It was another busy week at Bruderheim School. The weather was filled with wind, slush, snow, and warm temperatures. A reminder that all students in K-6 should always have outdoor appropriate clothing as they go outside for morning and afternoon recess and sometimes will go outside for additional daily physical activities like walks or PE time. Thank you to our many parents who came out to meet with their teachers to discuss their recent report cards. We appreciate and value your feedback and together we can help improve the learning of every student.

I am very excited for our Christmas Concert next week on Thursday Dec 12th. Mrs. Watson has been working very hard for everyone to be ready. Mrs. Atchison’s class has been “crafting away” and has created many festive items that will be on sale with all proceeds going to the Lamont Food Bank. Please come out and support our students.

Next week classes will begin collecting items for the food bank. We are looking for students to bring in boxed items (snack items, cereal, pasta boxes) to compete in a tower building challenge. Donations will be accepted until Dec 18th. We are also collecting new hats and mitts for our Mitten Tree for those less fortunate. Thank you again for helping those in need.

If you have any concerns, please reach out. Have a fabulous weekend!

Melanie Buckley

Principal

Tickets for Christmas Concert Front Row Draw go on sale

Collecting food for the Lamont Food Bank

(Please send donations with your student to help us compete in a tower building contest!)

Christmas Tree Making for Grade 5/6

Christmas Concert and Craft Sale for the Lamont Food Bank-6:30 pm

Christmas Hat Day

Santa vs Grinch (wear red or green)

Christmas Sweater Day

Mad for Plaid (wear all the plaid)

Class 4/5 Visit at the Senior's Centre

PJ Day and Christmas Bingo

Christmas Break

Classes Resume

School Assembly (GRIT)-parents welcome

Early Out (students dismissed at 1:55 pm)

Spirit Wear Day-wear your Bru School wear, yellow and black

Educational Assistant Appreciation Day

Grade 4, 5, 6 Ski Trip to Sunridge

Professional Learning Day (no school for students)

Bruderheim School is pleased to hold our Christmas Concert on the evening of Thursday, December 12th with doors opening at 6:30 pm. The students have been practicing and are excited to share some Christmas cheer!

We will be selling tickets to win seats in the front row for the evening performance starting Monday, Dec 9th. Tickets are $5 each (for two seats) for your chance to win. Send money in with your student or drop by the school office to get your name into the draw. Draw will take place on Wednesday, Dec 11th, at the school, and winners will be contacted by phone. Proceeds from the draw will go to the Lamont Food Bank.

The Grade 5/6 class will also be selling their Christmas crafts before the concert, with all proceeds going to the Lamont Food Bank. Please come visit them at the back of the gym and support this great cause.

Please help us spread warmth by donating new gloves and mittens to our annual collection for our Mitten Tree. Our donation will go to the Lamont County Food Bank for distribution in their Christmas Hampers this holiday season. Students can bring in new mittens to hang on our tree until December 18th.

How can you help? It's as easy as 1-2-3!

Buy a pair of mittens, send them in with your student for display on our Mitten Tree, and then spread the word to family and friends to join us in this heartwarming initiative.

Let's see how many pairs of mittens we can collect as a school and show our community how much we care.

Thank you for your generosity and kindness!

January's Hot Lunch Form is due by Sunday, December 15th.

Meals are provided 4 days a week from Tuesday to Friday. Please still send snacks with your child on those days, as well as reusable cutlery to cut down on waste and cost.

The County of Lamont Food Bank will be accepting applications for Christmas Hampers from November 12 - December 12. Please call 780-619-6955 to register or for more information. Christmas Hamper pick up and delivery date is Sunday, December 22, 2024.

Looking to buy school spirit wear? Our Entripy Spiritshop is now live, please visit the Entripy website to order. Your clothing will get delivered to your home!

Shop Name: Bruderheim School http://bruderheimschool.entripyshops.com/

The Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education team invites you to the upcoming Métis Kitchen Party. The evening will include food, fiddle, dancing and activities. All EIPS First Nations, Métis and Inuit families and their allies are welcome to attend. Monday, December 9; 5:30-7:30 p.m. Salisbury Composite High, 20 Festival Way, Sherwood Park With special guests, Métis fiddlers Brianna Lizotte and Ethan Graves Refer to the invitation for more details. RSVP by December 6.

If you have any questions about the upcoming gathering, or the ongoing First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education work within EIPS, reach out to the First Nations, Métis and Inuit Education lead at

Alberta Education allocates funds to school boards to fulfill their delegated responsibilities of providing education programs for students in kindergarten to Grade 12. As part of Elk Island Public Schools’ (EIPS) commitment to stakeholder engagement and to continue allocating resources according to local priorities, the Division conducts an annual budget planning survey to seek input from staff, families Grade 12 students and community partners.

The survey is voluntary, anonymous and takes about five to 10 minutes to complete. The survey questions suggest possible budget areas for EIPS to focus its resources, which align with the Division’s current Four-Year Education Plan. If you believe there are other areas where the Division should concentrate its resources, you can also indicate what these are. EIPS will consider all budget planning input to guide future decision-making. COMPLETE THE SURVEY NOW Survey closes Dec 18, 2024 Grade 12 students will complete the survey at school.

Thank you for sharing your input to help inform Division planning.

I wish to extend warm holiday wishes to all students, staff and families on behalf of the Elk Island Public Schools Board of Trustees.

As busy as we know this time can be, it’s nice to take a moment to look back with gratitude on the past year. We are thankful for the incredible parents and caregivers in the communities we serve, who consistently step up to support both students and educators—day in and day out. We appreciate our staff members, in schools and at Central Administration, for their commitment to excellence in learning. And we celebrate students across the Division, who work so hard and make us proud.

We hope you enjoy all the wonderful concerts, shows and festivities happening at your school, and that you get a chance for rest and reflection during the break. To all of you—have a joyous holiday season, and a healthy and happy New Year.

We look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Jan. 6, 2025.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays,

Cathy Allen

EIPS Board Chair

Do you know someone who may be interested in part-time, flexible work as a substitute educational assistant or substitute teacher in the specialty areas of French Immersion or CTS/CTF? Elk Island Public Schools is hiring. Spread the word!

Substitute teaching and non-teaching staff are critical to filling planning and unexpected vacancies when Division staff are away. Substitutes are needed to fill various positions at all school locations until the end of the school year. Upcoming application deadlines are December 12 and 13. If you know someone who’d be great in this role, encourage them to apply today.

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 Bruderheim School website.

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 as new fees can be added for things like field trips. Please contact the school office if you need help.

If circumstances exist where you’re unable to pay school or transportation fees, you can apply to have fees waived by submitting an Application for a Waiver of Fees. The application deadline is Dec. 16, 2024. If you’re new to the Division, the deadline is the latter of Dec. 16, 2024, or 45 days after registration.

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.

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 and more.

For more information about school fees, waivers and payment deadlines, visit www.eips.ca/schools/fees or https://www.bruderheimschool.ca/powerschool . Alternatively, contact Mrs. Karen Carlson at Bruderheim School at 780-796-3936.

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.

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.

Have you recently moved or has your contact information changed since the start of the year? Bruderheim School encourages families to review the information the Division has on file to ensure it’s up to date. Using the Student Information Update available through the PowerSchool Parent Portal, families can review the current information on file for each student—including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, parent and guardian information, emergency contacts, medical details and other related information—and submit any updates needed.

Reviewing and updating the form ensures the school and Division have the most up-to-date information regarding your child. Updates completed by December 10 are especially helpful as the Division prepares for 2025-26 registration processes beginning in the new year.

NOTE: Only submit updates for the changes that have already taken place. If you’re moving later this school year, you’ll submit the necessary updates to your information through the Student Information Update after you’ve moved.

If you have questions about the form or any trouble with your Parent Portal account, contact the school office at 780-796-3936.

Alberta’s publicly funded systems—public, Catholic and francophone—serve the educational interests of almost 720,000 kindergarten to Grade 12 students across the province. Funding diverted to alternative educational institutions, both for infrastructure and programming, negatively impacts the public system’s ability to provide comprehensive, equitable, accessible and mandated programming for 90 per cent of the province’s students.

Please meet at the Metro Kalyn Library for Christmas Crafts on Tuesday, December 17th from 5:30-6:30 pm. There will be games, prizes and crafts for the holiday season.

Alberta Health Services hosts a variety of virtual caregiver information sessions throughout the year focused on ways to support students’ mental health. The sessions are free and geared toward parents, caregivers, teachers and community members who want to learn more about challenges impacting children and adolescents. Session topics include anxiety, ADHD, depression, self-harm, technology, teens and teaching leadership skills, communication, resiliency and more. Visit Caregiver Education to see the monthly caregiver sessions.

To access the AHS Virtual Caregiver Series click here.