Welcome back to school!

If this were the start of a normal school year, we’d be greeting you in the hallways with coffee & muffins on the first day of school. But so far, this has been anything but a normal year, so why should school be any different?

The year will continue to be filled with adjustments for everyone because everything is different.

Over the summer months, the four of us met and talked about how we could function as a PAC over the coming year, best advocate for our kids and best support Dickens Main and Annex. It’s an ongoing conversation and a topic we’ll no doubt continue to discuss at our first PAC Meeting later this month (see below for a list of dates we’ve identified so far).

We had a wonderful first meeting with our new principal, Julie, and vice principal’s Shelley and Jim (from the main & annex, respectively) in late August and we are really excited about the possibilities for the coming year.

Yes, it will be different. Yes, it will be hard. But we can and will do it together.
You can expect to hear more from us as we learn more and are able to make decisions. In the meantime, we ask that you bookmark the PAC Blog and that you sign up HERE so that we can do our best to pull class/cohort lists together and we can all stay in touch with one another.

We all have questions and all want answers, but in times like these it’s hard to know where to look for those answers. The PAC blog will be updated regularly and we’ll advise you of any resources we find that might make life a bit more manageable. We encourage you to be in touch with your questions (if we don’t have answers, we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction) and to share any resources you that might know of that you think are share-worthy with the Dickens community.

Stay safe & stay connected!

Laura, Sara, Tiffany & Daniela
PAC Co-Chairs

As the parent of a Dickens student, you are automatically a member of the PAC; the Executive meets on a monthly basis and if you are interested in joining, you can do so at either of the September or October meetings. If you wish to attend our September meeting or you have any questions, please send us an email !

Meeting dates (so far):
• September 24
• October 22
• December 3

Our email is dickens.pac@gmail.com

Setting Children & Youth up for a Successful Return to School in the Era of COVID-19

Based at BC Children's Hospital, the Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre Information offers resources on a wide range of mental health and substance use challenges affecting children and youth across the province.

Recently, they hosted a webinar "Setting Children and Youth up for a Successful Return to School in the Era of COVID-19" to provide families with tools and strategies for returning to school in the 2020-21 school year. 

Click on the image below to watch the webinar via YouTube.

The following article can also be viewed at the Kelty website: 

5 Tips for a Successful Return to In-Person School During COVID-19