JANUARY Happy New Year!!

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1 JANUARY 2018 Happy New Year!! We hope this newsletter finds everyone well and rested and ready to jump into the second half of the school year. Before we do that, we would like to thank everyone who helped make our December and Advent Season such a success. To the staff and students who spearheaded so many Christmas activities for all our classes, to the SC for their delicious Christmas dinner and the gift of a book for every child in our school, and to all the parents who volunteered their time to help with the many activities that took place during the Advent Season. It is amazing how much we can do for our students when we all work together. As we move into January we have a great deal to look forward to and prepare for as a school community. Our choir is right back rehearsing as they will be singing O Canada at the January 21 st Oil King s game. Tickets can be purchased for $20 from January 8 th through to the 12 th. Contact Ms. Prystupa or Mr. Buttigieg at the school or order directly from the order forms being sent home via during our first week back. Our School Growth Plan will be posted to the school website and staff will be implementing strategies and actions that focus on the four major goals that we have identified; literacy, numeracy, Catholicity, and mental health awareness. As well, our District Satisfaction Surveys will be beginning in the month of January and all stakeholders are encouraged to complete the survey. Our Reading Rock stars, after school program, sponsored by EPL, starts on Wednesday, January 17th and our first round of Grade 6 CTBS tests commence on Monday, January 8 and run through to Friday, January 19. As the month winds down and our volleyball season comes to an end we will be preparing for our Intramural Sports Program, which will commence in February, for students in grades 3 through to grade 6. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel to contact the school and/or feel free to stop by the office to say hello and get acquainted. Mr. A. Buttigieg Principal Mrs. J. Schipper Assistant Principal

2 CHOIR NEWS Our St. Vladimir choir will be performing the National Anthem at Rogers Place on: Sunday, January 21 at 4:00PM!!. Tickets are only $20/each and a portion of the ticket sales will be returned to the school to support our music program. If you are interested in buying tickets, please contact Mr. Buttigieg and/or Ms. Prystupa at the school. *All students who are in the choir will be given a free ticket to the game, however, a parent/guardian MUST purchase a ticket for them to be able to attend the hockey game following the singing of the anthem. Thank you, in advance, for your support. WE TEAM!! A HUGE congratulation goes out to all the members of our St Vladimir community who contributed to our Advent Social Justice Initiative supporting Edmonton s very own Bissell Centre. On December 21, we delivered three full truck loads of donated items (toiletries, clothing and non-perishable food items) and $ to the downtown Bissell Centre. Thank you to our WE Team students who initiated this endeavor and to Mrs. Panas and Mrs. Carson who worked closely with the WE Team throughout the entire process. One of our incentives was that if we raised over 20 bins of items Mr. Slupek would colour his hair blue. Seeing as we surpassed our goal of 20 bins by a huge amount, all are invited in to the school to see Mr. Slupek s latest hairdo.

3 READING ROCK STARS!! All students who completed a registration form in December to participate in the Reading Rock Stars Program sponsored by EPL, our first session will take place on Wednesday, January 17 from 3:00 4:00PM in the school library. There are a few spots still available for this session which runs from Wednesday, January 17 through to Wednesday, February 21. Once spots fill up, we will be running a second session in the spring. ST VLADIMIR SWAG!! Starting in February we will be selling T-shirts, toques, baseball caps and other St. Vladimir swag. Items and pricing will be available in the office by the middle of January. All items will be sold at cost GO PILOTS GO!!

4 SURVEY - TELL THEM FROM ME!! The annual satisfaction surveys will be commencing in January. We encourage all stakeholders to participate in these surveys as your feedback is greatly appreciated and needed to better our community. Student surveys will be completed at school in January with parent surveys will follow. LEADERSHIP Our student Leadership Team has planned out their events for the school year. For January they will be sponsoring the following activities: Pajama Day Friday, January 19, 2018 HEARTS TO LOVE AND HANDS TO SERVE!! This year, Edmonton Catholic School District has a theme founded on the words of Teresa Avila, Rooted in Jesus; Hearts to Love, Hands to Serve. The staff, students and parents at St Vladimir have been keeping their eyes and ears open to catch students showing this theme in action, both in and out of the classrooms. We have been acknowledging these acts of exemplary service on a bulletin board located near the office by writing a few words about what that student has done. In addition to this, we have been acknowledging these acts of love and service at our full school gatherings/celebration. HEALTHY HUNGER!! Our next Healthy Hunger Lunch is Mary Brown s and is scheduled for: Friday, January 12, 2018

5 HOT LUNCH!! Our next SC Hot lunch is scheduled for: Friday, January 26, 2018 SCHOOL COUNCIL IMPORTANT INFORMATION!! The School Council Executive, along with several staff members and other parents met on Monday, December 4. The Executive members would like to extend an invitation to all parents who are interested in helping throughout the year. Important dates to remember are: Monday, February 12, 2018 at 6:00PM next SC Meeting SCHOOL FUNDRAISER!! The School Council would like to remind everyone that the FundScrip Fundraiser will be running ALL YEAR!! How Does FundScrip Work? Buy gift cards, raise money for our school! Participating Retailers With FundScrip s growing list of leading retailers, you can find gift cards for the basics like groceries and gas but, they also carry a large variety of other categories including: pharmacy, home improvement, department store, restaurants, pizza, coffee shops, household items, clothing stores, movies & books, travel, and more. All gift cards come from the retailers themselves; so you can be certain they'll be accepted when you use them. SIGN UP TODAY AND ORDER ALL YEAR LONG Remember to use our school GROUP CODE: P2NCZY Information was sent out in December explaining how you can sign up. A follow up e- mail will be coming out in early January.

6 RAZ KIDS and MATHLETICS All our students have access to two very valuable on-line resources Raz Kids and Mathletics. They are encouraged to use these programs on a regular basis to supplement their learning at school in both language arts and mathematics. Both these programs can be accessed from home. CARDINAL LEGER PRE-AP PROGRAM!! Ave, Edmonton, AB T5E 3G7, TEL: , FAX: WEB: CARDINAL LÉGER PRE-AP INFORMATION EVENING January 16, 2018 at 7:00 pm The pre-advanced program is an academic program designed to challenge students by going deeper into the curriculum. If you have any questions regarding the Pre-AP Program, please contact the school principal, Mr. Peter Meurs, at

7 January 2018 To celebrate Mary as Mother of God and our mother at the beginning of the new year means recalling a certainty that will accompany our days: we are a people with a Mother; we are not orphans. (Pope Francis, Homily, January 1, 2017) Each year, January 1 marks the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. As Pope Francis shared, turning our gazes to Mary as the new year begins fills our vision of the horizon in front of us with a model of perfect love. We see the example of faithful love for God when we think of her yes in response to His call. We see the example of parental love in the mother who tenderly nurtured her Son, walking alongside Him through His life and to His death. We see the example of selfless, humble love in her willingness to be the instrument of bearing Salvation into the world. As we contemplate our plans and aspirations for the new year, let us take inspiration from Mary! We are always so excited to spread the great news of the amazing things that take place daily in our schools. We want everyone to know that Catholic education offers rich and vibrant opportunities for students to learn and grow in a Christ centred environment. We have launched a new hashtag, #ECSDfaithinspires, which beautifully portrays how our Catholic faith guides every aspect of our schools as we live out our District vision to learn together, work together and pray together in answering the call to a faith-filled life of service. We encourage all our staff, students, and ECSD families to use this new hashtag and help us share the good news of how faith inspires our daily lives at Edmonton Catholic Schools! We are so pleased with the participation in our Hour of Code Week last month. This week, which saw 25,804 of our students engage in a variety of coding based activities, brought so much excitement and creativity into our classrooms. Special thanks to our EmTech team for their drive and passion in ensuring that our students have the skills that they need to navigate our digital world. The month of January brings the end of the semester for our high schools. One of the enhanced services that we are pleased to offer our students who will be writing Diploma Examinations is Diploma Prep courses. These courses provide an excellent structure for students to review the content of their exam courses so that they can approach them with greater confidence. Visit and click on the Diploma Prep banner for more information. The new year brings much new information and opportunity for our students and families. This is always reflected on our District website. Watch for our new Guide to Schools as well as information on registration for , Open Houses, and our upcoming session on Breaking the Cycle of Anxiety from our Mental Health Caregiver series. The newest information is always highlighted in the rotating banner at for your convenience.... 2

8 The Government of Alberta is seeking the input of Albertans as they begin to shape their upcoming provincial budget. You can complete a brief online survey at This is an excellent opportunity for your voice to be heard! The week of January is the Week of Prayer For Christian Unity. I will leave you with a thought from Pope Francis: unity is achieved by journeying, to recall that when we journey together, that is, when we encounter each other when we pray together and collaborate together in proclaiming the Gospel and in the service of others, we are already united. (Papal Audience, 10/11/2016) Many blessings as you begin the journey of a new year! Sincerely, Joan Carr Superintendent

9 The Wondrous Gift of Epiphany During the Christmas season we celebrate with our families and friends with the giving and receiving of various gifts. Perhaps the greatest gift we receive, as Christians, takes place during Epiphany, when our Lord makes his first public appearance. Throughout the ages, Christians have celebrated Christmas, including the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany, which falls on January 6. The season begins with the Nativity of our Lord, and ends with the celebration of His baptism, and His manifestation ("Epiphany") as Messiah of Israel and Son of God. This extraordinary gift calls for us to open our hearts and minds to God through His son, Jesus, who came to us as man, to live and suffer in the same way His lay people would. Another one of the extraordinary gifts we receive is our ability to praise and worship the Father through the Holy Spirit, as a result of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Knowing Jesus is the Body of Christ, we, through our Baptism, enter the Body of Christ as members of our faith community. Through this union, we are able to share in the cleansing of sins, and essentially, our re-birth. The gifts of the eastern Magi, allow us to remember that they offered what little they had (Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh), and in return, Christ gave them Himself. This exchange of gifts takes place for us whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, by the glorious power of the Holy Spirit! Throughout the holy Christmas season, God fills us with joy and hope! By celebrating Epiphany and these wondrous gifts bestowed upon us by the Christ-child, may we, in-turn, use them to take a step closer to the Kingdom of God, in unity with His one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. Susanna Kaup and Kathleen Nguyen Religious Education Consultants

10 JANUARY 2018 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY REGULAR CLASSES RESUME GR 6 CTBS BEGINS (JAN 8 JAN 19) IMMUNIZATIONS (ROUND 2) 100 VOICES FOP (1:30PM 3:30PM) HEALTHY HUNGER MARY BROWN S CARDINAL LEGERE PRE-AP INFORMATION NIGHT 17 READING ROCKSTARS (3:00PM 4:00PM) 18 IN-SCHOOL FT: BUILDING DEVICES AND VEHICLES THAT MOVE (GR 4) PAJAMA DAY!! READING ROCKSTARS (3:00PM 4:00PM) NO KINDERGARTEN CLASSES READING ROCKSTARS (3:00PM 4:00PM) 25 GR 5 AND GR 6 ATTEND MASS AT ST MATTHEW S CHURCH SC HOT LUNCH WELCOME BACK!!