Fingers crossed the weather forecast is wrong and we get to enjoy a beautiful long weekend! And if the forecast is right, I hope you can cozy up inside and take time to unwind. :)

This week, the students were very excited to watch their bean plants grow. Some beans are a bit slower than others to push through the soil. I have no doubt, however, that by Tuesday everyone's plant will have sprouted! We are keeping track of our plant's development in a little Bean Observation book. The students are sketching their plant, writing observations, and making predictions as to how tall their plant will grow. I will be sending these plants home for continued growth in the next week or so.

Next week, we will plant our class garden box. We will plant six different vegetables. It is always fun to observe how each different plant presents as it pushes up through the soil and develops!

Next week in Math, we are moving into a new unit. The students will learn about 3D objects and their different properties. I will be sending home a small homework assignment on Tuesday asking the children to go on a 3D shape hunt in their house. Please look for this teal-coloured paper in your child's backpack.

We focused on words with "oi" and "oy" this week. I sent home a Roll and Read page for your child to practice. They had an opportunity to read these words on Thursday when they played the game with a partner in class.

We have been enjoying hearing about the students' grandparents' or other older relatives' favourite toys and memories from when they were in Grade 1. We will continue to share these pages next week.

Zoo Field Trip forms were sent home this week. Please return these as soon as possible. Thank you. :)

From the Office:

Moving and New Address

If you have moved or are planning to move over the summer months, please notify the school as soon as possible with your new address.

For students attending a new CBE school for the fall please ensure the school knows and Transfer Forms have been completed.

Late Arrivals

We have had an increased number of late arrivals in the mornings.

When students are late, it disrupts their class and the learning that is underway. Coming late to school is also a difficult transition for the late student - it can be stressful for them.

When students arrive late at the front door, in the office, we do our best to greet students with a smile and an adult to walk them to class when we have administration available. In the event that your child needs to arrive late to school, we would ask that only the student enters the building. Adults do not need to come into the office to check their child in. This is especially important first thing in the morning when there is a high volume of traffic in the office.

For your convenience, we have relaxed/soft entry every morning at 7:50 am. We recommend trying to arrive anytime between 7:50 - 8:00 am so that your child has time to settle in class before starting their day of learning. Grade team teachers will always be at designated grade entry/exit doors at this time to welcome students into the school. Please remember that there is no teacher supervision on the playground during soft entry or after school at dismissal time.

Fun Lunch

The next Fun Lunch will be held on Wednesday May 27.

Fun Lunch is only for grades 1-4 and our EES students. 

• Go to healthyhunger.ca
• Log into you existing account or create a new one.
• Add your child’s information in the “add child” box – name, province, city, school, grade and class.
• All Fun Lunches will then populate – select the order now button!

Please make sure to send a morning snack with your child on Fun Lunch Days. Orders must be placed by the Friday before the day.

Food Support

Did you know that the Breakfast Club of Canada has shared research demonstrating that 40% of Alberta’s children experience food insecurity?  This means that 4 out of 10 children do not have access to food when they are hungry. 

If your family is experiencing challenges with providing food for your children you can find help at Brown Bagging Calgary. 

Complete this form for support and they can deliver lunches to McKenzie Towne School for your children. https://go.bb4ck.org/l/858913/2024-01-15/38fdbw You can also find out more information on their website https://bb4ck.org/

Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids

MTS Yearbooks

To order go to: https://ybpay.lifetouch.ca/
Use Yearbook ID code: 10614126

Regular Pricing: $34 

Last day to order:  May 18, 2025

If you have any pictures from any school events (ie, first day of school, Terry Fox Run, Halloween) that you would like to share with the Yearbook Committee, please click on the link below.

Once you log in, please enter this code. ADD-PICTURES-TO-YEARBOOK-26

YEARBOOK PICTURES

Upcoming Dates

May 18                                     Victoria Day - NO SCHOOL

May 27                                     Fun Lunch - Subway

May 27                                     Grade 1 Field Trip to Calgary Zoo - Carter/Larmer/Burch

May 28                                     Grade 1 Field Trip to Calgary Zoo - Watson/Fell

June 17                                    Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

June 25                                    Sports Day - Wear your Red & White for Canada Day!!

June 26                                    Last Day of School

This week, we kicked off our study of living things by planting bean seeds. Each student planted a seed in a clear plastic cup. We will be observing and recording the plant's growth over the next few weeks. We will also be planting a classroom garden box with a variety of vegetables in the next two weeks.

We focused on words containing "ay" and "ai" this week. Our five words were play, stay, way, rain, and train.

In Math, we continued working with missing addends, solving subtraction and addition word problems, and working with fact families. Next week, we will focus more on balanced equations using both addition and subtraction equations (3+2 = 10-5).

Thank you to everyone who filled out the "interview" form for our Social Studies focus on Past and Present. I will have the students begin to share these on Monday.

The students all made their mom a special Mother's Day gift with their Grade 4 buddy today. Just in case your child forgets about it, you can give them a gentle reminder that they have two special things for you on Sunday! :)

Our field trip to the zoo is coming up soon - Wednesday, May 27th. We will be sending the consent forms home next week. Please look for these in your child's backpack. They should be ready to be sent home on Tuesday or Wednesday. Thank you to the five parents who have volunteered to join us for this trip.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful moms. I hope you can find some time to relax and be pampered this weekend! :)

Upcoming Dates

May 12                                     Class Photo Day

May 14                                     Kindergarten Open House for 2026/27 Students - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

May 15                                     Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL

May 18                                     Victoria Day - NO SCHOOL

May 27                                     Fun Lunch - Subway

May 27                                     Grade 1 Field Trip to Calgary Zoo - Carter/Larmer/Burch

June 17                                    Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

June 25                                    Sports Day

June 26                                    Last Day of School

 With the weather being so nice this week, we were able to go on a Community Walk with Mrs. Burch's class. We walked to the nearby Pirate Park. En route, we spotted ladybugs, leaf buds on trees, tulip leaves coming up, Spring decorations on homes, plus many more signs that we are moving into warmer temperatures!

Today, we went to the back of the school field with our Grade 4 Buddies to do a nature Scavenger Hunt. Once again, the focus was on observing small changes that indicate Spring is here. The students found ants, new grass shoots, loads of ladybugs, and dandelions, etc. They also had a great time visiting with their older buddy.

Our focus words this week were the 5Ws - Who, What, Where, When, and Why. We practiced reading and writing sentences using these words. We also read a book called Manana Iguana and answered each of these W questions to review the characters, setting, and plot of this story.

In Math, we worked on Balancing Equations (3+2 = 4+1), Missing Addends ( 4 +__= 9), and Fact Families. We also did daily practice of listening to word problems and determining how to correctly write the equation, using addition and/or subtraction, to solve the problem.

In Social Studies, we continued learning about the Past and Present. We did a sorting activity using pictures of items used 100 years ago versus those used today. We talked about how things have changed over 100 years and why certain items are no longer used. 

*Please look for a note that I will be sending home with your child on Monday. I have a small homework task for them to do. I had meant to send it home today. I am asking that the students interview an older family member. This could be a grandparent, a great aunt or uncle, or another adult family member - the older the better! :)

Next week, we will begin our study of plants. The students will each get to put a bean seed in wet paper towel in a see-through cup and watch as it develops roots and grows into a plant. Later, we will plant a small garden box (indoors) to observe the growth of a few different vegetables.

I hope you can all spend some time outside this weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather. :)

We enjoyed a great day of learning at The Confluence on Wednesday. Thank you to the five parent volunteers who spent the day with us. Their support was greatly appreciated.

The children participated in many interactive and hands-on activities at The Confluence. They worked together to build a map of Calgary and surrounding area from before the Settlers came to present day. We learned how the land and its uses have changed over time. We also learned about the impact the European Settlers had on the Indigenous People - how the land was divided into farms and the buffalo numbers were impacted by over-hunting by the Eurpoeans. See picture below:

The students also really enjoyed being able to see and hold artifacts from the Northwest Mounted Police, the Settlers, the Indigenous, and the Metis. They also learned how to build a log cabin with a sod roof!

We also had Barrett's mom, Tammy, come to speak to us this week about her job as the Director of Workforce Strategies with The Calgary Construction Association. She spoke to the students about the important role welders, electricians, plumbers, and heavy machinery operators play in the development and maintenance of our city. This was a great tie-in to our Social Studies curriculum about Communities. She also highlighted that many of these jobs are now performed by women.

* With our weather being all over the place these days, please send extra pants and socks with your child. We have had some messy times with mud recently!

IMPORTANT: A friendly reminder that children are not to bring toys, stickers or jewellry to school. Often these items get lost or damaged, and the children get very upset. Toys and stickers can also become a distraction for the students. Thank you very much for your support. :)

I hope you all enjoy a relaxing weekend or an invigorating one, shovelling snow and building snowmen!?! :)

Thanks so much to everyone who was able to attend our Sharing Assembly on Thursday. The students did an amazing job learning their cheer. They were very excited to share it with you! It's always great to see their faces light up when they hear the applause! :)

This week, we were focusing on words that include the letters "ow". Our daily words were: now, down, town, and clown.

In Math, we were working with fact families to learn how addition and subtraction facts can be related. Here is an example of a Fact Family:

Every couple of days, we work together to answer the questions on a literacy/numeracy slide on our Smartboard. To get a feel for this work, here is an example:

As you know, our field trip to The Confluence will be this Wednesday, April 22nd. I will be sending a note home with the students on Monday. It will provide a reminder of what they need to bring for this full-day trip.

Upcoming Dates

April 22                                     Grade 1 Field Trip to Confluence Historic Site - Carter/Burch/Larmer

April 23                                     Grade 1 Field Trip to Confluence Historic Site - Watson/Fell

April 23                                     Grade 2 & 3 Spring Concert

April 24                                     Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL

April 29                                     Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks

 

This week we were learning the FLSZ ("Floss" rule). This is the rule for doubling the letters F, L, S, and Z at the end of a word. Our focus words were sniff, bell, mess, and buzz. We practiced reading and spelling these and other FLSZ words throughout the week during a variety of Language Arts activities.

We are getting excited to share a "Recycling Cheer" with you at our upcoming Sharing Assembly next week (Thursday, April 16 at 1:30pm). We have been learning about the importance of recycling and which materials can be recycled in Calgary. We have also been talking about reducing what we use and even reusing some materials to keep our Earth healthy.

I sent home a copy of our Recycling Cheer on yellow paper yesterday. Can you please take some time this weekend to help your child practice the lines? I am hoping everyone will know it by heart by Monday. We have practiced a few times in class but extra help would be much appreciated. Thank you! :)

In Math, we have been focusing on subtraction. The students are doing very well with understanding how to use a number line, moveable objects, and simple drawings to help them solve subtraction problems. We are subtracting from numbers up to 20.

It has been very exciting for us to check in on Jackie and Shadow, the two bald eagles in Northern California. We watch them on the Big Bear Bald Eagle Live Cam Youtube channel. Last weekend, their two eggs hatched. It is fascinating to watch these little eaglets get fed and tended to by their parents. Here is the link, if you would like to take a peek. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-L2nfGcuE

Thank you to everyone who has sent back the yellow permission form for our field trip to The Confluence on April 22. If you have not yet done so, please have your child return this form as soon as possible. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to join us for this full-day trip.

Upcoming Dates

April 16                                     Grade 1 Celebration @1:30 PM

April 22                                     Grade 1 Field Trip to Confluence Historic Site - Carter/Burch/Larmer

April 24                                     Non-Instructional Day - NO SCHOOL

April 29                                     Fun Lunch - Coco Brooks