On February 13th, the Global Issues Club emarked on a school-wide fundraiser to support the Critter Care Wildlife Society which specializes in the treatment, care and release of sick, injured and orphaned Native Mammal species of British Columbia's Southern and Lower Mainland. They are the only facility in BC specializing in the care of mammals and one of only four Bear Rehab facilities in the province.

Generous period 2 classes "adopted" a critter and students brought in donations. For instance, Ms. Garr's English 10 class was able to raise an impressive $43.39 for their adopted bear Simon. As well, the Global Issues Club held two bake sales to raise funds. By February 24th we were able to raise an amazing $720 to support sick or injured BC wildlife. An enormous thank you to all students and staff who supported our cause. Once again, you have demonstrated Sullivan Height's generous and giving spirit!

Successful Grade 12 Interviews

On February 15th and 16th Sullivan Heights Secondary completed approximately 180 grade 12 exit interviews with the assistance of PAC, teachers, admin, and community members doing the interviews of our students.  Our students displayed remarkable talent, enthusiasm, and passion for learning.

Good luck to all our grade 12's and thank you to all volunteers for helping Sullivan make this year's grade 12 exit interviews a success.

Gr 10-12 Assembly: Funny Money

On Thursday, February 23rd Sullivan Heights hosted a "Funny Money" financial literacy presentation for all grade 10 - 12 students. The presentation used humor as a way to convey the importance of starting financial planning, budgeting, investment awareness, and learning about credit and credit scores at an early age. 

Thank you to our PAC for your support of the presentation and thank you to all the teachers that spared instructional time for your students to take part in this important learning opportunity.

Course Selection is on!

The Counselling Department has just completed a week of course selections. We had a successful parent information night on February 15th, and then grade assemblies over the past couple of days with our Grade 8-11 students.

Beginning next week, the counsellors will be working with the students on inputting their courses into the computer. All students handed in one form after the assemblies, and took one home with them.

If your child would like to make changes to the selections they have made, please get them to hand in this new form to their teacher (Period 1 for Grades 8 and 9; and Period 4 for Grades 10 and 11). 

In hopes of improving our communication with parents and students, the Counselling Department has also set up a Twitter account to provide the most pertinent information throughout the year. You can find us at @SHSCounselling. We will be providing updates to parents and students about upcoming events, dates, annoucements and deadlines. Please connect with us and build our community of followers.

For course selection we have set up a hash tag #SHSelect for people to ask any question regarding choosing courses for next year. Since many parents/students have similar questions, we are hoping that this will be a way to reach as many people as possible.

Key Contacts at Our School

Welcome upcoming Grade 8's! Welcome families! Tonight, as part of our information night, we have a host of information for you. As part of our commitment to take advantage of the great technologies available to us, we would like to introduce you to some of the key support personnel in our school. We hope you get to know all of the exemplary staff here at Sullivan Heights, so here is a head start:

Mr. Hayes:  Principal

Mr. Ranu:  Vice-Principal (Last Names A-K)

Mr. Whitham:  Vice-Principal (Last Names L-Z)

Ms. Bourassa-Leblanc:  Counsellor (Last Names A-F)

Mr. Pacheco:  Counsellor (Last Names G-M)

Ms. Hoenisch:  Counsellor (Last Names N-Z)

Hardeep:  Youth Care










Meenu:  Safe School Liaison

Jeanette:  Safe School Liaison

February 23rd – Grade 7 Parent Information Night

We are holding a Grade 7 Parent Information Night!

We are inviting parents of grade 7 students to join us at our school for a fun and informative evening about life here at Sullivan Heights. If you are planning to start Grade 8 here at Sullivan Heights in September 2012, then this is the night for you! Please feel free to bring your children and your questions!

6:15 pm – (Optional) Tour of the school – Meet in the Hub

7:00 pm – Information Session –Theatre

We want your child’s transition into high school to be a positive one. We hope to see you here!

Surrey School District Update: Replica / Toy Guns

Schools, parents and other community members should be aware of the potential danger of toy and replica guns.

While such guns may be considered toys, many replica and toy guns can be easily mistaken as real.  Reports that a handgun was seen typically results in a very rapid, high-level police response, as police must treat all such reports as involving a real gun. 

Some replica guns are so realistic, they can easily be seen as an actual weapon and may result in a defensive action when pointed at someone. Police officers and other security personnel are trained to draw their own weapons in defense when threatened.

Further, having a real or replica weapon in school or on school grounds violates district policy and will result in serious consequences for students.

Doug Strachan
Manager, Communication Services

Student Council: A Special Valentines Day

In February, our Student Council sold beautiful Flower-Grams every lunchtime in the hub. Students had the chance to buy a Flower-Gram and have it sent to someone: a friend, a teacher, a "special someone". On the afternoon of Valentine’s Day, Student Council delivered over 300 flowers to classes. We even had a pancake breakfast on Valentine’s morning!

District Partnership Programs: Deadline April

Students in grades 10-12 who are interested in gaining work experience as part of a District Partnership Programs must see Mr. Bucci in the Career Centre to pick up an Application Form. Applications are due in April. Further information for each program can be found at http://www.sd36.bc.ca/general/programs/career/career.html.

~

What are the District Partnership Programs?

Many of the district’s career programs are in partnership with British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Douglas College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU), Nicola Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT), Surrey College and Vancouver City College (VCC). The partnership program provides students with opportunities to receive industry certification, or post-secondary course credits, in addition to meeting the requirements for high school graduation.

~

What areas do the Partnership Programs Cover?

Automotive Collision Repair Technician

Automotive Refinishing Prep Technician

Automotive Service Technician

Parts & Warehousing

Drafting / CADD

Plumbing
Carpentry

Electrical

Masonry

Steel Fabrication

Welding
Hairdressing

Secondary School Apprenticeship

Baking and Pastry Arts

Horticulture

Culinary Arts

Principal's Message

To the Proud Parents of our Sullivan Heights STARS,

We have now successfully started our second semester at Sullivan Heights.  Our students have settled into their new classes and we’re all looking forward to many more great learning opportunities over the next few months.

I would like to formally welcome a new STAR to our clan. Welcome to Ms. Dalzell who recently completed her teaching practicum with us and will now be joining our English Department for this semester.  I would also like to welcome back our Math Department Head Ms. van Niekerk who has returned to us from maternity leave and welcome back Ms. Funk who is joining us again for another term in our science department and also a welcome back to Meenu, our Safe School Liaison who has returned to us from working at a district safe school position.

Parents please take note that we are now starting our course selection process for next year.  Mark your calendars on February 15^th at 7 p.m. to be sure to attend our Parent Course Selection Information Session. I strongly encourage you to play an active role in helping your child navigate the decision-making process of course selection for graduation and post-secondary entrance. For our grade 12 parents, please take some time to ask you child about their Graduation Transitions Portfolio.  It is a graduation requirement and should have been completed by February 8^th Note that the G.T. interviews are taking place on February 15^th and 16^th.  

I would like to thank our Parent Advisory Council for organizing the “Funny Money” Presentation for our grade 10, 11 & 12 students on February 23.  This presentation will help educate our students on the intricacies of personal financial management. Our PAC meets on the last Monday of the month at 7 pm in the Library.  I encourage all parents to come get involved in the life of our school. Come join us at a PAC meeting and be sure to follow the updates at http://sullivanheightspac.webnode.com/.

As you are well aware, the BCTF’s job action is still going on. As a result of this, teachers have not submitted final grades for formal report cards for our grade 8 - 11 students. For specific updates on your child’s progress, you must contact your child’s teacher directly. Please contact the school office if you are unsuccessful in getting feedback from your child’s teacher

In spite of the labor unrest being played out on the political stage of public education, I can still say that our students are safe, teachers are in classrooms, students are being engaged and learning is evident. I thank our Sullivan Heights teachers for maintaining their professionalism at this difficult time. Please go to http://goo.gl/ViKTp for some notable points from our first semester.

On a final note, please be advised that this is the last newsletter that will be available in this format. As we take on the challenge of being more technologically savvy in education, we have made the decision to change our newsletter to a web-based version. Our new age newsletter will be located on our website at http://sullivanheights.com under the heading of NEWS. To receive updates via email, please enter your email address under "FOLLOW BY EMAIL". 

On behalf of all of us at Sullivan Heights, I want to thank all our Sullivan Heights parents for playing such an active role in your child’s education.  Your commitment to getting your children to school on time combined with supporting their learning at home helps all of us ensure our Sullivan Heights community of children are successful.

Let the STARS shine on!

Rex Hayes,

Principal

February 28 Substance Use Information Session

http://mentalhealthtreatment.net/mainsite/media/substance_abuse21.jpg

We are hosting a very important upcoming event for parents and families: Substance Use and your School. School Safety is supporting this event thanks to Pam Lipschultz.  We hope to see you at 7 pm Feb. 28th.  Thank you.

 

Welcome to a new semester and a new school website.

Semester two has begun, students are in their classrooms, and the learning is under way.  But that is not the only thing that has started.

To help facilitate a better communication system with both students and parents we have made a number of changes to our web site.  Our goal is to provide students and families with frequent and timely updates as much as possible. 

To receive updates via email, please enter your email address under "FOLLOW BY EMAIL".  This will allow you to receive any updates to this page by email.

Thank you for your continued support as we embrace new technology at Sullivan Heights, home of the stars!!