September 9, 2026

Dear Savory Families,

First Days
 We have had a fabulous first few days of the 2026-2027 school year! Students have been engaged in a variety of learning experiences focused on reviewing prior learning while re-establishing classroom and school routines. Students have been excited to reconnect with friends while settling back into school life.

School Organization

We have 10 divisions this year – a reduction from 11 last year. This means that we have our portable available for our Music/Fine Arts learning space. We are thrilled to have this dedicated space. With 10 divisions, we have very limited spaces for new students. I have organized class configurations that best meet our needs given our current enrolment of 224 students and the number of students at each grade level.

New Classes

Our staff has been working to organize classes for this year. Staff have put a great deal of thought, care, and consideration when making the classroom placement of each child. Tomorrow morning, students will return to their last year’s class for attendance and then they will be organized into their new classes after recess. Please do not send school supplies tomorrow. School supplies may be brought beginning Monday.

You can look forward to your child sharing with you their classroom teacher’s name and peers in their class tomorrow when you pick them up. At the end of the day, teachers will dismiss students from the field where we will be lined up in our Fire Drill muster spots. Hopefully, this will make the end of day pick-up smooth as the students will be exiting from new doors, and you may not have known where to locate them. If you already have a pick-up plan in place with your child, we will encourage students to communicate that plan to their new teacher so that they can follow it at the end of the day. For example, if your child meets you at the loop in your car, they will be able to leave the line to meet you in the loop. This option is simply to ensure students are in one place to prevent any worry over not being able to find them at their new exit.

Actionable Tasks for Families

To help us start the year smoothly, please complete the following items over the next week:

• Please make sure that you visit the Consent link to update your child’s permissions.
• Please also take time to review the Sooke School District Elementary School Code of Conduct with your child. We will not be completing a signed form this year however, we will review the District Code of Conduct with students over the course of the year. You will notice that this document also refers to the expectations around personal devices. At the Elementary school level, the devices we see most often are smart watches. Students will be asked to keep their smart watch in their backpack, along with any other personal devices, during the school day. If at any time you need to connect with your child, please contact the school office and we will ensure that your child gets the necessary information. As the main safety provider during the day, it is important that we are in the loop to prevent any surprises.
• Next week we will be sending home an Emergency Release Form for you to complete and return to us by September 24^th.
• Please email us at savory@sd62.bc.ca, with any demographic changes (i.e. address, phone numbers, emergency contacts, any changes with medical information).
• If your child requires medication including epi-pens at school, please contact our office via phone or email to complete the required forms. 
• Please send school supplies starting Monday for students in Grades 1-5. Supply lists are posted on our school website.
• We encourage you to go to our school website for up-to-date information about our school. https://savory.web.sd62.bc.ca/
• MyEd Parent Portal

It is imperative that parents and guardians have access to the MyEd Parent Portal in order to access Student Report Cards, Student Attendance Records, Inclusive Education Plans and Demographic & Emergency Contact information. Please note that this is the only way to access Student Report Cards as paper copies will not be sent home. As a school district, we are striving to be environmentally sound in our practices – reducing paper use. It is important that parents and guardians have access to the MyEd Parent Portal in order to view report cards, attendance records, Inclusive Education Plans, and demographic and emergency contact information

New parents/guardians at our school this year will receive this email invitation next week.

Please see information here on our district website with specifics of how to access MyEd BC Parent Portal. https://www.sd62.bc.ca/parents-students/myed-bc-portal. Also included is the how to find Your MyEducationBC Password if you have never logged on. If you need assistance, please email us or call our office. Please also see the MyEd attachments that will also help you access MyEd.

Reminder - Kindergarten Gradual Entry

Our new Kindergarten students begin gradual entry tomorrow through next Tuesday as per the email information sent directly to families giving your specific times. As per a previous email, please complete the kindergarten survey for your child if you have not already done so. https://forms.office.com/r/CV2evdT3g3. The first full day of Kindergarten is Wednesday, September 16. An email will be sent to families with class placements on Tuesday afternoon. 

Thank you for all that you do to support your child(ren) as they begin this school year. Thank you as well for taking the time to read this information and keep it for future reference.

Kind regards, 

Renee, Principal