Jean Vanier Catholic School
Dec. 15, 2017
“To love someone is to show to them their beauty, their worth and their importance.” ― Jean Vanier
Leadership Message
Third Sunday of Advent - Joy
As we prepare for the third week of advent, we light the rose candle that symbolizes joy.
- Joy is the delightful anticipation we sense all around us this season.
- Joy is the happy fullness that our hearts feel at the news of the coming of Jesus.
- Joy is the feeling of wonder shared by young and old alike who will welcome the Son of God into their hearts.
May Advent be a pure and holy joy for you and your families.
God Bless!
Ice Sculpture
Keeping our school safe...Visiting the school
We are committed to ensuring a safe school for your children. Parents and visitors we ask you to please sign in at the office before walking the halls of the school. We ask, if you are volunteering or coming into the school for ANY reason, please sign in and let us know you are here in the building. Our responsibility in the office is knowing who is in the building at all times, especially in the case of emergency.
Advent Concert Information
Our English and Ukrainian programs (kindergarten to grade 4) will be working together again this year to bring you a wonderful Advent concert on:
Thursday December 21st, 2017
Afternoon concert: 1:00 pm
Evening concert: 6:30 pm
We will not be issuing tickets for our Advent concert this year. We are however going to ask the following of our Jean Vanier families:
· We would like to invite extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles) to our afternoon performance. Please try to limit the number of extended family members attending, as last year we exceeded our gyms capacity!
· We would like to invite parents to our evening performance.
Due to fire code regulations, we will have a limited number of seats available. Based on the number of families we have at Jean Vanier, that would mean 2 seats per family for the evening performance.
We would like all parents/guardians to have the opportunity to watch their children perform in the concert, so we are hoping that families understand the seating limitations that we have in our gym.
For the evening performance, please bring your child to their classroom at 6:00 pm, doors to the school will open at that time. Students in the English program are asked to come dressed in their “Sunday best,” students in the Ukrainian program are asked to wear their Ukrainian shirts.
Please be aware that parking around the school will be very congested, and we ask that you respect our Jean Vanier neighbours by not parking in front of driveways.
The students and staff have been working hard in preparing for our Bilingual Christmas concert.
We look forward to celebrating with you all.
OLPH Parish News
Please see the link below for an important message from our Pastor, Fr. Jim Corrigan with regards to Christmas masses at OLPH.
https://jv.eics.ab.ca/our-faith
If your child has missed participating in any of the sacraments please give the parish office a call and they can help you ensure that your child can receive the sacraments. There is another registration date for Sacramental preparation on January 29th!
News from Parent Council
Basket Assembly-Dec. 18
Apx. 9:30 am (immediately after assembly)
Raffle Ticket Pre Sale-Dec. 19
Apx. 2:30-4pm
Raffle Ticket Pre Sale-Dec. 20
Apx. 2:30-4pm
Raffle Ticket Sales-Dec. 21
Apx. 11:30-Show Time
Raffle Ticket Sales-Dec. 21
Apx. 5:45-Show Time
Please email jvpac1009@gmail.com
News from BUCPS
Ukrainian Books
A long overdue THANK YOU to Danielle Kowalchyk who kindly brought some Ukrainian books back from the Ukraine for Jean Vanier Catholic School last month.
We are sure the students are enjoying them and they will be a definite asset to the Ukrainian program for years to come!
Ukrainian Christmas Caroling
ABJ Ukrainian students are planning to go Christmas Caroling on Thursday, January 4, 2018 from 6:00-9:00PM. Last year it was a lot of fun bringing the Christmas spirit to the homes of families and friends. Students are again looking for homes who will accept Ukrainian carolers.
If you or anyone you know would be interested, or have any questions, please contact Vlodko Boychuk at vlodkob@eics.ab.ca. Thank you for your support!
Taste of Ukraine Fundraiser
Just a reminder that order pickup will be next Tuesday, December 19th from 1:00pm - 6:30pm outside the main JV school entrance.
Please be prompt as the food will be outside.
Thank you to our Volunteer Office Helpers for your assistance this past week!
EICS Connections Project
Empathy
Dr. Jody Carrington reminds us how powerful empathy can be when making connections with those around us. Empathy is “feeling with” and taking the time to suspend our own judgements and step into someone else's shoes. Showing empathy requires us to resist the urge to “fix” the situation and simply allow people to be heard. How do we teach empathy? We offer it to those around us. Empathy must be experienced in the context of relationship.
Below is Brene Brown’s video that does a great job of explaining empathy.
Staff Parking Lot
EICS Kindergarten Programming 2018-2019
During the month of December, Elk Island Catholic Schools will be consulting with our families, EICS staff and community members on kindergarten programming for the upcoming Fall 2018 school year. During this time of year, we historically look at programming, staffing, and other key factors prior to opening up the kindergarten registration process in mid-January.
Current kindergarten programs throughout the division are offered in a variety of ways, including:
Half-day programs 5 days a week
Full-time kindergarten - offered in a variety of forms, including 2 days one week and 3 days the next week.
Progressive kindergarten which is a type of full-time kindergarten - but it is offered through incremental steps from September until June.
Specialized kindergarten programming with language focus (French, Ukrainian Immersion).
EICS will be meeting with our early childhood educators, consultants and school administration in the next few weeks to discuss plans for kindergarten programming for the upcoming year. In order to assist with these discussions, we are inviting interested parents and community members to share their views about kindergarten programming via a short survey located on our EICS Kindergarten Information page. We will be sharing input from the survey with the Board of Trustees at the January 10th meeting.
If you have any questions about the survey or EICS programs, please contact Susan.Johnson@eics.ab.ca
Noon Hour Supervisor Needed
St Sophia Ukrainian Catholic Parish News
The Week Ahead...
Dec. 18 - School Assembly 8:50 am
Dec. 18 - Gr. 2 - Building Sugar Cube House
Dec 21 - Advent Concert @ 1:00 pm & 6:30 pm
Dec. 23 - Christmas Break Starts Jan. 9 - School Resumes
THE MONTH AHEAD ..... a few extra upcoming events
Jan. 9 - School Resumes
2017-2018 Approved School Calendar
Jean Vanier Catholic School
Email: jv@eics.ab.ca
Website: www.jv.eics.ab.ca
Location: 109 Georgian Way, Sherwood Park, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-467-3633
Twitter: @jvcatholic