will continue with our school goal to focus on Critical Thinking.  Students are learning the language and learning how to explain their thinking.  Please help us by encouraging your child to think about their options, make a choice and explain their reasons.

We had an amazing experience on September 13th when the whole school came together.  The students were placed into 20 ‘family groupings’ (each group had Kindergarten to grade 6 students mixed together.)  We thank all the staff and parents that were able to participate and all the adults that were able to switch their schedules to participate in our event.  Susan Leslie, the District Principal of Aboriginal Education led the whole school through the process of refining what we believe represents Valleycliffe:  What is a community? What does Valleycliffe “feel like”, “sound like”, “look like”?

I am grateful to be part of such a rich, caring environment.  The students spoke from their hearts and were eloquent with their words to describe what we believe and how we want to be at Valleycliffe.  This is the beginning of the dialogue that will continue in the classrooms and on the playground.

Students shared with me about their experience: “I really liked getting to know more people.” “I like being a leader and helping the younger students.” “I felt happy.” “I liked painting.” “I now know more kids.”  “I saw my friends.” “I got to help my brother.”