Stay Informed

• See our School Calendar for our dates and information.
• Our SchoolMessenger information has steps you can take to ensure you receive our messags.
• School Council Instagram. 

School Update

To the students and families of MRS,

It is hard to believe that it is already October! September flew by, filled with learning, connection, and many wonderful moments together as a school community. 

On September 29, we gathered for our Orange Shirt Day Assembly in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Our students helped lead us through a thoughtful time of reflection that included our Land Acknowledgement, the Cree morning song Waniska, learning about the story and meaning of Orange Shirt Day, and exploring the significance of the Jingle Dress Dance. Students also shared what helps them feel connected to Maple Ridge, and our Grade 3 and 4 students closed our gathering with the beautiful Children’s Blessing Song. Our learning continued with a school-wide book walk featuring Why We Dance: A Story of Hope and Healing, written by Deidre Havrelock, a member of Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, and illustrated by Indigenous artist Aly McKnight. 

As we begin a new month, we are grateful for the curiosity, care, and sense of connection our students bring to Maple Ridge each day. We hope your family enjoys a wonderful weekend and finds some time to enjoy the beautiful colours and moments that October brings! 

Have a wonderful weekend,  
Maple Ridge Staff

Upcoming Important Dates

Our School Calendar has our dates and events. 

Notes from the Music Room

Music has filled the school at Maple Ridge School. We honoured Orange Shirt Day with beautiful singing of the morning Cree song, Waniska.  Students in grades 3 and 4 led the performance of the Children’s Blessing Song, by Sherryl Sewepegahan.  It is so lovely to hear students hum and sing these songs to themselves at different times of the day!   

In the music room, students have been engaging with locomotor and non-locomotor movement; steady beat and rhythm; and playing instruments to accompany a song. We listened to Autumn, from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.  We listened closely for a repeated theme and discussed the Strings family of instruments.  

Grade 4 students are reviewing beat vs rhythm and performed a Japanese clapping game called Omochio, to practice maintaining a steady beat while a partner performed rhythms.  We transferred this skill to instruments and the students worked hard to listen closely to each other while maintaining a steady beat with different rhythm patterns! 

Grade 1 students played a singing game called Strawberry Shortcake, which involves actions based on our birthday month. We reinforced steady beat by adding body percussion and instruments to this song.   We are reviewing different kinds of voices (speaking, singing, shouting, whispering) with a song called Hickety Tickety.  This song also helps us to remember our classmate names! 

• Fun Fact:  Tree crickets will lift their wing

iLab Materials Needed    

iLab projects promote critical thinking skills and encourage students to use design thinking to solve real-world problems.   

Knowing this, we are attempting to restock our iLab materials and are asking for donations.  

If you are willing to donate any of the following items, please drop them off at the front door (in the wagon) or send them with your child.  

*Our iLab is fully stocked with egg cartons, cardboard and boxes at this time! 

If you have any questions or think you have something not listed that might be useful to our iLab, please email Ms.Harris at anharris@cbe.ab.ca.    

Thank you in advance for helping us collect these items and support innovation at Maple Ridge!