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We are excited to welcome students back for another school year! 

As the new school year approaches, we have listed some ways you can prepare.  You can also expect to receive detailed information about the first day of classes early next week once details have been finalized with teachers.  Our office is now open, and the first day of classes is Thursday, August 31.  Here are some important reminders, updates and links:

Nine Tips for Preparing Children to Return to School

Use this link to access practical advice from the Werklund School of Education for preparing your child for the beginning of the school year.

Calendar

See our school calendar​ for important dates this school year.

MyCBE Account

A MyCBE Account is an important tool for accessing all of your child's information. Parents/ Legal Guardians/ Independent Students who have not already done so must create a MyCBE account  and add student(s) to the account to:

§  access your child's program information (e.g., course assessments, daily attendance record, report card)

§  view your child's learning using Brightspace by D2L

§  pay fees and request waivers

§  register for transportation and lunch supervision

§  book parent-teacher conferences

§  submit online school forms (required for the 2022-23 school year)

You will need your email address on file at the school, as well as the student's CBE ID. This can be found on:

§  SchoolEngage student profile for families that registered their child using SchoolEngage. 
Note | For a visual guide on how to find the CBE ID within SchoolEngage, refer to SchoolEnage CBE Student ID

§  CBE Report Card, beside the child's name

§  CBE ID card

See our support page for instructions on signing up for a MyCBE account or accessing an existing account.

Your MyCBE account is used as long as your child remains at CBE from kindergarten to Grade 12, so please register with an email that will be active during this period.

School Transportation

Your school bus stop and the route should be posted in MyCBE. CBE Transportation continues to accept registration after the deadline; however, students are added to the closest existing stop with available space. Due to volume, processing times could be up to six weeks at the beginning of the school year. Families are responsible for transportation until their registration is confirmed.

Lunch Supervision

Registration for lunch supervision should now be open in MyCBE. All students in Grades 1- 6 and full-day kindergarten programs staying at school during the daily lunch break must be registered and pay the annual fee (various payment options available).

Healthy Hunger: Information regarding Healthy Hunger is sent out weekly to parents through our Subscribers Weekly message.  Be sure to opt into commercial messages to receive this information (see below).  If you have questions, please contact the main office.

Subscribe to School Messages

To ensure you receive important emails from David Thompson School and the Calgary Board of Education, you must subscribe to the service. If your contact information has changed, you need to update your information with your child's school and subscribe to your new email and phone number.

If your child is new to the CBE or if you have recently changed your phone number, you should receive a text (SMS) message from 978338 asking if you would like to receive Calgary Board of Education alerts. This message is safe and sent for your protection.

Student Supplies List

Visit our back to school page for student supply lists by grade.

School Start and End Times

Our bell times are:

 

Monday to Thursday Time:

Period 1 - 8:00 to 8:48 AM

Period 2 - 8:50 to 9:38 AM

Nutrition Break - 9:38 to 9:43 AM

Period 3 - 9:43 to 10:31 AM

Period 4 - 10:33 to 11:21 AM

Lunch - 11:21 AM to 12:02 PM

Period 5 - 12:02 to 12:50 PM

Period 6 - 12:52 to 1:40 PM

Period 7 - 1:42 to 2:30 PM

 

Friday Time:

Period 1 - 8:00 to 8:45 AM

Period 2 - 8:47 to 9:32 AM

Period 3 - 9:34 to 10:19 AM

Nutrition Break - 10:19 to 10:29 AM

Period 4 - 10:29 to 11:14 AM

Period 5 - 11:16 to 12:00 PM

 

Warm regards,

 

Chris Keuben

Principal

Pronouns: he, him, his

École David Thompson School

9320 Arbour Crescent SE, Calgary, AB T2J 0X8

Calgary Board of Education | cbe.ab.ca

t | 403-777-7470 | ext 2123

 

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Dear David Thompson families,

 

 

With the arrival of summer, you undoubtedly find yourselves drawn toward the outdoors, more time with family and friends, a slower pace, as well as hobbies or plans that may have been set aside over the course of the school year. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff in creating a welcoming, inclusive, safe and caring environment through these challenging times.  Thank you to all of our teachers for your hard work and perseverance in designing engaging and meaningful tasks.  Also, thank you to those teachers who also volunteered to coach teams, run clubs, organize fundraisers and theme days, plan field trips, and most importantly take time to listen to, laugh with, and encourage everyone in our learning community.  In addition, thank you to our support staff who have continued to be so instrumental in the day-to-day operation of the school.  Thank you to Mme Howlett, Mme Korpela, Mrs. Feke, Mme Richard, and our educational assistant Ingrid Cruickshank, who are moving on to the next step in their careers.  I have appreciated their dedicated service to students and families over the years and wish them all the best in the future.

I would be remiss not to express my sincere thanks to parents.  Your flexibility, understanding, and support for your children and our school is truly appreciated.  Teachers have valued your focus on supporting your children and for your words of encouragement and kindness during these uncertain times.

Lastly, I want to thank all of our students.  You are the reason we come to school every day.  Your enthusiasm and energy feeds our soul.  Without you, teaching would simply be a job.  Thank you for giving our work purpose and meaning.  We are immensely proud of your accomplishments and your resilience.  We look forward to seeing you continue to grow in the years to come. 

 

Summer Learning

For families looking for ideas to reinforce mathematical thinking, read and writing, and wellness, here are some ideas:

 

Math

• Talk about the likelihood of events.  For example, the likelihood of rain, a team making the playoffs, etc.
• Work on puzzles or play cards or board games that involve mathematical thinking
• Make your mathematical thinking visible to your children.  For example, how you estimate the supplies you need for a home project, estimating time to travel somewhere, estimating the price after a discount or with taxes, or your budget for groceries or a trip.
• Look for shapes and patterns in real life.

 Reading

• The Ultimate Summer Challenge is back at the Calgary Public Library.  Use this link to learn more. 
• Take your child to the public library, visit their website, and go to a bookstore to find materials that reflects your child's passions or interests.  Try not to object to their choice, even if it is a teen pop star biography.
• Have lots of reading materials available around your house. 
• Model lifelong reading by setting aside time each day to read at home and talk about it
• Read the same book as your child and discuss it
• Rent or buy audio books to listen to when driving in the car with your children
• Language is all around us; when you are out with your children, talk about what you notice.  This might be a great pun, literary allusion, metaphor, or interesting word. 
• Find time every day to have a conversation with your child.  Not only does it build self-esteem and improve social skills and connections, but it can also help them become better communicators and improve their vocabulary, which is key in improving reading comprehension, writing and speaking skills.
• French immersion students need exposure to a lot of different books, but more importantly, they need to be offered highly interesting texts that make reading fun!  Use this link to some recommendations for middle school French Immersion students.  I encourage you to do a Google search alongside your children to find books just right for them.  Many websites allow you to “look inside," which allows kids to check the level of French and gauge how interesting it is to them.  Chapters allows you to filter searches by grade for French Immersion books.

Wellness is also an important part for families to consider.  Here are a few ideas:

• Go for a nature walk or take part in other physical activities
• Start a project as a family
• Rediscover old family recipes or find new ones you can do together
• Get away from screens, particularly social media
• Plan staycations as a family that incorporate everyone's interests
• Create a jar of fun things that require little organization and pick one each day to do as a family
• Explore mindfulness or meditation techniques
• Reconnect with friends and family you haven't seen in person in a way that respects local health guidelines and bylaws
• Take up journaling
• Celebrate small successes
• Reach out to professionals if someone is finding it hard to cope. 

I hope all of you have a wonderful summer break surrounded by friends and family.  Take care of yourself and each other, and we will see you in the fall!

Chris Keuben

Principal

École David Thompson School

 

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It has been an amazing first semester and I am delighted to have the opportunity to take a moment and celebrate all of our successes. I could not be more proud of the hard work and dedication that each and every one of you has put into the past few months. From the academic achievements of our students to the fine arts and athletic accomplishments, the entire community should be proud of the progress that has been made at David Thompson School.

You have worked hard to achieve your academic goals and have demonstrated knowledge and skills that have set you up for success in the future. I am impressed by the commitment you have made to continue learning and growing, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic.

The performance of our volleyball, cross country and soccer teams, along with outstanding performances by our band students and students involved in our production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory this semester demonstrate the drive and commitment of our school to excel in all areas. I know that the second semester will bring more success, and I am eager to see what our students will accomplish.

I am confident that our students will continue to demonstrate the same dedication and enthusiasm that has been shown in the first semester. I want to thank each and every one of you for your contributions to our school. From the teachers and staff that work hard to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences, to the students that challenge themselves to do better and work harder, our school has been lifted beyond measure by your commitment and dedication.

I am looking forward to the second semester and all the wonderful experiences that it will bring. I have no doubt that the hard work and dedication of our students and staff will continue to propel us forward in all aspects of our school life. Let's make the most of the remaining days of the year and celebrate our successes in the new year!

Mr. Keuben​

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What an incredible start to the school year!  The positive energy was tangible throughout the building over the first two days of school.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank teachers for their diligent planning to help returning and new students feel welcomed and excited about the school year.

We were also excited to meet a number of new families during our orientation presentation Thursday morning.  For those who could not attend, we have uploaded our presentation to our website in the Back to School section.  Also, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call or email.  

In our school assembly, students were excited to learn about the wide array of clubs, sports teams, and field trips that are being offered this year.  Also, with the relaxation of health measures, we will see the return of major excursions, including: Bamfield, Eastern Canada, Camp Chief Hector, overnight band camps, and exciting new Outdoor Education trips.  We will communicate further information as soon as possible. 

We want to ensure you are kept up to date on what's happening at David Thompson. We will be sending out the Weekly Informer email every Friday to keep you up to date. Teachers will also be posting regularly on D2L (or Google Classroom for grade 5). We encourage you to review this information with your child regularly as this is an excellent way to engage with your child about what they are learning.

We look forward to an amazing year working together!

Chris Keuben

Principal

Pronouns: he, him, his

École David Thompson School

9320 Arbour Crescent SE, Calgary, AB T2J 0X8

Calgary Board of Education | cbe.ab.ca

t | 403-777-7470 | ext 2123

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Dear David Thompson families,

 

It was so wonderful to see students returning to school, reconnecting with friends and sharing stories of their summer adventures.  In visiting classrooms today, Isabelle Korpela and I were so happy to see students enthusiastic, positive and ready for the school year.   Today, students spent the morning in homeroom classes to help students to settle in and build a sense of community.  In the afternoon, we followed a mini timetable to meet their teachers and familiarize them with their schedule for tomorrow. 

 

Just as a quick note, we would like to remind parents who are dropping off and picking up students between 7:40 and 8:00am, and 2:30 and 2:45pm,  to please use 5th Street at the east end of our school yard. We are trying to minimize traffic and crowding of students at our entrances by only allowing our school buses access Arbour Crescent. 

 

We are continuing to provide healthy lunch items for students. We would like to thank Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids for their ongoing support.  We are looking to restart our breakfast program.  Mme. Khoo and Mrs. Strickland have generously volunteered to run this program, which provides breakfast items for students at no charge.  We are currently looking for donations of shelf stable products.  Items in need include: instant oatmeal, granola bars, whole grain cereal, spreads (cheese spread, jam, Wow butter), and perishable items like milk, fruit and yogurt.  Items can be dropped off in the office.  Thanks in advance for your support.

 

While we have been focussing a great deal on the physical health of students in our messaging to families, I do want to assure you that the mental health of our students continues to be a top priority.  In addition to community building activities in homerooms, we have scheduled an activity day and assembly for Friday to further enhance our sense of belonging to David Thompson School, strengthen our collective identity and make a commitment to embracing diversity.  After all, it takes all stripes to be a tiger!

 

I would like to end by thanking all our staff for their hard work and commitment in making the first day such a success, and thanking our families for helping their children to prepare for the start of the school year.  ​

​Dear David Thompson School Families, 

I am looking forward to welcoming our school community to the 2020-21 school year. I want to assure you we are doing everything possible to ensure the health and safety of all our community members. As you are aware on July 21, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced that all schools across the province will return to classes under Scenario 1 – inschool classes resume (near normal with health measures). In response, plans are well underway in our school to welcome our community of students as we adhere to current health guidelines. CBE’s Scenario 1 Information can be found on our website and outlines the measures we are taking to provide for the health and safety of our students. Please refer to this document for detailed information on health measures, physical set-up of schools, cleaning of schools, daily operation of schools and transportation. The actions described in the document follow the guidelines provided by Alberta Education’s K-12 School Re-entry COVID-19 information: Guidance for schools reentry Scenario 1. We continue to refine information in our re-entry planning based on provincial and CBE guidance. Please visit our school website https://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/davidthompson/Pages/default.aspx for information on the actions and processes that are being applied to the specific context of our school. Sincerely, Chris Keuben Principal – David Thompson School

​Dear David Thompson families,

Chris Keuben

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Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year!   I look forward to continuing to work with our students, teachers, and parents/guardians to develop a school community that is warm, caring, safe and respectful.   Our staff would like each student to have a strong sense of belonging in our community of learners and to be really proud to be a David Thompson Tiger!   Our teachers are committed to supporting our students to reach their potential and to build the skills and knowledge that will help them to be successful in the future.   

 

I encourage you to explore the various tabs in our new website.   It’s a great way to find out what events are going on at this school, what our expectations are of students, how to contact teachers, or to get updates from our  School Council.

 

If you have any questions, our main office will be happy to assist you.

 

Best regards,

Rolf Haensel

Principal​