March 2025 Newsletter

As winter comes to a close, we are excited to welcome Spring! There are many wonderful things happening in our school community this season! Read on to check out what's happening in and around EJSMS.

• March 11: Moe’s Pizza Hot Lunch
• March 14: Super Hero Theme Day!
• March 17, 18, 19: Portfolio Walks
• March 21: PD Day - No School
• March 22 - March 30: Spring Break

HOT LUNCH

Our April & May Hot Lunch items are now available for purchase in your Parent Portal. These will be the last hot lunch items for this school year. A reminder that instructional materials & technology fees must be paid prior to ordering hot lunch items.

These items will be available to order until MARCH 19.

Sorry - late orders cannot be accepted.

• April 8 - Booster Juice
• April 23 - KFC
• May 7 - Booster Juice
• May 30 - Boston Pizza

COUNCIL MEETING

Our next school council meeting will be on Wednesday, March 19: Joint Council Meeting at LCHS @ 6:30pm. This is a joint meeting for all Lacombe schools with a special presentation topic: "AI Tools for Parents/Guardians to Assist their Students with Academics". Join us!

EJSMS Portfolio Walks are happening this month March 17 ,18 & 19. This is an exciting week as our staff connect with families to share & celebrate student successes. Please contact your child's classroom teacher if you have any questions regarding your individual meeting.

We are thrilled to invite you to our Term 2 Portfolio Meetings at École J.S. McCormick during the week of March 17-19th! 🎉

This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate your child's growth and learning journey together. Your child has been working hard, and we can't wait for them to share their achievements, discoveries, and progress with you!

We truly believe in recognizing the many incredible ways your child is growing, academically, emotionally, socially, and physically, and we are honoured to be part of their educational journey. Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement, it makes all the difference in their success!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to seeing you soon and enjoying these brighter, sunnier days ahead.

Melissa Rogers

Principal

The Kinsmen Aquatic Centre and James S. McCormick School is pleased to offer Swimming Lessons for grades 1-3. The City of Lacombe offers the Swim for Life swimming lesson program which consists of 6 levels. This is the same program that is offered for out of school lessons year-round.

Each level challenges school-aged children 5 years and older to develop safe entries, deep water support, underwater skills, and swimming strokes. Kids learn everlasting healthy habits by getting and staying fit. Swimmer levels include fun, hands-on teaching activities that focus on teaching water safety — lessons that will last a lifetime! Each class will attend five, one hour lessons with certified lifeguards.

COMING SOON: Permission & Payment for "Swim For Life" Swimming Lessons will be in your Parent Portal soon. The swim schedule is posted below.

As spring & summer field trips & activites amp up, we are thrilled to welcome volunteers to join in the fun!

There is a policy & procedure for all volunteers in WCPS schools; the full AP can be viewed HERE.

Step 1: Complete the Criminal Record Declaration Form (must be done annually).

Step 2: Complete the Volunteer Application Form (must be done annually).

Step 3: Provide a valid Vulnerable Sector Check issued by the local police agency (VSC's expire every 3 years).

To start the volunteer process at EJSMS, please follow the steps on our school website. Click HERE to be re-directed. You can find the information & all forms under PARENTS > VOLUNTEER.

Tis the season of melting snow & mud puddles! As our students play and explore outdoors during recess, accidents do happen. Please pack a change of clothes in your child's backpack in case of a mishap in the water! Thank you.

Thank you for your assistance in calling in daily absences on our attendance line. These messages are very helpful for us. You can leave a message at any time ~ we appreciate the early notice for student absences!

When calling, we do ask that you please speak clearly & slowly so that the message can be properly deciphered. Thank you for your cooperation!

To phone in an absence, please dial 403.782.3096 and press 8.

Last PD Day, February 19, the EJSMS staff enjoyed our own in-house staff Wellness Day activities in the afternoon. It was a wonderful day that left our staff feeling refreshed & renewed! We also *secretly* participated in an Underground Spirit Week; it was fun to see how many of our students caught on to our daily dress-up themes!

Our Grade 1's gathered food bank items on 100 Day and delivered to the Lacombe Food Bank as part of a service project ~ well done Grade One! And of course, it wouldn't have been Valentines Day without some sweet treats shared here at school!

FAMILY RESOURCE NETWORK

Check out the Lacombe and Area FRN for some great programs geared towards all ages in our community. You can visit their Facebook page to see everything they have to offer!

Lacombe and Area Family Resource Network

• April 8: Booster Juice for those who ordered
• April 11: PD Day - No School
• April 18: Good Friday - No School
• April 21: Easter Monday - No School
• April 23: KFC Hot Lunch for those who ordered