St. Patrick Catholic School

Hello St.Patrick School families,

It has been a great week here at St.Pat's. Students are settling into the routines of the school day nicely. We want to invite all of our families for MEET THE STAFF NIGHT taking place on Wednesday, September 11th @6:30pm. This is a valuable opportunity to connect with your child's teacher, get to know the other staff of the school and visit the different learning areas of our school. We hope to see you there!

Blessings,

Mrs.Nanias and Mrs.Gumpinger

September

• Wednesday 11th- Meet the Staff Night- 6:30pm-7:30pm
• Thursday 19th- School Council Meeting- 7pm @ the school
• Thursday 19th - Bashaw Cross Country run- grade 3 and grade 4 students
• Wednesday 25th- Opening Mass- St. Francis Xavier Church- 9:15am- All are welcome!
• Thursday 26th - Vikings Cross Country run - grade 3 and grade 4 students
• Friday 27th- Terry Fox Run
• Monday 30th- No school-Truth & Reconciliation Day

October

• Friday 4th- 4W/C- WOW Watershed field trip
• Friday 11th- PD day. No school for students
• Monday 14th- Thanksgiving- No school
• Wednesday 16th- School pictures
• Thursday 17th- School pictures
• Thursday 31st- Halloween

At St. Patrick School we are commited to continued growth and optimal student learning. Our 4 pillar School Assurance Plan focuses on Faith Intergration, Learners and Learning, Systemic Wellness and Community Engagment. You will notice below that our weekly newsletter's content is divided into the 4 pillars. This keeps us as a school accountable to our plan moving foward and allows us to share with the school community what we are doing as a school to reach our goals.

We excitedly share this year's Faith Theme of "Rooted in Christ." You will see this theme and our Faith integrated throughout our school, interwoven into each subject area and our daily interactions with each other. We are excited to "Grow Together in Christ at St.Patrick Catholic School"

As you may be aware, Alberta Education has put into place standards of Personal Communication Devices (PCD) in schools.

As part of our collaborative commitment to fostering an environment that supports student learning, safety, and well-being, we are implementing procedures for the use of PCDs at St. Patrick Catholic School in collaboration with all EICS Catholic Schools. Numerous studies have highlighted the impact of excessive screen time and social media use on children and adolescents.

The guidelines at St.Patrick School align with the recently issued Ministerial Order (#14/2024) - Standards for the Use of Personal Mobile Devices and Social Media in Alberta Schools and EICS’ Administrative Procedure (AP 145) on the Use of Personal Communication Devices (PCD).

What does this look like at St. Pats

Status Quo. It has been a practice at St. Patrick Catholic School that cell phones (Personal Communication Devices) not be used during the day. This practice will continue and is in alignment with educational best practices and guidelines set forth by Alberta Education.

No Cell Phones are used during Instructional Time or Unstructured Times: Students in Grades PreK - Grade 4 will refrain from using their PCDs during either instructional time or unstructured times (recess or lunch breaks). If a student brings a PCD to school, it must remain in their locker (or a designated location) for the duration of the school day.

We appreciate your partnership in reinforcing these school guidelines at home.

Call Us. We can help.

If you need to contact your child, please call the office at (780) 672 - 2177. In any instance requiring an emergency communication with a student, our school team will assist your child, a parent, or other responsible adult with that situation by using a school telephone.

In the next few months as a school we will be practicing our Emergency Drills. This will include 3 practice fire drills, 1 practice lockdown and 1 shelter in place.

Back to school assembly was rockin! We talked about our St.Patrick School Behaviour Matrix, division theme, staff introductions and students earned themselves some free recess time next week. Ask your child about it!!!

SCHOOL OFFICE HOURS

The office hours are: 8:00 - 3:30 during scheduled school days.

To report an Absence

1. Contact the office

2. Email stps@eics.ab.ca

3. On PowerSchool, Enter/Review Absences (in the top left-hand corner).

If calling during lunch time (12:00 - 12:30) please leave a message and Ms. Miller will return your call as soon as she can.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS

Parents wanting to volunteer at the school or for field trips need to have a Criminal Record Check, Child Intervention Check and sign a Volunteer Confidentiality Undertaking form.

Request forms for these can be picked up at the school office. If you are unsure if you have these documents already completed, you can call the office, and we can check. These checks can take a while to process so if you are wanting to volunteer, please get these done ASAP.

END OF DAY PHONE MESSAGES TO STUDENTS

If you have a message to pass onto your child for end of day arrangements, please call the school office no later than 3:10 pm. It is very difficult to track down a child once they have left the classroom at the end of the school day.

Instagram St.Patrick Catholic School

School Facebook Page St. Patrick Catholic School Camrose

Facebook School Council Page St. Pat's School Council

The EICS Demographic Confirmation form for the 2024-2025 school year needs to be completed now for each of your children. If you did not complete this forms in the spring please complete them.

Alberta Education requires that we obtain a detailed update of student demographics on an annual basis. Funding they provide for your child's education is conditional to us receiving these updates and making them part of the student's record.

We ask that you complete this form in PowerSchool no later than Friday, September 13th, 2024.

Here are some steps to help you access, review and submit the form online:

1. Log into PowerSchool: https://powerschool.eics.ab.ca/public/
2. Under the heading "Forms and Fees" click on "SchoolEngage Student Forms"
3. Complete the form called "A.9) 2021-2022 Demographic Confirmation Form"
4. Click Submit

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW A VIDEO ON "HOW TO SUBMIT THE DEMOGRAPHIC FORM"

https://www.eics.ab.ca/parents-and-students/powerschool-log-in

Fees are now active on Powerschool. If returning to school is a stressful time for your family, you may be eligible to have your school fees waived. Please read more about the EICS fee waiver policy and complete the following form if applicable. 2024-25 Fee Waiver Application.

STUDENT ENTRANCES

Please use the following designated entrances for your child. See MAP in PDF below.

These entrances are to be used for morning arrival (drop-off), recesses, and departure (pick-up) in the afternoon. The front entrance will be designated for our PRE-K and ECS students.

South Front entrance- PRE-K, Kindergarten

N.East entrance (Gr. 3/4 portable wing) 3E, 3B, 3G

S.East entrance (directly adjacent to STAFF parking lot) 2K, 2L,2S/M

North entrance (Gr. 3/4 portable wing) 4D/G, 4R, 4W/C

West entrance (Gr. 1 wing) 1B,1W, 1H

ARRIVAL

Students who arrive on the bus will go directly to their designated entrances where they will see a marked pylon. Students who get dropped off by families should arrive no earlier than 8:20 and proceed to entrance area. Students will wait in their area until their teacher signals them into the boot room. With rain/inclement weather, staff will be available to expedite this process where students would access classrooms earlier.

PLEASE NOTE: We have NO OUTSIDE SUPERVISION available earlier than 8:20 am so please do not drop off your child before that.

**Late students will be required to enter through the front doors. Proceed directly to office to check in.**

DEPARTURE

Under the direction of their teacher students will be dismissed at the end of the day. Bus students will report directly to respective bus line-ups and parents picking children up can wait outside of entrance or at a designated meeting spot (arranged with your child).

Please make alternate plans for pick-up/drop-off location as our Staff parking lot is no longer available as an option. This area has become far too congested in the past and is an extreme OH&S concern. Please look at streets/locations that are close to your child's designated entrance where you can safely guide them. While we understand that this takes away some convenience, we are more concerned about the safety of your children. Please see the attached pic showing some highlighted safe alternative considerations for drop-off/pick-up.

Our busing is through Battle River School Division. If you have busing questions or still need to register for busing call 780-672-6131.

****PLEASE STAY CLEAR FROM BUS LANES AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR DAY AND AT THE END OF OUR DAY*****

We do have our Gr. 4's provide crosswalk patrol in front of the school but this likely will NOT occur for a few weeks until they have been properly trained. Please be careful using the crosswalks as our front street (53 Ave) is very busy before and after school.

Click HERE to see the following school calendars:

• St. Patrick School Calendar
• Regular/Early Dismissal Bell Schedules
• Pre-Kindergarten (4 year old) Calendar
• Mon/Wed Kindergarten Calendar
• Tues/Thurs Kindergarten Calendar
• OLMP School Calendar

IMAGINE... BELIEVE... ACHIEVE...

Email: michelle.nanias@eics.ab.ca
Website: https://stp.eics.ab.ca/
Location: 4816-53 Avenue Camrose, Alberta T4V 0Y2
Phone: 780-672-2177