St. Luke Weekly Memo

It is with great Joy we welcome you and your children to St. Luke. We are excited for this upcoming week and the opportunity to bring our students back to school. The start to this school year will not be like any other. We are working diligently planning the return to school keeping our priority focused on the health, wellbeing and the education of our students.

There is still understandably questions and concerns relating to re-entry. We hope to alleviate these concerns with the information and videos that staff have prepared for you and your children.

We strongly encourage parents to frequently visit our webpage, follow our social media and call the school directly for all the up to date information and to alleviate any confusion regarding the reentry process. Our priority is to keep all of our students and staff safe while not making it more difficult for parents. Each family situation is uniquely different and we fully understand the concerns you may have. Our goal is to find the best way to have our students safely in our building allowing our teachers to provide the best educational opportunities possible.

Your continued support and positivity are greatly appreciated as we strive to do what is best for ALL of our students and staff during these challenging times. As we journey through this year, may we be continually reminded to “Choose Joy”

Blessings,

Mrs. Hinger and Mrs. Damur

Elk Island Catholic Schools has chosen the theme this year to be Choose Joy with a corresponding link to the Scripture passage found in 1 Peter 3:15 "the reason for our hope." We know that the reason for our hope comes from Christ Jesus, and the love, grace, and joy that we are blessed with through the Holy Spirit. As we journey together this year we will explore opportunities to choose joy and share it with one another and others.

God is the True Joy – the one from where all other joys come. He’s the one who truly is in control and wants to surprise us with the desires of our hearts in his time.

“(Jesus) didn’t let what would overwhelm Him in the garden overshadow the beauty He trusted would come: a beauty that only God can bring from the hard. God wants to transform our hard the same way. We all know how God turned the pain of Jesus’ journey into joy for each of us. And it all started with an action, not just Jesus saying yes, but Jesus giving thanks.”

(From “Choose Joy,” page 164)

So, let us give thanks, choose joy, and see God as the author of it all because even on those hard days something good is coming true.

We are so very grateful for Mrs. Kaminski and the many years she spent here at St. Luke. The school community will greatly miss her teaching, compassion and loving ways that showed us how to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. She inspired many of us with her amazing gift of music. This is not goodbye as Mrs. Kaminski will come and visit us at St. Luke. Thank-you Mrs. Kaminski for your dedication to the St. Luke community. You will be greatly missed!

Click here to see the beautiful video that Mrs. Kaminski has shared with our school community!

Here is the patest information on school re-enty as found on our St. Luke website.

Our entry and exit from the school will look a little different this year.

We are asking that if you are dropping your child off to park to the right of the newly marked handicapped signs. Please DO NOT let your child enter the school until the busses have cleared the parking lot. Once the busses have left the parking lot the children being dropped off can enter the school through their designated doors.

When picking up we will be loading the busses first. When the busses have cleared the parking lot the children being pick-up will exit the building.

This procedure is to ensure reduced traffic flow coming in and out of the building.

Click here for the St. Luke Bell Schedule

Click here for a list of School Supplies

All families who require transportation for the 2020-2021 school year are asked to go online, request, and set up payment arrangements. You will need to arrange payment in order for transportation to be set up for your child. Once all library books and resources have been returned any school fee reimbursement can be applied towards transportation.

EICS Transportation Link: https://www.eics.ab.ca/transportation

Transportation registration and fee payments can be accessed online through Powerschool located at EICS Powerschool

EICS Transportation can be contacted through the school year from 7 AM until 5 PM at:

Phone: (780) 449-6480 - Email transportation@eics.ab.ca

Our new playground is open!

This year, our students will have the privilege of enjoying a brand new playground! Over the past two years, the Playground Committee has spent countless hours fundraising and planning this new space and are proud to announce that it is complete! While we are still waiting on the installation of a picnic table, the playground structures themselves as well as two benches and a garbage receptacle have been installed and are ready for fun! Please enjoy safely and with sanitizer! :)

Thank you so much to the members of the Playground Committee for your tireless efforts in coming up with and executing fundraising ideas, attending countless information and planning meetings, spending several days scoring playground bids and working with the County and chosen company in making this the best play space for our students.

School Council

We are very excited to announce that St. Luke has been chosen once again as a recipient of the Provincial Government Nutrition Program Grant. In accordance with the Provincial guidelines for Health and Safety, students will have their packaged nutritious snacks delivered to their classroom to enjoy for their morning snack. Our Administrative Procedure reinforces the principals of healthy eating outlined in the Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide and the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth. If you have additional questions please contact our office staff.

Welcome back to the start of a new school year! And a warm welcome to those families joining St. Luke Catholic School this year. As a parent of St. Luke, you are automatically a member of our School Council. It is my pleasure as the current Chair of the St. Luke School Council and Parent Association to welcome you and your family to our school community.

The Alberta School Councils’ Association describes a council as “… structured groups of parents, principals, teachers, secondary students and community representatives who work together to effectively support and enhance student learning. They provide a means for members of the school community to consult with and provide advice to the principal and the school board. School councils were legislated in 1995 under Alberta’s Education Act and are mandatory for all schools in the public education system, including charter schools. The Government of Alberta recognizes the value of parents and the community to be engaged in the education of children. It is through school council that parents, community members and school staff have a means of participating in decisions that impact student learning success.”

As with any council, ours includes executive positions to be filled each year to help in our success. Those positions include the Chair, Vice-Chair/Communications Officer, Secretary and Treasurer.

Our current Bylaws state:

Chairperson - currently Erin Crawley

The Chairperson shall preside over all meetings, keeping order and facilitating procedure in order to ensure positive results and motions and he/she is responsible for the general conduct of the councils’ business. The chairperson shall be an ex-officio member of all committees. He/she shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the council. The chairperson shall coordinate the formation, reporting and dissolution of all committees. In his/her absence the Vice-Chair shall preside at any such meeting and in the absence of both, a chair may be elected by those present at the meeting to preside thereat.

The Chair shall also prepare and provide an annual report to the board on or before June 15 including:

-setting out the activities of the school council in the year

-a financial statement relating to the money handled by the council in the year

-a copy of the minutes for each meeting of the council held in the year

-all projected unfinished business to the current school year end

The Chair of a meeting may not make a motion or take part in a debate while in the chair. If he/she does wish to express an opinion, he/she may call on another to replace him/her as chair and then speak from the floor as any other. After speaking to that issue, he/she may resume the chair.

Vice-Chairperson/Communications Officer - currently Teresa Bodker

In the absence of the chair he/she will act on the chair’s behalf and have all the authority and responsibilities generally designated to the chair. The Vice-Chairperson will assume any duties delegated by the chair.

Secretary - currently Kristy Rice

It shall be the duty of the Secretary to attend all the meetings of the council and to keep accurate minutes of the same. In case of the absence of the Secretary, his/her duties will be discharged by such officer as may be appointed by the council. The Secretary shall keep a record of all members of the council and executive and send notices of all meetings as required, shall assume responsibility for all correspondence and communication and shall assume responsibility for maintaining the Minute Book within the school.

Treasurer - currently Kristy Chamulke

The Treasurer shall receive all money paid to the Council and deposit same in whatever financial institution the council may order, properly account for the funds of the Council using acceptable bookkeeping methods and shall present a full detailed account of receipts and disbursements to the Council whenever requested and shall prepare for submission to the Annual General Meeting and the School Board and submit a copy of the same to the Secretary for the records of the Council.

Each of these positions becomes available at our Annual General Meeting which will be held virtually on September 14 at 6:30pm. Please consider joining the executive team and aiding in moving our Council forward this year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Members of the School Council can be reached at: stlukeparentcouncileics@gmail.com

Because School Councils are not permitted to fundraise, the creation of the St. Luke Parent Association was a necessity. Historically, our fundraising has been accomplished with both community events (such as a Halloween dance) as well as the purchase of items to be sent home (such as The Mixing Spoon and poinsettias). Unfortunately, with the new guidelines surrounding our return to school, gatherings will not be permitted. If you have any ideas for fundraisers, please send them to stlukeparentassociation@gmail.com. This year more than ever, we will need to rely on new ideas (and help with their implementation) in our efforts to raise funds to support our student body.

If you haven’t already, please consider joining our parent Facebook page. This page provides the opportunity for parents to share information and to ask questions regarding our school. Parents on this page should conduct themselves in a manner that shows respect. Inappropriate posts and comments will be removed.

You can find us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1460245507589323/

We would love to have you join us for our first meeting of the next school year on Monday, September 14 at 6:30 pm. The meeting will be held via a google link. You can find the minutes from each School Council Meetings here.

This year is sure to be one of change and compromise. Please remember to give grace and show kindness to those around you.

OLPH (Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish)

We are a vibrant community of strong faith which welcomes, worships, works and celebrates life together in Jesus Christ. From our beginnings in 1958, to the present, OLPH has been blessed with wonderful leaders, with vision and tremendous dedication, and also with an active compassionate parish family of now over 14,000 strong.

OLPH is located in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada and has much to offer.

Visit OLPH Website for more information about the parish and sacremental preparation.

Email: Stl@eics.ab.ca
Website: stl.eics.ab.ca
Phone: 780-922-5920