Weekly Update Newsletter

Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed the Christmas break and had a chance to spend some time quality time with family and friends. It was wonderful seeing our students this week.

Just a reminder that our Grade 4, 5, 6, and 7 students have the opportunity to go skiing to Sunridge on January 24. Information on ski and snowboard rentals was sent home earlier and families should receive the permission form today. The deadline to submit both the Sunridge Rental and Lesson Information and Field Trip forms to the school is January 11th. If you wish to attend and do not have the information package, please contact the office as students need to complete the ski/snowboard rental information by Tuesday, January 11.

January

Jan. 4 - First day back from break & Early Dismissal (Twin Day) Dismissal at 2:10 pm

Jan. 10 - Saffron Presentations 73/74

Jan 11 - Last day to submit Sunridge Ski/Snowboard Rental and Lesson Information, and the permission form to School (Grades 4, 5, 6, and 7)

- Saffron Presentations 81/82/83

- Junior High Honours Information Session at 6 pm for Grade 7 and 8 students and their families https://www.eips.ca/programs-services/junior-high-honours-program

Jan 12 - Linking Generations Visit

Jan 13 - Saffron Presentations 71/72/91/93

Jan 16 - Saffron Presentations 92/94

Jan. 17 - School Council Meeting @ 6:30 pm / PAS Meeting @ 7:30 pm

Jan 24 - Field Trip Sunridge Ski Area Grades 4 to 7

Jan 26 - Linking Generations Visit

Jan 30 - PL Day - No School

February

Feb 2 - K-6 Family Math Games Night

Is your child considering the Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) Junior High Honours program for the coming school year? The EIPS Junior High Honours program is designed for students in grades 8 and 9 with high achievement in their core courses and who enjoy a challenging academic environment. Students enrolled in Junior High Honours are expected to complete 25 hours of community service in an area of passion and will be automatically enrolled in the “CTF: Enterprise and Innovation” option course. Students must have a minimum 80 percent average in each of the four core subjects to be eligible to apply to the Junior High Honours program.

On January 9, the parent/guardian No. 1 on file in PowerSchool for all current grades 7 and 8 families will receive direct communication from EIPS outlining the application process for the EIPS Junior High Honours program—including a link to the application form. Applications for the 2023-24 EIPS Junior High Honours program are due Jan. 18, 2023.

EIPS will confirm conditional acceptance in the 2023-24 Junior High Honours program in late January—based on a student’s marks as of January 18. Students must maintain their honours standing on the year-end report card in June to receive final acceptance in the Honours program for the upcoming year.

EIPS is hosting a virtual Junior High Honours Information Session for all students in grades 7 and 8 and their families on Wednesday, January 11 at 6 pm. Click on the following link for information about Junior High Honours and to access the link for the virtual information session being held on January 11.

https://www.eips.ca/programs-services/junior-high-honours-program

We have seen an influx of students requesting utensils and cups. Parents' please remind your child to bring their utensils for their lunches and water bottles.

Also, with the weather getting cooler, please ensure your child is dressed for the weather.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Is your child turning five on or before Dec. 31, 2023? If so, it’s almost time to register for kindergarten.

Kindergarten registration opens for the 2023-24 school year on Feb. 1, 2023.

To help families prepare, Elk Island Public Schools has put together an online EIPS Kindergarten Tool kit to make the transition as smooth as possible. The kit includes information on registration, important dates, programming options, what to expect, eligibility, how to find your designated school, transportation and more.

Additional information regarding Lakeland Ridge's kindergarten program is available at lakelandridge.ca

Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) will once again conduct an online returning student registration process to confirm student registrations for the 2023-24 school year. Families of all current students—with the exception of graduating Grade 12 students—must complete the process to confirm the school their child plans to attend in the 2023-24 school year or advise the Division of their plans not to return to EIPS. Additionally, students who want to attend a non-designated school need to make that request through the returning student registration process—acceptance is based on available space. The 2023-24 returning student registration takes place Feb. 1-28, 2023.

Access to the Returning Student Registration Form is provided through the PowerSchool Parent Portal. If you don’t have a PowerSchool Parent Portal account, you need to set one up before Feb. 1, 2023.

Create a PowerSchool Parent Portal account

For more information, contact the school office at

Want to know when things are happening? We have an athletics calendar on the LLR school website. https://www.lakelandridge.ca/athletics/athletics-calendar. Please visit often as our Athletics staff will update as often as they can. Please feel free to contact Mr. Fisher (our Athletics Director) if you have any questions or require more information.

Elk Island Public Schools and Lakeland Ridge use a handful of key systems to share information with students and families. Depending on the information you’re looking for, it’s important to know where to look.

PowerSchool is the primary student information system within the Division. There is an associated app, but the functionality is limited, and families don’t need to download it. From the PowerSchool Parent Portal, you can:

· Access student grades and report cards;

· Review student absences;

· Pay school and transportation fees; and

· Submit official updates to student or family information.

The PowerSchool Student Portal provides similar access to grades and absence information for students directly.

Brightspace provides more of a day-to-day look what’s happening with your child’s learning communicated directly from your child’s teacher. From Brightspace Parent & Guardian, you can see your child’s:

· classroom activity feed,

· grade items and grade feedback from instructors,

· upcoming assignments,

· portfolio evidence and

· quizzes

depending on which of the program functions are specifically used by your child’s teacher.

Brightspace for Students is where teachers share updates, calendar reminders and learning materials with students. Compatible with Google, it also allows students to submit assignments, complete quizzes, and see grades and teacher feedback. The Pulse app for students is associated with Brightspace for Students.

SchoolMessenger is the system the Division and schools use to send email and phone communication to families. The contact information in SchoolMessenger is populated from PowerSchool. Through SchoolMessenger, families can:

· receive general, emergency and attendance messages by phone, email or both; and

· manage their subscription preferences for these types of messages.

The easiest way to stay connected is to download the SchoolMessenger app. Get the latest updates direct to your mobile device and enable push notifications to never miss a message. Families can also check back on past messages—for up to 30 days—directly in the app rather than searching to find an old message buried in your inbox.

If you have trouble accessing any of these systems or have questions about them, contact Lakeland Ridge School a 780-416-9018.

With the winter season almost here, we want to remind families to dress children appropriately for the weather when getting ready for school or the bus. The weather often changes unexpectedly throughout the day, so please select suitable outerwear and ensure your child is prepared for changing conditions.

If inclement weather conditions occur, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) advises families of any bus cancellations using various communications tools—automated-telephone messages, alerts posted on www.eips.ca and school websites, Twitter, Facebook, local radio stations, and notification through both the Bus Status and the Ride 360 apps. Morning bus cancellations are posted on www.eips.ca by 6:30 a.m.

Decisions regarding bus cancellations are guided by EIPS administrative procedures that state, “school bus service may be suspended…when there is a forecast or current temperature of -40 C, including wind chill factor, in one or more regions.” Other reasons for suspending or delaying school bus services include adverse weather and poor road conditions. When school bus services are suspended, schools remain open to students. EIPS believes families have the right and responsibility to make choices for their children based on their beliefs and perceptions of safety during times of inclement weather.

For more information, contact EIPS Student Transportation at 780-417-8151.

Lakeland Ridge School fees have now been applied to your child’s student account. Please log into your PowerSchool Parent Portal account to view and pay these fees. If your child does not stay for lunch at all during the school year contact the office at 780.416.9018 by October 14, 2022, to have the fee removed. If you have already made a payment, please check your account again for any changes/updates.

If a yearbook is desired, please add it to your cart when you pay your school fees.

Fees are due 30 days following assessment as per Administrative Procedure 505 – School and Administrative Fees.

If you are experiencing difficulty in meeting this commitment to pay fees, please contact our Business Manager, Cathy Eyben to arrange installments or review the Division’s fee waiver process on the EIPS website. The deadline for receipt of a Waiver Application is December 15, 2022. No applications will be accepted after this date.

Please check your child’s student account throughout the year for any changes, and/or additions (i.e., Optional Fieldtrips, Athletic Team Fees).

For more information about school fees, waivers and payment deadlines, visit www.eips.ca/schools/fees and Lakeland Ridge Fees. Alternatively, contact Cathy Eyben, Business Manager at Lakeland Ridge at 780-416-9018.

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Attendance (Please specify if absence is due to Illness or Parent Excused)

Office Hours

Bell Schedule

Email: general.llr@eips.ca
Website: https://www.lakelandridge.ca/
Location: 101 Crimson Drive, Sherwood Park, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-416-9018
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lakeland-Ridge-School-1490402014609661
Twitter: @LakelandRidge