Belfast School Weekly Update
Dear Belfast Families,
As we head into spring break, I hope you have a wonderful week with your children at home. I hope that this break is filled with family, friends, and fun times! I know this past week was busy for families with different spirit days and events – and therefore, I also hope that your break is restful! Thank you for always supporting our school. After spring break, the rest of the school year flies by, with so many field trips and key events taking place. Please be sure to mark your calendars with all key dates! See below for more information.
Follow us on Instagram @BelfastSchoolcbe. If you do not see your child on Instagram and would like to, please complete the annual authorization form on MyCBE.
Free Brand-New Clothing & Other Items from Sport Chek
We were lucky to receive another donation from Sport Chek (they supported our Santa visit gifts in December). There are a lot of brand-new items for parents to take for free when you come to conferences tonight and tomorrow. Please look at our Instagram post to see the items – there are items for both children and adults!
Movie Concession Flash Sale: April 2
On Thursday, April 2, Grades 1-6 students will be able to purchase concession items that were left over from our Family Movie Night at lunch. We have chips, chocolate, candy, juice boxes, and water – all for $1 each. We will sell everything as first come, first served until the items are gone. All proceeds will go to our Parent Fundraising Society. Thank you!
Brave Like the Buffalo Author Visit & Performance
On Tuesday, March 31, the whole school will attend a presentation by author Melissa Allan, who wrote the book, “Brave Like the Buffalo”. This book has a beautiful message about facing challenges head-on and intertwines Indigenous ways of being and knowing through story. We are so excited to have Melissa come and share her story and songs with us! You can learn more about Melissa and her work.
Community Learning Opportunity – Childhood Unplugged
On April 22, at 10:00 AM at the Central Library Theatre, join other parents for a conversation inspired by Katherine Johnson Martinko’s book Childhood Unplugged: Practical Advice to Get Kids Off Screens and Find Balance, which offers practical guidance for helping children spend less time on screens and more time reading, playing, and exploring the world around them.
Register for free at https://childhoodunplugged.eventbrite.ca
Field Trip Fees – Important Notice
At Belfast, we are very lucky to have a generous Parent Fundraising Society who subsidizes a lot of field trip costs for our families. We were also lucky to get a $5000 field trip grant that will heavily subsidize the PEW trips in April. Last year, however, we were still short just over $4000 in field trip fees due to parents not paying for the trips.
Our small school cannot afford to cover the cost of this significant deficit, and we are asking that all parents pay for the field trips before the end of the school year. It is important for families to understand that the CBE does not erase fees at the end of each year; in fact, you will be given notice of the full amount owing before your child graduates in Grade 12. If left unpaid, school fees continue to accumulate throughout your child’s time with the CBE. If fees are not paid, the CBE does send balances to collections. The school will always receive the money, it just may take years, and in the meantime, the school has less resources to support student learning.
Please ensure we can continue to offer field trips for all students by paying your portion online through MyCBE. If you cannot afford student fees, please apply for a school waiver and communicate with your child’s teacher or the office.
Key Spring Dates
Spring is always a very busy time at schools, so we want to ensure families are well aware of key dates. As always, all important dates are on our school website and were sent out in the calendar in September. Please save the date if you plan to attend any of these events:
- Thursday, May 7 – Pie-in-the-face Fundraiser, 10:00 AM
- Thursday, May 14 – Volunteer Breakfast (instead of tea!), 9:00 AM
- Thursday, May 21 – Kindergarten 2026-2027 Orientation, 6:00 PM
- Thursday, May 28 – Spring Production of Oz! 10:15 AM (doors open at 10:00) and 6:30 PM (doors open at 6:15)
- Wednesday, June 10 – Lunch with a Loved One, 12:15 PM
- Tuesday, June 16 – School Council AGM, 6:30 PM
- Thursday, June 18 – National Indigenous Peoples’ Day, AM (time TBD)
- Friday, June 19 – Summerfest, time TBD
- Thursday, June 25 – Grade 6 Farewell, 1:30 PM
Eid Mubarak!
To all of our Muslim families who will be celebrating Eid ul Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan today, we wish you a wonderful time with family and friends.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out if you have anything you would like to share.