Hello Juniper Ridge Jaguars,

Thank you for your patience this week and we organized classes for the new school year. It was good to see everyone in classes today.

IMPORTANT REMINDER : School photos will take place on Tuesday September 15!!

I will continue to send emails for another week and then I will transition completely to sending my weekly messages via the website and the mobile app. See below to learn how to download it so that you receive notifications.

We've launched a new SD73 Mobile App!

Last year, you were able to receive messages via email from the old school website. This is no longer possible. However, a new SD73 mobile app is now available on the Google Play and Apple App stores (just search "School District 73") – it includes news and events from the district and school websites. App users can select their schools and then receive school news and event alerts from those specific schools. App download links are now available in the footer of all district and school websites.

In today’s message, you will find the following information:

Upcoming Dates
PAC Welcome Back Message (NEW)
Fresh for Kids (Formerly the BC Fruit & Vegetable Program) (NEW)
Terry Fox Run (NEW)
Volunteering & Criminal Record Checks
Noon Hour Supervision
Emailing Teachers
Planning Ahead for Student Pickup

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Upcoming Dates

Sept 14 – PAC Meeting @ 6:15pm
 Sept 15 – School Photo Day
 Sept 16 - First full day of kindergarten
 Sept 18 – Terry Fox Run
 Sept 21 - Inservice Day (NO SCHOOL)
 Sept 23 – Parent/Teacher Meet & Greet 8:30am – 9:15am
 Sept 25 – Fire/Evacuation Drill
 Sept 29 - Wear Orange for the National Day for Reconciliation
 Sept 30 - National Day for Reconciliation (NO SCHOOL)

Use this link to see the calendar of in-service and holiday dates for the entire school year: SD73 School Calendar At A Glance
 
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PAC Welcome Back Message

To see the really nicely laid out welcome back letter with all the colour, please click on this link: Really Cool Letter or you can read the black and white version below. 

Welcome to the 2026-2027 school year! The JRES Parent Advisory Council is looking forward to supporting our school and our students for another fabulous year at Juniper Ridge Elementary School. We’d love your help to make this school year the best it can be for our students! 

First, let’s introduce your PAC Executive for this school year: 

Chair: Kristi Schlaepfer 

Vice Chair: Sarah Masek & Lisa Sears

Treasurers: Tara Penner & Kristee Buckley

Secretary: Jenna Young 

DPAC Reps: Tara Penner

Everything the PAC does is dependent on the support of our school’s families. Whether you donate through our fundraisers or volunteer your time, it all comes back to the school & our kids through the PAC’s initiatives. The benefits of these initiatives reach every student in our school and help create connections between parents, teachers and staff. 

Do you have new ideas for fundraisers? 

No new ideas but you want to help? 

Interested in learning more about what PAC does? 

Or maybe you just want to connect with other parents & school staff? 

Come on out to the PAC meetings! They are held once each month in the school library. Have we mentioned there is FREE CHILDCARE?! Dates are announced in newsletters and on our Facebook page. 

The first meeting of this school year will be Monday Sept 14 @ 6:15 in the school library. We hope to see you there! 

Please follow our Facebook page - Juniper Ridge PAC (Parent Advisory Council) be sure to answer the sign up questions so your request to join is approved This is a great place to find updates on school activities & fundraisers and to reach out with any questions you may have. We can also always be contacted by email to JRelementaryPAC@gmail.com We are looking forward to another great year! 

~Your PAC Executive

JRES Terry Fox Run

Our Terry Fox run is coming up on Friday, September 18^th starting at approximately 11:10am. 

We hope to get our Juniper families out to cheer us on during the run. Last year, many families joined us throughout the primary and intermediate routes to cheer for runners. Here is a link to our two different routes (check both pages):

Terry Fox Route Maps (2 pages)

We are fundraising again this year and, if you are able, you are invited to bring a toonie for Terry and be entered into a draw for a Terry Fox t-shirt!

We would also like to invite our community to participate in the Kamloops community Terry Fox Run. Here is the information you need:

Kamloops Terry Fox Run – Riverside Park

Sunday, September 20th | Riverside Park Bandshell

We would LOVE to see our Juniper Ridge community come together again on Sunday for the Kamloops Terry Fox Run!

This is a non-competitive, family-friendly community event where participants can run, walk, or roll at their own pace. There is no registration fee or minimum fundraising requirement, and participants of all ages and abilities are welcome.

Kamloops Run Day Details:

Location: Riverside Park Bandshell
 Time Registration opens: 9:00 am
 Warm-up: 9:30 am
 Run/Walk begins: 10:00 am

Participants can choose from 1 km, 5 km, or 10 km routes.

For the Sunday event, we encourage our Jaguars to wear:

❤️ Red
 🤍 White
 👕 Terry Fox shirts
 🐆 Juniper Jaguar swag!

Join the Juniper Ridge Team! 🐾

Families can register to participate and/or make a donation directly to our Juniper Ridge Elementary Terry Fox Team here:

https://run.terryfox.ca/team/juniperridge

Every donation helps support cancer research and continues Terry’s dream of a world without cancer.

Important Reminder for Sunday

Please note that the Sunday, September 20th Terry Fox Run is a community event and is separate from our school-run event on Friday. Teachers and Juniper Ridge staff are not responsible for supervising students at the Sunday event.

Parents and families are encouraged to attend and participate alongside their children. We hope to see lots of Juniper Ridge families running and walking together!

Two runs. One community. One incredible cause. ❤️

Thank you for your support:)

Your Terry Fox Committee,

Mrs Mulholland, Mrs Murphy, Mrs Shaw and Mrs Sandhu

Fresh for Kids (Formerly the BC Fruit & Vegetable Program)

Juniper will once again be participating in the Fresh for Kids Program. Once a month, produce will be delivered to classes for students to sample. The produce varies from year to year, but typically has included: apples, pears, plums, cucumbers, and tomato varieties. Student participation is optional. Students with allergies or who choose to opt out won’t take the item being offered. 

The Fresh for Kids Program is supported by the Province of British Columbia and the First Nations Health Authority. It is administered through BCAITC, a non-profit organization dedicated to “Working to bring BC’s agriculture to our students.” The Foundation works with local growers and distributors to bring fresh BC products to students.

Field Trip Volunteers and Parent Drivers - Criminal Record Checks are required

School field trips and sports events will be starting up very soon. These activities would not be possible without the support of our parent community to assist with supervision and transportation. If you are considering helping out with these events this year or even next year, please be sure to complete a Criminal Record Check (CRC) right away. The process can take 10-30 (or more) business days. Any adult that wishes to volunteer including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles.... will need to complete a Criminal Record Check (CRC) which is good for 3 years.

There is no cost to complete a CRC. The completed CRC will be sent directly to Mr. Buemann via email. 

Online link: Security Programs Division - Screening Portal

Juniper Access Code: QLFL9AE2MC

You will need to download the BC Services App and verify your identity before you can complete the CRC.

Please indicate on the permission forms (when they are sent home) if you have a Criminal Record Check on file at the school. Criminal Record Checks are valid for three years, so if you completed one last year, it will still be good. I will email families who have Criminal Record Checks that expire during this school year.

You will also need to complete a Volunteer Driver Form (required to be redone every year) if helping out with transporting students to games or events. 

Noon Hour Supervision 

Do you want to volunteer at school? We are currently looking for volunteers to help with noon hour supervision. This includes monitoring classrooms in an assigned zone during lunch eating time and monitoring an assigned zone during play time. This position comes with a small stipend paid by the school district. If this is of interest to you, please email amoore@sd73.bc.ca to share what day you would like to commit to for the school year. 

Emailing Teachers
 Email has become a quick and convenient way of communicating with your child’s teachers. As a result, our teachers are receiving hundreds of parent emails a week. Trying to answer emails while staying on top of planning and marking in addition to teaching during the day, makes for an added workload for teachers. Please keep the following ideas in mind when emailing teachers:

Remember, teachers are people too!

Thank you for taking these ideas into consideration!

Kukwstsetselp.

BLAKE BUEMANN (Principal)

ASHLEY MOORE (Vice-Principal)

Juniper Ridge Elementary

School District No. 73 (Kamloops-Thompson)