William D. Cuts Newsletter

As we move into November and colder weather, we have more going on indoors for students. Expanded lunchtime clubs and activities are available with more students being inside. Volleyball is gearing up for the end of the season. Good luck to all four of our volleyball teams who will be starting playoffs in the upcoming days.

Students are participating in the ‘No Stone Left Alone’ ceremony on November 2. It is always a very meaningful event, and a great opportunity for the school to be able to participate. There is always a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the organizers and attendees. They are impressed with the students who speak and participate in the program, and with the students' behaviour in general.

Thank you to all of the parents who took part in parent-teacher interviews. It was nice to have parents in the building to meet in person while still having a virtual option for those who needed it. There were a number of teachers who were completely booked, if you still haven’t had a chance to make contact, please reach out to the teacher directly.

The Purdy's Fundraiser being run by the parent council that is still going on. Get your orders in - details are in this newsletter.

We hope you have a chance to relax and recharge over the long weekend. Students are off from November 9-13, returning to school on the 14th. Thank you to all of the Veterans and active service members as we remember all those who have served.

Lest we forget

Cory and Matt

Please have a charged/working Chromebook everyday for class!

Thursday, Nov. 2 - No Stone Left Alone

Thursday, Nov. 9 - No School - P.D. Day

Friday, Nov. 10 - No School - In Lieu of P.T. Interviews

Monday, Nov. 11 - No School - Remembrance Day

Monday, Nov. 20 - School Council Meeting 7pm

Wednesday, Dec. 6 - Early Dismissal 12:00pm - Staff Meeting

Friday, Dec. 22 - Early Dismissal 12:00pm

Monday, Dec. 25 -Friday, January 5 - Christmas Break

We’re teaming up with Purdy's Chocolatier to fundraise for upgrading the school sound systems, in the hopes of raising $1000!

Stock up on your favorite Purdy's treats AND support a great cause at the same time—it’s the best of both worlds. All fundraising profit raised will directly support costs to upgrade the school sound system, so every order makes a great difference to us. Ordering is as easy as eating chocolate.

Just click this link: Purdys Chocolatier Group Savings and Fundraising

Then sign in to buy some amazing Purdy’s chocolates and sweeten the season with these wonderful gifts. Please feel free to share this link to invite others to join and support this Fundraising Campaign.

Please submit orders by November 14, 2023. Orders estimated to arrive by Dec 1, 2023.

W.D.Cuts Zone X-country team athletes competed at the Zone 5 X-Country championships which were held on Wednesday, October 11 at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre in Ardrossan.

Top 20 finishes include: keegan Grannary 1st, Isla Mithchaell 4th, Ruby Driscoll 5th, Finn Smith 12th, Olivia Kay 13th, McKenna Filewich 14th, Raina Venaas 17th. Congratulations to all of our x-country runners for a great season.

$5.50 per Individual Pizza

Options:

Cheese, Pepperoni and Hawaiian

If your student is missing anything have them look in our lost and found. We have quite a few items in there. We have also had a couple of pairs of glasses and an invisalign case in the office. If your student is missing one of these items please have them come to the office.

TO PARTICIPATE IN FUN LUNCH, we ask that you agree to these points below prior to ordering for your child. HealthHunger

1. When you know your child will be away, and have adequate notice, we ask that parents cancel their fun lunch through the Healthy Hunger website directly. This includes instances such as planned out of school field trips, medical or dental appointments, or families choosing to keep their child home for other circumstances. If you know your child is going to be away, please cancel your fun lunch order. Healthy Hunger has a 5 day cut off window where you can cancel your order without issue and receive reimbursement in your original form of payment. For, the cut off is the previous Friday evening.

2. We also know there are many instances where students may be unable to attend school unexpectedly and with very little notice. Should your child be away due to illness or any other unexpected circumstance, parents will need to notify our hot lunch coordinator by email to wdcutsparents@gmail.com or telephone the school to make alternate arrangements. This MUST happen before 11 AM on the day of hot lunch. Any other requests, sent in other ways (e.g. to your child’s teacher) or after the deadline, cannot be considered so please plan accordingly.

Please provide specific instructions about what should be done with your child's lunch.

• If you wish to pick up at the school, you may do so only after 12:30 PM on the hot lunch day. Items must be picked up the same day for food safety reasons.

• If you would like the lunch to be sent with another student, please clearly indicate the name of that student and their class number (or teacher).

• We are unable to hold lunches overnight or provide any other arrangements.

**If you do not provide instructions for your child(ren)'s fun lunch prior to 11 AM as outlined above, the volunteers will use their discretion to determine next steps. This may include donating the lunch or discarding it.

We ask that you treat our volunteers with kindness and respect at all times. We could not do this without them!

Thank you for your ongoing support of our fun lunch program. It provides valuable fundraising dollars to our school.

-The WD CUTS FUN Lunch Team wdcutsparents@gmail.com

2023/2024 SEMESTER 1 SCHOOL FEES/OUTSTANDING BALANCE ARE NOW DUE

WE WOULD APPRECIATE PAYMENT IN FULL FOR SEMESTER 1 FEES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

Payments can be made through the PowerSchool Parent Portal using a Credit Card or a Visa Debit Card. (Please note that all debit/credit transactions are subject to a 2.4% service charge.) If an online payment is not an option, you may send cash or cheque to the school office with your student (payable to: St. Albert Public Schools 5565).

For Academies: Through PowerSchool you have the option of creating a Payment Plan by adding the academy fee to your basket, (only the academy fee no additional fees) and from there you can create instalments.

If you have any questions/concerns regarding your school fees, please contact Jolene Metcalfe at 780-458-8585 or email jolene.metcalfe@spschools.org

For access to the PowerSchool Parent Portal click here: https://spschools.powerschool.com/public/home.html

If you are having trouble accessing the PowerSchool Parent Portal, please contact: wdc@spschools.org

Lifetouch did our pictures this year. All you need to order your student's pictures is your student's ID number. You can find your student's ID number by logging into your Parent Portal account. Go to your school fees (on a web browser, not the app) and the student ID will be beside any of their fees.

Lifetouch Website

As we near the mid-way mark of the semester, we want to remind parents about the responsibilities students have when using social media platforms, especially those that are video-based:

• Obtain appropriate consent from individuals - peers AND teachers - who appear in video, audio recording and images before forwarding them to other people or posting them to online spaces.
  
  

• Before recording, be transparent about the purpose of the video, audio recording or images. Recording things with underlying motives and posting them out of context is not appropriate.
  
  

• Respect others and communicate in a supportive way. Never participate in harmful, inappropriate or hurtful online behaviours.

We encourage you to have conversations with your children about social media regularly. Supporting them as they transition through adolescence and into adulthood will only help them become the best version of themselves.

For more information about our division policy about Acceptable Use of Technology, please visit the division website.

Email: wdc@spschools.org
Website: wdcuts.spschools.org
Location: 149 Larose Drive, St. Albert, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-458-8585