January 27 - Feb 2, 2025

www.ecoleparc.ca

And here we are into the last full week of January. While certainly there were some cold days, we also got to enjoy quite a few great weather days too! It looks like we have another week filled with some pretty nice weather days ahead!

If you child hasn't yet told you we have many clubs up and running now! We have cool opportunities like Cree Club (div. 1 and 2), Boomerang Club (div. 1 and 2), Battle of the Books (div. 2), Art Club (div. 1), Games Club (div. 2) and Choir (div. 2) on the go! Thank you to all our teachers for providing these cool opportunities for our students!

Are you wondering how you can support your child's language and literacy development? Here are a couple of quick activities to consider: encourage storytelling (both adults and children can invent stories to share with each other - this also builds imagination and creativity skills), sing, read and reread books together, draw and explain drawings together, and write often (journal, write stories, etc.).

Don't forget! Wednesday, Jan. 29 is a school closure day for students as it is a professional learning day for our staff.

Junior High Open House dates:

• 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 27 janvier

We all know that our École Parc Élémentaire education team and community is second to none and we want to offer a way to celebrate all those little acts of greatness that can sometimes go unnoticed!

This year we are launching Grizzlies' Greatness. This is your opportunity recognize those individuals who you think help make EPE special, welcoming, unique and an over great place to be!! So if you are thankful for the way that a staff member is always smiling and offering a kind welcome in the halls, that new teacher who is making their mark in our school with their energy and ideas or that EA who is making those valuable connections, we want to know about it.

To participate all you have to do is complete the form below- that's it! EPE school council will do the rest! A council member will take your comments place them in a card and deliver it to the staff member on your behalf!

Please click here to access form.

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 27

• Class of the week 41

Jan 29

• Professional Development Day

Jan 31

• Grade 6 Field Trip: Skating at the JRC

UPCOMING DATES:

Feb 3

• Class of the week 31
• Hot Lunch-Tim Hortons
• Grade 5-Battle of the books

Feb 4

• Hot lunch-Tim Hortons
• Grade 4-Battle of the books

Feb 5

• Early out 2:08
• Dress up day: Dream Job Day
• Monthly Assembly 9:00 am
• Grade 6-Battle of the books

Feb 6/7

• Teachers convention-no school

Feb 10

• Class of the week 22

• Unitheatre artiste in residence

Feb 11

• Shelter in Place Drill

• Unitheatre artiste in residence

Feb 12

• School Council meeting 7:00 pm
• Unitheatre artiste in residence

Feb 13

• Unitheatre artiste in residence

• PALS, KQ and FI ECS - 6 Parent Teacher Interviews 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m

• Book fair opens at 3:08.

Feb 14

• Unitheatre artiste in residence

Feb 17

• Class of the week 21

Feb 18

• PALS, KQ and FI ECS - 6 Parent Teacher Interviews 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m
• Hot Lunch- Booster Juice
• Book fair open 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Feb 19

• Hot Lunch- Booster Juice
• Book fair open 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Feb 20

• Book fair closes after first recess 10:24 am

Feb 24

• Class of the week 12
• Grade 5-Battle of the books

Feb 25

• Grade 4-Battle of the books

Feb 26

• School Competition-Battle of the books PM

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.

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.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the JAMuary activity from the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library. Our students read for a total of 33, 205 minutes which averaged out to 103 minutes per student. That was up almost 5000 minutes from last year! Staff members read for a total of 4522 minutes which averaged out to 119 minutes per person. That was almost 1500 more than last year! It looks like the teachers won! They get a casual dress work week this week! Stay tuned to find out if we won for the whole of Fort Saskatchewan.

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.

There are a few upcoming exciting events happening in our school and in the community.

On January 31st, Taryn Donald will be visiting our school to help facilitate a blanket exercise with the Grade 5 and 6 students. The blanket exercise is an experiential activity that helps build understanding of the shared history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Students in grade 5 and 6 will be encouraged to bring a blanket to school for this activity. We will be laying the blankets on the ground to represent Turtle Island.

Taryn Donald will also be working with teachers to help create personalized and meaningful classroom land acknowledgments. These land acknowledgments will then be used for assemblies and on the video announcements.

Rupertslands Institute is also providign some opportunities for our Métis students. Please see the information below.

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 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