Welcome Back to School: A Letter From Your Parent Advisory Council (PAC)

October 6th, 2024

Dear DLG Families,

The start of the 2024/2025 school year is here! The DLG PAC would like to welcome our new and returning families.

What does the PAC do and how can parents get involved?

For those who are not yet aware, all DLG parents/guardians are eligible voting members of the PAC. We meet monthly to organize activities that encourage a sense of community at our school, though this will look quite different for the time being. The PAC fundraises for playground equipment, awards/certificates, extracurricular activities, graduation ceremonies, and more. There are several things we would like to encourage our families to participate in:

PAC Facebook Group (‘David Lloyd George Elementary Parent/Guardian Community 2024/2025’): This group is for parents/guardians of children enrolled at DLG. There are a number of old DLG PAC pages on Facebook that we cannot access to remove, so please use the following link: www.facebook.com/groups/DLGPAC/
Monthly PAC Meetings: On the first Tuesday of every month (unless otherwise stated), we will be hosting our PAC meeting in the school library at 6 PM. Our November meeting is Tuesday, November 5th.

Inclusive Education / Students with Diverse Abilities:

We understand that navigating school life with children who require extra support can raise additional concerns for families. As a PAC, we are reaching out to our school community to see where we can help. We have a very open and understanding group of teachers/staff and we encourage you to reach out to them first. If you feel that you are in need of further support or information, please send us an email. We would like to continue to promote an inclusive learning environment and understand that there may be students who struggle to adjust for various reasons. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help support your child’s unique needs at this time.

PAC Statement on Racism in Schools:

DLG is an ethnically and culturally diverse school and as a PAC we believe in working together to create an environment in which all students can thrive. We would like to take a moment to recognize that individual and systemic racism continues to impact those in our community. We are aware that the increased media coverage of race-related violence and discrimination might stir up mixed emotions for those with lived experiences of racism. Our schools believe that any occurrences of racism, discrimination, hate speech, violence, or bullying require a ‘restorative justice’ approach that promotes mutual respect and accountability through the encouragement of communication and reconciliation as opposed to punishment. It is important that we all stand committed to protecting our students, families, school staff, and local community members and we encourage families in need of support or intervention to reach out to us if necessary. This year, we are aiming to promote the sharing of our own cultures through various events, including a Multicultural Day, presentations from Ethos Lab (a Black-led S.T.E.M. organization for youth), and Indigenous cultural education opportunities!

National Truth & Reconciliation Day 2024:

On September 30th, we recognized "National Truth and Reconciliation Day" (Orange Shirt Day). This is a day to honour and remember the Indigenous children who were taken from their families and sent to residential schools and recognize the deep impacts of these institutions on Indigenous communities. Thank you to the staff and students who wore their orange shirts to show support and love to our Indigenous friends, family, and neighbors. We encourage everyone to take a moment to learn more about the story of Phyllis Webstad and the significance of the orange shirt (https://www.orangeshirtday.org/).

We will be posting more updates throughout the year so please check back regularly!

Sincerely,
The DLG PAC