1

ST. MATTHEW SCHOOL 416 83 AVE SE CALGARY AB T2H 1N3

PHONE : 403-500-2030 FAX: 403-500-2230 EMAIL : st.matthew@cssd.ab.ca

website : www.cssd.ab.ca/stmatthew

THE BEARALD SEPTEMBER 2015

St. Matthew School warmly welcomes all our students

and their families to our learning community. Our

school looks as new as ever with fresh paint in the

hallways and our gym floors redone. Thank you for

your fundraising efforts as we look forward to creating

our new Learning Commons soon!

Our school continues to celebrate diversity and cen-

ters student learning within a faith filled educational

environment. Our school community encourages

staff, students and families to seek the example of

Christ as our model of Catholic teaching and learning.

Together we strive, to be a Safe & Caring Catholic

environment, Student Centered & achieve High

Academic Excellence. We will make every effort

to assist you with the transition to our school commu-

nity.

It is with great enthusiasm and anticipation that we

look forward to the year ahead. We will work together

for the good of each child and to ensure that they

experience the most optimum of learning experienc-

es. We look forward to working in partnership with you

as we continue to build our school community togeth-

er. Please feel free to contact the school to discuss

any matters that affect your child’s education or possi-

ble ways that you may support the school in attaining

our goals.

Best wishes for a great school year.

M. Pilon, Principal

C. Launiere, VP

K. Plante, AP

COMMUNICATION

New this year is School Connects! This is an automated call

out system for attendance and important announcements. As

well, we will continue to use our monthly newsletter and our

weekly happenings by email as an opportunity to inform you

about what’s happening in our school, to provide information about up-

coming events and activities, ask on occasion for your cooperation, under-

standing and support and celebrate the many wonderful happenings at our

school.

This September issue is the only one we will be sending home to all fami-

lies. At the first of every month you will find our newsletters on-line on our

school website at http://www.cssd.ab.ca/stmatthew/. Please ensure you

complete the paperless communication sheet with your email address

information. This form will be sent home in our opening day package.

Having an updated email address will ensure you are informed through

monthly newsletters, weekly happenings, etc.

Junior High Network User/Electronic Device Agreement: Thank you to our

student leadership & staff who helped create a more detailed Personally

Owned Device (POD) guidelines. Please read and sign this important infor-

mation in your opening package.

St. Matthew APP (coming): This new app created by one of our own stu-

dents, Andrew B and S.W.A.T. team, will soon be available for download as

a student organizer that allows students to input their 6 day schedule. As

well this app will serve as a homework organizer where students can add

homework due and it will remind them what books they may need to take

home. Students can also share homework with other students helping out

students who are sick & missed homework that day. Thank you Andrew

and S.W.A.T. team!!!

This app also grabs a feed from things like our school Twitter account and Facebook page to allow student to follow our school in one convenient app.

2

8:35am -11:20am

12:32pm-3:12pm

8:35 Entrance Bell

8:40 Classes

10:32-10:52 Recess

10:54-12:25 Classes

12:25-1:10 LUNCH(45 minutes)

1:15 Classes

3:12 DISMISSAL

8:35 Entrance Bell

8:40-8:44 Homeroom

8:46-9:38 Period 1

9:40-10:32 Period 2

10:32-10:39 NUTRITIONAL BREAK

10:39-11:31 Period 3

11:33-12:25 Period 4

12:25-1:10 LUNCH

1:10-1:15 Entrance

1:15-1:17 Homeroom

1:19-2:11 Period 5

2:13-3:05 Period 6

3:07-3:12 Homeroom

3:12 DISMISSAL

Entrance 8:35am

Dismissal 3:00pm

Asilo, Pauline Noon Hour Assistant/Ed Asst

Barnett, Keri Noon Hour Assistant

Bégin, Myriam Gr. 9-5 Homeroom Teacher

Belanger, Carla Education Assistant

Bouadi, Lynda Education Assistant

Carrier, Laura Grade 3 Homeroom Teacher

Casas, Rizza Office Assistant

Cassidy, Robin Gr. 7-1 Homeroom Teacher/Band

Champion, LeeAnne Grade 2/1 Homeroom Teacher

Cheryba, Katrina Education Assistant

Cieslak, Krystyna Grade 1 Teacher

Compton, Corinna Gr. 8-5 Homeroom Teacher

DeForest, Cara Gr. 7-3 Homeroom Teacher/ P.E

Denholm, Christopher Gr. 8-2 Homeroom Teacher

Derose, Julie Counsellor

Desrochers, Lanna Special Education Assistant

Emond, Sylvain Gr. 8-4 Homeroom Teacher

Fortin, Eric Gr. 8-3 Homeroom Teacher

Gomes, Filomena Gr. 7-5 Homeroom Teacher

Goudreau, Chantal Gr. 9-4 Homeroom Teacher

Grant, Amanda Grade 2 Homeroom Teacher

Hartwick, Rebecca Gr. 9-2 Homeroom Teacher/PE

Hayden, Teresa Noon Hour Assistant

Honish, Lisa ELA Teacher

Horsley, Amanda Grade 4 Homeroom Teacher

Johnson, Craig Gr. 8-6 Homeroom Teacher

Johnson, Donna Administrative Secretary

Knopp, Christina ES II Assistant

Lang, Tommy Evening Caretaker

Launiere, Cynthia Vice Principal

LeClair, Ann Diverse Learner Teacher

Marian, Simona ES II Assistant

McCabe, Fiona Grade 6 Homeroom Teacher

Mehl, Dave Caretaker

Munro, Kim Grade 9-1 Homeroom Teacher

N'goyi, Dibua Gr. 7-6 Homeroom Teacher

Nichol, Darlene ES II Assistant

Nicholson, Debbie Grade 5/4 Homeroom Teacher

Oberhauser, Paul Gr. 7-2 Homeroom Teacher

O'Donnell, Lenette JH ES II Teacher

O'Neill, Amanda Physical Education Teacher

Pessoa, Maria Evening Cleaning Assistant

Pilon, Marc Principal

Plante, Konrad Assistant Principal

Poyaoan, Joi Noon Hour Assistant/ED Asst

Rodriguez, Carmen Gr. 8-1 Homeroom Teacher/Art

Rojas, Amelia ES II Assistant

Rollheiser, Brian Elem ES II Teacher

Salvatierra, Rogelio Evening Caretaker

Schuett, Megan Gr. 7-4 Homeroom Teacher

Sears-Walsh, Lisa Diverse Learner Teacher

Skarra, Kim Librarian

Spehar, Louie Grade 5 Homeroom Teacher

Stock, Donna Kindergarten Teacher

Wingerter, Jillian Grade 3 Homeroom Teacher

Yon, Alice Grade 9-3 Homeroom Teacher

3

B U S P A S S

P lease note that the Bus Pass Rebate Forms for eligible Jr.

High students for school year 2015-2016 are available in the

office. If your child is eligible for a rebate, please complete the form

and submit to either the school office or mail to the district office .

Scanning of bus passes is done in the library every 1st week of the

month. Announcement will be made on when the scanning will be

done. Parents please make sure your child scans his/her bus pass

so you can receive your rebate on time. September bus pass

scanning will be done the first week of October.

Please contact the office if you require further information.

JUNIOR HIGH OPTION CLASSES

W e do our best to accommodate all JH Students in plac-

ing them in the option classes they’ve chosen. We ac-

commodate choices on a first come first serve basis. Options

are offered according to student demand, teacher availability

and student enrollment. Administration approval and a parent

signature is required for changing options.

OFFICE STAFF

Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Casas are available

to assist parents and students from 8:00 am

to 4:00pm Monday through Friday. If you

have any questions or concerns please come

in or call the office at 403-500-2030. You can

also send us an email @ st.matthew@cssd.ab.ca

A fter our library has been transformed into our new Learning

Commons, we will soon be continuing to open from

8:00am—3:30pm. Students with outstanding library items/

textbooks will not be allowed to sign anything out until their items

are returned or paid for. If an item is paid for and then found,

money will be refunded.

Once the learning commons is ready, JH students will be al-

lowed to come in to the library @ 8am to do their homework.

Door will be open between 8am-8:10am if they want to go to the

library.

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Skarra

Librarian

SCHOOL FEES

A school fee invoice will be sent out Friday, Sept. 4th. Please note that all students K-Gr. 9 have to pay the Noon Hour Supervision

Fee. This does not just provide supervision but enables us to open and run a Bistro canteen service that serves all our students.

You have the option to pay the fees online @ http://www.cssd.ab.ca/parents/fees/online-fee-payment/

and click the PAY NOW icon

We encourage you to pay the fees online to avoid money being misplaced and saving the office much time from manually input-

ting each entry. You will receive the receipt right away if you do so. You can pay a number of mandatory and elective school fees

online. CCSD’s fee management and online payment system is an easy and secure way to pay school fees from the comfort of your home

or office. Payments can be made by credit card or debit card.

New users will need to set up an account. Student ID # is needed and this can be found on your invoice.

For inquiries about account setup and using the system, please email feeinquiry@cssd.ab.ca. For general information about fees, please

contact your child’s school.

Should you prefer to pay by cheque, please make it payable to St. Matthew School. Receipts will be issued and sent

home with your child as cheques are processed.

Thank you for your cooperation.

4

PARENT VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION

V olunteering is an excellent way to participate in your child’s edu-

cation. All parents who wish to volunteer in our school must

attend a Volunteer Orientation prior to participating in this capacity.

First session will be on September 18 @ 11am in the school library.

Another session will be held on September 23 @ 6pm in the library.

Please plan on attending either session if you wish to help out with

our school at any time during the school year.

You can also access our volunteer package online at

http://www.cssd.ab.ca/stmatthew

for you to read and sign off if you are unable to make our volunteer

orientations.

SR. VOLLEYBALL TRY-OUTS

Wednesday (Sep 2)

Girls @ 7:15am-8:30am

Boys @ 3:15pm-5:00pm

Thursday (Sep 3)

Boys @ 7:15am-8:30am

Girls @ 3:15pm-5:00pm

Sr. Volleyball Ice Breaker Tournament

Friday, September 4th

Boys and Girls @ RALLY POINTE

Schedule TBA

The seventh annual Calgary Catholic Run & Walk will take place on Saturday, September 19, 2015 at Glenmore Ath-letic Park ( 50th Avenue, 19th Street SW).

Online registration is now open – https://

secure.eventsonline.ca/events/calgarycatholicrun/

The annual event is an opportunity to come together with a

focus on community, health and fitness, while raising funds

for the Calgary Catholic Education Foundation (CCEF), the

Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) and the Alber-

ta Children’s Hospital Foundation (ACHF). This is an open

event. We welcome all runners and walkers to register!

New for this year:

- Early bird registration incentive - Route change: 6 km is the new 5 km! Due to some route restrictions there will be a new finishing route, which takes us to a 6 km walk and 6 km run, as well as the 10km run and Little Legs race. For more information about the Run & Walk, please visit the district Internet site page: http://www.cssd.ab.ca/news-events/events/ccsd-run-walk/

The Calgary Catholic School District launched a Parent View

for all schools. Parents have the quick and easy access to

view:

attendance records

progress reports marks, standards and comments

school announcements (if your school uses the bulletin fea-

ture)

The Parent View is operated through PowerSchool, a web-

based database application that facilitates student information

management and communication among school administra-

tors, teachers, parents, and students. It is easy to use and

connects parents, students and schools with real-time infor-

mation via the Internet.

The view allows parents to stay connected with their child's

school and participate more fully in their student's progress.

Please note parents/guardians have the ability to create a

single login for all students in the family even if they are at-

tending different schools. Please contact the school if you

need help in setting up the account. Once the account is cre-

ated, parents can manage account information, link any and

all students to the account, and set email and notification

preferences for each student linked to the account.

PowerSchool Parent View is a tool that is integrated into the

PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) that is specif-

ically developed for parents and students.

To access the new Parent View, please visit

https://sis.cssd.ab.ca/public/

5

ATTENDANCE AND

STUDENT APPOINTMENTS

A ttendance and punctuality are very important.

Please respect other’s health by keeping your

child home when they are ill. Please call our school at 403-500-

2030 if your child will be away due to illness or a doctor’s appoint-

ment. You can always leave a message on our answering machine

if you call before or after school hours. You can also send us an

email @ st.matthew@cssd.ab.ca if your child will be

away for any reason.

As well, sending us a note, notifying us that someone else is au-

thorized to pick up your children, is necessary to facilitate neces-

sary planned arrangements.

If you are taking your child home early, please come in the school

to sign him/her out, as the office ahead cannot interrupt classes.

that your child will be ready when you arrive at the office.

School Connects is an automated call-out system. The system will

notify you by phone whenever your child is absent from class and

you did not inform the school. These phone calls are usually made

to your home phone/cell phone in the morning. Please ensure that

we have your updated contact information.

MORNING DROP OFF / AFTERNOON PICK-

UP TIMES

Please be advised that morning supervision begins @ 8:20am.

Please do not drop off your kids before this time as there’s no super-

vision available. After school supervision is up to 3:25pm. Please

make sure that students are picked-up on time for their safety.

If the students arrived after 8:35am, it is important that they go

to the office to sign in so we know that they are in school. If they

don’t sign in, they will be marked absent and you will receive a

call from the school.

CODE OF CONDUCT (CELL PHONE/

POD USAGE):

We have had extensive conversations

about the use of cell phones and per-

sonally owned devices (PODs) in our school. Our stu-

dents were previously surveyed which helped us create a

school guidelines which we trust will best support teach-

ing & learning in the 21st century and keep our students

organized. This Network User/Electronic Device Agree-

ment has been integrated into our St. Matthew’s Code of

Conduct. We ask that you please read and SIGN OFF

and RETURN this important document.

It is our goal that our standards support a strong model of

co-operative discipline in a faith filled environment that

involves parents, students and all school staff in a com-

mon model for dealing with the needs of students.

6

SCHOOL PARKING LOT

J ust a reminder to parents that the

staff parking lot located next to the

playground on the east and on the west side of the

building is for staff only. No driving in and dropping off

students in these lots as space is tight and there have

been reports of safety issues surrounding visibility and

volume in these two lots.

Please also stay clear of the designated school bus

zones (watch for signs) during school hours. We must

have safe access for buses transporting students to

and from school.

Drop off is only on 83 Ave. Please respect this for

the safety of all.

We appreciate your cooperation.

D ue to high traffic and cars parking in the handi-

cap zones, we have had past problems for our

students who need to be dropped off and picked up

in those areas. We would appreciate it, if parents could

please leave these areas clear when dropping off their child.

Thank you very much.

A T T E N T I O N

TELEPHONE USAGE

T he school telephone is for school business only.

Our students will be permitted to use the office

phone for emergencies only. Students will not be

called from class to the telephone. Office staff will

only take emergency messages for students. These

messages will be relayed to students just before the

lunch period or at the end of the day.

We request that parents make arrangements (pick-

ups, appointments, etc.) with their child before

they arrive at school.

NUTRITIONAL BREAK

F or benefit of all junior high students and

staff we have included a nutritional break

from 10:32—10:39 am. Students will be able

to return to their locker after period 2 to exchange sub-

ject materials for the following periods and eat a nutri-

tional snack.

We highly encourage parents to provide their child with a

nutritional snack such as: granola bars, fruit, fruit drinks,

cheese, crackers, almonds, dried fruit, etc. We discourage

snacks such as chips and chocolate bars.

Students are also encouraged to bring a water bottle into

their classes. Drinking water promotes learning.

CHILDREN WITH MEDICAL CONDITIONS

W e would like to know if your child has medication for a

medical condition.

Should your child be in need of medication (asthma inhaler,

Benadryl, epipen, etc.) it is more expedient to have it in the

office rather than trying to find where he/she keeps the medi-

cation. When time is of the essence we do not want to be

looking up locker numbers and combinations.

The district mandates that an “Authorization for administering

medication form package” must be completed by parents each

year if you wish to have medication available at the office for

your child. These forms are available from our Secretary.

We certainly hope that it will not be necessary to give your

child medication but should an emergency arise we want to be

able to offer the necessary help. If your child has a medical

emergency and medication is not available, we will not hesitate

to call an ambulance.

7

8

SCHOOL OPENING MASS

We encourage parents/guardians to join us for our opening school mass at ST. CECILIA PARISH on September 22nd (Tuesday) @

1:30pm.

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES

Parent/Teacher Oral Interviews will be held on:

September 17th (Thursday) @ 4:30pm—7:30pm

September 18th (Friday) 9am-11:30am and 1pm-3pm

Interviews can be booked on-line and more information will be sent soon!

VISITORS TO THE SCHOOL Parents are most welcome to our school. Please check in the main office and pick up a visitor’s badge. Only parents

are able to sign out students from school.

NEW STAFF MEMBERS We would like to welcome four new staff members to our St. Matthew School community:

Ms. Liisa Honish to Junior High, Mrs. Grant back to Grade 2,

Ms. Jillian Wingerter to Grade 3 & Ms. Keri Barnett as Noon Hour Assistant

PACKAGES SENT HOME ON

SEPT 1ST

On the first day of school, each child will bring home a school package. Inside the package will be all the forms including a demographic

form. These forms need to be filled out and returned to the school by September 9th. Please ensure that you check all the information

and make necessary changes if needed.

9

J.H. BRIGHTSPACE (D2L)

Brightspace, also known as D2L, is an online application used in junior high and senior high classes in the Calgary Catholic School Dis-

trict. Teachers post news items, course content and assignments. Students may be using other tools in Brightspace such as the dropbox to

submit assignments, discussion tool to respond to critical thinking questions or the grades tool to check on their assessment. Using the stu-

dents’ login credentials, parents may also access Brightspace to view detailed information about course work.

Similar to high schools in the district, the Brighspace grades tool will be used across all junior high schools for this school year. Junior high

school teachers will use the Brightspace online environment to securely calculate, manage and share assessment with students and par-

ents. This will allow students and parents to review grades continually from home at any time throughout the year.

Teachers will use a cumulative grading model to generate progress report grades for students; this is a grade which will be calculated on a con-

tinual basis, showing a current reflection of student performance. Progress Reports will continue to be printed at regular intervals during the

year while Brightspace grades tool will provide ongoing communication regarding student progress.

NUT ALLERGIES

ANAPHYLAXIS MANAGAMENT

On the first day of school an extensive package will be sent home with your child and one of the items covered are medical conditions and

allergies. We want to collect this information in a timely fashion so we can have appropriate protocols in place to ensure student safety. We

are aware already of a number of students who have nut allergies.

Prevention is of course the best approach reducing the risk of severe reaction. Therefore, we are requesting your cooperation in refraining

from sending food products containing nuts to school with your child.

BEAR WEAR

We are excited to announce that we will be selling Bear Wear for our students. T-shirts are now available for purchase at the gym office. Oth-

er items and sizing (i.e. shorts , sweat pants, hoodies, etc.) will be on display at our oral interviews on Sept. 17th and 18th.

Orders will be processed in October and delivered in 4-6 weeks.

Show your school colours!

SCHOOL PATROLS

In order to keep our students as safe as possible on their way to and from school, we will be utilizing trained school safety patrollers to help

students at designated crossing points. Our safety patrol teams will be out before and after school. We ask that parents help our patrollers by

encouraging their children to choose safety over convenience and cross only at the designated crossing zones.

10

Hello St. Matthew students and parents! I would like to take this time to introduce myself – I am Julie DeRose, formerly the grade 6 teacher, and am now in the position of guidance counsellor. For the past 2 years, I have been taking my masters in counselling at City University of Seattle in the hopes of becoming a Guidance counsellor, and this year, I am fortunate to be at St. Matthew in this role. With the new school year also come many purchases for your child, such as school supplies and clothes. If you are having difficulties getting these supplies, you can call the city of Calgary at 2-1-1 and they will guide you to a resource center in your community. Another alternative is to work though The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army has a program called Backpack For Kids and they will provide students in need with a backpack full of grade appropriate supplies. For this program, please contact me directly and I will help to fill out the required forms and send them off to The Salvation Army. It is important to note that Backpack For Kids wraps up September 14, 2015 so if you would like to access this resource, contact me as soon as you can. If you have any questions regarding either program, email me at Julie.derose@cssd.ab.ca. In addition, the beginning of the school year can be very exciting, but also stressful for students. Here are some tips to minimize the stress your child may feel in returning back to school:

Discuss and practice the first day of school routine.

Empathize with your child. Talk about potential fears and discuss ways your child can handle these stressors while at school.

Ask for help. If you need help to access community or school resources, please contact the school or counsellor to help meet your needs for your family or child.

Start getting to bed early.

Have binders, duotangs, pencil case, and backpack ready to go and organized.

Smile or laugh by renting a comedy. Laughing can be the best medicine for stress! As the year goes on, I look forward to meeting you, and your child. I hope the beginning of school goes smoothly and if you need to chat, my office is just a phone call, email, walk, or knock away. Ms. DeRose

11

12

Brochures are available

for pick up from the

school office. Get a copy

of the brochure now to

apply for your child’s free

Medic Alert bracelet.

13

14

15

ST. MATTHEW SCHOOL

SEPTEMBER 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 FIRST DAY OF

SCHOOL

2 SR. VOLLEYBALL

TRY-OUTS

Girls @ 7:15am-8:30am

Boys @ 3:15pm-5pm

Cross Country and Volleyball Begins

3 KINDERGARTEN

STAGGERED ENTRY

SR. VOLLEYBALL

TRY-OUTS

Boys @ 7:15am-8:30am

Girls @ 3:15pm-5pm

4 KINDERGARTEN

STAGGERED ENTRY

Sr. Volleyball Ice

Breaker Tournament @ Rally Pointe

5

6 7 LABOUR DAY – NO

SCHOOL

8 All Kindergarten

Begins

9

10

11

12

13 14 Gr. 5/4 & Gr. 5 Field

Trip to Wetland Discovery

15

16

17 Parent-Teacher Conference @

4:30pm- 7:30pm

18 NO SCHOOL

Parent Teacher

Conference @ 9am-11:30am

& 1pm-3pm

Volunteer

Orientation # 1 @ 11am

19 District Walk &

Run

20 21 PD DAY – NO

SCHOOL

22 Opening Mass @ St.

Cecilia Parish 1:30pm

23 Volunteer Orientation

# 2 @ 6pm

School Council Meeting @ 6:30pm

24

25

26

27 28 Bears Volleyball

Tournament

29 Bears Volleyball

Tournament

30 Cross Country Meet @

Pop Davies Athletic Park

16

$1.00 per item

DRINKS

Milk (chocolate/white)

Juice (variety of flavors)

Water

FOOD ITEMS! **

Frozen Yogurt Tube

Rice Krispies

Beef Jerky (variety pack)

Tuna and Crackers

Fruit Cup

Lays Baked Chips

Baked Veggie Chips

** Some items may not be available everyday**

2 for $1.00

Cheese Squares

Cookies

HOT MEALS! $3.00 per item

Monday: Pizza (pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza)

*(whole wheat crust)

Tuesday: Meaty Marinara

Wednesday: Chicken Alfredo

Thursday: Ham Sub (whole wheat bread)

Friday: Bacon Mac ‘n Cheese

Canteen Card Order

Child’s Name: (please print clearly) _______________________________________

Teacher’s name or homeroom class: ___________________________

I have enclosed $20 cash: _________ $20 cheque: _________

Bear Bistro Meal Card: For the convenience of not having to bring money to school each day, parents can purchase a $20

Bear Bistro Card which acts like a debit card. Once purchased by a parent, the cards will be kept safely in the canteen. Your

child can buy whatever they like at the canteen, and the amount due will be taken off the Bear Bistro meal card. If you’d like to

purchase a Bear Bistro Meal Card, please fill in the form below and send cash or check. Your child can give the form and money

to their homeroom teacher, who will send it to the office.

BEAR BISTRO

Bear Bistro will be open starting Thursday (Sept 3rd)