St. Mary Catholic School

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1 St. Mary Catholic School Please let the school know if your child/children will be absent. Arrangements for homework can be made through the homeroom teachers. Students should be at school by 8:30 to be ready for class on time. P.O. Box 479, St Ph: / Fax: Principal s Message. As we move into the month of November we are also close to finishing the first term of this school year. At this juncture it is very important for you and your child to reflect on how the last two months have gone and begin to set goals for the next academic term. This is a great practice for all students and parents, but especially important for those in junior high. Certain grade 9 students have been advised to pay particular attention to how fast this year is slipping by. :) A BIG thank you to those parents that attended parent-teacher interviews this week. First term reports are scheduled for release on November 24th. Parents, just as I encourage teachers to communicate regularly with you about how things are going with your child, I also encourage you to maintain regular contact with Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0 Webpage: toddabbott@gpcsd.ca your child s teacher. November is another busy month with a great deal of things happening, so be sure to look at our calendar of events in this newsletter. Our annual Remembrance Day Assembly on the 10th is open to all parents and grandparents. Once again this year, we will mark Remembrance Day with another In The Trenches. This is a totally voluntary activity being offered to our junior high students, in conjunction with BRHS. A reminder to parents and students that first class begins at 8:42 am daily. Please make the utmost effort to have your child to school on time. Although circumstances arise causing students to be late, continual habitual lateness disrupts not only the learning of your child but the learning of other children in the class. For those of you that have been waiting on IPPs, teachers have those completed and hopefully all meetings have been held. An IPP is our promise to the child that this is what we ll do to support his/her learning but we need parents help to achieve the goals in the IPP. Sincere thanks to those of you that have taken care of school fees or have contacted me about taking care of payment over the course of the year. We have a very limited budget and these fees are extremely important to our students. As always, the very best to all of you. God bless. T. Abbott Principal With winter upon us it is important that students come to school prepared for the cold conditions. Mitts, toques, warm jackets and winter boots are a must. Because of our darker mornings, the building is now open in the morning so that students can wait inside. Town students are encouraged to arrive around 8:30 am. Thanks!

2 DID you know. The World of Work We prepare all our students for the work world and we begin that in kindergarten! It starts with following schedules and routines, being on time for school and prepared for learning (having their books with them, bringing back their home reading books, library books, their homework) and the work they do each and every day. We use agendas (in some cases) and have students write things down to remember when things are due, when something needs to be returned, to communicate events to you etc... We, along with you at home, teach them to be responsible citizens; to respect their belongings and the belongings of others, to look after school property, to care for money. The list is extensive! Citizenship We do a TREMENDOUS amount of work as well in having our students become caring, engaged, ethical citizens. The many acts of service in this school are far too great to list. It is evident every day, in every classroom, in the corridors and on the playground. These acts of citizenship are NOT prompted just by teachers or support staff. Our students often initiate citizenship towards other students and staff with no prompting from an adult whatsoever. It is evident that this is just not something that occurs here in school it is evident that this is the way you are raising your children and we are seeing the benefit of it here at St. Mary. Why are we putting this out to you at this time? We recently completed an analysis of PAT results from last June as well as an examination of results gleaned from surveys completed last year by students, parents and teachers. I am very pleased to report that CITIZENSHIP did not come back this year as a concern for us to address. It is our belief again however that we need to make it better known to parents that we do a lot of work in all required areas. Simply put, we need to be communicating more information out to parents and students and using the same terminology that is used in these surveys. Therefore, teachers have been asked to continue informing parents about their efforts to address CITIZENSHIP, THE WORLD OF WORK and the PROGRAM OF STUDIES.

3 P A G E 3 November 2016 St. Mary Catholic School, Beaverlodge From my point of view, God is the light that illuminates the darkness, even if it does not dissolve it, and a spark of divine light is within each of us. (Pope Francis) There are No Kindergarten Fridays in November. The amended K calendar is on our website now. Girls 1J Volleyball Zones in Grimshaw Hot Dog/Ice Cream Sale Taco in a Bag Sale Pizza Sale A BUNCH OF THANK YOUs Jack O Connell and the Beaverlodge Home Building Centre lumber yard for bailing us out when we needed forklifts to off-load playground equipment. J&S Truck and Trailer Repair (Maureen MacDonald s boss) for giving us a generous donation toward the purchase of hoodies for the basketball team players. David MacDonald= toques from Princess Auto. All our volleyball coaches! They put in a lot of extra hours this season to aid our teams in fitness, skills and fun. Thanks to all our supportive parents this season for your help. Willowlodge IODE Beaverlodge group for their generous donation to our School Snack Program. Parents for Progress for hosting a very successful Family Halloween Dance. School Council for hosting our Craft Fair.

4 P A G E 4 Faith Series: The Communion of Saints Think of a king. What comes to mind? A man richly dressed, with a gleaming crown on his head? Servants bowing at his feet, the king himself sitting upon a golden throne? It s not surprising that this is the image that comes to mind, especially for us in the western world. Fairy tales, media, all perpetuate this idea of a king. On the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, November 20, 2016, we celebrate the Feast day of Christ the King. Christians around the world will tell you that Jesus is king, however, they will not liken Him to the description above. Jesus Christ is our king, yet, he is in contrast to the oppressive nature of many past kings. Jesus himself, connected his role as king to service. He encouraged those that followed Him to be servants as well. On the Feast of Christ the King we celebrate a ruler, willing to die for humanity, whose message of love, peace, mercy and forgiveness continues to live on in the hearts of His followers today. Jesus is King, and by rite of our baptism, we too are baptized Priest, Prophet and King. During baptism, we are anointed, we become part of the body of Christ, the Messiah, the king. What does that mean? It means, like Jesus, we are called to be kings, leaders, to lead others to God, help others find out who it is God is calling them to be. And we do this with the love and help of the Jesus, the King of Kings. A King whose, crown was made of thorns, whose throne was a cross and whose love gave us eternal life. Parent Council Next meeting is December 6th at 7:00 pm. Council is looking for parent volunteers to assist with preparation and serving of our traditional Christmas dinner on December 21st. Parent Council Chairperson: Bev Dean Special Group Notices Parents for Progress Society A big thank you to everyone who came out to support our Fall Family Halloween Dance! A great success in fun and fundraising. Families, do you know about the option to sponsor a bench or picnic table for the new playground? Tax receipts for individual donations are available upon request.

5 ST. MARY S PARISH Are you or someone you know thinking of joining the Roman Catholic Church? P A G E 5 Become Catholic through St. Mary s Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) program. Through the RCIA, the Catholic Church extends an invitation to: Those who are not associated with a community of faith and who wish to become Catholics; Those who want to convert to Catholicism from another faith. For them, the RCIA is the process through which they will become full fledged Catholics; Those who want to learn about the Catholic faith. These individuals may be involved in interfaith marriages or simply are actively involved in a Church of a different denomination and they want to learn more about the Catholic faith in the spirit of ecumenism. The RCIA fills all these needs of those who are searching and inquiring about the Catholic faith. (Catholic doors, Purpose of RCIA) If you would like to find out more about St. Mary s RCIA program please contact Father Sylvanus at Anyone wishing to register is asked to contact the parish office at Check out our St. Mary Beaverlodge Facebook Page for lots (and lots) of pictures of happenings around the school this past month and ongoing. The school s website has a calendar with events and days off listed for each month. Bugs and stuff. With flu season in full swing it is important to remind your children to wash their hands regularly, especially before eating times. If children are not feeling well it is important that you keep them home so that they can get better quickly. Head Lice is also often seen in school settings, so be sure to check your children regularly. Nits can be identified easily; although they resemble dandruff, they are stuck to the hair stem and have to be pulled or combed off.

6 P A G E 6 Remembrance Day... Lest we forget... Students are working hard on their entries for the annual Royal Canadian Legion s essay, poster, and poem contests. Our school has had lots of winners over the past years. Our school s Remembrance Day Celebration goes at 9:00 on November 10th, parents and grandparents are welcome to attend the assembly in the gym. Members of the local Legion branch will be in attendance. That afternoon, Mrs. Trudel from our school and Mrs. Martin from the high school will be leading a group of junior and senior high students to experience A Night in the Trenches. Students will experience a bit of the hardship endured by our soldiers as they march from the high school to the field past the sports grounds, dig a trench for protection, and spend the night in the outdoors. Several local groups have come on board to help with meals, supplies and logistics. We thank the CWL, Knights of Columbus, and local Legion members for their support. The Beaverlodge Remembrance Day parade will be held on November 11th at 10:30 beginning at the Elementary School and ending at the cenotaph at the Neighborhood Resource Centre. The Remembrance Day service and celebration continues at the Community Centre at 11:00. Students participating in the Night in the Trenches will be marching in the parade with our veterans and other local groups. Report cards Will be sent home on November 24th. I would like to remind all our Junior High parents that you can access your child s marks on POWERSCHOOL. If you do not have your passwords please contact our office and we will help to get access. PLEASE TRY TO TRACK POWERSCHOOL CLOSELY. S T. M A R Y C A T H O L I C S C H O O L

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9 CANTEEN PRICE LIST Lunch Items Mini Sub Sandwich $3.50 Pizza Pop $2.00 Super Donair $5.00 Cup of Noodles Soup $1.50 Snacks Hot Rod $1.00 Veggie Chips $1.00 Bags of Shelled Sunflower Seeds $1.75 Bags of Shelled Peanuts BBQ or Honey-Roasted $1.75 Oatmeal & Fruit Bar $.75 Ritz Snack/Cheese $.75 Bag Nachos with Dipping Nacho Cheese $3.00 ($1.50 cheese or nachos only) Drinks Nestea $1.00 Flavored Water $1.00 Bottled Water $1.00 Chocolate or White Milk 250 ml $1.00 Juice Box $.75 Sanpellegrino Fruit Beverage $1.50 Sending a lunch or snack with your child that needs a fork or spoon? Please send the fork or spoon needed from home. We stock a few in the canteen for the lunches or snacks we sell, but it is a significant expense to provide them on a regular basis. We thank you for your cooperation.

10 PAGE Drop Off Equip Fri Nov 4th 4pm-8pm Swap Sat Nov 5th 9:00am 1:00pm 10

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