St. Joseph High School Newsletter November 2018 Message from the Administration What a wonderful start to the year! September was a month filled with activities and new experiences. Now that school start up is behind us, we are looking forward to a multitude of events and exciting projects organized to both encourage and inspire your children. We are so looking forward to working with our teachers and parent community to provide an excellent learning environment here at St. Joseph Catholic High School. Please check our website regularly for all the latest news and school information (www.stjoseph.ecsd.net). All staff have committed to using the Student Agenda and QMS to help our students stay organized and keep parents informed. The school website calendar will be updated regularly so please check it often. Mid-term week is fast approaching, and students are preparing for their exams. The exams are scheduled to take place during the weeks of November 5-9 th, for Social and Science and November 13-21 st for English and Math. Please encourage your children to stay on track and prepare for these examinations. All marks will be available via the Parent PowerSchool portal. If you would like to discuss issues of concern related to your child feel free to book an appointment with your child s Teacher Advisor to further discuss your child s educational experience. Brad Koshka Darrell Cleave Nicole Duigou-Jones Roslyn Marcelo Principal Assistant Principal Assistant Principal Assistant Principal 1 P age
Grad 2019 Google code for GRAD 2019 information 0gaaqw8 - Post-Secondary Applications please see the staff in Student Services - Fundraisers lower the cost of YOUR personal grad tickets. - Purdy s Chocolates, Movie tickets - pick up the order forms and the information in the courtyard on Wednesdays or see Mrs. Duigou-Jones. Student Services Career Fair is coming November 2-11:45 am 1:45 pm, courtyard - You will get a 1-page learning guide to complete when you walk through, this will be for marks in your Learning Strategies classes 2 P age
Upcoming Events November 9 Remembrance Day Ceremony, please see the time changes below November 12 Lieu day for Remembrance Day No school November 16 ALL GRADES ASSEMBLY/PEP RALLY Troy Gym during TA Time November 19 A TASTE OF ST. JOE S November 23 Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day Friday November 9th Remembrance Day Ceremony New Class Times: TA Time 8:45 8:55 Block 1: 8:55 9:40 Block 2: 9:40 10:20 Students leave Block 2 and Ceremony starts around (10:35-10:40) Lunch: 11:42 12:24 There is no TA Time GCL/Floor Time: 12:24 1:06 Block 3: 1:08 2:13 Block 4: 2:15 3:20 Check out: 3:20 3:22 **The only change is that there is no TA time and we have lunch instead** 3 P age
Athletic News Saints Senior Football The Saints Football Team finished the Regular Season at 2nd place with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss. The Saints have earned a quarterfinal bye to the semifinals and will be playing a fast Queen Elizabeth Knights team who we narrowly defeated in the regular season 21-16. The semi-final is on Thursday, Nov. 1st at Clarke Stadium. Kickoff is at 5:00pm and will cost $5.00 at the gate to get in. Good luck Saints! Halloween Howler Jr. High Volleyball Tournament Tournament Champions St. Cecilia 2018 Girls Champions! St. Nicholas 2018 Boys Champions! 4 P age
Introducing... WHY? The gift of publicly funded Catholic education in Alberta is a true blessing. As a community we are called in gratitude, faith and action to ensure that our children and future generations continue to learn and grow in our Catholic schools. WHAT? The mission of GrACE is to inspire, invigorate and embolden the spirit of Catholic education in order to unite, engage, educate and communicate with one voice on its behalf. GrACE is a partnership of stakeholders resolutely committed to Catholic education within the province of Alberta. WHO? YOU! GrACE invites all those committed to Catholic education, through the unity of the Holy Spirit, to be advocates and witnesses for our schools successes and their future. WHERE? In your homes, your neighborhoods, your schools and your parishes. Watch for and get involved with your local GrACE team. Tell your stories of Catholic education. Let your voice be heard. WHEN? NOW! Every day is a celebration of Catholic education. Let us be grateful for our blessings and commit our support. Catholic education affirms parents as their children s primary educators and respects the rights of parents to choose the school that meets their needs In Catholic schools, it is our deepest desire to ensure that every child knows and experiences the love of God through the witness of their community Principles of diversity and inclusion are central in the teachings of the Catholic Church and permeate all aspects and curriculum in a Catholic school 180,000 students currently attend Catholic schools in Alberta Alberta is one of three provinces in Canada with publicly funded Catholic education. Ontario and Saskatchewan are the other two. Catholic education in Alberta is 158 years old An organized effort of public school lobbyists are attempting to disrupt Catholic education in our province. Your engagement; your advocacy; your voice is vital. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen" Romans 16:2 5 P age
Dear Partners in Catholic Education: On November 4, we celebrate Catholic Education Sunday across the Province. We are proud to say that this year marks the 130th anniversary of Edmonton Catholic Schools. Faith-based education in our District and throughout the province is vibrant and dynamic. Our District proudly serves over 43,000 students and their families! Our 96 schools represent a remarkable diversity of educational opportunities for students and their families desiring an excellent faith-infused education. Edmonton Catholic Schools is consistently a leader in the Province in areas such as High School Completion rates, academic excellence and choice in educational pathways. We are proud to say that we are a united board, each of us working hard within our own Wards toward a common goal of preserving and further developing publicly-funded Catholic education. We are grateful to continue our work with Superintendent Joan Carr who has created a culture of excellence in our schools, each of them embodying a particular expression of God s infinite love. On September 19th, the Alberta and NWT Bishops released their annual letter for Catholic Education Sunday: Rejoice and Be Glad, that emphasized the important role that schools play in nurturing the call to holiness for our children and youth. In the letter, the Bishops affirmed that Catholic schools, along with the family and the parish community, help students know Christ through religious education, prayer, and a safe, caring school community. They highlighted that teachers, students, parents and priests together are witnesses to, and agents of, the Good News proclaimed by Jesus Christ, encouraging students to grow in their faith, to live its principles and to act in ways that make a positive difference in their local and the global communities. To read the complete letter, visit www.ecsd.net or click here. The Board and Administration of Edmonton Catholic Schools are grateful for the home-school-parish partnership that empowers our students, families, and staff to walk together in God s love as we help our children and youth to learn and to grow in relationship with Christ. As your locally elected trustees, we continue to advocate for the best outcomes for our students. Catholic Education Sunday provides us all with the opportunity to give thanks for the fact that we have publicly-funded Catholic education in Alberta. Together we need to advocate for the continuation of publicly-funded Catholic education for our children of today and tomorrow. Our voices are important and make a difference! Sincerely, Edmonton Catholic Schools Board of Trustees and Superintendent Sandra Palazzo, Ward 72 Alene Mutala, Ward 75 Lisa Turchansky, Ward 76 Carla Smiley, Ward 73 Terry Harris, Ward 71 Laura Thibert, Ward 77 Debbie Engel, Ward 74 Joan Carr, Superintendent 6 P age
Superintendent s Blog Let us thank God for His great love in having blessed Edmonton with the gift of giving so much joy, so much care and so much love to all those who in the last 100 years in educating and preparing the young people to know, to love and to serve God. ~ Message of St. Mother Teresa to Edmonton Catholic Schools for our 100th Anniversary~ We are so fortunate in this day and age to have made connections to modern saints during their lifetimes. 30 years ago, Mother Teresa sent us congratulations on our centennial anniversary. Her message is one which endures, for the love of God remains always at the centre of all that we do. November 2, 2018 marks exactly 130 years since we opened our first Edmonton Catholic School in 1888. On that day, schools across the District will join in a special celebration of gratitude for this legacy and for our present and future. Our story is one which speaks to the ongoing tenacity and advocacy of the nuns who were our first leaders, and of the Catholic community since then. This is followed by Catholic Education Sunday on November 4, which provides us all with the opportunity to give thanks for and to advocate for publicly funded Catholic education in our Province. Visit our website to learn more. We are pleased to have entered into an agreement with St. Joseph s College at the University of Alberta to support the Certificate in Catholic Education as an excellent opportunity for pre-service teachers to focus their formation on living out their vocation to Catholic education. This partnership offers us mutual support in training our future Catholic teachers so that they are prepared to help our children grow in Christ. 7 P age
The end of the month of October is always very exciting for us as it is the time when several of our accountability measures are made public. We are very proud of our student achievement. There are 2 sets of results, the grade 6 Provincial Achievement Tests and the Diploma Examinations, that give us feedback on how our students are performing relative to the Province. The Accountability Pillar, October 2018, our overall report card from the Province, brought great news! Edmonton Catholic Schools had better results than the Province in 12 of 16 measures and no areas were identified as needing improvement. The high school completion 3-year (85.6%) and 5-year (89.1%) rates are 7.6 % and 5.7% above the Province respectively. Our drop-out rate (1.2%) is almost half that of the Province. Parental involvement and Diploma excellence in our District improved significantly according to the Accountability Pillar. For more detail visit www.ecsd.net or click here for the Accountability Pillar and PAT and Diploma results. Another measure that we use to assess our performance in many areas and to set targets for growth is our own District Satisfaction Survey. This vital survey gathers opinions from students, parents, and staff on individual schools and on District operations. Every student from grade 4-12 will complete the survey, as will all staff. Every household will receive one parent survey per child enrolled in an Edmonton Catholic School. Please respond to each survey separately from the point of view of each child's educational experience. It is so important that you let your voice be heard. You can either return your parent survey to your child s school or use the postage paid envelope and Canada Post. The District Satisfaction Survey will run from November 26 - December 7. Thank you in advance for your participation. November, which brings Remembrance Day and Holodomor Memorial Day, provides us with excellent opportunities to reflect on the injustices in the world and to examine the importance of our actions in bringing justice and peace to our communities and to the world. This is a message that our Holy Father shares, holding Saint Mother Teresa up as a model of action for us: Carry peace with you to give it to others with your life, with a smile, with works of charity. Saint Mother Teresa, pray for us! (Pope Francis, Sept. 5/18) Sincerely, Joan Carr Superintendent 8 P age