ÉCKS NEWSLETTER

ADMINISTRATIVE MESSAGE

Dear ÉCKS Families,

Happy February! As we move into the second month of the year, we want to take a moment to update you on the exciting happenings at our school.

First off, we’d like to congratulate our hockey academy students on the successful conclusion of their season. Well done to all involved! As we say goodbye to hockey, we’re excited to welcome the start of our soccer academy season—looking forward to seeing our athletes take to the field soon.

With our second semester well underway, February marks the final weeks of basketball season. Our teams have worked incredibly hard and have made tremendous progress. We wish them the best of luck as they work to wrap up their seasons on a high note!

A few important reminders:

• Please continue to watch for communications regarding online permission forms that will need to be signed.
• Don't forget to check if there are any outstanding school fees at this time.

Also, be sure to check out our Cougar Tracks section, where we are highlighting the amazing work being done to increase student engagement and citizenship across our school community. We are so proud of the efforts of our students and staff alike!

As always, thank you for your continued support and involvement in making our school a great place for everyone.

Warm regards,
The ÉCKS Administration Team

Andrea Gutmann - agutmann@brsd.ab.ca

Donna Elaschuk - delaschuk@brsd.ab.ca

Sabrina Heydorn - sheydorn@brsd.ab.ca

Please join us at the next...

PRINCIPAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING

7pm

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

2025-26 BRSD SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR APPROVED

The Battle River School Division Board approved the 2025/26 school year calendar. It is now available on the BRSD website.

Thank you to all parents, guardians and students who provided feedback!

BRSD's INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM IS GROWING!

The International Program is looking for new host families to welcome our international students. Click below for information on how to get involved and support BRSD's International Program!

Thank you for your consideration and for your support.

BRSD International Programs

MAKING TRACTION TOWARDS OUR SCHOOL GOALS

Each month we will be highlighting ÉCKS goals and how we are working towards them. This month our feature goal is around the division priority Learning Success for All.

ÉCKS Goal: Foster an environment where every student experiences equitable access to high quality education, resources, and support ensuring that they have the opportunity to thrive and succeed academically and socially.

What We Are Doing at ÉCKS

• Leadership Students/Class: Encouraging a variety of different school activities and clubs including sporting activities, concessions, dances, and other engaging activities
• MHCB: The Mental Health Capacity Building Team supports class programming and after school activities like Craft & Connect
• Indigenous Cultural Activities: Engagement with Elders and Knowledge keepers to pass on teachings to our students including beading, bannock making, drum making and ribbon skirts.
• Sport Performance Mornings: Additional access to physical activity and skill development 4 days a week

How Can You Help At Home

• Encourage Student Involvement: support your child in getting involved at school or bring ideas forward to our School Team

Drum created by our ÉCKS student and gifted to the Camrose Kodiaks.

RESPONSIBILITY OF STUDENTS

Please ensure your student dresses appropriately for the weather.

At some point during the school day every student goes outside.

Cutlery and water bottles are not provided in our school.

It is important that students bring whatever they require to have a successful day!

PHONE NUMBERS

PARKING LOT

We kindly request that parents and guardians refrain from entering the staff parking lot unless they need to visit the school. We attempt to keep the parking lot clear for accessibility reasons and our Handivan. Thank you for your assistance in keeping our school safe!

LOST & FOUND

Please remind your student to check for lost items.

All items will be donated prior the Family Day long weekend.

ATTENDANCE

Being "on time" for class is directly linked to student academic success.

Our doors open at 8:30am for students. Cougar Time attendance is taken around 8:40am and during each period throughout the day. A complete bell schedule can be found on our website under About > Bell Schedule.

ATTENDANCE IS TAKEN FOR EVERY PERIOD THROUGHOUT THE DAY

This is new for some of our students. Please remind your student the importance of being on time to each individual class. Students that are not present more than half of a period are marked absent for that block. Guardians will receive phone communication once in the morning if their student has been marked absent for the start of the day. Guardians may view their students attendance breakdown on PowerSchool.

ABSENT OR LATE STUDENTS

Please inform the office if your student will be absent. The office is responsible for daily attendance, so please be sure to contact us by either calling (780) 672-7785 , emailing cksgenvm@brsd.ab.ca or filling out the website contact us form.

Students must check-in at the office if they are late and must check-out at the office if they are leaving early for the day.

CLASSROOM DISRUPTIONS - SCHOOL DAY PICK-UPS

We are kindly asking parents to respect class time. With close to 500 students in our building we attempt to keep class time interruptions minimal. We understand that emergencies can happen and you may be required to pick-up your child with short or no notice, we will kindly assist you. However, please contact the office with advanced notification when possible when needing to pick up your student early or provide a phone message. We thank you in advance for your assistance in keeping classroom disruptions low.

POWERSCHOOL PARENT PORTAL

Please take a few minutes to log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal to view your child’s most up-to-date grades and comments. Our Real-Time Reporting system allows you to stay connected to your child’s learning progress throughout the year, providing insights into their achievements and areas for growth. By regularly checking PowerSchool, you can support your child’s learning journey and celebrate their progress together. Thank you for partnering with us to foster a positive and collaborative learning experience.

For more information and instructions for parents regarding PowerSchool please go to our website under Families } PowerSchool Parent Instructions & Information.

RYCOR

ÉCKS is a fully digital school. All payments and field trip forms must be completed online.

Current field trip information is shared daily with students on the announcements!

To create or access your Rycor account go to the link below or go to the ÉCKS website. At the bottom of the home screen click on the large red button titled “Online Payments & Ordering”.

Use the "create account" option.

Once you have created an account, you will need to add your child as a student. You will use their student number which can be found on PowerSchool or an Alberta Report Card.

Once your student is attached, you will click on their name to access the fees. Fees you wish to pay need to be added to cart. Check out and make the payment. You may make a partial payment on the payment screen. Edit the amount, and proceed.

Permission Forms - An email will be sent out if it is just a permission form, with the Rycor link, identifying which icon to use, and the details of the field trip (who, where, when, etc). Please pay attention to the deadline! This will also be how you are notified if there is a fee associated with the activity.

Access the form and the fee by clicking on the appropriate icon on the bottom of your student's page. This will open the form. Fill in the 3 fields that are blank and hit “submit” in the bottom right corner of the form. This will put the form in the cart. Once the form is in the cart, you will need to submit it again by clicking on the "confirm" button on the checkout page of your cart. Without this step, the form has not been submitted. If you have successfully submitted the form, you will be able to see it in the completed form sections in your account.

Please note that if there is a fee with the form, the fee has to be submitted and the form has to be completed (signed) and confirmed before your child will be registered for the trip.

Also please note that the forms can have an expiration date. This is so that we can pay for tickets, plan transportation, arrange subs for students not attending, etc.

Ordering - Hot Lunch must be ordered through Rycor. Email reminders are not sent out for these. Please read the school newsletters and have your child pay attention to morning announcements for deadlines.

Deadlines - THE FORM WILL DISAPPEAR AFTER THE DEADLINE AND YOU WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO SUBMIT THE PERMISSION FORM, ORDER HOT LUNCH OR PAY THE FEE.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

NO SCHOOL (Teachers' Convention)

Friday, February 14, 2025

NO SCHOOL (Teachers' Convention)

Monday, February 17, 2025

NO SCHOOL (Family Day)

Friday, March 7, 2025

NO SCHOOL (Staff Professional Development Day)

Monday, March 24 - Friday, March 28

SCHOOLS CLOSED (Spring Break)

GRADE 6 CONCESSION

Thursday, February 27

Grade 6 is welcome to join in the commons area during both parts of lunch. There will be a concession selling items like cup of noodles, milk, chips, pizza pops, etc.

We will only accept loonies or toonies, so make sure you come prepared! We do not have cash in the office.

ÉCKS OUTDOOR EDUCATION FIELD TRIP BEEF JERKY FUNDRAISER

The grade 7 and 8 Outdoor Ed classes are raising money for semester 2 Field Trips. These trips include a ski/snowboard trip to Canyon and wall climbing at Clip n' Climb in Edmonton.

The group is selling Jack Links beef jerky until Wednesday, February 12. Click on the link below to purchase. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Wolbeck - kwolbeck@brsd.ab.ca.

BASKETBALL

Our season schedule is available and updated when needed on our school website under Programs & Services > Extracurricular Athletics > Basketball

Please be sure to sign the online permission form for your child ASAP on Rycor if you have not already. An email was sent to parents as a reminder to pay fees and sign the permission form. Our Team Red Home Basketball Tournament is February 7 & 8. Our Team White Home Basketball Tournament is February 14 & 15. Family is welcome to come cheer on our teams at all events. A tournament schedule for all teams will be sent home with the athletes this week and will also be available on our school website under Programs & Services > Extracurricular Athletics > Basketball

We have a large grade 6 program which has been running since December. This involves around 30 students, which is outstanding! Practices for grade 6 are at lunch break during recess time on Mondays and Fridays. Games will occur this month, once other schools are ready. A schedule will be sent out with students then. We are very proud as a school to be including so many of our student athletes.

Great work Cougars!

GRADE 6 SYMPHONY

The Grade 6 Band Trip to the “Edmonton Symphony for Schools” takes place on Tuesday, February 11. Students who signed and paid for the trip will meet at ÉCKS on Tuesday, February 11, at 8:00 am. Note that this is before regular bus runs, so they will need to have a ride to school. We will stop at Southgate food courts for lunch, so students will need lunch money, OR they may bring a bag lunch. Since we are learning about the symphony, and concert etiquette, students are asked to dress up for this event. We will be back from this trip in time for students to catch their regular buses home after school.

ÉCKS WINTER CONCERT!

Thanks to all of the people who came out to see our Winter concert. It was the first opportunity for the various grades to perform publicly this year. The next performances will be in the Camrose Music Festival. (early April)

ÉCKS CHORUS

The choir meets at noon on Wednesdays. A huge thanks to Mrs. Van Hyfte for assisting with the group, and to Carolyn and Tova Olson for their wonderful piano accompaniment.

ÉCKS JAZZ BAND RETREAT

The Jazz Band currently practices on Wednesday mornings at 8:00 am. There are additional sectional practices on Thursdays at noon alternating weeks between saxophones and brass/rhythm sections. We have approximately 25 students in the group. Our next event will be our annual Jazz Band Retreat, set for February 26-27 at Battle Lake 4-H Camp. Students will participate in intensive rehearsals under some of Alberta’s finest jazz educators. Please watch for the permission form and fees to go on Rycor soon. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this activity please feel free to contact Mr. Bailey at bbailey@brsd.ab.ca or the Music Parent Association at ckmusicparents@gmail.com.

GRADE 7/8 BAND SHIRTS

A reminder that there are still a number of people who have not paid for their band shirts, which we use as out performance uniforms. The cost is $27. If you have not paid, we ask all grade 7 and 8 band parents to please e-transfer the payment to ckmusicparents@gmail.com. Please do so as soon as possible. (Grade 6 band members do not require the band shirts)

GRADE 7/8 BAND CAMP

The Grade 7 Band was a great success. Our students were well behaved, and they learned a lot from their music clinicians. In addition, they had fun in their free time, using the swimming pool, gym, games, and lounge area. Well done grade seven band kids!

FUNDRAISING

Note: All fundraising money goes to the Music Parent association, which in turn supports our various programs and travel opportunities.

IMPORTANT BAND DATES

Please note these dates and make every effort to attend all events.

Band is like a team, and we need all of our members to be present for concerts, festivals, etc.

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Grade 6 Symphony Field Trip to Edmonton

February 26-27, 2025

Jazz Band Retreat

April 7-11, 2025

Camrose Music Festival Week (performance days TBA)

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Grade 7 Band at Red Deer Provincials

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Grade 8 Band at Provincial Band Festival in Red Deer

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Grade 8 Honour Band at Provincial Festival in Red Deer

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Final Concert (all groups) at Lougheed Centre (evening concert)

June 4-7, 2025

Grade 8 Band Tour to Banff, Jasper & Invermere, B.C.

Please feel free to contact Mr. Bailey at bbailey@brsd.ab.ca

if you have any music related questions.

NOTE THE NEW TIME!

Craft and Connect is now on Wednesdays.

KIDS WRITE 4 KIDS CREATIVE CHALLENGE

The Kids Write 4 Kids Creative Challenge is officially open for entries. Whether you’re a budding novelist, a poetic soul, or someone who loves to tell tales, this is your platform to shine.

Why You Should Enter? Get Published: Winner becomes a published author. Make an Impact: Book sales proceeds are donated to the winner’s charity of choice. Join the Panel: Winners will become judges for next year’s contest. Display our poster within your school division and help uncover the next wave of storytellers.

Writing Contest Deadline: March 31, 2025

ACCESS BOOKS AND eBOOKS WITH LIBBY

Libby is a free app that allows access to books and audiobooks when you have a library card. Click on the EPL button for more information.

ASEBP SUPPORT FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS

Did you know that ASEBP offers free information for Parents and Guardians?

If you have any questions that haven’t been answered here, please be in touch with us.

We will do our best to continue to provide updates throughout the year and will keep you informed around school related activities. Please continue to check our website at www.ckillam.brsd.ab.ca

and the Battle River School Website at www.brsd.ab.ca.

École Charlie Killam School

4809 - 46 Street

Camrose, AB T4V 1G8

Phone: 780-672-7785

cksgenvm@brsd.ab.ca

"Achieving Success Together! Réussir Ensemble!"