Dear Tiger Families: 

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year! Bonne rentrée ! Our office officially opens tomorrow. While we will be open, please note that we’ll be using the day to get organized and settled and we’ll be better equipped to support families and students starting the following day. We appreciate your understanding! 

We hope this communication finds you healthy, safe and rested after your summer break. We look forward to meeting you if we haven't already met you in person. To those we know, welcome back. We are excited to start this school year and have our school community together again! We are a school that strives to build community, and foundational skills together. We continue to draw from these shared values as we prepare for learning this school year. 

Our school is receiving a fresh coat of paint, thanks to the hard work of CBE’s paint team! We also have some new artwork displayed throughout the school, see the attached photo for a little preview!  It’s exciting to see our students enjoy this update. Last years’ homeroom classes contributed class murals that we are having lacquered and hung up to add a creative touch to our school spirit. We're looking forward to continuing to build meaningful connections within our learning community, supporting each unique individual learner to strengthen their foundational skills and partnering together with Tiger families to reach our potential in supporting student learning at David Thompson. 

We are beginning our school year on September 2nd at 8:05 am. Buses will be running on their regular schedule for those registered for bussing.  

Our bell times are: 

  • Monday to Thursday from 8:05 am to 2:30 pm 
  • Lunch: 11:22-12:02 (Elementary are inside for first half and outside for second)
  • Friday from 8:05 am to 12:00 pm 

First Day of Classes: 

  • Students will be welcomed in the main foyer. 
  • Grades 5 and 7s will go to the main gym to meet their teachers and then head off to homeroom for some NEW-to-David Thompson school orientation activities.  
  • Grade 6, 8 and 9 will see homeroom class lists posted and can find their name and thier room and head straight to class that wat. 
  • Please note that at this time, we are unable to accommodate additional homeroom changes. Exceptions will only be considered in extraordinary circumstances, and any approved changes will take effect at the end of September, once final enrollment numbers are confirmed.

Important Start-Up Information:  

  • Please remember to send lunch, a snack and a water bottle on the first day of school.    
  • There will be numerous forms, both digital and hardcopy shared during the first week of school. We kindly ask that you complete these forms and return/submit at your earliest convenience to help ensure a smooth start to the year.

Communication with families will take place primarily on the website and via email. However, teachers sometimes reach out via the telephone to check in on students and establish contact. We ask that parents try to answer calls from the school, especially at start-up as establishing a connection with students and their families are essential to academic success. Of course, if you are unavailable, emailing your child’s homeroom teacher with information would also be very much appreciated.   

Some questions they may ask would include:   

  • How are you and your child doing? Is there anything that you or your family needs assistance with?    
  • Does your child have access to a personal computer, laptop, iPad/tablet? Will they be bringing this technology to school? 
  • Do you or does anyone in your home have health concerns that you wish to share?   
  • What is the best phone number to call you during the day?   
  • What do you feel your child's strengths in learning and development are at this time? 
  • Do you have anything else you would like to share about your child's learning (including assessment updates for school documentation like IPP or medical safety plans)?    

If you do not hear from your homeroom teacher by 4 pm on Friday, August 29, please email your responses to me, at kmmunroe@cbe.ab.ca. I will respond to your email to let you know we have received it and will forward it to the appropriate homeroom teacher.   

Complementary Enrichment Options

For those students entering Grade 7-9 who have not yet chosen their options, please do not worry. You will be called during the first and second week to be enrolled in options. Course descriptions are linked here https://davidthompson.cbe.ab.ca/complementary-subjects. Students who made requests last year but are wanting to request a change will be able to pick up an enrichment request change form at the main office. 

Congratulations

We are pleased to share some staffing updates for the start of the 2025–2026 school year. First, we’d like to extend our congratulations and a warm welcome to Ms. Habashi, who will be joining our team as a lunch supervisor. In addition, as mentioned at the end of the school year, we’re thrilled to welcome Ms. Shields, Ms. Collins, Mme. Wilms, Mme. Leithead, Ms. Brown, and Ms. Wood to our school community. This fall, we’re also pleased to welcome Ms. Singh and Mme. Kaziev, who will be supporting our team while Ms. Anderson and Mme. Khoo are on leave. Each brings valuable experience and fresh perspectives to our school, and we are confident they will contribute meaningfully to student learning and community life. We’re proud of our dedicated and collaborative team and our shared commitment to student learning. We know our students and families will extend their usual warm welcome to each of them and we look forward to a year of excitement! 

Invitation to David Thompson School Council Meeting

You are invited to an information meeting about David Thompson School Council. The meeting is an opportunity to learn more about the work being done at David Thompson school and the different roles available to volunteers. We encourage you to join, attend and contribute to keeping David Thompson Strong. David Thompson School Council and Parent Society meet on the third Wednesday of every month at 6:00 either online or in the David Thompson School Learning Commons. Our school council is responsible for much of what happens around the school, and our parent/guardian volunteers are so very much appreciated. Please email dtspschair@gmail.com for more information.

Please join us on September 17th at 6:00 pm in the Learning Commons for the first School Council meeting of this school year!

Meet the Teacher — Save the Date!

Parents/Guardians are asked to save the date for our “Meet-the-Teacher” evening. On Wednesday September 24, from 5:00-7:00 pm, we will host an open house to strengthen our home and community partnership in learning. This year the First Alliance Church is sponsoring a “Tiger-Dog BBQ” for us. We hope to see you there! 

Finally more information including a list of back to school supplies and the bell schedule is available on the David Thompson website on our https://davidthompson.cbe.ab.ca/back-to-school. We look forward to welcoming your learner(s) back to school and working with you to support their well-being through this academic year. On behalf of all the Tiger Teachers, welcome to a new year and thank you for your partnership in supporting student learning at David Thompson.

On behalf of he entire David Thompson staff: Welcome Back To School! Merci de votre collaboration.


Sincerely,  


Karena Munroe

Principal

David Thompson School

Go Tigers! @ecoledavidthompsonschool

#DTStrong #DTSLearningTogether #TigerPride