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This is a reminder that the online parenting workshop with educator and author Hannah Beach on kids and cell phone use is coming up soon on Tuesday, November 19. Hannah will explore how cell phones and social media are impacting children’s relationships, attention, and emotional well-being, and offer practical ideas for supporting healthy communication at home. 💻 Location: Online (Zoom) 🔗 Zoom link and registration information: Available in Principal Sonja Rondestvedt’s “Week at a Glance”—please check your inboxes for details. You can revisit the original post here.  Early Bird Registration is now open for the Vancouver Eagles Basketball Winter 2026 Season!
Practices will be held at six excellent indoor gyms across the city—including Tennyson Elementary on Mondays—with sessions available Monday through Friday. The program is improving its coach-to-player ratio from 1:10 to 1:5–7 this season, providing more individualized attention and skill development. Each practice is capped at 20 players to ensure a quality experience for all participants. 🏀 Register early to secure your spot and take advantage of Early Bird Preferred Pricing at vancouvereagles.com/registration. Tennyson students are invited to take part in the 2026 BC Chess Challenge: Regional Qualifier #2, happening on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at UBC’s Ponderosa Ballroom. This event is part of a province-wide tournament series and offers an excellent opportunity for students to represent Tennyson, build strategic thinking skills, and enjoy friendly competition. In addition to individual awards, team trophies will be presented to the top three performing elementary and secondary schools, based on the combined results of their top four players. 📍 Details and Registration Parents are encouraged to share this opportunity with students who play chess and may be interested in representing Tennyson.  Families are invited to a special French concert with Juno-nominated musician and former Tennyson music teacher Will Stroet of Will’s Jams. The event takes place on Sunday, November 9 from 2:00–3:00 pm at St. James Community Square (Mel Lehan Hall) in Kitsilano. This family-friendly concert is presented by the Canadian Parents for French (CPF) Vancouver Chapter and celebrates French language learning through music and fun. Tickets:
 Well… we did it! The ghosts have gone back to their lockers, the bats have been rehomed, the roof of the haunted house is now a rain shelter for our kids, and the last traces of Jell-O have almost been scrubbed from the classroom floor — which can only mean one thing: the 2025 Tennyson Halloween Howl was a screaming success! A huge thank you to every single parent, volunteer, baker, Jell-O maker, decorator, haunted house actor, balloon blower upper, ticket taker, and clean-up crew hero who made this event happen. The Howl is truly one of those nights that shows how incredible our school community is — equal parts spooky and spectacular. The costumes were amazing and so were all the carved pumpkins. Every volunteer's time and efforts were an important part in making this night so much fun and it is greatly appreciated. On that note we are looking for volunteers for NEXT year's Howl (just kidding.... kind of...). We hope everyone had a fantastic time dancing, gaming, guessing, howling, chatting, loitering, mingling, and celebrating together. Events like this remind us how lucky we are to have such a warm and involved community. Special thanks to the Halloween Howl Committee who has been planning this event for many many months (some since Halloween Howl 2024)! Thank you to Sarah, Margaux, Carmen, Darren, Janice, Jenny, Trevor, Sandra, Kylie, Jeremy, Linda, Natasha, Tricia, Erin, and Trish, who did a superb job planning and organizing the event. [These are in no particular order except for Sarah being #1 for obvious reasons] Finally, thank you Mme Rondestvedt and all the Tennyson staff for supporting this event and the Tennyson community. We appreciate you all so much. The Halloween Howl Committee 🎃👻🕷️  Now, what you’ve all been waiting for…the contest winners. Pumpkin Contest Winners 🎃 Primary Students
 🎃 Intermediate Students
 Costume Contest Winners This was hard to choose with so many creative characters and creatures filling the halls of Tennyson last night! After some tough deliberating, the judges have awarded the bragging rights, and a prize to be picked up in the office, of “Best Costume (in respective category) at the 2025 Howl” to the following:
  If you made it this far I am impressed. Thank you again to everyone and hope you had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
🎃👻🕷️ The Halloween Howl Committee 🎃👻🕷️ This November, FamilySmart is offering several free events for parents and caregivers who want to better support children and youth facing mental health or substance-use challenges. Each In the Know event features a recorded conversation with an expert, followed by a facilitated discussion with other parents and caregivers. Upcoming FamilySmart sessions Substance Use and the Power of Support Connection and relationship can make a difference in substance use and addiction. Guy Felicella, a renowned advocate and international speaker who has overcome a two-decade substance use disorder, passionately promotes harm reduction, trauma therapy, and faster access to treatment using his story of resilience and recovery. Learn how we can show care not just for our kids, but for the broader community impacted by substance use disorder. November 6 | 12:00–1:30 PM | Register Now What? Supporting Families When Kids Begin Experimenting with Substances These discussions help families navigate early substance-use experiences with understanding and support. November 4 | 6:30–8:00 PM | Register November 13 | 6:30–8:00 PM | Register November 26 | 6:30–8:00 PM | Register Other events & programs offered in the community November 5 – ADHD Education Day (Sponsored by BC Children’s Hospital) A free virtual day of learning and discussion focused on understanding and supporting children with ADHD. November 5 | 9:00 AM–3:30 PM | Registration details available on the event poster below. To learn more about these opportunities and register, visit the FamilySmart website.  Families are invited to join FamilySmart for an in-person event in Coquitlam exploring ways to support children with ADHD.
Event: Raising Children with ADHD: Finding Calm in Unpredictability Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025 Time: 6:30–8:00 PM Location: Executive Plaza & Suites, 405 North Road, Coquitlam - Aspen Room While strategies for managing challenging behaviour, whatever our child’s neurotype, can be helpful, they’re difficult to use when you’re burnt out, overwhelmed, or caught up in your child’s emotional state. Even though you can’t control it, you’re not powerless. In this session, we’ll explore how shifting your own responses during difficult moments can ease tension and help you feel calmer and more confident as a parent or caregiver. Join FamilySmart and Rebecca Van Der Hijde, a Family Therapist and a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. She has over 15 years of experience working with families raising children with autism, ADHD, and/or developmental disabilities. Her work has spanned a variety of roles in helping families navigate complex emotional and behavioural challenges with compassion and evidence-based care. With a focus on calm, connection, and empowerment, Rebecca is passionate about helping caregivers understand their child’s behaviour (and their own behaviour too!). Registration for this event is limited. Register here About FamilySmart FamilySmart is a non-profit organization that supports parents and caregivers of children and youth facing mental health challenges. They offer free events, 1:1 support, and community presentations across BC. For more information or to connect directly with FamilySmart, visit their website. This event combines two events in the same place at the same time. For details and a list of accepted and not accepted items for each event, please refer to the webpages linked below. Pop-up Recycling Event Bring your unwanted electronics, small appliances, clothing and more to our FREE pop-up recycling event. Learn more Halloween Free Swap Tent There are three ways to participate in the Halloween free swap tent:
General guidelines: Items will be accepted from 10am-12:30pm. Size – each item will fit in a regular size reusable bag – think grocery bag. Condition - in clean, good working order. Quantity - bring 1-2 items, take as many as you like. What to do when you arrive: Step 1 - If you have them, check-in your donated items with the event organizers. Step 2 - Browse the swap tables and select items you can use. Step 3 - Check-out your selected items with event organizers. Learn more Location Kitsilano Secondary School 2706 Trafalgar St Vancouver, BC V6K 2J6, Canada   We’re thrilled to share that several of our Tennyson graduates are part of the TREK Outdoor Education Program this year and they’re hosting an incredible community event! Join us for the TREK VIMFF Fundraiser, a night of inspiring outdoor adventure films presented by the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival. There will be a prize draw, concession, and silent auction. All proceeds support the TREK Program, an outstanding Grade 10 outdoor education experience that promotes leadership, teamwork, and a love for nature. 🎟️ Get your tickets and come out for an amazing evening in support of our students! Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025 Location: Prince of Wales School Auditorium Doors at 6pm Show starts at 7pm Tickets available in advance for $20 online from School Cash Online. Also sold at the door for $25 debit, cash, or credit. Learn more  Many of our kids are anxious and glued to their phones, seeking endless distraction and feeling isolated and disconnected. Aggressive outbursts have become common, and yet others seem to have stopped talking altogether. As parents and caregivers, we are increasingly alarmed. We entice, cajole, bribe, encourage, shout, but nothing seems to work long-term.
Is technology bad? Absolutely not - it's wonderful and has brought us so many gifts. But the invention of devices that travel with kids has also greatly shifted childhood and adolescence, affecting their learning, relationships and emotional health. Is change impossible? No... in fact, we are seeing a ground swell of change percolating across the world! Although we may not be able to change the culture at large, there is much we can do to shift our family and school cultures so that we can support our kids in truly discovering their best selves. Small changes can have big effects. Join Hannah for a warm and conversational workshop exploring practical strategies we can use to help our children and youth when it comes to managing devices. This conversation has never been more important as we look at how we can support our children and youth to grow, learn, develop, and reach their fullest potential. Nov 19, 2025 · 6:00 PM PT · Online (Zoom) Workshop: “Cellphones – What’s Healthy, What’s Not, and How We Can Support Our Kids” with Hannah Beach 👉 Check out the PAC e-blasts or PAC Corner in the Principal’s “Week at a Glance” for the registration link. Hannah Beach is an award-winning educator, author, emotional health consultant, and keynote speaker who speaks about the power of relationships and play worldwide. She is the co-author of the best-selling book Reclaiming Our Students: Why Children Are More Anxious, Aggressive, and Shut-Down than Ever—and What We Can Do About It, with Tamara Neufeld Strijack, which has been adopted by school boards across Canada. She was recognized by the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2017 as one of five featured changemakers in Canada. Her bestselling I Can Dance book series won a 2017 Gold International Moonbeam Children’s Book Award. Hannah delivers professional development services across the globe, provides emotional health consulting to schools and community-based programs, and speaks at conferences about the power of relationship and play. Hannah is an emotional health and play-based learning consultant for Britannica Education, where she develops courses which are facilitated by the Britannica Education team. |
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