Our Mission - St. Gabriel School

St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary School
5540—106 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T6A 1G3
September
2012
Parish and Diocese
News/Greetings
The parish team at St.
Michael Resurrection
Parish looks forward
to involving St. Gabriel
families in the life of
the parish. Fr. Mitch
the new parish priest
looks forward to leading many of our liturgies and celebrations.
He looks forward to
visiting our classroom
throughout the year.
If you wish to register
for sacramental Preparation during the coming year, you are encouraged to contact
the parish at 780-4684071
FOLLOWING
OUR
&
HOPES
DREAMS
Message from the Administration
Here’s to an exciting , new school year full of wonder and awe! Lori and I both look
forward to the privilege of working alongside the very dedicated and caring teaching
and support staff here at St. Gabriel to teach your children and to encourage them to
do their part to make our world a better place. In our daily learning activities, we hope
to awaken their senses and stir the hearts to know God’s grace in their lives. We hope
to communicate well with our parents and encourage you to get more involved in your
children’s learning, both at home and at school.
We are thankful to those parents who this year are willing to take an active part in our
School Council and the many opportunities of involvement it offers. Your support and
involvement is most appreciated. Please note that our newsletters will be once again
posted on the school website on the first Friday of every month for your convenience.
We would also like to welcome new staff members to St. Gabriel School.
Mrs. MacDonald teaching 100 Voices, Ms. Frost teaching EE1 District Program,
Ms. Chipeniuk until the return of Ms. Whelan in the new year, and Ms. Reneau teaching grade 6 and music until the return of Mrs. Sech. May our prayers of hope bring
Mrs. Sech strength and renewed health in her courageous battle with breast cancer.
We also welcome the YMCA childcare to St. Gabriel. The director, Jeremy Jordison,
will be available to facilitate tours of the center at our Meet the Teacher Evening to be
held on Thursday, September 13th at 6:30! Should you wish to inquire about registration Jeremy can be reached at (780)-469-6163.
With all the exciting opportunities for learning that are planned, we are sure that this
year will be full of challenging and engaging educational experiences for every child.
Together we pray that God will bless us with an abundance of grace to carry our the
mission of our school as part of the Catholic community which is to inspire all students
to learn and to prepare them to live fully and to serve God in one another. Together
with you this is possible.
Mrs. Tisa Haesch
Principal
[email protected]
Mrs. Lori McDonough
Assistant Principal
[email protected]
Our Mission
St. Gabriel School in harmony with children, parents, staff, parish
and community
members is committed to fostering spiritual, intellectual, and personal growth in one another.
September 2012
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1
2
3 4
Labour Day
No School
5
FIRST DAY
OF SCHOOL
6
First Day of
Kindergarten
7
8
14
15
21
22
First Day of
100 Voices
9
10
11
12
Grade 1
Potato
Harvest
10:30
16
13
Meet the
Staff Night
6:30 pm
17
18
19
20
Gr. 4 In
School Field
Trip
23
24
25
Cross
Country Run
2:00
26
27
Gr. 4 In
PD DAY
School Field NO SCHOOL
Trip
First Day of
Autumn
28
Opening/St.
Gabriel Day
Celebration
9:30
Terry Fox Run
10:30
Wear Red &
White Day
September 2012
29
2012-2013 STAFF LIST
Administra on Principal Tisa Haesch Assistant principal Lori McDonough Administra ve Support Nancy Tremblay Clerk/Media Resources Marian Butz‐Gauk Teaching Staff 100 Voices am Julie McDonald Kindergarten Connie MacKney Grade 1A Trent Bryski Grade 2 & French Vivian Coulombe Grade 3 Kris Chipeniuk Grade 4 Lisa Yaworski Grade 5 Rocco Volpe Grade 6 Elise Reneau EE 1 Gail Frost Tech Mentor Lisa Yaworski Learning Coach Lori McDonough Support Staff Melanie Sinclaire Ollie Karpiak Debra Maric Marueen McElha on Paula Payne Marie World Marian Mroczek Mike Demko Elizabeth Ziembiki Custodial Staff BACK TO SCHOOL BLESSING
Loving God, we praise and thank you for bringing us together. Bless all who pray, work, learn and enter St. Gabriel School this year. We are gathered in the name of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit and so blessed to be a community of learners and friends. On this journey, let us remember that God is with us always. Amen SEPTEMBER 2012
IMPORTANT INFO
Student Absences
If your son/daughter is going to
be absent for any reason,
please report the absence at
780-466-0220.
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 Passes
Please send bus pass money to
school with your child by the
10th of each month. All cash
must be in an envelope or zip
lock bag. Cheques are to be
made out to St. Gabriel School.
Bus Fees:
-100 Voices - contact office
for information
-ECS - Free
-Gr. 1-6: $30.00
-Family Plan $24 - (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
Edmonton Catholic Schools Transportation Services
Transportation Services offers detaile information for parents, teachers and
guardians who want to know more about their student’s bus routes. Simply type
www.ecsd.net to access the Edmonton Catholic School District main page. Go to
“quick Links” and select “Yellow School Bus”. Viewing the left side of this page
shows a menu which includes bus fares, route maps and times, as well as the
Edmonton Transit System.
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. This will allow all parties to deal with concerns in a manner
which is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
CONDUCT POLICY
St. Gabriel School believes in the dignity and well being of each of our community members. We also strongly support and practice the core values (dignity
and respect, honesty, loyalty, fairness and personal and communal growth) of
the Edmonton Catholic School District. Children are always listened to and
when a situation is serious or repeated, we will communicate with parents.
SUPERVISION AND PICK UP OF CHILDREN
There is daily supervision of students every recess, lunch, in the morning
(beginning at 8:15am) before school begins and after school to board the buses.
Children left in the school grounds outside these regular supervision times are
unsupervised and are the responsibility of their parents. If you are picking
your child up during the school day, please inform the office and sign your child
out. If someone else, other than yourself, parent/guardian, is picking up your
child, please inform such a person to come to the office to sign out the students.
SEPTEMBER 2012
IMPORTANT INFO
School Hours: 2012-2013
*******************************
Grades 1 – 6
Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
Warning Bell
Instruction
Recess
Instruction
Lunch
Instruction
8:27 a.m.
8:32 to 10:15 a.m.
10:15 to 10:30a.m.
10:30 to 12:00 p.m.
12:05 to 12:45p.m.
12:47 to 3:02 p.m.
Thursday:
Early dismissal 12:02 pm
No school in the afternoon
*******************************
100 Voices (Pre-Kindergarten)
Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
AM Class 8:32 am. to 11:25 am.
Thursday:
No school
*******************************
Kindergarten
Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
AM Class
Friday Envelopes
Effective communication between home and school is vital. St. Gabriel
School will once again be using “Friday Envelopes” to help facilitate effective communication. Each child will be issued a large, white, reusable envelope and we will make every attempt to send all written communication
from the school home in these envelopes every Friday. Of course, in the
case of emergencies or totally unforeseen events, we will not wait for the
Friday Envelope; we will communicate information to you in a timely manner. We ask that you return the Friday Envelope on the next school day
(usually a Monday) so that teachers can receive and look through the envelope for return correspondence from you. To eliminate confusion for parents who think their child might have forgotten the Friday Envelope at
school, and to promote good habits, the Friday Envelope will be sent home
even if there is no correspondence that week. If a student should lose
their Friday Envelope a $3 replacement fee will have to be paid.
Cell Phone Policy
All staff and students are directed not to use cell phones during the
school day. 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 780-466-0220.
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.
8:32 am to 11:17am
Thursday:
Newsletter
8:32 to 11:18 am
**************************
Office Hours
Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.
8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
In an attempt to cut down on paper and printing we are hoping to go
paperless for our newsletter once again this year for families who are able
to read our newsletter online. Our monthly calendar will continue to still
be sent home with the youngest or only child from each family. The newsletter will always be posted on the last Friday of the month. It is hoped
that each family will keep the newsletter on hand as a reminder of upcoming events. If you do not have access to a computer on line please call
Nancy in the office to arrange for a paper copy to be sent home.
Thursday
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
FOLLOWING
OUR
&
HOPES
DREAMS
Lunch at School
All students are invited to remain at school to eat lunch in the lunchroom.
Eating lunch at school is a privilege and a convenience for many families.
Appropriate behavior on the part of all students is a condition of remaining at school for lunch. We would like to take this opportunity to thank
our students for the respectful way they conduct themselves during the
lunch break so far this school year.
September 20112
IMPORTANT INFO
There will
will be
be no
no school
school on
on
There
the following
following days:
days:
the
Labour Day
Day
Labour
Thanksgiving
Day
Thanksgiving Day
Remembrance Day
Day
Remembrance
Christmas Vacation
Vacation
Christmas
Faith Dev.
Dev. Day
Day
Faith
Family Day
Day
Family
Teachers Convention
Convention
Teachers
Spring Break
Break
Spring
Good Friday
Friday
Good
Easter Monday
Monday
Easter
Prof. Dev.
Dev. Day
Day
Prof.
Victoria Day
Day
Victoria
Sept. 33
Sept.
Oct.08
Oct.08
Nov. 12
12
Nov.
Dec. 24
24
Dec.
to Jan.
Jan. 44
to
Feb. 05
05
Feb.
Feb. 20
20
Feb.
Feb. 28
28 &
&
Feb.
Mar.01
Mar.01
Mar 25
25
Mar
to Mar
Mar 29
29
to
Mar. 29
29
Mar.
April 11
April
May 16
16
May
May 20
20
May
Dismissal times
times on
on the
the
Dismissal
following Thursdays
Thursdays and
and
following
Fridays will
will be
be switched
switched
Fridays
to accommodate
accommodate earlier
earlier
to
dismissal times
times before
before the
the
dismissal
major breaks:
breaks:
major
Thurs., Dec.
Dec. 20,
20, 2011
2011 -- 3:02
3:02 dismissal
dismissal
Thurs.,
Fri. Dec.
Dec. 21,
21, 2011
2011 –– 12:02
12:02 dismissal
dismissal
Fri.
Thurs., March
March 21,
21, 2012
2012 -- 3:02
3:02 dismissal
dismissal
Thurs.,
Fri., March
March 22,
22, 2012
2012 -- 12:02
12:02 dismissal
dismissal
Fri.,
Thurs, June
June 27—3:02
27—3:02 dismissal
dismissal
Thurs,
Fri., June
June 28,
28, 2012—12:02
2012—12:02 dismissal
dismissal
Fri.,
Meet the Staff
Thursday, September 13, 2012
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 will be for parents to have an opportunity to meet the staff, to hear about the educational programming at the school, and to learn about the School Council. Outlined below is the format for the
evening.
6:30 Welcome and meet the staff and School Council Chair
Lana Brennis
6:45 Presentation regarding new on line fees and bus pass
purchases
7:00 Classroom Presentation
ST. GABRIEL FEAST DAY / SCHOOL OPENING
CELEBRATION
The staff and students in grades k-6 will celebrate in the school
gym. Father Mike Mireau will begin our celebration at 9:30 am on
Friday, September 28, 2012. We will be introducing our theme for
the 2012—2013 school year, which is “Following Our Hopes &
Dreams; We Are Children of the Light”. We invite all parents/
guardians to join us as we celebrate the beginning of a new school
year and St. Gabriel Day
FOLLOWING
HOLIDAYS
OUR
&
Medical Alerts and Dispensing of Medication
HOPES
DREAMS
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 fieldtrips.
SEPTEMBER 2012
St. Gabriel is going outdoors –
Come and join us!
Sure hope you had a wonderful summer and enjoyed
many sunny days outdoors. St. Gabriel’s food garden in front of the school definitely benefited from
the hot and wet summer. The sunflowers are huge and are towering over the potato plants,
which are ready to be harvested. Do check it out!
A BIG thank you to all those families who helped take care of the food garden and beds at
the front of the school during the summer!
Plans for the fall include:
-Harvesting the food garden – happening soon;
-Fall weeding of the outdoor courtyard planters and the beds out front of the school; and
-Improvement of the beds out front of the school by laying down ground cover under the
wood chips on the beds.
We need your support with the above activities! Please look for notices in the Friday envelopes/backpacks outlining specific requests for help.
For more information contact Jill (780-469-0513 or [email protected]) or
Mr. Bryski at [email protected].
St. Gabriel School PAC is fundraising with Mabels Labels.com
If you would like to take part in this fundraiser by ordering labels for your child(ren)s clothes, lunchkits,
school supplies, etc.
Go to the following website:
www.stgabrielschool.mabelslabels.com
Our fundraiser will run until the end of October 2012, so there is lots of time
to take advantage of this promotion.
If you have any questions, please contact Lana Brenneis [email protected]
or 780-463-1045.
SCHOOL PICTURES
Individual school pictures will be taken on Wednesday,
October 04, 2012. Retakes will be done on October 22,
2012. Class pictures will be taken in the spring. More information will follow shortly.
SEPTEMBER 2012
On September 28, we along with many schools
throughout Alberta, will be participating in a school
walk/run to commemorate Terry Fox’s Marathon of
Hope. We will be asking for donations , 50% will go to
the Terry Fox Foundation and 50% to the Run for the
Cure, in support of Ms. Sech who is battling breast
cancer. Please have your child bring in donations for
their homeroom teacher by September 26, 2011. Thanks you for your support
and cooperation during this event. We invite all parents/guardians to come out
and support our children.
CASINO
ST. GABRIEL PARENT COUNCIL
This year St. Gabriel Parent Advisory
Council has a fundraising casino on
Monday, October 29 and Tuesday,
October 30th. We need volunteers to
work various shifts. Please contact
Jean Halko to volunteer. E-mail:
[email protected] Thanks Jean For
organizing this!!
The parent council meets on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at
6:30. We are having meetings this school year on October 17, November 21, January 16, February 20, April 17 and June 19. All parents are welcome to attend. Babysitting is provided in the school library. This is a great way to have input or to just stay informed
about matters of interest regarding the school community. We hope
to see you at the meetings this year.
Lana Brenneis, Chairperson St. Gabriel School PAC
FITNESS FRIDAY’S
Every Friday morning following our morning broadcast
beginning September 14th the students in Grade 1-6 will
gather in he school gym for Fitness Friday’s. Ms. Chipeniuk will lead us in creative movement activities. We are
blessed to have her gift of dance shared with our students
as we focus on heakth and wellness. Please feel free to
join us.
Please wear Red and
White and bring your
Canada Flags on September 28, as we celebrate this great Canadian Hero.
Cross Country Running Club
Thank you to Ms. Chipeniuk, Ms. Reneau, and Mrs. McDonough who will be
‘running’ our Cross Country Running Club again this year. A note will be coming
home soon with interested students in Gr. 4, 5 and 6. The Edmonton Catholic
Schools Cross Country Run will take place on Tuesday, September 25. Students The
students will be leaing the school at 2:00 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 2012
GOING GREEN
St. Gabriel is continuing to go green. We will be sending the newsletter home via
email commencing in October. Also, the newsletter is always posted on our
school website www.stgabriel.ecsd.net. Parents and guardians can expect to receive the newsletter on the fifth day of the month. Please return this portion of
the newsletter with the email address where you would like to receive the newsletter. If you do not have an email address please contact Nancy Tremblay in the
office and we will ensure your child receives a hard copy. Thank you in advance
for your support for our going green initiative.
_____________________________________________________________
Please return this form by October 10, 2012
I will look at the newsletter on the school website.
Please send the St. Gabriel newsletter to the following email
address:
_______________________________________________
Email Address
______________________________________________
Student’s Name
Grade
Grade one, grade one how
does your garden grow?
Quite well, thank you very much!
Back in June, our pre-grade ones ventured
out into our school yard and planted some
potatoes. We added some carrots, beets and
sunflowers and prayed for a summer of warm
sunshine and gentle rains. The good Lord
provided just the perfect mix and now we have
a bountiful harvest to reap!
On Monday, September 10th at
10:30 a.m. we will offer our thanks to
God, roll up our sleeves and then
do a little digging!*
*This date may change if it is raining on September 10th.
Many thanks go out to the families who adopted our
garden over the summer:
The Brenneis family, the Daniele-Aylwin family,
the Wylie family, the Davis family, the Skrenek family
the Masluk-Dowson family, The Schlender family,
the Rowley-Yardley Jones family, and the Franchuk family
Message from Father Mike Mireau
Are you on Facebook?
I am. Most people are these days. Even His Grace, Archbishop Smith, has an account!
Many people are on Facebook – addicted to it almost – as we try to make our mark on the world, connect with people,
and make as many “friends” as we can.
I’m approaching 1300 myself.
Only thing is – they aren’t really friends, not in the conventional sense of the word, in that I don’t really know them, at
least not the vast majority of them anyway.
Sure I’m friend-LY to them, and like them, probably, but are we really FRIENDS, in the true sense of the word?
Many in the church are de-crying this trend – that technology, rather than bringing us together, is in many way pulling
us apart.
How many people, instead of going out and BEING WITH people, or at least calling them on the phone, instead substitute their relationships with a simple click on the “LIKE” button on somebody’s status?
This is a concern, to be sure. And those who are raising the red flag on this issue are right for doing so.
But – in the church, are we much different?
After all, the Gospel tells us to not only be “friends” to one another, we’re called to be brothers and sisters. We’re called
to lay down our lives for one another, the way Jesus did for us.
How many times have we been to church, surrounded by our “brothers and sisters,” that we didn’t even know, not even
their names, and didn’t really care to know them either?
And how many Catholics have found church to be unfriendly, unwelcoming – only to find a warmer reception elsewhere?
So we’ve got our work cut out for us – both on the internet, and in the church.
And I think, this is where Catholic Schools has the greatest potential, to address this issue head on.
In our schools, we have the opportunity to build REAL, AUTHENTIC Christian Catholic community. We have the opportunity to teach our young ones to care about their classmates, in a real, direct, and practical way. We can all learn – to
love one another the way HE loved us.
Of course, doing so will take a lot of work, and it will take the efforts of teachers, parents, clergy, religious, admin, support staff – in fact, it will take EVERYBODY.
Which is exactly what Jesus had in mind – for everyone to KNOW everyone, for everyone to LOVE EVERYONE – so that
we all know – that God is Love, Amen.
Rev. Michael Catfish Mireau
District Chaplain
Edmonton Catholic Schools
(August, 2012)