St. Gabriel Education Centre
March 2025
Principal's message
Dear St. Gabes Students and Families,
I hope this letter finds you well! The sunshine and warmer temperatures have sure made a difference in our well-being! It's been a very long, cold winter.
We are now a month into the second semester. If you haven't started your courses, it is imperative that you reach out to your teachers to make a plan to complete your work. It's important to remember that we are not self-paced. If you know you'll be away, please contact your teacher to let them know. You can always work ahead! Failure to stay on track can result in being withdrawn from your course.
In other news, the Alberta Assurance Survey codes have now been emailed and "snail" mailed to you. Please take a few minutes to provide us with your feedback - we really do take time to go over the results and use them to improve the education we offer to students. If you are an online only student, please contact me and I can give you an access code to complete the survey.
With March, we are starting our lenten journey leading up to Easter. This is a quiet time of reflection, prayer, and giving to others who are in need more than we are. There is information below about lent in our "Catholic Corner" section.
Please take a few minutes to read through our newsletter. I always try to include a lot of school and community information for your convenience.
As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions. We are always happy to help.
Many Blessings,
Renee Trottier, principal
March 4 - Shrove Tuesday. Come to school for pancakes!
March 5 - Ash Wednesday. Join us at Holy Family School at 1:45 to receive ashes.
March 5 - April 19 - Lent
March 8 - International Women's Day
March 9 - Daylight Savings Time returns
March 10-14 - Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week
March 13 - 1:00 - Workshop on "Moving Out Expenses"
March 14 - PD Day. School is closed.
March 17 - St. Patrick's Day. Wear green to school.
March 17 - Summer School Registration Opens. Keep an eye on our website and GSACRD's website for the link.
March 21-28 - Spring Break. School is closed.
April 18-21 - Easter. School is closed.
Newsletter Draw
Thank you for taking the time to read about what's happening at St. Gabes each month. Our newsletter is a really important way for you to keep up with what's happening at school.
Congratulations to Angie Beauregard for winning our newsletter draw. Please pick up your prize at school.
Each month you can enter our draw for a gift card. I reset the draw each month so you can win more than once!
Registration for Next Year is Now OPEN!
Thank you to all of you who have already registered for next school year. This helps us so much with planning staffing and courses. If your child is a current student and will be returning for next year, you should have received an email to register your child already. If you didn't receive the email, please let Mrs. Trottier know and I will send it again.
If you're over 18 (as of September 1, 2025), you will register as a NEW student for 2025/2026 (even if you are a current student).
If you have questions, please contact us and we can help.
Alberta Assurance Survey
Thank you to everyone who filled out our Division Assurance Survey a couple of months ago. We do two surveys each year. One is from our division and the other is from Alberta Education.
Parents/Guardians - you already received an email with your code to fill out the survey. The email came from our division. You will also be receiving a letter in the mail with your code in it. If you didn't get it, please contact me and I can send you a code.
Please take a few minutes to fill it out.
Students, your surveys are at school and attached to chocolate bars - which you can eat once you fill out the survey. If you are an online only student, please contact Renee Trottier at mailto:rtrottier@gsacrd.ab.ca and I can send you a code.
Copying, Plagiarism and AI
Did you know that copying from the Internet, using AI, or even copying your friend's work, are all forms of plagiarism? Using someone else's ideas, words, or thoughts (including AI) without citing them can result in receiving a zero for your work and possibly being withdrawn from the course. In post-secondary you can be expelled from school.
Please read our Academic Integrity Policy.
School Rules!
1. Check in - Always check in at the office - sign in with our QR code. This is for students and guests.
2. Check out - Always check out again before you leave.
It's important that we know who is in the building for safety reasons. If there is a lock down or evacuation, we need to be able to identify who is at school so that we can help to keep you safe.
3. Parking - Parking is first come/first served. Do not park in spots that have no-parking signs on them.
4. Bring your own reusable water bottle. We now have a water bottle filling station in the hallway by the bathrooms.
PowerSchool for students and parents
Students - You can access PowerSchool using your student email and password. You have single user sign on now.
Parents - If you don't have a parent PowerSchool account, please contact Principal Renee Trottier. You will need an access ID and Password from the school in order to set up your account. You can add all of your GSACRD children on one account.
The PowerSchool App - Did you know there is an app for PowerSchool? It's super easy to use. Once you've set up your account, download the PowerSchool App from your phone's app store. When it prompts you for our district code, type in QNMM.
Note - parents, you must set up your account from a computer first. After that, you can access your account from your phone or the app.
MYPASS - HIGH SCHOOL AND ADULT STUDENTS
MyPass is an Alberta Education secure self-service website for Alberta students to:
- View and print diploma exam results
- Register to write a diploma exam
- Order high school transcripts
- View progress towards a credential (diploma or certificate)
- View and print a Detailed Academic Report (DAR)
- Order additional copies of an awarded credential
- View student personal information
Link to MyPass: https://public.education.alberta.ca/PASI/myPass
On March 13 at 1 pm we are hosting a workshop titled, "Everything You Need to Know About Moving Out For the First Time!" A presentation for anyone interested in learning about resources and all the “need to know” information about moving out. CALM students will be able to use this presentation as an assignment replacement.
This month at SGEC, we are focusing on helping students stay on track with their courses. We know just how easy it is to fall behind. You might suddenly find yourself with multiple late assignments and that things are piling up, including emails from your teacher asking where your work is.
It is natural to feel a fair amount of anxiety while working through a course. It is hard work and whenever we are doing hard things our brains and bodies respond to that stress and in some people this comes in the form of anxiety. That's ok. What matters is what we do with that anxiety. Anxiety is our body's way of protecting us, but when it comes to school work your body has mistaken the stress you feel about completing work as a threat to your immediate survival, causing it to overreact. The best way to calm your anxiety is to face the stress head-on, which means... start tackling the work, little by little. This way your body recognizes that it is not an actual threat to your survival and will relax, making it easier and easier to accomplish your work. However, if you avoid the work, your body relaxes only temporarily and then it responds with MORE stress, making the anxiety worse. Anxiety loves to avoid tasks, but it only makes things worse.
Here at SGEC, we can help you with all of this. Step by step, day by day, we can help you deal with the stress that comes with school. Here are just some of the tips we are recommending to students this month:
Check PowerSchool and make a list of any assignments that are overdue or need to be redone.
IPP: if you have an IPP make an appointment to review it with your course teacher.
Review your assignment calendar and make any necessary adjustments based on your performance last month.
If marks in courses are less than where you want or need them to be, set up at least 2 help sessions with the course teacher via email.
Make a list of things that are distracting/challenging you from achieving the goals set in Module 1. For each distraction/challenge list ways that you will address/fix those going forward. If you need help, contact your teacher.
Make a list of what is working well for you (e.g., taking notes, organizing materials, setting aside time for school, etc.).
Maintain attendance or make alternate arrangements
Students and families can make appointments with me or their teacher to discuss any of these strategies for success.
Upcoming this semester we will have lots of chances for students to plan for their future. So far we have planned:
- March 13: St. Albert Community services will be doing a presentation to students to explain everything they need to know about moving out and renting.
- Also on March 13 SACHS will be hosting a job fair from 5:00-7:00 pm.
More events will be added throughout the semester!
Mrs. Webb is available on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at St. Gabes to help you with all sorts of supports: individual counselling, post-secondary and career help, our new RAP program, and 1-1 help with your coursework. Please contact her to set up a time to meet at 587-983-2541 or email at: mwebb@gsacrd.ab.ca.
Note - Counselling referrals can be made by parents or teachers. Support is provided for individual or family concerns and referrals to outside agencies can be accessed through Mrs. Webb.
Mental Health and Wellness
Don't forget to check out our "Mental Health and Wellness" section on our website for wellness ideas, tips, resources and sessions that are being offered. Click on "community supports" for information about services in St. Albert and area to support you or your family.
Do you know about 211?
Did you know that Alberta has a service that you can call, text or live chat? It's called 2-1-1 and it's a distress service that covers a really large number of topics. It's free, confidential and operates 24/7.
Newsletter Draw
Please fill out the link for our draw! (Please do not enter more than once per month)
Social Media
Please follow and share with your friends. We want everyone to know what a great place St. Gabes is!
St. Gabriel Education Centre
Email: rtrottier@gsacrd.ab.ca
Website: https://www.stgabe.gsacrd.ab.ca/.
Location: 39 Sunset Blvd., (rear entrance)
Phone: (780)459-6616
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StGabesHS
