Elements' Weekly Update

Happy October! This month brings cooler weather, colourful leaves, and lots of fun activities for our students. Please remember to have your students dress for the weather, or in layers, as the mornings are quite cool. Parent Teacher Conferences will be held October 23 & 24, more information about how to sign up for a conference will be sent out closer to the dates. This is a great time to discuss your child’s progress and set goals for the year. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to a fun and productive October!

• October 5 - World Teachers Day
• October is 7-11 - Read In Week
• October 9 - Oilers or Jersey Theme Day - Oilers Home Opener
• October 10 - World Mental Health Day
• October 11 - Dress Like Your Favourite Storybook Character
• October 11 - Thanksgiving Assembly, 1:00pm
• October 14 - No School - Happy Thanksgiving!
• October 15 - School Council and Parent Society Meeting
• October 23 - Parent Teacher Interviews, 4:00 - 7:00pm
• October 24 - Parent Teacher Interviews, 3:30 - 6:30pm

Read In Week 2024 is taking place October 7-11.

Read In Week is a divisionwide initiative held annually to encourage a lifelong love of reading and to enhance literacy awareness among students, staff, families and community members. This year’s theme: “Reading Is For Everyone.” Throughout the week students will enjoy guest readers, buddy reading, fine arts activities, presentations from the library, fun competitions and on Friday, students are invited to dress like their favourite story book character!

Fort Saskatchewan Elementary invites all families to participate in Read In Week by reading yourself, with your child or with someone in the community. For more information, visit the Read In Week website.

Did you know that October is CyberSecurity Awareness Month? Check out the following article on how to stay safe online.

Get Cyber Safe

Schools throughout Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) are celebrating School Bus Safety Week from October 21-25. The theme: ‘Bus Rule – Be Clever, Dress for the Weather,’ which focuses on how students should dress appropriately for weather conditions—especially when taking the bus. Throughout the week, various activities are planned, including information sessions, bus-safety lesson plans and bus-evacuation drills.

Be sure to check out Ms. Melnyk's Counsellor Corner page on our school website! This is a great place to look for community resources and to learn about regulation strategies to help our brains and bodies feel safe and calm.

An important aspect of keeping students safe is ensuring they have arrived safely at school. Please communicate your child’s absence, or if they are leaving school early or arriving late. Click on this link to take you to our Contact Us page to keep the school informed. You can also call the school at 780-998-771 to the report absences.

Thank you for your support!

Pay School Fees Online! School fee information for the 2024-25 school year is now posted on the PowerSchool Parent Portal. All fees are due within 30 days of being posted. 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. If you’re unable to pay your school fees, you can apply to have certain fees waived. The application deadline is Dec. 16, 2024.

NOTE: Don’t forget to also log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal regularly throughout the year. Fees are often added to your child’s account to cover the cost of various school activities such as field trips, class projects, extracurricular activities fees and more.

For more information, visit Fort Saskatchewan Elementary Fee Page. Alternatively, contact Mrs. Marcoux-Jones (Business Manager) at Fort Saskatchewan Elementary at 780-998-7771.

School pictures are ready! To order pictures, log in to your account on mylifetouch.ca or create an account using your child's student ID number.

All families can also log on and order a FREE digital Pictures2Protect Card.

More about the Pictures2Protect program here.

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 Fort Saskatchewan Elementary @fortelementary

Alberta Health Services offers free online programming for parents and caregivers of children and youth. Sessions are offered through Zoom. The list of October 2024 sessions is now available.

Please join us for our October School Council and Parent Society Meeting. This is a great opportunity to come together as a community, share ideas, and discuss important topics that impact our students and school. Our next meeting takes place on October 15 at 6:00pm.