MARCH, 2018

Administration Team Message

Dear Parents and Guardians:

We are now celebrating the 2018 Lenten Season! We began our journey on

Wednesday, February 14th with our Ash Wednesday Celebration and will continue

our Lenten journey with various activities throughout the month of March including

Stations of the Cross and Prayer Feast. We look forward to engaging our

community in these activities!

Thursday, March 15th

is our Demonstration of Learning, we will come

together as a Catholic School Community to celebrate our students’ successes and

set goals with students for the final term of this school year. We will also be hosting

an Audrey’s Book Fair during our Demonstration of Learning. We will close the

month of March with Spring Break and return to school on Tuesday, April 3rd

to

finish off the last term of the school year.

Thank you to our parent community for your continued support with activities

in and outside of the school.

Lenten Prayer

Almighty and Everlasting God, You have given the human race

Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled Your Will by becoming Man

And giving His life on the Cross. Help us to bear witness to You

By following His example of suffering And make us worthy to share in His Resurrection.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.

The staff would like to wish all of our St. Mary families a restful Spring Break!

February 26 - March 6 Grade 3 students writing CCAT’s

March 1-2 Teachers’ Convention - NO CLASSES

March 6 Grade 6 to Grade 7 Transition Passports due back at St. Mary

March 7 Gr 6A to Aviation Museum

March 9 Gr 6B to Aviation Museum

March 9 Report Cards go home - Report Cards available for viewing in Powerschool @ 4 pm

March 11 Daylight Saving Time begins - turn your clock forward one hour

March 12 Gr 6C to Aviation Museum

March 15 Demonstration of Learning @ 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Audrey’s Book Fair during Demonstration of Learning

March 17 Running Room Indoor Games Finals - permission forms sent home with participants

March 19 Grade Six Celebration Meeting 6:30 p.m.

March 19 School Council Meeting at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome!

March 20 Gr 45A to Fort Precinct Museum in Fort Saskatchewan

March 21 Lenten Prayer Feast - permission forms will come home with your child

March 22 THURSDAY - FULL DAY OF SCHOOL - DISMISSAL AT 3:12 P.M.

March 23 FRIDAY - EARLY DISMISSAL @ 12:09 P.M. FOR SPRING BREAK

March 26 - March 30 - SPRING BREAK - NO CLASSES

March 30 Good Friday

April 1 Easter Sunday

April 2 Easter Monday - NO CLASSES

April 3 Classes Resume

April 6 Quest Theatre “We Are A Treaty People”

April 9 Grade 2A to walk to Riverbend Library in a.m.

April 16 School Council Meeting 7 pm

April 24 Gr 5 to TWOS

April 27 Hot Lunch - Opa!

Daylight Savings

Time Begins March 11

Remember to set your

clocks forward one hour.

GRADE 6 to GRADE 7 TRANSITION PASSPORTS

The Grade 6 to Grade 7 Transition Passports were sent home with Grade 6 students in early February. All

Passports must be returned to St. Mary by Tuesday, March 6th. The Junior High Schools will not

accept passports directly, they must be returned to the elementary school for forwarding to the Junior High

School of your choice.

DISMISSAL TIME REMINDER

St. Mary School is blessed with large open and inviting spaces which are used by our students as learning

spaces throughout the day. For the safety of all our students, the front doors will remain locked

for after school pick up until 3:12 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and

Friday and 12:09 p.m. on Thursdays. We would ask parents to be considerate of these safety

protocols. If you require entry into the school prior to dismissal times please come to the office to sign in.

Thank you for respecting our efforts in creating a safe and ideal learning environment for all.

To assist us in the management of our bus account reconciliation, all bus pass payments are

due by the first day of each month. All payments must be made on line through the

Powerschool Parent portal. Please consider prepaying for the year or for more than one

month at a time. This would reduce the amount of staff time required collecting payments for this

service and would be greatly appreciated.

BUS PASS REMINDER

ATTENDANCE REMINDERS

Please reinforce to your child/ren to come to the office if they are late (arriving after the bell has rung) so that we can sign their agendas and account for their attendance. If they are marked absent by their teacher the Swift K12 electronic system is activated and you receive phone calls that your child is absent.

• Parents are asked to phone the school in the event your child will be absent. We listen each morning to our messages and enter absences into Powerschool. By notifying the school early unnecessary electronic call outs to parents can be avoided.

• If we do not receive a phone call and there is an absence, the electronic system proceeds with calling all available parent telephone numbers to verify the child’s absence.

We appreciate your cooperation and support of our efforts.

Indoor Running Room Games 2018

All members of the Running Room Games have been practicing and training hard for the 40th annual Running Room Indoor Games. On February 21st, all relay teams competed in the 200m relay race. Out of over 300 boys relay teams, the Boys team placed 2nd in their heat, and 43rd overall with a time of 4:27.70. They sure made St. Mary proud! The Girls team placed 1st in

their heat and placed 8th overall with a time of 4:30.8. WOW!

For official team photos from the race, please visit www.InfiniteEye.ca!

Our individual competitors have competed on February 27th. All our runners advanced to the finals! Keep them in your prayers as they race for #1!

A huge shout out to ALL competitors that have competed for your commitment and hard work!!

Let’s cheer on the St. Mary Runners as they travel to the finals on Saturday, March 17th at the University of Alberta’s Butterdome!

JANUARY/FEBRUARY ACTIVITIES

To end the month of January, from January 22nd through 24th, St. Mary students took part in a dance

residency put on by Street Beat dance group. High energy dance moves were enjoyed by everyone.

Just in time for the Olympics, students had the opportunity to learn the skills and techniques of curling, with

the Rocks and Rings residency from February 7 through 9th. Many “hurry hard” and “sweep” shouts were

heard as students sent rocks down the ice (gym floor).

This year, the Lenten Season began on February 14th, Valentines’ Day. Valentine activities were held on

February 13th, along with parent volunteers providing a Shrove Tuesday pancake breakfast to all students. A

special thank you to our school council and parent volunteers for delicious pancakes.

To begin the Lenten Season, on February 14th, a reflective and thoughtful Ash Wednesday celebration was

held. Father Saga and Sara Dmitri from St. Thomas More parish joined the morning service. The students

were prayerful and respectful as they received ashes on their forehead. A reminder that from ashes we came

and to ashes we will return. Our Lenten journey has begun.

Table Top Hockey: The 6 weeks of play has ended for this season. 23 teams participated in the series this

year. The enthusiasm and excitement that radiated in the atrium each recess was outstanding. All teams are

to be congratulated for their good sportsmanship and fair play as they participated each week.

The St. Mary Volleyball season was concluded with a friendly Teachers vs Student volleyball game. There

was much cheering for both sides and ended in a tie!!!

St. Mary School celebrated the 2018 Winter Olympics on Friday, February 23rd, with their very own ‘Olympic Day’. We began the day with an opening ceremonies in the gym, where our guest speaker Jane Lagace, a past Principal and current Administrator with ECSD, shared her experience as an Olympic Women’s Hockey player, winning gold in Lake Placid in 1988. The students represented 26 different countries and participated in 13 different events. Our parents cheered our students on and kindly supplied a Hot Chocolate/Water station and rest area. The students ended their 10 days of Olympic learning, based on making numerous cross-curricular connections to self, text, sport and the world with a FUN day of indoor and outdoor activities. A FUN and memorable day was enjoyed by all!

Our Lenten Journey

at St. Mary School

‘Inspire and Ignite

Through Christ!’

The season of Lent is upon us! This

year at St. Mary School, we have set

a goal for ourselves to establish

strong continuity throughout the

forty days of Lent in terms of

creating unique opportunities for

the students, staff and extended

community of families to focus in on

our Lenten task; that is; to focus in

on the fact that God loves us; and

indeed to prepare ourselves for the

new life that the Easter Triduum

offers to us!

We are really privileged in a Catholic

education setting to be able to work

together as a community during this

prayerful season of Lent to eliminate

distractions from our lives, to

perhaps break from mundane

routine and to respond to the

challenge to really set our minds to

God. In our school community, our

Catholic faith permeates everything

we do: hearts to love,

hands to serve,

inspires us to reflect upon our

actions in class, in our studies and at

recess. Our core values of dignity,

respect, personal growth and

fairness, are tangible realities that

ignite the spirit within us often

involving our families and extended

community members. Lent though,

is a time when we can open wide

the doors to our faith and celebrate

that faith overtly within the context

of community; discovering God in

our midst and recognizing God in

one another.

The Ash Wednesday

Celebration hosted by our

grade five community of learners

catapulted us into the season of

Lent. We welcomed our parish

guests: Father Saga and Sara to

celebrate with us. We were

reminded that the three actions of

Lent include: prayer, fasting & almsgiving.

Prayer: The community

partakes in both community &

personal prayer throughout the day.

This Lenten season we will create

the Stations of the Cross in

the gymnasium from Tuesday March

20th– Thursday March 22nd. Teachers

will journey VIA DOLOROSSA

(the sorrowful way) with the

students. Families are welcome to

visit the way of the cross after

school dismissal with their children

until 3:45pm.

Monday morning Gospel

Gossip punctuates our Lenten

journey creating text - to - self

connections with the Sunday

readings & Gospel to our life at

school.

Fasting: We will host our 6th

annual Lenten Prayer Feast. On Wednesday, March 21, students

will be invited to gather together to

pray and share in a special

community lunch and reflect on the

gifts God has bestowed on us.

When we participate in an activity of

fasting, we gain a greater

appreciation of the food that

nourishes us, we are more aware of

where our food comes from and we

are more mindful of those that are

hungry. To demonstrate our

commitment and sensitivity toward

poor families and the

disadvantaged, we will be asking all

participants to eat only bread,

cheese and water. The ‘Prayer

Feast’ will be a time of reflection

and giving and all parents are

welcome.

For this social justice

initiative we are teaming up with

Development and Peace (the official

social justice organization of the

Catholic Church) who will once again

be the beneficiaries of our

donations.

A permission slip will come home with your child.

Almsgiving: We are

pleased to continue our community

connection with St. Elizabeth School

supporting their breakfast & food

programs. As an almsgiving gesture

we are hoping to help fill their

pantry with each student bringing:

It is our sincere hope that the

continuity and plans for this Lenten

season at St. Mary School will serve

to further Inspire and Ignite

the spirit within you! We hope too

that your family might consider

including these plans as part of your

greater Lenten practices and that

you might find time to join us at

school for any of our Lenten

activities. More details will be

forthcoming.

God’s blessings as you continue your

faith journey throughout Lent and

into the great celebration of the

Easter Triduum.

Sincerely,

Lenten Celebrations Committee

Grade 2 & 3: package of pasta

Grade 4: box of granola bars

Grade 5: jar of peanut butter

Grade 6: jar of strawberry jam

DEMONSTRATION OF LEARNING GRADE TWO TO FIVE

Thursday, March 15th

1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. and

5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.

Once again we are celebrating student success!

Our students are busy gathering the evidence that supports their learning.

Our students look forward to sharing with their parents what they have learned, their personal achievements, successes and areas they plan to focus on for the last report card in June. This

process places the student at the center of the conference, enabling him/her to demonstrate, with confidence, all that they have been learning. It is a celebration of the child and the child as a

learner.

We look forward to this special day!!

Congratulations boys and girls on a job well done.

We are proud of you!

Parents, you are invited to select a time that is convenient for you and your child. Your child’s teacher will send additional information home. Enjoy your child’s celebration of success!

REPORT CARDS available for viewing on POWERSCHOOL

FRIDAY, MARCH 9th @ 4:00 P.M.

Audrey’s Book Fair will at the Demo of Learning. Be sure to stop by to view the many exciting titles.

The Greater Edmonton 2018 Teachers’ Convention

Thursday, March 1st & Friday, March 2nd

NO SCHOOL

These two days have been set-aside for the Greater Edmonton Teachers’ Convention (GETCA). During this

time, leading educators throughout the province and beyond, gather to share their knowledge, current

research and strategies for effective teaching and learning. The purpose is to continually develop our

professional skills so we can provide the best possible educational programs and learning experiences for our

students.

TEACHERS’ CONVENTION

REPORT CARDS

Term 2 report cards go home on Friday, March 9th.

The report cards will be live for viewing in Powerschool at 4:00 p.m.

CANADIAN COGNITIVE ABILITIES TEST (CCAT)

February 26 to March 6 for GRADE 3 Students

The Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test (CCAT) is a reliable assessment tool that tests learning potential and

enables teachers to determine general levels of students’ cognitive abilities in three areas; verbal,

quantitative and nonverbal. These tests will be administered to our grade three students from February 26th

to March 6th, 2018. Although students do not study for these tests, we do encourage them to do their best.

Test results are provided on an appointment basis to those parents interested in attaining their child’s CCAT

results. If you would like an appointment, please call the school office.

SPRING BREAK REMINDER

Thursday, March 22nd - Full Day of Classes - DISMISSAL AT 3:12 P.M.

March 23rd - EARLY DISMISSAL @ 12:09 P.M. for Spring Break

SPRING BREAK begins on Monday, MARCH 26th

EASTER MONDAY, April 2nd - NO SCHOOL

CLASSES RESUME on Tuesday, APRIL 3rd

NEW REGISTRATIONS

We are presently accepting new registrations of students for all grades for the

2018/2019 school year. Enrolment letters of intent have been sent home for our own

existing students to confirm our student numbers for the next school year. This

information will help us plan our staffing for the 2018/2019 school year. If you have

not replied, please let the school know your enrollment intentions.

A Message from Father Dowle

Among the many desires of mankind is the pursuit of power. It may be political, economic,

psychological, or familial. A review of current global or local issues indicate just how many

evolve around the application of power: who has it, how much, and why. Power holds a great

force of influence. In most instances it is pursued so as to effect control such that one’s

personal intentions, needs, and wants are enacted. Essentially one wants to ensure one’s

needs and wants are met and served. Indeed, we know by experience that to be served feels

good, but this is only so if it is done out of an authentic love which then can be reciprocated

with acknowledgement and appreciation. For to be served on demand or out of mere

selfishness is the antithesis of the interpretation of service Jesus both lived and extolled. As we

are given to understand in every Gospel in general and Holy Thursday in particular, it is not the

societal interpretation of power to which the Christian is to aspire. Rather, it is the humble

service which can and likely involves a sacrifice, a task we are asked to fulfill for its own sake

and the common good. Our District community has many such examples from which to draw:

the new mother who sacrifices sleep to be with a sick child, the dedicated teacher who gives

up the lunch hour to be with a struggling student, or the newly retired principal who volunteers

their skills to help a senior in need. The way that Jesus serves is consistently defined by what

he says and so by what he does. Consequently, if we desire to know what it means to be the

real image and likeness of God, what it means to know ultimate power, what we ought to do is

look to Jesus. And if we want to know how to be closer to God, we in turn emulate the way of

Jesus: not to be served, but to serve. Holy Thursday and the Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be

our example and source of inspiration: all are encouraged to attend this most special night at

their local Parish. The Gospel reinforces for us that it is service to others which will show the

way to what is true leadership and authentic power within the Kingdom. And the final

destination of the Kingdom is all that should really matter. May we remember this during the

latter of Lent and Easter soon to be: God, power, others, and me.

Most sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Dean Dowle

ECSD Chaplain

March 2018

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

~John 13:1~

This passage comes from the Gospel reading for Holy Thursday. The Gospel of John is also known as the Gospel of Love because

it is written to clearly tell us of the great love that God has for us. That love is embodied in the person of Jesus. Knowing of the

immense suffering that Jesus is about to endure as his death approaches, it is humbling to even try to imagine the magnitude of

His love for us.

Our Catholic community was deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend and shepherd, Archbishop Emeritus Joseph MacNeil.

One of our schools proudly bears his name and his motto “Let us grow together in Christ”. Archbishop MacNeil was a significant

part of the fabric of so many of our lives, especially through the sacrament of Confirmation. We invite you to visit www.ecsd.net

and click on the ‘Remembering Archbishop Joseph MacNeil’ banner to share a favorite story or picture of him.

ECSD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mount Royal University to collaborate and offer students two courses to

explore their passions and interests in Aviation. The two dual credit Aviation courses, which are required courses within the

Mount Royal University Bissett School of Business Aviation Diploma, will be offered at St. Joseph High School to interested grade

11 & 12 students from ECSD who meet the pre-requisites of English 30 – 1, Math 30 – 1, and medical clearance. By offering the

courses after school hours, it will enable students from across ECSD to enroll in the courses. Students will be able to develop

their knowledge to achieve Transport Canada requirements respecting navigation and aviation operations, along with Basic

Meteorology to interpret weather information for pilots as supplied by Atmospheric Environment Services. In partnership with

WestJet, students will be able to experience flight simulation and in-flight experiences with trained pilots. WestJet will support

this opportunity through personnel, simulator experiences, and site visitations at YEG.

Edmonton Catholic Schools is excited to plan for our new K-6 school in The Orchards at Ellerslie. The culture and ethos of a

Catholic school evolves from its name. We want to choose a name that is meaningful to our Catholic community, and that

conveys the school’s identity to the broader community. We are currently taking suggestions from the public and would love to

hear your voice. Visit www.ecsd.net and click on the Name our New School Banner to learn more about the guidelines and

criteria. We will be accepting entries until March 31.

There are so many opportunities for our students to showcase their learning. An excellent example of this is the annual Jean

Forest Leadership Academy Luncheon to celebrate International Women’s Day. This year's Women's Day theme is

. . . 2

Living in the Word of God - Mercy at the Heart of It All

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup; for all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves (1 Corinthians 11: 27-29). In previous articles on Living in the Word of God, we discovered that the Christian response to God's love

revealed in Christ is threefold: worship, witness and service; the three ways in which we put into practice the

Word of God. Our lives come from the mercy of God. The Lord calls us precisely in our weakness, and mercifully

bestows upon us all the gifts we need for the fulfillment of our Christian calling. True worship, especially

through the celebration of the Eucharist, requires that we examine our way of living, to seek forgiveness and

reconciliation, to profess what we believe, and to serve others with joyful hearts. Pope Francis calls us to

embrace fully the meaning of our Baptism and to live consciously as disciples of Jesus Christ. This means hearing

the Word of God and practicing it. Every day we encounter a myriad of voices; some positive, some negative,

endeavouring to influence and shape our way of thinking and living. Yet, for us there is only one voice that we

know is fully worthy of our trust, and that voice is Jesus. To be disciples, to live in accord with our Baptismal

identity and dignity, is to allow only his words to guide and direct our lives.

Sandra Talarico, Religious Education Consultant

Press for Progress! and the girls of JFLA are embracing this challenge by building on their leadership and engaging in community

service as students in the Academy. The guest speaker at this year’s luncheon will be mental health advocate and professional

photographer Blake Loates. She will be speaking about the need to Press for Progress in the fight to end the stigma of mental

illness. Visit www.ecsd.net and look under “What’s New in the District” to learn more about the luncheon and how to purchase

tickets.

The month of March also provides us with the opportunity to focus student learning more intentionally on the importance of

numbers in our daily lives during our annual Numeracy Week event. Our students will spend time gaining an appreciation of the

fact the numeracy is not just significant in math class!

The year moves by so swiftly. Our year-round schools will begin their Spring Break on March 19, and our regular calendar

schools will begin their break on March 26. All classes will resume on Tuesday, April 3. This is a wonderful time for students and

staff to rest and recharge in preparation for the busy-ness of the last few months of school.

I leave you with another passage from the Gospel of John as we continue our Lenten journey:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal

life.” ~ John 3:16

Have a wonderful month!

Sincerely, Joan Carr Superintendent

SPRING BREAK - Classes Resume Monday, April 3, 2018

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