Spring is in the air and books are everywhere — happy March, Hawkwood! 📚

 

🌷 March is Here at Hawkwood! 🌷

March has arrived — and we are feeling excited about all the wonderful things happening at Hawkwood School! This month is packed with books, community events, and opportunities to come together as a school.

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📚 Scholastic Book Fair & Used Book Sale

We’re excited to host our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair! Did you know that Hawkwood School hosts the largest book fair in Northwest Calgary, and one of the largest in the city? Our sales last year generated nearly $6000 in cash and scholastic book credits for our library.

The Scholastic Book Fair isn’t just fun, it gives directly back to the school, putting books & resources into the hands of all Hawkwood students. 

📅 Important Dates:

• March 4–16 – Used Book Drop-Off (outside the office)

• March 5th - 6:30pm - Literacy Night at Hawkwood School - bring the whole family!

• March 16 & 17 – Scholastic Book Fair Viewing Days

• March 18–20 – Scholastic Book Fair & Used Book Sale

• March 19 (5:00–8:00 PM) – Student-Led Conferences

• March 20 (8:00 AM–1:00 PM) – Student-Led Conferences
  (No school on March 20, but the Book Fair and Used Book Sale will be open if you'd like to browse with your child!)

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💛 Our Gently Used Book Sale

Alongside the fair, we will also offer a gently used book sale. Families are invited to donate books their children no longer read (please see donation guidelines below).

Our goal is simple: to make sure every child has the chance to take home a book, regardless of their family’s budget.

Access to books at home helps children:

• Build reading skills and confidence

• Grow their imagination and curiosity

• Develop a lifelong love of learning

The used book table gives pre-loved stories a new home, keeps books out of landfills, and helps ensure that every student can experience the joy of choosing a book of their own.

Optional donations of $1 per book (not mandatory) will be accepted at the Used Book Sale. Any funds raised will go toward the Friends of Hawkwood School Society.

📦 Donation Guidelines

When donating, please make sure books are:

Clean and gently used

Free of rips, stains, writing, or strong odors

Complete (no missing pages)

Appropriate for elementary-aged readers

Please only donate books you would feel good about giving to a child.

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Whether your family shops the Scholastic Fair, donates gently used books, visits the used book table, or all three — thank you for helping us build a strong reading community for every student. 📖

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🤝 What’s the Difference Between School Council and School Society?

Many parents aren’t sure what these two groups do — and both are important parts of our school community!

🏫 School Council (as outlined by the Calgary Board of Education)

School Council is a group of parents, caregivers, the principal, and teachers who work together in an advisory role.

What does that mean in simple terms?

• We share parent voice and feedback with the principal (like the recent parent survey results).

• We discuss school plans, goals, and priorities.

• We provide input on decisions that impact students (every year, through the ASCA we get to help develop policy that is then put forth to Alberta Education).

• We help strengthen communication between families and the school (we are the go between for parents and caregivers: email us, come to a meeting, we're here to listen and help!)

School Council does not handle fundraising or manage money — it focuses on collaboration, communication, and supporting student success.

Everyone is welcome at School Council meetings — you don’t need a special role to attend or ask questions.

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💰 Friends of Hawkwood School Society

The School Society is a separate, volunteer-run group that focuses on fundraising and financial support for the school.

The Society:

• Organizes fundraisers (like fun lunches, book sale donations, dances, casino, etc...).

• Manages raised funds responsibly.

• Uses funds to support school enhancements such as resources, technology, experiences, and special projects that benefit students.

In short:

• School Council = Parent voice & school collaboration.

• School Society = Fundraising & financial support for student opportunities.

Both groups work together toward the same goal — making Hawkwood School the best it can be for every student.

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🗓 Other March Events to Mark on Your Calendar

• Tuesday, March 3 – 6:30 PM
  School Council Meeting at school and online

• Thursday, March 5 – 6:30 PM
  Literacy Night at school

• Wednesday, March 11
  A&W Fun Lunch CLICK HERE TO ORDER

March into reading, March into community, and March into a great month ahead! 🌷📚 (except for the time change...)

Hawkwood School Council & Friends of Hawkwood School Society

As always, if you have any questions for us, you can send us an email at hawkwoodsc@gmail.com.

Help us spend our $500 grant!

It's here....February. The most honest month of the year: 

And here's what's happening at Hawkwood School: 

We have $500, tell us how we should spend it! 

Hawkwood School Council has been given a community engagement grant, and we'd like your feedback about how to spend it (click link below). Please take a few minutes to answer this short survey (up until Feb 14th), it would really help us understand where parent and guardian needs are at:  Spend our grant $$ survey

 

February 18th is Fun Lunch and we're doing Dominos'! Save yourself packing a sandwich your kids won't eat AND help Hawkwood School at the same time. Did you know that a portion of money from Fun Lunch goes toward Hawkwood School? Every time you buy a fun lunch you help to buy laptops for classrooms, replace broken furniture, and support education!  click link to order: Fun Lunch!

Break up the bland, bleak, dreary February with a movie night on Thursday Feb 26th! We're watching Elio!

Doors open 5:45pm, tickets and pizza available at healthy hunger: tickets

Report cards are available online February 24th.

 

No school February 12th & 13th, 16th or 27th

 

February 25th is pink shirt day at school. If you'd like to learn more, click here: history of pink shirt day

If you need some good karma, or just appreciate the programs that the Hawkwood Community Association puts on, and love the Community Park, consider signing up for their casino. 1 shift can make a LOT of money for our the neighbourhood: Hawkwood Community Association Casino .

Happy Valentine's and Galentine's and buyyourselfaboxofchocolates day! 

muah,

Friends of Hawkwood School Society & Hawkwood School Council 

*If you have any questions for us, you can send us an email at hawkwoodsc@gmail.com.

 

Jumping right into January!

 

Happy New Year Everyone!

We hope the break was a good one and now we're back in action for January.

Coming up Jan 21st is Fun Lunch, and we're doing Popeyes!

Click here to order and save yourself a day of packing lunches: 

Popeyes Fun Lunch!

We will need volunteers to help sort the fun lunch, so if you have a couple spare hours on Jan 21st, 11:30-1:30pm-ish, please come join us. It's a really easy (and surprisingly enjoyable) way to help our school. SIGN UP HERE, SO FUN :)

If you want an inside look at what the parent society and school council do, or if you have any school questions or ideas you would like to share, please come join us for our monthly meeting at the school (available online also) Tuesday, January 13th at 6:30pm in the school library.

Dates of mention for this month:

Monday, Jan 12th - Kindergarten registration begins

Wednesday, Jan 21st - Popeyes Fun Lunch

Thursday, Jan 29th - Hawkwood School Science Fair

Friday, Jan 30th - No school

As always, if  you have any questions for us, you can send us an email at hawkwoodsc@gmail.com.

Have a Jazzy January!

Friends of Hawkwood School Society & Hawkwood School Council

 Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Happy December, everyone! As we settle into our winter wonderland and head toward the holiday season, we’d love for you to join us for Movie Night on Thursday, December 18th, 6-8pm (doors open 5:45pm).

Thank you to everyone who voted on Facebook and Instagram — the winning movie is The Grinch (2018)!  Come enjoy an evening of festive family fun! Head on over to HEALTHY HUNGER to order food & get your tickets.

 

And speaking of Healthy Hunger, our next Fun Lunch is on December 10th & it's Boston Pizza! Click the link to order: Healthy Hunger. 

A friendly reminder about drop-off and pick-up safety.

We know mornings can be hectic, especially with a school as busy as ours. However, the same road safety rules that apply everywhere else also apply around Hawkwood School. 

Please help us keep students safe by remembering:

• No U-turns on roadways between intersections/ while unsafe to do so

• No backing up over/ parking on crosswalks

• No parking within 5 m of stop signs & crosswalks

• Always come to a complete stop at stop signs

Sometimes parking a little farther away and walking a short distance (while it can feel annoying) is necessary — and it makes a big difference in keeping our children safe. Thank you for your patience, cooperation, and ongoing commitment to our community.

A reminder that Winter Break runs from December 20 to January 4, and there will be no school during this time. 

Stay warm, stay safe, and may your kids' mittens never go missing! 

(Hahaha, yeah right…they will definitely go missing)

Hawkwood School Council & Friends of Hawkwood School Society.

November, No-problem!

Hello folks,

Wow, you lovely Hawkwood School Casino Volunteers! Council & Society cannot thank you enough!!! What an amazing gift you've given our school - your time has meant a lot (our casino liaison mentioned that each volunteer on shift is worth approximately $2,500 for the school) -  we will know the exact dollar amount raised February(ish) 2026. Thank you. Thank you! THANK YOU 💓

Ok, on to new business!

What to buy for people this holiday season? I know; it's easy, it's delish, it supports Hawkwood School & a local Alberta business. IT'S MEELA'S MIXES! Soups, breads, muffins, cookies, GF options and more! Simply click the link: Meela's mixes and select "Hawkwood School" at checkout. Pick up your mixes at Student Led Conferences Nov 27th & 28th at the school.

Want to get in on a FREE community event? Our Calgary-Edgmont & Calgary-Foothills MLAs, Court Ellingson & Julia Hayter are hosting a free community skating event on Saturday, November 15 from 1:30-4:30pm at Crowfoot Arena - 8080 John Laurie Blvd NW.

Free skates of various sizes will be available, along with hot drinks and light snacks. Everyone is welcome—come skate, smile, and connect with our neighbours.

To make sure they are prepared with enough snacks and drinks, please register at free skating event .

If you've any questions, please contact Julia's office at Calgary.Edgemont@assembly.ab.ca .

Fun lunch is coming up - Nov 19th and it's Subway! Click the link to order: Fun lunch.

We're going to do a movie night December 18th, and we'd like to hear from you! You can vote for your favourite film in our poll: instagram movie night poll (poll will be up soon).

Just a reminder to pack a pair of dry clothes for your child to bring to school in a waterproof bag. The wet & slushy season is upon us, and having a spare set of clothes at school can be really handy — it saves us from having to call you if your child gets wet or messy during the day.

 

That’s what’s new for now!

Take care & stay cozy,

Hawkwood School Council & Friends of Hawkwood School Society.

Hello Hawkwood parents, caregivers and well-wishers,

What a turbulent October this has been.  As we head into November, it’s a good time to pause and reflect on the important messages our teachers have shared this past month.

We know that public schools are chronically underfunded. While broader funding issues are outside our control, School Council and the Parent Society focus on what we can do — supporting our school community directly. Together we can make a real difference by supporting learning through fundraising.

                                      

And that’s where YOU come in.

Your volunteer hours at our casino fundraiser directly translate into tangible support for our students. Here are just a few examples of what your efforts have helped make possible:

• Technology in classrooms — iPads, laptops, updated smartboards, and software

• Flexible and supportive classroom furniture — wobble chairs, stationary bikes, and more

• Learning tools for our EAL (English as an Additional Language) students

• Subsidies for field trips (both in and out of school)

• School residencies such as Fit Ninja and Alien In-Line Skating

• Helping to fund the sensory room

Coming up on November 7th and 8th, we have one of our biggest fundraising opportunities — our casino event — and we still need volunteers!

If we can’t fill all the shifts, we risk losing out on approximately $80,000 for our school. This funding is crucial and directly benefits our kids.

The good news? Volunteering for the casino is one of the easiest ways to help. You don’t have to supervise children, and most roles are simply “on-call” positions.

As of October 30th, we still have 10 spots left to fill. Even one shift can make a huge difference for Hawkwood School.

We need your help. Volunteer shifts are still open, and our students will feel the impact if we can’t fill them.

Please click the link to sign up: hawkwood casino

Thank you to everyone who steps up — it truly matters.

In partnership & gratitude,

Hawkwood School Council & Friends of Hawkwood School Society

A different October...

Hello parents and caregivers,

We know that this October brings turmoil & uncertainty for a lot of families.  We, along with you, hope for a resolution to the upcoming strike that will benefit our children, teachers & public schools.  

Please note, that starting October 6th there will be NO SCHOOL. For the most up-to-date information about the strike action from CBE please visit: CBE labour action news

For those of you who have already ordered the October Fun Lunch, you can visit healthyhunger and cancel your order. It will be saved as credit toward any future orders.

October activities, such as field trips and the Halloween dance will be cancelled.

Once school does start up again, kids will need more supports than ever. Part of what Friends of Hawkwood School Society does is raise money to support students by:

-The Sensory Room 

-Artists in residence programs (dance, drama, art, etc.) 

-Updated computers and tablets for classrooms

-Buses for fields trips & field trip subsidies

-Books and library resources 

-Specialty physical education programs 

-Sports Day 

-Musical instruments

- Supplying additional learning tools to those new to English

-School furniture 

-We also aim to foster community within the school by hosting dances, movie nights, parent education nights, etc...

 

In order to do this, our BIGGEST FUNDRAISER, the casino,  is taking place November 7 & 8th, and positions need to be fully staffed by volunteers.

In the past, the casino fundraisers have brought between $60,000- $80,000 to Hawkwood school to supply the above mentioned supports!

The Casino fundraiser will happen regardless of a strike and we 

NEED VOLUNTEERS. 

 

These funds are integral for us to make Hawkwood School a place with opportunities & activities that benefit every child.  As of Oct 2nd, we have 13 spots that still need to be filled and we need your help to fill them.

 

Please click on the link for more information and to sign up: Hawkwood Casino Information

 

I have further questions!

Shoot us an email at hawkwoodsc@gmail.com

Thank you for helping Hawkwood School! 💗

Friends of Hawkwood School Society & Hawkwood School Council