September 2014 Newsletter - Bishop Savaryn School

September 2014
Newsletter
Message from the Administration
OUR VISION
As a Christ
Centered
Professional
Learning
Community,
working in
collaboration
with our
parish and
community,
we will strive
towards Faith,
Learning, Peace
and Joy.
W
elcome to an exciting, new school year! I am very pleased to be your new
principal and I look forward to meeting and getting to know all the students and
families of the Ecole Bishop Savaryn School community. I began my teaching career
in 1980 and have taught children from K - grade 9 in both Medicine Hat and
Edmonton. For the past nine years, I have been an administrator in Edmonton
Catholic Schools. I look forward to the privilege of working alongside Madame Delia
and the very capable staff here at Ecole Bishop Savaryn School to encourage the
students to do their part to help make “God’s Dream” come true.
We look forward to guiding your child’s development as a learner, enabling them to
explore their passions and become skilled communicators, problem solvers, critical
thinkers, creators and collaborators. They are encouraged to use technology and their
easy access to the internet and social media to become responsible digital citizens.
All students have opportunities to do their part to make this world a better place as
they are encouraged to participate in our many social justice activities. We look
forward to offering some of our Grade 6 students the opportunity to participate in
WE DAY CALGARY in November.
One of our goals this year is to communicate well with our parents so that you can get
more involved in your children’s learning and hopefully play an active part in our
School Council and the many opportunities of involvement it offers. Thankfully, we
have filled all the executive positions this year and also hope to have a parent
representative for each of our classes to help represent the parents and offer support
to the teachers to plan class parties and special celebrations in the classrooms
(Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, etc.). Your support and involvement is most
appreciated. The website is updated regularly and features up to date information including the parent handbook, newsletters, kindergarten information, monthly calendars as well as suggested websites to support your child’s learning at home.
We are sure that this year will be full of challenging and engaging educational
experiences for every child. Together we pray that each of us will be blessed with
God’s abundant grace “to become the best versions of ourselves.”
In an attempt to
cut down on paper
and printing, our
newsletter is
paperless for
families who are
able to read our
newsletter online.
A one page monthly newsletter will
be sent home on
the last Friday of
Mrs. Joanne Friedt
the month with the
Principal / Directice
youngest or only
child from each
LOOK INSIDE FOR:
family .
Madame Delia Demers– Danchuk
Assistant Principal
http://www.bishopsavaryn.ecsd.net/
 September Calendar
 Year at a Glance Calendar
 Staff list
 Information on Meet the Staff and Family BBQ
 Important School information
 Message from our Superintendent a
 Message from District Chaplain Father Catfish
To access our full
newsletter, please visit
our school website.
A paper copy can be
requested from
the office.
September 2014
Sun
Mon
Tue
31
Wed
1
Labour Day
2
First day for
grades 1-6
Staggered entry
for Kinder
Parents attend
with 100 Voices
7
Thu
8
3
Fri
4
Staggered entry
for Kinder
Parents attend
with 100 Voices
9
10
15
16
11
17
22
29
18
Meet the Staff
Family BBQ
5:30—7:30pm
23
School
Council
Meeting
6:30pm
28
6
12
13
-ishop Savaryn’s Best
Assembly 10:30am
School Pictures
21
5
First day 100 Voices
No classes for
Kindergarten
First day
Kindergarten
14
Sat
24
Terry Fox Run/
Walk—AM
30
September 2014
19
20
School Opening
Celebration 9:30am
25
26
27
September 2013
2014-2015 STAFF LIST
Support Staff
Administration
Principal
Assistant Principal
Administrative Support
Administrative Support
Joanne Friedt
Délia Demers-Danchuk
Cindy Stafford
Violet Salamon
Custodial Staff
Teaching Staff
100 Voices
Kindergarten (E)
Kindergarten (F)
Grade 1A
Grade 1B
Grade 1C
Grade 1D
Grade 2A
Grade 2C
Grade 3A
Grade 3C
Grade 3D
Grade 4A
Grade 4C
Grade 5A
Grade 5C
Grade 6A
Grade 6C
Music
Learning Coach
Alice Arujo
Monique Gravel
Shannon Zimmermann
Renee De Block (Early Learning Facilitator)
Nai Lim (Media Media Resources)
Aleisha Crawley
Samantha Kingsley
Sina Arnaut
Zoriana Groch
Alison Durand
Liene Khair
Valerie Sabourin
Samantha Baker
Melissa Gardner
Deb Fisher
Elisabeth Belanger
Melinda Stevens
Gerardo Palisoc
Miguel Cubias
Sabrina Pisani-Samchuk
Nicole Fortin
Jackie Scott
Marie Claude Laplante
Cassandra Galley
Katryna Bourget
Margaret Bujold
Carmella Gerlach
Life of GRACE...Journey of SHALOM
We pray that God with guide us safely throughout the
coming year to “become the best versions of ourselves”
as we strive to live out GOD’S DREAM !
September 2014
Edmonton Catholic Schools Transportation Services
IMPORTANT INFO
STUDENT ABSENCES
If your son/daughter is going to be
absent for any reason, please
report the absence at 780-456-7837.
PERSONAL ITEMS
Students are discouraged from
bringing personal items of value
(Personal IPOD’s, computer games,
trading cards, etc.) to school.
Students do so at their own risk.
BUS INFORMATION
Please send bus pass money to
school with your child by the 1st of
each month. All cash must be
in a labeled envelope or zip lock
bag. Cheques are to be made out
to Bishop Savaryn School. 10 post
dated cheques may be submitted
for your convenience.
Bus Fees:
- Kindergarten - Free
- Gr. 1-6: $30.00; Family Plan
$26 - (3 or more children)
- Annual Passes are available;
contact the office for more
information
Bus passes must be carried
at all times as bus drivers will be
asking the children to show their
passes at random times during the
month.
If your child’s bus is more than
10 minutes late, please contact
Transportation Services at
780-441-6078.
Yellow Bus Cancellations
The following radio and TV stations
will carry announcements with
respect to transportation
cancellations due to inclement
weather conditions.
RADIO
CHED / CHQT / CISN / JOE FM
CFRN 1260 / THE BEAR / CFMG
CFCW / CBC / MAGIC 99/ CKER
CHFA (CBC FRENCH) / K-97
AM 930 (CJCA) / SHINE FM
MIX 96 (96X)
TV
CITY TV / CFRN /
GLOBAL / CBC
Transportation Services offers detailed information for parents who want to
know more about their child’s bus route. Simply type www.ecsd.net to
access the Edmonton Catholic School District main page where you will find
a link to provide up to date bus information, including delays. Bus passes
will be for sale beginning Sept 2nd. Parents are asked to submit 10 postdated cheques for $30.00 each or $300 for an Annual Bus Pass. Please
make your cheques payable to Bishop Savaryn School.
Agenda Books
Please ensure that you check your child’s agenda book every evening as it
is a very valuable tool for allowing your child’s teacher to maintain regular
communication with you. Teachers may write notes to you in the agenda
book or may have the children record important events. Classroom staff will
also check your child’s agenda book everyday in case you
have written a note. If, for example, your child is not to take
the bus on a certain day, writing this in the agenda book will
allow the teacher to ensure that your child remembers at
the end of the day.
Protocol for Parent Concerns
Edmonton Catholic Schools recognizes the freedom of all member of the
school community (students, staff , parents, and neighbors) to voice their
concerns in an appropriate manner to the school personnel. The principle of
“First Contact” needs to be followed. This means that the person(s) who
has the concern has the responsibility to begin addressing the concern directly with those persons with whom they have the concern before taking
their concern elsewhere. If a resolution is not found, then please involve the
school administration.
Four Pillars of our Vision Statement - Bishop Savaryn’s Best Assemblies
We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to embrace our faith in all that
we do throughout our school day. The four pillars of our Vison Statement ,
Learning, Peace ,Joy and Faith will be a big focus for us this year.
Each month, a new pillar will be introduced and school staff will be monitoring all students who witness examples of the pillar in focus
for that particular time frame. Each month, school assemblies will be held to recognize students who have been
good models of the particular pillar. Those students will
receive a small token of appreciation as well as a special
treat following the assembly.
School Celebrations
School celebrations will be held several times throughout the school year.
The dates and times will be outlined on the monthly calendar included in the
newsletters. All parents, younger siblings, grandparents, and community
members are most welcome to attend, as your presence will make our
celebrations that much more special.
SEPTEMBER 2014
Kanga Packs
IMPORTANT INFO
School Hours: 2014-2015
Grades 1 – 6
Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
Entry Bell
Instruction
Recess
Instruction
Lunch Recess
Lunch
Entry Bell
Instruction
8:20 a.m.
8:25 - 10:03 a.m.
10:03 - 10:18 a.m.
10:18 - 11:58 p.m.
11:58 - 12:18 p.m.
12:18 - 12:38 p.m.
12:38p.m.
12:42 - 2:57 p.m.
*All students will have a 5 minute
break in the afternoon; scheduled
by the teacher
Thursday: Early dismissal at 11:49
a.m.; no school in the afternoon
100 Voices (Pre-Kindergarten)
Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
AM Class
PM Class
8:20 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
12:00 p.m. - 2:55 p.m.
Thursday: No school
Kindergarten
Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
AM Class
PM Class
8:20 a.m. - 11:17 a.m.
11:59 a.m. - 2:56 p.m.
Thursday: No school
Office Hours
Monday through Friday;
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE:
SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS BEGINS
at 8:05am. Please do not drop off
your children before 8:05 as we can
not provide before or after child
care. Arrangements must be made
for children to be picked up by
3:00pm the latest. THANK YOU!
Effective communication between home and school is vital. Bishop
Savaryn will once again be using “Kanga Packs” to help facilitate effective communication. We will make every attempt to send all written communication from the school home in the Kanga Pack every Friday. We
ask that you return the Kanga Pack on the next school day (usually a
Monday) so that teachers can receive and look through the them for return correspondence from you. To eliminate confusion for parents who
think their child might have forgotten the Kanga Pack at school, and to
promote good habits, it will be sent home even if there is no correspondence that week. If a student should lose their Kanga Pack, a $8.00 replacement fee will have to be paid.
MONTHLY Newsletter
In an attempt to cut down on paper and printing, our newsletter is paperless for families who are able to read our newsletter online. A one
page monthly newsletter will be sent home on the last Friday of the
month with the youngest or only child from each family . We hope that
each family will keep the newsletter on hand as a
reminder of upcoming events. If you cannot access our
online newsletter, please contact the office to ensure that
a full newsletter is sent home to you each month.
Lunch at School
All students are invited to remain at school to eat lunch in their
classrooms; eating lunch at school is a privilege and a convenience for
many families. Ensuring the safety of all students involves
the organization and scheduling of grade 5 monitors to
assist the students and requires extra supervision for our
staff.
Meet the Staff Family Barbeque
Thursday, September 18, 2014
This is an important event for parents and teachers to come together to
start building a strong home and school partnership. The focus for the
evening is to provide an opportunity for parents to meet the staff and to
hear about the educational programming at the school. Hope to see you
there!
5:30 pm - Family Barbeque
6:30 pm - Admin/Teacher Presentations
An order form for the Family Barbeque will be sent home
with your child in the Kanga Pack today .
Thank you to SC for sponsoring this event.
September 2014
Cell Phone Policy
IMPORTANT INFO
There will be no school on the
following days:
Thanksgiving Day
Staff PD DAY
Remembrance Day
Christmas Vacation
Oct. 13
Nov. 7
Nov. 10 /11
Dec. 22
to Jan. 4
Faith Dev. Day
Feb. 4
Family Day
Feb. 16
Teachers Convention Feb. 26
& Feb 27
Spring Break
Mar 30
to April 5
Victoria Day
May 18
Dismissal times on the
following Thursdays and
Fridays will be switched to accommodate earlier dismissal
times before the major breaks:
December 20 - full day
December 19 - early dismissal
March 26 - full day
March 27 - early dismissal
If your child brings a cell phone to school, they will be asked
to turn it off and give it to the teacher for safe keeping until
the end of the school day. If you need to contact your child,
please do so through the office at 780-456-7837.
Late Arrivals and Early Departures
If students arrive late to school, or need to leave before the
end of the day, please be sure to check in with the office so
that we can ensure the safety of all our students.
Medical Alerts and Dispensing of Medication
All parents and guardians are asked to notify your child’s
teacher and the school office of any medical alerts such as
allergies or asthma. School Board Policy requires that a
form be signed by a doctor indicating the nature and
dispensing instructions for those students taking medication at school. Unless these forms are filled out by the prescribing doctor, medication will not be administered to your child.
Forms are available from the school office. If your child requires an
Epi-Pen, inhaler or other medication, it must accompany your
child on all fieldtrips. Unfortunately, without the necessary medication, students with medical alerts will not be permitted to attend
Terry Fox Walk
Twenty eight years ago, Terry Fox started a Marathon of Hope to raise
awareness and money for cancer research. On September 24, École
Bishop Savaryn School will commemorate Terry Fox’s achievements
by joining in on the National School Run Day. We will be walking
around Beaumaris Lake to continue the Marathon of Hope.
School Fees for Grade 1-6 Students
School fees can be paid any time before the end of September.
CHEQUES PAYABLE TO: BISHOP SAVARYN SCHOOL.
Listed below is a breakdown of our school fees, Grade 1-6.
Learning Resource Rental Fee
$55.00
Supplementary (library, cultural events,
technology, printing, art )
$55.00
Agenda Book
$10.00
TOTAL
$120.00
If you are experiencing financial difficulties and require the school to
set up a payment plan for you, please contact the office and we
would be happy to do so. Fees are expected to be paid by
September 30, 2014. Mrs. Stafford will be sending home a reminder
if school fees have not been paid.
SEPTEMBER 2014
School Council—You have a voice!
Parents are encouraged to take part in their child’s education. It is through your contributions as parents that your child’s education really becomes memorable. We look forward to the continuing support of our parent community through attendance and participation in School Council meetings.
School Council Meeting / Fundraising Society Meeting
September 23rd at 6:30pm—8:00pm.
WE NEED YOU! Bishop Savaryn Fundraising Society have a Casino Booked at Yellowhead
Casino on October 12th and 13th. There are several position still to be filled. Please sign up
at the Meet the Staff Family Barbeque or by sending in the attached form . We look forward to working together to support the wonderful programming for our children at our school !
School Volunteers
The Edmonton Catholic School District and École Bishop Savaryn School recognize and
appreciate the many volunteers in our schools as they form an integral part of our school communities and
provide important non-instructional services that assist teachers and staff. Whenever volunteers are working
with our students, policies and regulations must be in place to best ensure the safety and well-being of students and to facilitate the enhancement of the programs being provided.
All volunteers are required to complete a “Volunteer Registration Form” annually and prior to commencing
any volunteer activities in the school. Forms can be picked up in our office.
Parking and Patrols
“Your Children’s Safety over Convenience”
Parents are asked not to park anywhere within the areas that have been marked
with orange pylons. These areas are reserved for bus drop off and children crossing the street.
These areas have been marked to ensure the safety of all our students. Our grade 6 student patrol team patrols the area within those pylons and as such, their safety and the safety of the children crossing the
street must come first. In addition, we ask that you please respect the driveways of our neighbors and
follow the signs that indicate a school bus or loading zone area.
The parking lot is restricted to staff only. Parents dropping off and picking up children that attend the
daycare facility located north of our parking lot are asked to use 109 Street. Children must be taught and
directed by their parents to use the designated YMCA daycare sidewalk. Congestion in the parking lot is very
much a safety concern and as such, traffic in and out of the parking lot will be closely monitored.
Please adhere the NEW School Zone speed limit in effect...30 KM...for everyone’s safety!
Property Taxes
All property owners are encouraged to examine their Tax Notice to ensure that their support is assigned to Edmonton Catholic Schools. If you own a business or are in a business partnership, please check to see that your taxes are being allocated to our district
(partial allocations can also be designated). If there is an error, please contact City Hall at
780-496-5090.
SEPTEMBER 2014
Message from Father Mike Mireau
Ever wonder what Jesus would be like as your teacher? He’d stand up at the head of the class, always patient,
always receptive, ready for any challenge, with complete knowledge, and complete LOVE, ready to give his
very self for his students, his sheep, entrusted to his care. What an awesome teacher he’d be. Who wouldn’t
want to go to a school that has Jesus teaching there?
Or for those of us working in schools: ever wonder what it would be like to have Jesus as our student? He’d
likely be very receptive and eager to learn, obedient and well behaved. But he wouldn’t be the popular kid,
the flashy one, the one that everyone loves. He’d appear ordinary, even strange looking – what’s up with the
long hair? In fact he’d want to know the answers, he’d be ready to challenge things that don’t make sense.
He’d keep us on our toes.
Matthew 25:40 tells us that, Jesus IS one of our students. Jesus is the student we least expect to find Jesus in.
Jesus is in the student that is HARDEST to love, because that student is the one that needs THE MOST love,
and wherever THE MOST love is given, Jesus is there.
And then, once we’ve spotted Jesus, sitting in his little desk, disruptive or distracted, staring off into space,
sticking his gum under his seat, making noises with his armpit, planning his next mutiny, THEN we can hear
our calling – it’s a call, a mission, that comes straight from God the Father – now that you SEE Jesus in your
student, now you must BE Jesus, as educator.
We are called, at Edmonton Catholic Schools, to BE Jesus to our students. Now, we don’t always succeed in
this mission. Not many of us can live up to being Jesus – but we’re called to TRY, to dedicate ourselves day
by day to this endeavor, knowing that in TRYING, we are opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit, who does the
rest, and works through us.
And we won’t know we had it in us. By our hands, God will work his wonders.
And God will be there, because God is Love, Amen.
Rev. Michael Catfish Mireau
District Chaplain
Edmonton Catholic Schools
(August, 2014)