The Good News

Saint John XXIII November 1, 2019

Leadership Message

Catholic Education Sunday: The Gift of our Catholic Schools

What a joy it is to be able to celebrate our Catholic Education this weekend together at mass. We are grateful everyday for the blessing and privilege to walk with each of your children on their journey of faith and learning. Thank-you for the trust you have placed in each of us, as Catholic Educators, to teach and care for your children.

Catholic Education "Sunday" (or Saturday for us this year) is a special day for all of us to recognize and celebrate the publicly funded opportunity our Catholic schools have to enrich the lives of our children with a foundation of faith. Catholic schools and Catholic education are the definition of inclusive education, as the word Catholic literally means universal. In our school community, students are taught and modeled a respect for diversity-to love and be loved as God showed us first, last, and always. Together, with our parents and parish, we rejoice in the beauty of each child and the opportunity to bring our students to Jesus every day!

Please join us on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at the 5:15 pm mass to celebrate Catholic Education Sunday with our friends from the Saint John XXIII and St. André Bessette communities. Come and celebrate Catholic Education from our littlest learners to the biggest, together in community.

Watch our EICS Catholic Education Sunday video here.

Blessings,

Mrs. Boehm

GRACE (Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education): An invitation Monday evening to hear more about Catholic Education in Alberta

School Fees Updated on PowerSchool Parent Portal

The fees you are being charged are for student field trips, presentations, tech fees, and other school-related activities. These fees have been applied to your child's account in PowerSchool to enable you to pay on-line with a debit card or credit card. However, if you wish to pay by cash or cheque, please send it to the school office (make cheques payable to Elk Island Catholic Schools). If you have other questions or require assistance with the online payment, please contact our school at 780-998-7777. If you are experiencing financial hardship please review the fee waiver here or contact the principal, Mrs. Bonnie-Lynne Boehm, to discuss support.

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Upcoming Conferences

An opportunity for the student, parent and teacher to engage in conversations around the strengths, area of growth and next steps of the student is coming up. These three-way conferences will occur on:

November 6th (3-6 pm) & 7th (4-7 pm)

Please book your time through our on-line booking system which will enable you to schedule a conference time that is convenient for your family. Please follow the instructions below:

1. Go to www.schoolinterviews.ca

2. Enter the code "pjbbk" and press GO

3. Enter your details

4. Select the teachers you wish to see

5. Select the appointment times that suit your family best

6. Click Finish

The website will be live until Wednesday, November 6th at 8:00 am. Thank-you for your investment into your child's learning. We look forward to celebrating and sharing your child's learning progress so far.

We LOVE to Read...Who was it? Who will it be?

This week our Mystery Reader was Mrs. Ekdahl.

See if you can guess Monday's Mystery Reader...

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A "Homegrown" Book Fair: Grade 3s as Young Disciples and Citizens

Grade 3 proudly presents “A Homegrown Bookfair”

Attention Families, Students, and Friends of St. John XXIII:

This year we are not having a Scholastic Bookfair until the Spring, but not to worry! Grade threes have a plan. We invite all of you to donate your gently used books during the entire month of November. This could include:

● Picture books

● Board Books

● Non-fiction books

● Biographies

● Chapter books

● Comic books

● Novels for grown ups

● Recipe Books

● Travel Books

● Coffee Table Books

● Poetry Books

● Craft Books

● Any book you think will make a great gift

For your convenience, there will be book donation boxes set up outside of both grade three classrooms and the library.

On Friday, December 6th, Grade threes will host, “A Homegrown Bookfair”. All books will be 50 cents each. Students will come with their class and can shop for themselves and for Christmas gifts. All money raised will be donated to Valeda House.

Thank you in advance for supporting Grade Threes in this event.

Sincerely,

Grade 3S and 3B Mrs. Scott and Ms. Bourassa

A Story for Every Child in the News: FORTSASKONLINE(click here)

Grade 4 Servant Leadership Squad

We are so excited to announce that every one of our grade fours are a part of our Servant Leadership Squad! Students have been placed on one of our four leadership teams: Faith, School Spirit, Young Citizens, or Healthy Living. Our grade fours will engage in many leadership opportunities throughout our school community this year and develop important skills that will help them become all they are called to be in the future.

Many thanks to our staff team leaders who will guide our Servant Leaders this year:

Mrs. Comartin (School Spirit Team)

Mrs. Boehm (Faith Team)

Mrs. Hinger & Miss Brown (Young Citizens Team)

Mrs. Ekdahl, Ms. Bennett & Miss Foster (Healthy Living Team)

T-shirts are coming soon! Thanks once again to PSC for your support!

Special teacher visitor from Iceland

Mrs. Boehm was able to connect with a colleague who was part of a teacher exchange with Iceland. Mrs. Ingileif is here in Alberta for one week with a principal from St. Luke and had wanted to come visit our school community. We had a great morning with Mrs. Ingileif, sharing and exchanging the great things about our school and her schools in Iceland!

Loose Parts Program Coming soon to SJXXIII!

Saint John XXIII and Ever Active Schools are partnering up to bring the Loose Parts Play program to Saint John XXIII. On Wednesday morning, Adrian Xavier (Ever Active Schools) met with Mrs. Boehm and our two Health Champions; Ms. Bennett and Mrs. Ekdahl, to begin the conversation and planning for our Loose Parts Play program. Much more information to follow to see how you can learn about and get involved with this exciting program for kids!