Knightly News
Week
of August 25-29, 2014
March 2015 Monthly
Newsletter
May God give you…
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every team, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.
Admin Message
Blessing to one and all as we start our journey of Lent! We celebrated Shrove Tuesday on February 17 with a pancake lunch and a yummy
Mardi Gras was enjoyed by all. We followed it with a very nice Ash Wednesday Celebration on February 18 for which Father Gallagher
presided.
The month of February has certainly been a busy one for our staff and students. We started off the month with the Option switch, for all
those in half year options. Art, Com. Tech. and Foods made the switches so be sure to ask your child if they are enjoying their new option
selection.
We had a wonderful turnout at our recent Open House on February 12 and the Grade 6 Shadow Day on February 19. We have quite a
number of eager grade 6s that can’t wait to become Knights next year! Our staff and students worked very hard to showcase all that makes
our school great. On the Grade 6 Shadow day we hosted students from St. Leo, St. Bernadette and St. Jerome schools. It was amazing to
see what great ambassadors our grade 7-8s can be. They expertly led their groups and showed them things we wouldn’t even have thought
of such as what the inside of their locker looks like - and some organizational tips and tricks. They were so proud to be the ‘big kids’ for the
day.
As well the Soccer Academy competed in a number of tournaments including the Tymko Cup at St. Francis Xavier High School on February
6. Both the Soccer and Dance Academies continue to showcase the amazing talents of our students.
Throughout the season of Lent will be encouraging all of our students to reflect and respond to the teachings of Jesus and what it means to
be a Catholic as we journey towards Easter. We are looking forward to another busy month as we pass the half way mark of the school
year and journey together towards a new horizon.
Sincerely,
Brad and Nicole
Dates to Remember
Report Cards go home March 13, 2015
Parent Teacher Interviews - March 19, 2015
Spring Break - March 30. 2015-April 6, 2015
PARENT/TEACHER/STUDENT INTERVIEWS Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews will take place on Thursday
March 19, 2015 from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m. and 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. To book interview times you must go on line to
schoolinterviews.ca and enter Event Code: New Code will be posted on website. This can be done by either
the parent or the student on any i-phone or Android device with WiFi connection. The schoolinterviews.ca
webpage will be available starting after school on Friday, March 13, 2015 for your convenience.
School Fees
Online payment is a fast and convenient way to keep track of your account. If you are unsure of your balance you
can go on line at https://powerschool.ecsd.net or call the school at 780-474-3713. Postdated cheques may be sent
to the school. Visa or MasterCard payments can be made through PowerSchool
https://powerschool.ecsd.net/
Parent Advisory Council (P.A.C.)
The next meeting of the Parent Advisory Council and the Parent Advisory Society will take place on
Monday, March 9. 2015 at 7:00 p.m
Bus Passes
On the last 2 and first 2 days of the month bus passes will be on sale before school and during lunch in the office.
We would encourage you to send postdated cheques for bus passes. The prepaid bus passes will be prepared ahead
of time and the student will not have to stand in line during lunch.
You can also pay for bus passes online through PowerSchool at https://powerschool.ecsd.net. Please call the school
prior to going online, and they will ensure that the bus pass gets added to your account.
2014 – 2015 SCHOOL YEAR BUS PASS COST
ETS $47.00
YELLOW $47.00
FAMILY PLAN $43.00
If busses are running late: In the morning if there are any issues with the buses running late or not showing up
please contact Transportation Services @ 780 441 6078. The office is open from 7:15 AM and the sooner we are
aware of an issue the sooner we can work to get it resolved.
Inclement weather
Please be advised that the following Radio and TV Stations will carry announcements with respect to
transportation cancellations due to inclement weather conditions.
RADIO STATIONS
630 CHED
CISN FM 103.9
FRESH FM 92.5
INEWS 880 AM
The Bounce FM 91.7
UP! 99.3 FM
HOT 107 FM
AM 930 The Light CJCA
SHINE 105.9 FM
TSN 1260
95.7 CRUZ FM
The Bear 100.3 FM
SONIC 102.9 FM
104.9 VIRGIN Radio FM
CBC
CHFA (CBC Fr.)
CFCW 790
CAPITAL FM 96.3
K97 97.3
102.3 NOW! Radio
TV STATIONS
CITYTV
CTV Edmonton
GLOBAL Edmonton
CBC TV
Every effort will be made to have messages broadcast commencing no later than 6:30 a.m.
Edmonton Catholic Schools’ Got
Talent!!
The Edmonton Catholic Schools Foundation wants to celebrate the talented students and staff
of Edmonton Catholic Schools! All proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards the ECS
Champion Projects.
Enter for a chance to perform at the Edmonton Catholic Schools Foundation Talent Show and
win one of THREE student prizes – $1000, $750, or $500 with matching prizes to the schools
of the winners. There is also a teacher category with ONE prize of $500 to the school project
of the teacher’s choice.
Students of all ages can enter and the act can be a solo or a group performance of almost any
talent - singing, acting, dancing, juggling, or…surprise us!! Two audition events will be held on
April 11th at Louis St. Laurent Junior/Senior High School and St. Joseph High School. FIVE acts
from each audition event will perform at the Talent Show on April 25th at Mother Margaret
Mary High School. At the Talent Show there will not only be the performances of the TEN
finalists, there will also be a silent auction of student and teacher artwork.
The deadline to register for one of the audition events is Monday April 6th.
The Talent Show registration form and competition guidelines are available on the ECS
Foundation website at http://ecsfoundation.ca where you can also find more information on
the ECS Champion Projects.
Lifetouch Pictures
High School Information
Austin O’Brien High School
Austin O’Brien staff will be at St. Nicholas School to pre-register grade 9’s for the 2015-2016 school term on Thursday,
March 19, 2015 in the morning. Their course selections will be entered on Powerschool at this time.
We will ask that students take home the registration documents to review and have them signed by a parent or guardian. At Austin
O’Brien we communicate through our website, email, and Powerschool so please ensure there is a parent email address and that
all information is correct.
Next we request that a parent or guardian come on the evening of Tuesday, March 24, 2015 to Austin O’Brien to complete the
registration process. An appointment time is noted on an individual letter that will be handed out when the student is preregistered.
If a family is unable to make this appointment please contact Austin O’Brien @ 780-466-3161 to make other arrangements
Please review the Student Registration Guide posted on our website. www.austinobrien.ecsd.net . There is a lot of information
regarding courses, requirements, scholarships, a 3 year plan, extracurricular activities and much more.
AP Courses / Bilingual Programming
Is your grade 9 passionate about Math, Science, or English and has a great work ethic? Advanced Placement may be for them!
Is he/she aware we are an International Language school? (Polish, Ukrainian, Spanish and French). Consider these options
when doing registration.
St. Joseph Open House
Personalized Self Directed Learning/International Baccalaureate/Jean Forest Girls Leadership Academy
English Language Learners/Educational Experiences/-4 Course Route
Personalized Programming for ALL Students
Monday March 2nd: 7:00-9:00P.M.
Advanced Registration
Saturday March 7th: 9:00A.M.-3:00P.M.
Evening Registraiton
Monday March 16 - Thursday March 19 6:00-8:00
Try-A-Trade:
Saturday March 7th: 10:00 - 2:00
Interested in Shadowing a Student?
Call us - we will arrange it starting in February.
Joan Kabotoff
Assistant Principal
St. Joseph High School
780-426-2010 ext. 320
Fax: 780-425-1408
Message from Superindent Joan Carr
March 2015
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,
and with alll your strength ~ Mark 12:30
In this scripture passage, a scribe is asking Jesus which commandment is the greatest of all. Jesus’ response is
clear, and He follows with a second commandment… to love your neighbor as yourself. It seems like such a simple
thing to do, to love, yet we only need to look around us to see how difficult this simple act is for people and for society.
Lent offers us a unique opportunity to bring this commandment to life. I wish you a special Lenten awakening that is to
be found in selfless acts of love.
Literacy and numeracy are deeply embedded into learning each day. W e are excited to announce the first ever ECSD
Numeracy Week which will profile this essential aspect of daily learning! Just like we promote literacy and reading
during Read -In Week, Numeracy W eek will be an annual celebration of numeracy. The goal of Numeracy W eek
is twofold: to promote a greater understanding of what numeracy is, and to show how numeracy is important for
learning in every content area and for life! The week will be held annually in conjunction with International Pi Day – March
14. Our first ever Numeracy W eek will run March 9-13th, 2015, with Pi day being on Saturday March 14. This year’s Pi
Day is very special because with it being 2015, and the first 5 digit s of pi being 3.1415, this will not occur again for 100
years! Visit our website to learn more. https://www.ecsd.net/news/pages/numeracy- week-in-edmonton-catholicschools.aspx
We have a new way of gathering information from our parent community about how we are doing. This year, we will
be using a three stage process using Thoughtexchange. Thoughtexchange is an online community engagement tool
that allows us to reach out to parents and staff affected by the decisions made in our school district. We learn about
what is important to you to support student learning. You will receive more information from your school. Visit
http://ecsd.thoughtexchange.info/invitation from March 2-11 to share your valuable opinions.
There are so many opportunities for our District students to shine this month; Spring Into Art, Band Share Day, and
Heart of Glee are just of few of the ways in which our students get to share their gifts and talents with the broader
community. Please vi sit our website for more information.
In Edmonton Catholic Schools, we continue to provide ongoing, excellent professional learning opportunities to all
teachers through Transform: Christ-centred Learning for Today and Tomorrow. Through the coaching component of this
professional learning model, our teachers are working with school learning coaches and district consultants as “elbow
partners” to plan-teach-document-reflect on student learning to ensure that students perform well academically and
thrive socially and emotionally.
On February 17, 2015 at our public board meeting, four school communities presented their successes with coaching to
move all K-12 students forward. Their stories illuminated how students’ and teachers’ passion for learning is contagious
and how empowered students are to be engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit. The teachers
explained that while coaching was critical to their progress, so, too, were the rich professional learning sessions on
student-centred teaching that have been provided through Transform. For example, on February 19, 2015, all schools
engaged in a livestreamed session about research-based assessment practices from Dylan Wiliam, an internationally
known researcher. We continue to grow and learn together in our district through our vibrant professional learning
program.
Did you know that your child has a district supported Office 365 account? This educational productivity toolset includes an
email account, 1 terabyte of cloud file storage, web-based versions of Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint, Excel,
and OneNote, and the ability to download and install Microsoft Office on up to 5 home computers (Mac or PC). This Office
365 account can be accessed from any computer with a web browser by visiting http://portal.office.com and using their 7digit school ID @school.ecsd.net (e.g. 1016026@school.ecsd.net) and their school computer password. They can also
use these credentials to use and log into mobile apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android.
In closing, I would like to leave you with an excerpt from Pope Francis’ Lenten message.
During this Lent, then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord: “Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tuum”: Make our
hearts like yours (Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). In this way we will receive a heart which is firm and merciful,
attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference.
Sincerely, On February 17, 2015 at our public board meeting, four school communities presented their successes with
coaching to move all K-12 students forward. Their stories illuminated how students’ and teachers’ passion for learning is
contagious and how empowered students are to be engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit.
The teachers explained that while coaching was critical to their progress, so, too, were the rich professional learning
sessions on student-centred teaching that have been provided through Transform. For example, on February 19, 2015, all
schools engaged in a livestreamed session about research-based assessment practices from Dylan Wiliam, an
internationally known researcher. We continue to grow and learn together in our district through our vibrant professional
learning program.
Did you know that your child has a district supported Office 365 account? This educational productivity toolset includes an
email account, 1 terabyte of cloud file storage, web-based versions of Microsoft Office including Word, PowerPoint, Excel,
and OneNote, and the ability to download and install Microsoft Office on up to 5 home computers (Mac or PC). This Office
365 account can be accessed from any computer with a web browser by visiting http://portal.office.com and using their 7digit school ID @school.ecsd.net (e.g. 1016026@school.ecsd.net) and their school computer password. They can also
use these credentials to use and log into mobile apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android.
In closing, I would like to leave you with an excerpt from Pope Francis’ Lenten message.
During this Lent, then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask the Lord: “Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tuum”: Make our
hearts like yours (Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). In this way we will receive a heart which is firm and merciful,
attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference.
Sincerely,
Joan Carr, Superintendent
Message from Bishop David Motiuk
March 2015
Great Lent and “Crossovers”
In the automobile industry “crossovers” are vehicles built on a car platform combining features of
a sport utility vehicle with those from a passenger vehicle, such as fold-down rear seats, extra cargo space, and a
liftgate.
In reality, Jesus invented the original crossover. His voluntary sacrifice on the cross allows us to crossover from
sin and death to eternal life. That’s what we celebrate at Easter. And that’s what we recall in Great Lent, the forty days
of preparation for the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
Great Lent is simply put a return to the Father.
The biblical story of the fall of Adam and Eve is a story of the loss of our original beauty and our exile from
God. It is the story of our rebellion against the Creator and the transformation of the world as paradise with God into a
place of hardship, struggle and self-centredness.
Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden as a result of their disobedience. Ever since,
humanity sat outside the Gates of Paradise and was prevented from crossing over into full communion once again
with God, that is, until the coming of Christ the Messiah.
Adam and Eve have placed themselves outside the Gates of Paradise. The Lord took
a handful of dust from the earth.
He breathed into it and created me, a living man.
He made me lord and master of all things on earth. Truly I
enjoyed the life of the angels.
But Satan the deceiver, in the guise of a serpent tempted me; I ate the
forbidden fruit and forfeited the glory of God.
Now I have been delivered to the earth through death.
O compassionate Lord, call me back to Eden!
Adam was exiled from paradise through disobedience.
He was driven from eternal bliss, deceived by the words of Eve. He sat naked
and weeping before the gates of paradise.
Let us hasten to enter the season of fasting;
Let us carefully obey the Gospel commands,
That we may be made acceptable to Christ our God
And regain our home in Eden (Vespers of Cheesefare Sunday).
The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, the new Adam, opened up for once again the possibility for earth
and heaven to be reunited. Jesus descended from heaven unto earth so that we might ascend from earth unto heaven.
The crossover.
The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross transcended the great abyss of sin and death and restored our original
humanity and dignity.
O holy paradise, planted for me by God and lost by our weakness, Grant that I
may once again gaze on the flowers of your garden. And the Saviour said, I do
not wish the death of my creation.
I desire that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For the one
who comes to me I shall never cast out.
This Great Lent, let us prepare ourselves through prayer, fasting and works of charity to celebrate the Easter and
the original crossover which leads us from sin and death into eternal life.
Bishop David Motiuk
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton