​Dear Dr. Oakley Families please see the following opportunity for an online presentation.​

Understanding Vaping | Child & Youth Well-Being Series

Across Canada, e-cigarette use, also known as vaping, is reaching new heights amongst teenagers. This presentation will focus on common devices used for vaping, substances vaped such as nicotine and cannabis, and the health risks associated with vaping. We will present on how to engage in challenging conversations with your young person regarding vaping.

This session is hosted in partnership with experts from Alberta Health Services and is offered free of charge for staff, families and caregivers and will benefit anyone interested in learning more.

Date |  Thursday, Nov. 16 

Time |  6:30-8 p.m.  

Link: Child & Youth Well-Being Family & Caregiver Series

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We are excited to share that students will be participating in cross graded option classes once a month. One Friday a month from 12:15-1:00 students will be meeting in mixed grade groupings to learn a new skill from a teacher in the school. Some options that students have been able to choose from are: drumming, debate, floor hockey, yoga, water colour, and coding. We are excited to watch students learn new skills and build new relationships in the school!​

Halloween is on Tuesday Oct. 31st. If your child would like to dress up, please send them dressed in a costume appropriate for school. Keep in mind, students will be wearing their costumes all day, including physical education class. Please do not send masks or weapons.

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Last year, 28 modified calendar schools in the CBE moved to a traditional calendar after stakeholders participated in various engagement sessions. Four unique-setting schools remained on the modified calendar, including Dr. Oakley. All other CBE schools operate on the traditional calendar. Instructional calendars establish common start and end days and system-wide days for schools to schedule parent-teacher conferences, professional development and organizational days Instructional hours provided to students are relatively the same between the calendars.

Beginning in October 2023, the CBE will commence an engagement process around Dr. Oakley School potentially moving to the traditional calendar. We are looking to gather feedback from affected stakeholders at Dr. Oakley School. This feedback, along with other factors, will help determine whether the CBE will transition Dr. Oakley's modified-calendar schools to the traditional calendar and how best to implement the transition.

Full details around the engagement and communication plan are posted on our school website.

All families and guardians are invited to complete a stakeholder survey to share your thoughts and opinions, open now until November 9^th

 https://droakley.cbedialogue.com/en/projects/dr-oakley-calendar-engagement/engagements/copy-of-dr-oakley-calendar-engagement-parents-guardians

 

You are invited to a virtual meeting October 26^th at 7:30 pm where we will be presenting information around this engagement process and answering any questions. A Microsoft Teams invite will be emailed to all families the day before.

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Dear Dr. Oakley Families, 

We will be providing a weekly update which provides another way to communicate upcoming events.  We hope it will be helpful in building connection and awareness of happenings at Dr. Oakley School. 

Dr. Oakley continues to foster a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environment.  As students join us from many different communities, we focus very intentionally to foster a strong sense of belonging.   As we approach Orange Shirt Day all classroom teams are engaged in deepening their understanding of Indigenous Ways of Knowing and create empathy for those impacted by residential schools.  The Indigenous Education Holistic Lifelong Learning Framework guides our practice.  The components are Mind (To Know), Spirit (To Be), Heart (To Belong) and Body (To Do).  We are diving more deeply into the heart component and the importance of connecting and belonging.  On Thursday, Sept. 28^th at 1:30, the Red Team is hosting our Orange Shirt Assembly, and we welcome families if they would like to join us. 

Thank you for your support in creating a school environment that promotes belonging and inclusion. 
Denise Nimmo​

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Teachers have been working hard with students and are excited to share with you student progress at Parent Teacher Conferences.  I.P.P.s are being developed for your child and this will provide an opportunity to have a conversation regarding students' initial targets. We have scheduled our first parent teacher conferences on the evening of September 21 and the morning of September 22 . These can be booked as an in person conference starting Tuesday September 5 at 10 am. Please access the booking schedule through your parent MyCBE account, MyConference tab. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.​

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Dr. Oakley Literacy Information Night for Parents

Dear Parents and Guardians:   Students have settled in very well over these first two weeks! Teachers have been working hard on developing positive learning communities and fostering a sense of belonging. Both myself and Stephanie Bender, our assistant principal have enjoyed spending time with classroom communities and getting to know new students and reconnect with our second-year students. It is always so lovely to observe the confidence in the students who are joining us in their second year.  They demonstrate such leadership and mentorship to our new students who soon feel right at home.     We will be hosting a session on September 6th for parents (students don't attend) regarding how to support your child in literacy learning.  Parents of second year students are also welcome. Also, it will be wonderful to see you in the school! Our literacy team will provide important details on how to support your child to review and build on the skills that they have been learning at school. We see a marked difference in students' progress when they engage at home in literacy.  The literacy leader will also share tips on motivating students as we know reading is challenging and not always an activity our students want to participate in.    The evening will start at 6:30 pm and finish at approximately 8:00 pm depending on the question period.  We will meet in person in the gymnasium.   Please RSVP by sending an email to jeklippenste@cbe.ab.ca .   We are so looking forward to meeting you and hosting our first in person parent forum in over two years!   With Gratitude,  Denise Nimmo Principal ​

​​Welcome to the new school year and those families that are new to our school, we welcome you to Dr. Oakley! 

Every school year is new and exciting and as we establish new teams, we work very thoughtfully to create warm, welcoming, inspiring learning communities with the new configuration of students. Many of the activities and tasks are directed towards this goal to support all student levels of positive well-being and to inspire them to be greater risk takers in their learning.  Stephanie Bender our assistant principal will greet students each morning as they arrive off buses. They then connect with teachers as a soft start either inside their classrooms or outside.  As students begin their day of learning, teachers will engage with them in intentional connection time before starting their day of academic learning. Socio-emotional and wellbeing are extremely important to support students with their academic learning.

As you are aware, we provide very rich, intensive, literacy programming for our students. Literacy instruction is immersed across all curricular areas.  Mathematics instruction is also intentional and explicit to support the unique learning needs of our students.   Our students are grouped according to grades in either a straight grade or a multi-aged configuration. Each grouping has approximately 23-24 students and two teachers. For an hour a day, three teachers support the grouping of students. Each of these learning teams is identified by a color (teal, yellow, orange, red, purple, blue and green). To further support students we also have a mathematics/technology learning leader, a literacy learning leader, three literacy support teachers and a physical education teacher.   Within each learning community, students will be grouped in a flexible manner depending upon the learning activities and the needs of the students. 

Thank you and Welcome!
Denise Nimmo 
Principal

​I want to begin with a heartfelt thank you to all our families, students, teachers and staff.  Our literacy team has been reviewing all of the data regarding student growth.  Students continued to show exemplary growth this year! Teachers were heavily involved in professional learning aligned with the science of reading. This evidence-based instruction supported students making amazing progress. We also worked hard to maintain a strong sense of community, belonging, and well-being for all members in Dr. Oakley. 

We often refer to Dr. Oakley as a magical place and we watch students become not only readers and writers, but sometimes even more importantly is the transformation of children who are confident in who they are as learners, human beings and as self-advocates for what they need to be successful. 

We are excited about welcoming the 2023-24 school year!  A few days before school begins please look on your “Mypowerschool" account for your child's bus route information.  On the first day of school, all staff will greet the buses and welcome students.  We know this can be a time of both excitement and trepidation and are committed to creating a safe, welcoming, connected community for all!

As we look forward to summer and hopefully some sense of normalcy, we wish you health, safe travels and time to rest and heal from the challenges of this year. 

In the spirit of generosity and belonging, 

Denise Nimmo
Proud Principal of Dr. Oakley School ​

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Dear Dr. Oakley Families,  We want to wish you a wonderful spring break! it is so hard to believe we are at this time of the school year.   Enjoy time with your families and as always, we encourage you to support your child to read over the break.  The "Catch Your Child Reading" challenge message was sent out a couple of days ago - it's always so fun to see the photos of students and where they have read over the break!!  School starts again on Tuesday April 11, 2023.  ​​See you then! Also, the CBE is hosting an online session regarding supporting anxiety in children. Please see below for the details.  Understanding Anxiety for Families and Caregivers, Well-Being Series (4/5) Anxiety is one of the most common mental health concerns affecting children and families across the lifespan. Parents and schools play an essential role in helping children manage their anxiety. This session will explore what anxiety and stress are, how to recognize it, and how to support resilience. The Well-Being for Families and Caregivers Series focuses on learning that is important to families and caregivers related to child and youth well-being. Focusing on reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors, these sessions offer an opportunity to learn from, and ask questions to, experts who specialize in a variety of health related topics. Interested staff may sign-up to access this learning opportunity.  Date:  Tuesday, April 4, 2023 Time:  6:30 - 8 p.m. Register in EAMS to receive a MS Teams link embedded in registration. Link: EAMS Link Denise Nimmo  Principal, Dr. Oakley​

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Dear Dr. Oakley Families,

Please see the link below for a brief survey ( takes approximately 5 -10 min. ) which supports our planning at Dr. Oakley.  We appreciate your feedback! Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete. 

The purpose of this survey is to gather feedback from families on school planning, which includes the school development plan, school budget, and school fees. When students, staff and families work closely together, students experience greater success.

https://droakley.cbedialogue.com/en/projects/2022-2023-school-year/engagements/dr-oakley-school-planning-survey-2023-middle-junior​

Thank you,
Denise Nimmo
Principal Dr. Oakley