Parent’s School Startup Checklist

St. Clare School Newsletter 12455 Coventry Hills Way NE

Calgary,AB T3K 5Z4 Telephone: 403-500-2102

www.cssd.ab.ca/schools/stclare

September 2016 Principal: Mrs. Trisa Soroski Vice Principal: Mr. Mark Hickie Assistant Principal: Mrs. Karen Smithers Secretary: Mrs. Sandra Gross

Welcome!

We would like to welcome back all of our St. Clare students and their families, and extend a very warm

welcome to everyone who is new to our school community. We are pleased to welcome Ms. Jessica Lukey

(grade 1) Ms. Laura Hooton (grade 3), Ms. Rhalna Krupka (grade 3), Mr. Dovilio Binotto (grade 4) Mr.

Adam Andrusiak (grade 6) and Mrs. Karen Smithers (Assistant Principal and grade 6) to our teaching staff

this year.

Our student enrollment is now at 645— a record number for St. Clare School! There may be a few growing

pains as we adjust to our new size; we ask that you please be patient during these first few weeks as there

may be some class and/or teacher changes. We are working very hard to ensure that any changes will be

kept to a minimum and will support student learning in the best way possible.

Our District Faith theme this year is “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36). This theme will

be incorporated into our planning, instruction and school events throughout our year, beginning with our

School Opening Mass on Tuesday, September 27 at 9:30. Father Avinash will be serving as presider. We

hope you will be able to join us!

We would like to invite you to take a look at our school website at: https://www.cssd.ab.ca/schools/stclare.

This is where you will find additional information that is not included in the newsletter such as our school

calendar and staff list. Our website is an important one of our primary means of communication with you.

In addition to the website and newsletter, we send out important messages and reminders through our

SchoolConnect system. Please ensure we have your current e-mail address so you receive these important

updates.

We would also like to invite you to visit our Classroom Blogs at https://www.cssd.ab.ca/schools/stclare/

classrooomblogs. (You can also go to the website and click on Useful Links at the top of the page, then

click on classroom blogs on the left and find your child’s grade). Most Classroom Blogs are already up and

running; they should all be active by the end of September.

Watch for the Thanksgiving edition of our newsletter; you will notice a slightly different format as we will

have more student involvement in it’s creation and publication.

We are looking forward to a wonderful year!

Sincerely, Mrs. Trisa Soroski, Principal Mr. Mark Hickie, Vice-Principal Mrs. Karen Smithers, Assistant Principal Mrs. Lisa Kerr, DLCT

Page 2 St. Clare Elementary School September 2016

Conference Manager Opens to Parents on Friday, September 9, 2016 at 3:30 pm.

Parent Teacher Conferences Dates and Times:

Thursday, September 15, 2016 4:30—7:30 p.m.

Friday, September 16, 2016 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m.

We are pleased to be using the St. Clare Conference Manager to schedule Parent-Teacher Conferences using the Internet. If you used the Conference Manager to schedule previous conferences, your email and password are still in the system. You can simply access the Parent Login Page by going directly to: https://stclare.schoolsoft.ca. (DO NOT include “ www” .) You are also able to access the Conference Manager from the St. Clare website at www.cssd.ab.ca/schools/stclare under Parents/Parents Teacher Conferences/Conference Manager. If you forgot your password: Go to https://stclare.schoolsoft.ca and click on “Forgot your password?”

If you have never registered in the Conference Manager: You can pre-register anytime by going to https://stclare.schoolsoft.ca and clicking on “Register Now”.

2016-2017 District Faith Theme:

Mercy

Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)

School Opening Mass

Please join the St. Clare School community as we mark the opening

of the school year with a Eucharistic Celebration in our school gym

on Tuesday, September 27th, at 9:30 a.m. Father Avinash will

be serving as presider for this occasion. All are welcome to attend!

Page 3 St. Clare Elementary School September 2016

Did you know that school fees cover the cost of the student agenda books?

Did you know that school fees help cover the

cost of field trips, guest speakers and classroom resources?

Did you know that school fees can be paid on-

line at www.cssd.ab.ca with debit and credit cards?

Did you know that you can also pay fees at the

school (cash or cheque payable to St. Clare School) or you could send the fees in with your child?

Did you know that the deadline for fee

submission is September 31 so we can better plan our programs?

Did you know that no further fees will be

collected this year? Did you know how much we appreciate your

support?

School Fees

Volunteer Orientations

School Bell Times

8:50 Entry Bell for all

8:55 Classes Begin

10:30—10:45 Morning Recess

11:34 AM Kindergarten Dismissal

12:00—12:50 Lunch Break

12:00—12:25 Grade 4,5,6 students eat in the gym, Grade 1,2,3 students play out-side

12:25—12:50 Grade 1,2,3 students eat in the gym, Grade 4,5,6 students play out-side

12:46 Entry for PM Kinder-garten

12:50 End of Lunch Bell

12:55 Classes Resume

3:25 Dismissal for all

Parent/Guardian Volunteer Orientations will be held in the St. Clare Learning Commons on:

Wednesday, September 28 @ 6:30 pm Wednesday, October 26 @ 6:30 pm

Everyone is invited to stay for the School Council Meeting at 7:00 pm. Please note all volunteers must attend a volunteer orientation each year.

Picture Day: Wednesday, September 28

Page 4 St. Clare Elementary School September 2016

We are helping Terry Fox run across Canada! For the month of September, St. Clare School is offering students an opportunity to run and log their cumulative kilometers to see how far we can go across a map of Canada.

Through cross county running:

in

… Physical Literacy!!!

The annual Terry Fox Run will be held on Friday, Sept 30 at 2:15. Wear the St. Clare school colors,

yellow and blue, to show your spirit and bring a Toonie for Terry to help raise funds for Cancer

Research.

Terry Fox Run

Learning Commons/Library Update

Volunteer Opportunity

This month we are looking for parents/guardians to assist students with the set up our

Tower Garden. We also need volunteers to work with students throughout the year.

No experience necessary!

Come and be a part of this unique learning

opportunity (and in a few months you can come back for a fresh

salad!).

Welcome back to Ms. Jansen , who is replacing Mrs. Olsen until her return after Christmas.

Book Exchange

Students can exchange their

library book any day of the week

between 9:00 and 9:30, as

well as during their scheduled library

time.

Page 5 St. Clare Elementary School September 2016

Milk Program

NEW! Trial Milk Program (subject to change as required)

We are introducing some changes to the milk program this year in order to: Reduce the amount of wasted milk Provide students with more than one purchasing option Provide leadership opportunities for older students The new school milk program will begin Monday, September 26, 2016 for students in grades 1-6. Families can pre-purchase a 20 Milk Card for $20. This card will be kept at the school and each time a student chooses to have a milk the card will be punched. When the 20 Milk Card runs out, a new order form will be sent home and students can purchase another card. Students will pick up their milk at the Servery counter inside the Gym during the first 10 minutes of their lunch. Student leaders will be on hand to assist as needed. NEW OPTION: Students now have the option of purchasing a milk at the canteen for $1.00 per milk (cash only, exact change— no change will be given) during the first 10 minutes of their lunch time. In order to ensure we have enough milk available on Monday, September 26, all 20 Milk Card orders must be returned to the school by Friday, September 23, 2016. Beginning in October, 20 Milk Cards can be purchased at any time throughout the year.

ST. CLARE SCHOOL 20 MILK CARD

Order Form

STUDENT NAME: HOMEROOM: Number of 20 Milk Cards required: ___________________x $20 per card Enclosed is $

Please send exact change or a cheque made payable to St. Clare School

To ensure we have enough milk on Monday, September 26 all orders must be received

by

Friday, September 23, 2016.

Lunch Time

Page 6 St. Clare Elementary School September 2016

Lunch Time (con’t)

We charge a very nominal amount for every student who remains at the school over the lunch hour. The fee goes exclusively towards the salary of our noon hour assistants who work to ensure the students’ lunch break is as comfortable and safe as possible. You can help our assistants by ensuring that your child is prepared for lunch by packing food in containers they can easily open. Please send a spoon or fork if needed. Remember we are not able to provide hot water or heating facilities such as microwave ovens. Students are expected to remain at school and under our supervision during the noon hour unless other parental arrangements have been made with the office.

Fun Lunch

St. Clare Fun Lunch with Healthy Hunger! 2016/2017 School Year

Orders must be place and paid online at: www.healthyhunger.ca. If you haven’t already you will be able to set up a family account and view all of the upcoming Fun Lunches, place orders and pay for your orders online with Visa, MasterCard or Interac Debit! It’s your choice to pay for them all at once or purchase each lunch as they approach. Once you have set up your family account, you will receive email reminders to order by the deadline. If you have any issues with creating your account or placing orders, you can contact the Healthy Hunger technical support line at 403-616-0485. Please note that unclaimed lunches will be not be kept past the noon hour unless arrangements have been made for their pickup. The best part is a portion of our Fun Lunch monies go directly to our school fundraising program! Of course, Fun Lunch can’t run without volunteers. We will require volunteers to assist during the event from approximately 11:35 – 12:15. If you are interested in volunteering, please answer YES in the ‘I’d like to Volunteer’ section at the top of the order form when you order your child’s lunch. We will confirm your attendance approximately one week before the next Fun Lunch.

Upcoming Fun Lunch Dates

Friday, September 30, 2016 – Pizza 73 *Orders must be submitted online by Sunday, September 25, 2016. Friday, October 28, 2016 – TBD Friday, November 25, 2016 - TBD Friday, January 20, 2017 – TBD Friday, February 24, 2017 – TBD Friday, April 28, 2017 – TBD Friday, May 26, 2017 – TBD Play Day - June 29, 2017 - TBD

Page 7 St. Clare Elementary School September 2016

Dear Parents: Hello! My name is Lesley Sandham and I am St. Clare’s School Council Chair for 2016-2017. The other members of our Executive are Karen Doucette – Vice Chair, Cheryl Keilly – Treasurer, Barbara Tornberg – Secretary, and Annie Hjartarson – Fun Lunch Coordinator. We welcome you to what we hope to be another great year for our children at our wonderful school! School Council meets once a month to discuss upcoming events and volunteer opportunities for par-ents. For more details about what School Council does and how it operates, please look to our website, click on “Parents” and follow the links. Just a reminder that as a parent or guardian of a child or chil-dren at St. Clare, you are already a member of School Council! All are welcome to attend our meetings! The dates for this year’s meetings are as follows: September 28, October 26, November 30, January 25, March 22, April 26 and May 31. Each meeting takes place on a Wednesday at 7:00 pm in the Learning Commons and lasts about an hour in length. Coffee and desserts are served and there is a door prize drawn at the end of the meeting for those who are able to attend! Please mark your calendars for these dates and attend the meetings as you are able. The meetings provide a great opportunity to meet other parents, provide your input, and learn more about the activi-ties and opportunities for our children at the school. If you have any questions, concerns or ideas about Council, please do not hesitate to contact me at lesley.sandham@shaw .ca or talk to a member or our wonderful Administration Team, we are more than happy to assist! I wish you all a great school year and look forward to seeing you at our meetings! Thank you and God Bless, Sincerely, Lesley Sandham lesley.sandham@shaw.ca

School Council