The Good News September 22, 2024

This week we will have our opening school mass outside at Taurus Field. It is a wonderful opportunity for our home, school, and parish communities to come together to celebrate and support the students that we are blessed to work with this year. We are looking forward to celebrating with all of our Fort Saskatchewan Catholic Schools. We'd love to see you there.

• Nature 2 TPet
  

• Indigenous Map in the gym until Friday

• Nature 1 TPet
  

• Opening Mass at 10 am at Taurus Field with all Fort Sask. Catholic Schools
  

• Orange Shirt Day
  
• Assembly 1:20pm

Looking Ahead...

Sept. 30 - Truth and Reconciliation Day (No School)

Oct. 1 - Fall individual and class photos

Oct. 2 - Early Dismissal 2:15 - wear your fall colours, KMW individual and class photos

Oct. 3 - Gr 1 Prairie Gardens

Oct. 4 - PD Day, no school for students

Oct. 7-11 - Read in Week

This year, Truth and Reconciliation week is September 23rd-27th. The students at St. John XXIII will be learning and taking part in various activities throughout the week. We recognize Truth and Reconciliation week to honor the children who never returned home and the survivors of residential schools.

Our school will be recognizing Orange Shirt Day on Friday, September 27th. We encourage all students to wear orange that day.

The “orange shirt” refers to the new shirt that Phyllis Webstad was given to her by her grandmother for her first day of residential school. When Phyllis got to school, they took away her clothes, including her new shirt. To Phyllis, the color orange has always reminded her of her experiences at residential school.

The message that Phyllis wants to pass along on Orange Shirt Day- and everyday- is that every child matters. Orange Shirt Day was started by Phyllis to educate people about residential schools and fight racism and bullying.

Lifetouch will be taking fall individual and class photos on:

Tuesday, October 1st for PreK, KTR - Grade 4

Wednesday, October 2nd for KMW and any students that were absent on October 1st

We are excited to gather together for our Opening School Mass on Thursday, September 26, 2024 with all four Catholic schools in Fort Saskatchewan. This is a beautiful opportunity for our school communities to come together in faith and prayer as we begin the school year rooted in Christ.

Please note that if you have not yet completed the yearly consent forms in PowerSchool for your child, they will not be able to take the bus or attend the Mass. It is important to have these forms completed to ensure your child's participation. Please see the instructions below on how to complete the forms. Thank you for your attention to this important detail.

In order for your child to be permitted to use technology in school and participate in field trips, parents must digitally consent by filling out the 2024-2025 Yearly Consent forms.

Please log into your PowerSchool Parent Portal account and complete each of these consent forms as they are past due.

Here is a link to an instructional video, which can be found on the Parent Technology Handbook - PowerSchool for Parents page on the EICS website, if you require further assistance.

A sincere thank you to everyone who attended our first meeting of the year! We had an

incredible turnout. We want to remind everyone of our dedicated school council executive:

Chair - Candice Kalyn

Co-Chair - Marc Dzura

Vice Chair - Linsey deMontigny

Secretary - Korinne Walsh

Treasurer - Christi McTaggart

Hot Lunch Coordinator - Brandy Leach

Fundraiser Coordinator - Michelle McCarthy

You can find the latest school council meeting minutes on the school council page of the school

website. https://stj.eics.ab.ca/parents/school-council

A few quick Notes from our Sept 16th meeting:

Fall Fundraiser: More info below. Ends Oct 26th. Highest selling classroom will receive a pizza

party.

Budget Approval: Scheduled for next meeting

Halloween Dance: Oct. 18. More info to come

Please submit your child's absences in PowerSchool, and also notify your teacher with a Dojo message or a note sent with your child. For accuracy and tracking purposes, absence coding in PowerSchool is to be submitted by parents, not teachers.

Please refer to the EICS Parent Technology Handbook for instructions on how to report you child's absence, early departure, leave & return or multiple day absence.

For any last minute Early Departures, please call the office before you arrive so we can make arrangements for your child to come to the office for pick up.

Does your child have medical information, a condition the school should be aware of or require medication? If so please complete a B.2) 2024-2025 Medical Status Update/Request for Medical Treatment form located in your Parent Portal . This form is required yearly. We use this important information to alert any staff members, including substitute teachers, of any existing medical needs we need to be aware of. If your child requires medication at school you must fill out the medical form with all relevant information related to the medication.

If your child requires use of an EpiPen, please make sure this is filled out immediately. At this time, all medical forms are past due. If your child no longer has a medical condition, please update the form accordingly.

Please note:

• All medications, even over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol, Benadryl etc. require a label from the pharmacy
• The submission of a Medical Form is required prior to medication being sent to the school

If you need assistance, please click the Medical Form link found on our website.

Your Kindergarten child will be receiving their Kanga Pouch the week of Sept. 23-27. The fee will be added to your child's PowerSchool account before the end of September. If you already have a Kanga Pouch, please email the school at stj@eics.ab.ca to let us know.

2023-2024 outstanding fee statements were emailed on Friday, August 23rd.

Instructions for paying school fees are located on the bottom of every newsletter.

Please contact the school office if you have any questions or concerns. 780-998-7777

We are so blessed to be able to have our school and parish work together to walk with you and your child on their Sacramental Journeys. Father Carlos and our Sacramental Prep team will be offering Sacramental Prep classes at St. John XXIII after school from 3:15 - 3:45 on the following dates:

First Reconciliation Prep Classes

October 3, 7,8,9,10,11,15 and 16 (At STJXXIII)

First Holy Communion Prep Classes

October 17, 21, 24, 25, 28, 30 (At STJXXIII)

Celebrations:

First Reconciliation Nov 2nd at the Church OLA at 10:30am

First Holy Communion Nov 3rd at the Church OLA at 3:00pm

More information can be found at https://www.olafortsask.caedm.ca/Sacraments

E-mail registration forms to: olangels.ftsask@caedm.ca (We accept e-transfer of fees to the same email address.)

Check out the Fall 2024 What's On! Guide for details on what's happening at the Library this season.

From early literacy programs like Saturday Storytimes, children's programs like STEM Sundays, tween and teen programs like After School Gaming Club, and lots of adult programs from Podcasting 101 to Genealogy programs, we think we've covered just about everything this season!

Classes fill up quickly, but don’t hesitate to join the waitlist. If you are on a waitlist, you'll be notified as soon as a spot opens up! And, waitlists let us know what's popular - when possible, we will add even more amazing programs! Find the PDF on fspl.ca.

Email: stj@eics.ab.ca
Website: https://stj.eics.ab.ca/
Location: 9526 89 Street, Fort Saskatchewan, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-998-7777
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St.JohnXXIII
Twitter: @St_JohnXXIII