Jan 13 - Jan 19, 2025

www.ecoleparc.ca

Winter Carnaval Open House: A French-Canadian Cultural Celebration

Come celebrate the French winter carnival season on January 15, 2025. It is a drop-in style event from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. with École Parc! Come for 15 mins, 30 mins, or more. Whatever is best for you and your family. Come at 5:10, 5:45, 6:12, again, whatever is best for you and your family!

We would like to invite our current, new, and potential French Immersion families to special evening filled with various cultural activities, crafts, and performers. Throughout our school year we offer various cultural and language experiences to our students. We would now like to extend this opportunity out to our greater school community.

Special guests and activities include:

· A proud French-Canadian, Roger Dallaire, is a musician and storyteller. He works extensively in schools and uses marionettes and spoons to share his love of the French-Canadian culture with audiences.

· Daniel Gervais is a French-Canadian Grand Master Fiddle Champion. With 10 years of experience presenting to schools and leading workshops, Daniel will share his love of French-Canadian folk music with our school community.

· In the style of Cirque du Soleil, Cirquetastique will bring us various circus activities such as plate spinning and various juggling activities to try as a family.

· Les Délices d'Érable will be on site to provide a taste of French Canadiana with maple syrup taffy. Maple syrup will be poured on snow for participants to roll on sticks to make their own delicious lollipops. Maple taffy is a part of traditional culture in Quebec and a popular activity during winter carnival.

· Canadian Parents for French will be on-site to provide current and future French Immersion parents with valuable insights on how to support their children along their journey to becoming bilingual.

· A table with information about DELF. The DELF (Diplôme d'Études en Langue Française) is an internationally recognized certification awarded by the French Ministry of Education to assess and certify French language proficiency. EIPS supports and pays for French Immersion students to take the DELF at the end of grade 12.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, Jan. 15!

Are you a Grade 6 parent wondering about Junior High Open House dates? Here is what we know:

• Ardrossan Junior/Senior High - February 10 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Rudolph Hennig Junior High - February 12 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
• South Pointe School School (K - 9) - February 5 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Have a great week everyone!

Please follow this link to watch our announcement: Le 13 Janvier

We have received our new Grizz toques! The cost is $22.50. We have 3 options to choose from: grey, black and cream. Please contact the office if you would like to purchase. No cash please. We will add the fee to your parent portal account. Thank you.

What's happening this week at École Parc:

Jan 13

• Class of the week 51/61
• JAMuary Reading Challege begins

Jan 14

• PaJAMa day

Jan 15

• French Immersion Open House 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
• School Council Meeting 7:00 p.m.

UPCOMING DATES:

Jan 20

• Class of the week 42/52
• JAMuary Reading Challenge forms due back.

Jan 27

• Class of the week 41

Jan 29

• Professional Development Day

Jan 31

• Grade 6 Field Trip: Skating at the JRC

The Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) returning student registration process for 2025-26 takes place Feb. 10-24, 2025. Through the online form, all families will confirm the school and program their child will attend next year or advise the Division if they aren’t returning. For students who want to attend a non-designated school next year, these requests must be submitted through the returning student registration process—acceptance is based on available space.

On February 10, the parent/guardian on file in PowerSchool identified as the Permission Click contact for each pre-kindergarten to Grade 11 student will receive an email through Permission Click with a link to the form. If your family hasn’t received any Permission Click forms this school year, contact the school office so we can investigate any technical issues before registration season.

Here are Mme Milanovic’s top picks from the books she read in 2024. There is one book for students (that the library has) and one for adults with each number. Remember that the best determiner for having your child choose to read is seeing their parents read for pleasure! I hope you enjoy one or more of these as much as I did! I have to say, I read so many fabulous books that it is really hard to limit it to 10 on each list.

January 13-19 is the second annual JAMuary put on by the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library to benefit the food bank with money from Twice but Nice. All we have to do is read and record the minutes we spend doing it. Minutes can be accumulated by listening to someone read or listening to an audiobook as well as traditional reading. Keep track of those minutes and remember to hand in your reading tracker by January 21 so we can submit our reading times to the public library. Our school won this competition last year, so we need to defend our title! We will have a special paJAMa day on Tuesday, January 14 to get in the mood. Get reading, Grizzlies!

If your child loses a library or home reading book, please contact the school. If the book is not found within 30 days, the cost of the resource will be assigned to the “Fees” section of your PowerSchool account. Please note, if the book is found within 30 days, a refund will be granted. However, if the book is found after 30 days, a refund will not be granted as we will have purchased a replacement for the library’s collection.

Join EIPS Fort Saskatchewan First Nation, Metis and Inuit Families for a night of storytelling with Metis knowledge holder Leaha Atcehyum followed by story stones led by Metis artist Connie Kulhavy. If you are planning to attend, we kindly ask that you RSVP here to aid in the planning of the event, however, please know that the RSVP does not limit attendance if your plans change, and you are able to come after all.

Is your child turning five on or before Dec. 31, 2025? If so, it’s almost time to register for kindergarten.

Kindergarten registration for the 2025-26 school year opens on Feb. 1, 2025.

To help families prepare, Elk Island Public Schools has put together an online EIPS Kindergarten Tool kit to make the transition as smooth as possible. The kit includes information on registration, important dates, programming options, what to expect, eligibility, how to find your designated school, transportation and more.

School fees

All fees were due as of October 31, 2024. Fees can be paid on the PowerSchool Parent Portal .

If you have not paid your fees, please contact the office to make payment arrangements.

To access your fee information, simply log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal and go to “Student Fees.” There you can view your fees and pay them online using Visa or MasterCard. All fees are due within 30 days of being posted.

For more information about school fees, waivers and payment deadlines, visit www.eips.ca/schools/fees or visit the school website at https://www.ecoleparc.ca/about/fees. Alternatively, contact Sherri Prince at École Parc Élémentaire at 780-998-3741.

For the safety of our students, a reminder that this lane is for QUICK student drop off only. Please park on the street if you need to walk with your student into the school.

A reminder to our families that please avoid sending nut products to school with your student as we have some very severe allergies. We appreciate your support in keeping all our students safe!

If your student is absent, being picked up early or will be arriving late, we ask that you please email our attendance email at EPEAttendance@eips.ca or call the school at 780-998-3741. Please send any DQ permissions to this email as well. We ask that you contact us ahead of time for early pickups so that we may have your student ready on time. We understand that there may be last minute situations. Thank you.

At École Parc, we continue to build positive citizenship through the guiding principles of the Seven Sacred Teachings. This month, our school focus will be on the teachings of love. According to the teachings, the eagle teaches love. Our teachers are looking for students who show love to their friends, classmates, staff and visitors . These students may be recognized by earning the Citizenship award for their class. Big shout out to Mme Irmanì`s class who's Seven Sacred Teachings Eagles adorn the hallways.

If you'd like to know more about the 7 Sacred Teachings, I encourage families to watch the 7 Sacred Teachings video clip .

If your child requires any medication, please click here to access the form. Please note we have two medical forms. We have a Personal Care Plan and an Administering of Medication Form. Please do not send medication with your child for safety reasons.

With the winter season almost here, we have a few reminders for families:

• Ensure students have clothing appropriate for expected weather conditions.
• If weather conditions are bad enough to impact student transportation, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) advises families directly, as well as posting on social media and eips.ca as early as possible.
• Decisions regarding bus cancellations are guided by an EIPS administrative procedure that states, “school bus service may be suspended…when there is a forecast or current temperature of -40 C, including wind chill factor, in one or more regions.”
• Other reasons for suspending or delaying school bus services include adverse weather and poor road conditions.
• When school bus services are suspended, schools remain open to students.

For more information, contact EIPS Student Transportation at 780-417-8151.

Ordering Hot Lunch will be changing effective January 2025. Families will need to create an account with Munchalunch. I have included a document with steps to complete this account. Hot lunches will still be offered every other Monday(changed Wednesday if Monday is a holiday) and Tuesday and will have a rotating schedule of local vendors as we are currently doing. Families will still be able to order one at a time or as far in advance as they like. The deadline for ordering will be 7-10 days prior to hot lunch and will change with the vendor offering that week. Please note that the deadline to order the first Hot Lunch will be December 30th, 2024 at noon. We understand this change is not ideal mid year but it was necessary to keep our hot lunch program running.

Please head to https://munchalunch.com/schools/parc to create your account or follow the instructions on the document attached to this email.

For any other questions, please reach out to EPESchoolcouncil@gmail.com.

Please cancel any future orders you have purchased with Lunchbox. Follow the attached instructions to do so.

2025 Hot Lunch Dates:

We look forward to serving Hot Lunch with this new platform and thank you for the continuing support.

Genista

Hot Lunch Coordinator

Ecole Parc Elementaire School Council/Fundraising Society

The EPE school council and fundraising society is looking to build a resource library to help parents support their children in French literacy. With the support of the Alberta School Council Engagement Grant, we have purchased 21 French/English dictionaries. In addition to having both languages, they are illustrated and are a great tool for parents, particularly those learning French with their children. The dictionaries are free on a first come first serve basis and can be collected at the office.

If you have a suggestion for a parent learning resource or educational opportunity please contact school council at epeschoolcouncil@gmail.com.

This year in attempt to be more accessible we will be trialing various meeting formats including virtual options. Meeting will be held on the following Wednesdays at 7pm

October 9th

November 27

January 15th

February 12th

March 12th

April 9th

May 14th

June 11th

For information about our School Council and Fundraising society, please visit our website at:

https://www.epeschoolcouncil.com/

We are in PHASE 1 - FIND MONEY! Did you know we have to have funding secured for the playground expansion project before we can proceed with the design and approvals?

We are in need of volunteers to assist in writing grants. If you have experience with this we would love your help.

Do you work for a company that would consider supporting the building of a natural playground for your child's school?

Let us know! Email ecoleparcplaygroundexpansion@gmail.com

EIPS’ Annual Education Results Report 2023-24 is now available online. The report details how EIPS is doing relative to Alberta Education’s performance measures; how it’s supporting students to achieve the best possible outcomes; and its successes, challenges and priority strategies moving forward. A brief overview of the report is also available.

Communication with our families is important to us. Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) uses SchoolMessenger as one way of sharing information directly with our families by phone and email. Messages may include bus cancellations or delays, inclement weather, upcoming events, last-minute cancellations, parental engagement opportunities, emergency notices and more.

Follow the Link to help manage your subscription: https://www.eips.ca/contact/subscribe

Read our Guide to Reporting Student Achievement and School Education Plan

The Guide to Reporting Student Achievement (GRSA) and School Education Plan (SEP) for the 2024-25 school year are available now! The GRSA explains how we assess student achievement, how we determine grades and more. The SEP details our school goals for the year—with key strategies and measures in achieving these outcomes. You can access our GRSA and SEP through the two corresponding home page tiles at www.ecoleparc.ca.

If your child misses just two days a month for any reason for ten of their school years, they’ll have missed the equivalent of one entire year of school. Students who frequently miss school, even as early as kindergarten, are also more likely to have di­fficulty in school, at post-secondary and in their career. As every family has unique circumstances, EIPS uses a multi-tiered approach to re-engage students with chronic absenteeism. In addition, the Division promotes strategies to support and encourage regular attendance for all students. If you’re concerned about consistent student attendance for your child or youth, contact the school for support. An informative video is also available.

Elk Island Public Schools is on Instagram!

Want reminders and news about EIPS? You can now follow the Division on Instagram @elkislandpublicschools. Stay in the know about what’s going on, from divisionwide celebrations to reminders about important dates and deadlines. You can also connect with EIPS on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and the EIPS website.

Interested in school-specific updates? Follow École Parc on Facebook and Instagram.

Is your child riding the bus this year? If yes, download the My Ride and Bus Status apps to stay in the know about your child’s bus stop location, route, pickup time and whether their bus is running on schedule.

Did you know you can sync the school calendar to your own calendar? Simply, visit https://www.ecoleparc.ca and click on the applicable subscription option:

· Download to iCal

· Add to Google Calendar

· Subscribe to Calendar

NOTE: Options are located above the calendar.

Once you click on the desired subscription option, follow the instructions. Within seconds, your calendar will contain all École Parc Élémentaire’s important dates including holidays, school-closures days, planned activities, events and more.

EIPS has three administrative procedures (APs) that address the Division’s code of conduct:

· AP 311: Welcoming, Caring, Respectful and Safe Learning Environments for Students

· AP 350: Student Code of Conduct

· AP 351: Student Conduct on School Buses

The Division, and École Parc Élémentaire, are committed to ensuring all members of the school community are provided with welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environments that respect diversity and foster a sense of belonging. EIPS encourages all students, staff and families to review the procedures to understand and practice the conduct expected throughout the Division.

Did you know each EIPS bus is equipped with video surveillance, and many school sites have video monitoring equipment?

Video surveillance and equipment help:

· ensure the safety of all students, staff, drivers and property; and

· discourage destructive acts.

As needed, EIPS school administration and Student Transportation staff review video recordings, in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act. The recordings assist schools and the Division with monitoring student and driver conduct and may be used as evidence in a disciplinary matter.

For more information about the collection, use and disclosure of personal information, contact the EIPS FOIP Co-ordinator at 780-464-3477.

To register: Groups, Programs, and Workshops