April Newsletter

April is a busy month for field trips and extracurricular activities.

• Recreational swim times have been booked for grades 4-6 this month (with a second rec swim in June).
• Track starts up this month for grades 4-6.
• Badminton team tryouts will involve grades 5-6.
• Handbell Club will begin this month as well for grades 4-6.

We appreciate Mrs. McGregor, Captain Wilson, Ms. Lavergne, Ms. Vibe, and Mrs. Demers for volunteering their time afterschool and on weekends to organize, coach, and direct these activities that add to the overall student experience at school.

🔢📚 Additional funding has allowed Mrs. Dixon, Mrs. Simpson, and Ms. Vibe to do some reading and numeracy intervention with small groups of grade 1-3 students this spring. Great stamina, kids!

📆 If you haven't already checked out the calendar for 2025-26, please do so. Our school days will be slightly longer (8:23 AM to 3:16 PM next year) to accommodate early dismissal days every Wednesday. The Win Ferguson team of teachers, educational assistants, office, and library staff look forward to using Wednesday afternoons thoughtfully to collaborate and improve teaching and learning to benefit our students!

Kindergarten calendars

Google search: EIPS 2025 - 2026 calendar to download the pdf file (pictured here).

✅🏆 Our school's EIPS Survey results are in!

We'll be sharing the first few data pieces at this month's School Council meeting on April 28. Come join us and share in the conversation as we celebrate and continually plan ways to improve our school.

📣🎆🤸🏻‍♂️ It's Volunteer Month. We are grateful to the members of our School Council and PTA who spark conversation and organize many events - Bingo Night, Hot Lunches, Treat Sales, Halloween Dance - and fundraisers that allow us to have literacy resources, Christmas Concert at the Dow Centennial Center, makerspace tools and technology, and much more! Many thanks to Leah, Shelley, Trish, Jen, Liz, Paige, Lainie, Lacey, and Heather!

At least two of these amazing individuals are leaving us as their kids head to junior high next year. Join our meetings in April and May to see what this amazing team is all about.

Mrs. Keri Busenius

Congratulations to Lindsay P. who won the fees survey draw for a Walmart gift card last month!

We have 407 students enrolled for the 2025-26 school year so far, similar to this school year.

We'll be making classroom and grade configurations in May after the budgeting process.

Visit the Parent Portal to access your child's report card.

Since reports were released on March 14, 50% of student report cards have been opened by families.

DID YOU KNOW...?

• Our breakfast club program serves various items (toast, fruit, yogurt, muffins, etc.) to 75-120 students each morning.
• Nutrition and food bank grants/donations enable our teacher volunteers to operate the breakfast program five days a week.
• Our grants are running out and we are in the process of applying for more funds.
• You can help! If you know of businesses who might offer $25-50 in local grocery store gift cards, our teacher leaders - Mrs. Dixon, Mrs. Rooke, and Captain Wilson - will find items to fuel our students each day.

Here are some ways you could celebrate:

• Experience Read Along Poetry Videos
• Find out more about the Edmonton Poet Laureate
• Visit the Fort Saskatchewan Library to read poems and take part in programs.
• The League of Canadian Poets has great resources, especially for older children, to explore Canadian poetry

Fact fluency — quick and accurate recall of basic math facts — helps students tackle

more complex math with confidence. Fluency isn’t just about memorization; it’s about

recognizing patterns, using strategies, and building number sense.

Here are some fun ways to practice at home:

Use Strategies – Start with facts your child knows, like doubles (4+4, 6+6), making 10

(3+7, 2+8), or skip counting (2s, 5s, 10s), and build from there.

Flash Cards & Writing Facts – Use traditional flashcards or have kids write out math

facts to strengthen recall.

Sing Songs – Listen to multiplication or addition songs to reinforce facts in a fun way.

Play Games – Try dice games, card games (like War with addition or multiplication),

or board games that involve math.

Use Online Resources – Websites like 99math and XtraMath provide engaging,

structured practice.

Practicing just 5-10 minutes a day in fun, low-pressure ways helps kids build confidence

and fluency over time!

Check out Jody Carrington's blog for how to help a child (and yourself) when a child's lid is flipped.

🎨🩺 April 7 - World Health Day

🏫 April 7 to 11 - Education Week

🤪 April 9 - Wacky Dress Up Day for school spirit

🎒 April 10 - FCSS Session at 6:30 PM in the library learning commons (Junior High transition)

🏊 April 11 - Grade 5 Rec Swim

🍔 April 11 - Hot Lunch Day

❗❗April 13 - PTA's Connection in Colour Art Fundraiser order window closes today

🐠 April 16 - Grade 6 Rec Swim

💤 April 18 - No school; Good Friday

🐣 April 21 - No school; Easter Monday

🌎 April 22: Earth Day

🎨 April 22-25 - Connection in Colour order items delivered to the school for pick up

☕ April 23 - Administrative Professionals Day (We love our office staff!)

🍿 April 24/25 - Treat Sale Days (Apr 24 - Kinder B; April 25 - K to 6 classes)

🏊🏻‍♀️ April 25 - Grade 4 Rec Swim

👏 April 27 to May 4: National Volunteer Week

✅ April 28 - Federal election; Win Ferguson School is a polling station

💬 April 29 (DATE CHANGE due to election) - School Council & PTA meetings 6:30 PM in the library

⏰ May 7 - Early dismissal at 2:12 PM for staff meeting

🍟 May 16 - Hot Lunch Day

🏄🏻‍♂️ May 19 - No school; Victoria Day

🐟 May 26 to 30 - Grade 2 & 3 Swim Lessons begin

📝 May 28 - Grade 6 Language Arts & Literature PAT Part A

Check out the EIPS newsletter to see Indigenous events around the division.

Our Turtle Islanders have enjoyed working on the Michif language and other Indigenous teachings this year.

We are especially grateful to Mrs. McGregor and Mr. Klimaszewski for being mentor teachers to Education students from the University of Alberta.

Ms. Bateman, Ms. Van der Kleij, and Ms. Uppal have been teaching in the grade five classes during March & April. We wish them all the best with their studies and careers. Thank you for helping our students on their education journeys, too.