First PAC Meeting for 2023-24 School Year

Thursday, September 21 from 7:15 - 8:30pm
Main School Library 
Child Care provided

The PAC is recruiting new members for the Executive for 2023/2024. Get involved in the Dickens school community! Prior council experience is not required! :)

Positions available for the coming year include:

• Chair/Co-chairs – arrange and lead meetings, meet with administration, and serve as a conduit between parents and the school
• Co-Secretary - take turns with the Secretary taking minutes at the PAC meetings
• Communications Committee Social Media Liaison - update the PAC Blog, Facebook, Spring Fling Instagram and PAC page on VSB School Website.

If you or someone you know (who's also a Dickens parent or caregiver) might be interested, please email us at dickens.pac@gmail.com for more information.

Welcome back to school!

We hope you and your children will enjoy the new school year!

Meet & Greet Events and First PAC Meeting

Our warmest welcome to all new and returning Dickens Families! 

We're hoping for an absolutely wonderful 2022-23 school year!

Together with Dickens Staff, we'll be hosting a Meet & Greet on

Thursday, September 22 from 6-7pm 

Multipurpose Room, Dickens Main School    

Our Principal, Julie Weatherall, has sent email invitations 

to Parents/Guardians with details for the evening. 

Dickens Annex Parents/Guardians have been invited to a Meet & Greet 

by Vice Principal, Atsuko Ishihara on

Thursday, September 22 from 2:45-3:45pm

Dickens Annex School

Both Main & Annex School Parents/Guardians are invited to our first 

Dickens PAC Meeting for the year

Thursday, September 22 at 7:30pm

Library, Dickens Main School

{Childcare provided}  

Our Out-going PAC Chairs have sent an email invitation 

to Parents/Guardians with some info about Dickens PAC.

 

Have a wonderful, restful and safe summer break!

We'll see you again on Tuesday, September 6 in the new school year!

 

If you haven't had a chance to browse through our 2019 SPRING FLING Photos & Videos go to our Facebook or see them on Instagram —this is our main annual fundraiser. Hopefully, we'll be able to host our 20th SPRING FLING next year in the spring!

Welcome to our Visitors on June 1 (main school) and June 2 (annex)!

A warm welcome to our visiting 2022-23 Kindergarten Families!

Here's how you can get to know more about the Charles Dickens PAC (Parent Advisory Council) at the main and annex schools!

These are our channels of communication with you *:

PAC Blog: Find out Who is Dickens PAC? and What do we do? Bookmark our blog at dickenspac.blogspot.com             

Newsletters: Receive our monthly PAC news! Click on the “Subscribe” button on the right side of the blog. Alternatively, click here and fill in your details!

Facebook: We're at Facebook.com/dickenspac  Please add us to "Your Shortcuts" and "Like" our page!

Instagram: “Follow” us at Dickens SPRING FLING - Instagram.com/dickensspringfling  Browse through photos and videos from previous years to find out more about our main annual community & fundraising event.

Thank You! We’re excited you’re joining our Dickens Community. Wishing you a wonderful summer, and we look forward to meeting you in the new school year!

* Please share this info with as many new & current Dickens Families as possible - Thank You!

Sincerely, 

Sara Getz, Jessie Mok and Kate Shapiro (2021-22 Co-chairs) 

and the PAC Executive Team 

© Charles Dickens PAC

Have a Fabulous Summer!

Wishing you a fabulous, safe and restful summer break!  

Note that September 7 is an Anti-racism In-service Day for all Vancouver School Board (VSB) Staff, so we will see you on Wednesday, September 8, 2021!

© Charles Dickens PAC

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

Have a wonderful summer!

Wishing you and your families a wonderful, safe and relaxed summer break! See you in the fall!

 © Charles Dickens PAC

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 :: WELCOME BACK!

Parents & Guardians are invited to join us at our Welcome Tables at the main & annex schools on Tue, Sep 3—we will be serving coffee, tea and baked treats.  

Main School: For Grades 1-7, school will be from 9-9:30am on Tue, Sep 3. Regular hours (9am-3pm) will begin from Wed, Sep 4.

Annex School: For Grades 1-3, school will be from 9-9:45am on Tue, Sep 3. Regular hours (9am-3pm) will begin from Wed, Sep 4.

Kindergarten Students will begin on Wed, Sep 4. Follow the gradual entry schedule that was provided to you by the main or annex school in spring. 

Have a Superb Summer!

We trust that you'll have a relaxing summer break, and come back refreshed for a wonderful 2019-20 school year! 

If you haven't had a chance to browse through our fabulous 19th Annual SPRING FLING Photos & Video Clips at your leisure yet, go to Facebook.com/dickensspringfling and/or at Instagram.com/dickensspringfling

© Charles Dickens PAC

Tuesday, September 4 :: Welcome back!

Parents & Guardians are invited to join us at our Welcome Tables at the main & annex schools on Tue, Sep 4—we will be serving coffee, tea and baked treats.  

Main School: For Grades 1-7, school will be from 9-9:30am on Tue, Sep 4. Regular hours (9am-3pm) will begin from Wed, Sep 5.

Annex School: For Grades 1-3, school will be from 9-9:45am on Tue, Sep 4. Regular hours (9am-3pm) will begin from Wed, Sep 5.

Kindergarten Students will begin on Wed, Sep 5. Follow the gradual entry schedule that was provided to you by the main or annex school in spring. 

© Charles Dickens PAC

Major PAC Blog Upgrade

Thank you kindly for your patience! 
The DICKENS PAC Blog was upgraded from Mon, Aug 27 to Fri, Aug 31, 2018. 

Going forward, we trust that our reconstructed blog will serve you well in the new school year. Please do contact us at dickens.pac@gmail.com should you encounter any technical glitches. We'd appreciate being made aware of these issues, so that we can correct them where possible—Thank You.

Enjoy the Summer!

Thank You to Dickens Parents & Guardians for all your support throughout this year. Hope you'll have a wonderful Summer Break! We're looking forward to a fantastic 2018-19 School Year. See you on Tuesday, September 4...  

By the way, we have several additional 2018 SPRING FLING photos for you to see - they're set up at: facebook.com/dickensspringfling and at instagram.com/dickensspringfling

© Charles Dickens PAC

Tuesday - September 5, 2017

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, September 5 - note that school ends at 9:30am that first day for Grades 1 to 7. 

- Charles Dickens PAC 

Have a wonderful summer! We look forward to seeing you again in the new school year on Tuesday, September 5.

© Charles Dickens PAC

Tuesday, September 6

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, September 6 - note that school ends at 9:30am that first day for Grades 1 to 7. 

We will be serving coffee/tea and baked treats for Parents/Guardians at our "Welcome" tables at both the main & annex schools.

- Charles Dickens PAC 

Have a wonderful summer!

We look forward to seeing you again in the new school year on Tuesday, September 6 - note that school ends at 9:45am that first day for Grades 1 to 7.

© Charles Dickens PAC

A Heads Up for Tuesday, September 8

The PAC will host a "Welcome Table" for Parents/Guardians on the first day of school, at both the Main & Annex, where coffee/tea and baked goods will be served from about 9 to 11a.m.  

Have a wonderful summer!