December 2025

Dear Families,

The Advent season this year is one of hope, love, and joy. Our Edmonton Catholic Schools theme this year reminds us we are People of Hope. As we await the birth of Christ on Christmas, we can be People of Hope by showing kindness, spending time in prayer, and by thinking of others.

This season, our school will be having a Jesse Tree social justice project. A Jesse Tree is a Christmas tradition in which the decorations on the tree represent stories from the Old Testament, to reflect the time leading up to the coming of Jesus. Our students will create the decorations for our Jesse Tree . At the base of the tree, we will be collecting cold weather items (hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, socks) for those who may need them.

November was a great month of learning at St. Clement! Thank you to our wonderful staff who spent time catching students up and getting everyone back into routine. It was wonderful to see our families at the Demonstration of Learning.

We hope December brings joy, happiness, and the blessings of the season to you and yours.

Merry Christmas!

St. Clement Administration

You can read Chief Superintendent Lynnette Anderson's December reflection on Truth, Beauty and Goodness as we begin our Advent journey by clicking here or by visiting ecsd.net/chief-superintendents-message .

Help us keep our neighbors warm. This season, the community of St. Clement will be collecting cold weather items, such as hats, mittens, gloves, socks, and scarves for the less fortunate. We will collect these items under our Jesse Tree: a tree decorated in the stories of the Old Testament, in anticipation of the coming of Christ. Our tree will be ready to receive donations at Christmas Family Fun Night, or students can bring items with them to school up until December 19. Thank you families!

Please join us on Thursday, December 4, for a short evening of music and Christmas fun! Our event runs from 5:30 - 7:00 pm at the school.

Students are welcome to participate on any of the days they wish. There is no obligation to join in. Participation can be as simple or involved as you like.

Thank you to our amazing SAC members. The school community is grateful for your hard work and support. Our next meeting is January 12. All are welcome. In the meantime, support our SAC with Fundscrip gift card purchases (our school group code is 6B55D5), or plan to buy CandyGrams on December 5 (elementary sales will happen in classrooms before lunch, junior high sales will be at the canteen during lunch). CandyGrams are $1.00 each. Thank you everyone.

Our Learner Profile of the month for December is Balanced. This means that we understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives – intellectual, physical, and emotional – to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognize our interdependence with other people and the world in which we live.

How can parents help to develop students who are balanced at home?

• Encourage your child to participate in a wide variety of structured activities.

• During less structured time, also be aware of the activities that your child is participating in. Too much time in front of the computer or television is obviously not desirable, but all kids need to do a variety of things. Generally active kids should take time for quiet reading or reflection; students who spend a lot of time drawing or reading, should be encouraged to also exercise and play.

• Discuss the food groups with your child. Spend a few minutes during a mealtime deciding if what your family is eating is balanced.

• Model this attribute. Spend time as a parent or family doing many different activities.

Thank you to our parent council for continuing their Healthy Hunger lunch days at St. Clement this year! Families who wish to participate can create an account and preorder lunch for their child(ren) on Healthy Hunger Fridays. The ordered items will be distributed to your child(ren) at school for lunch. Healthy Hunger lunches take place on Fridays, and the deadline to order is the Sunday prior to a Friday service. Payment is handled directly via the Healthy Hunger website at the time of order.

Our Alien In-line roller skating adventures kick off later this month! Students should dress comfortably, and be ready to wear helmets and protective gear. Students may bring their own helmets from home if they prefer that to a rental helmet. These can be bike helmets or hockey helmets (no cages or visors). Students should have long comfortable socks on. These sessions are typically scheduled during Physical Education class, but a schedule for each class will be available closer to the start date of the event. Please remember to pay the in-school field trip fee for this experience on PowerSchool if you have not yet done so!

Students are asked to dress for the weather (warm jackets, snowpants, hats, mitts/gloves, and warm boots), keeping in mind that all students receive at least one outdoor recess each day (one for JH and two for elementary). Labelling your belongings can help us return them to your child should they get misplaced at school. Thank you!

We are so excited that volleyball will be taking place in our gym soon! Parent spectators are always welcome at home and away games. ECSD student spectators are only permitted watch home games (games at their own school). Go Chargers!

Our partner parish, St. Theresa, and Corpus Christi, are currently taking registrations for the Winter Sessions of their sacramental preparation courses. We encourage students and families to look at the information available through their parish website, and remember to register at your parish in order to be included in important communication. Please explore the Sacrament section on your parish's website below:

Ø The turnaround in front of the school is a NO PARKING zone during peak drop-off and pick-up hours of the day. There is no drop off or pick up in the bus zone in front of the school (turnaround).

There is no parking in the turnaround between the hours of 7:30-8:30 am Monday-Friday. Also, 2:30-3:30 pm on regular school days AND 11:30 am -12:30 pm on Thursdays (early dismissal).

Ø The turnaround can be accessed once the buses have left.

Ø Families are asked to keep traffic moving by using the turnaround to STOP, DROP-OFF/PICK-UP and GO (only once the buses have left).

Ø Please avoid parking at the entrance and exit of the turnaround so that buses can have easy access.

Ø For parents and guardians who wish to remain with their child(ren) in the morning, there is parking available across the street and next to the school sidewalk.

Ø Parents are asked to remember that there is no parking in the staff parking lot. Our staff parking lot is completely full, and we ask parents not to park there.

We feel it is important to bring this forward as we work together to assure all students are safe. Thank you for your understanding and patience to ensure that every student is safe to and from school. We are very thankful our school is part of the wonderful community. It is very important to us that we are all good neighbours and show kindness to one another.

Please remember to bring a reusable water bottle to school in order to stay healthy and hydrated throughout the day! Students should please have their water bottles labelled with their names.

Parents/Guardians who pick up their children at school are asked to be on time for pick up, and to meet their children at/near their designated doors, in particular for students in younger grades. In cases where an older sibling is the one picking up the child, please have that sibling report to the correct door on time. Children with no one to meet them will be brought to the office. Please let us know if an emergency has caused you to be late. Please communicate with your child's teacher, well in advance, or call the office, if you have changed the plan for pick up on a particular day.

In the weeks ahead, the children and staff will continue to practice fire drills, lock downs and emergency procedures to ensure the safety of all within our school community. Students have done excellent in our fire drills and lockdown drill so far! Please inform your child that these drills can occur, especially to alleviate any anxiety or worries from our younger students.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Regular attendance is directly related to success in school. Please ensure that your child arrives on time so that they can be welcomed into the classroom learning experiences taking place each day. Students who arrive late are asked to report to the office to check in.

Families are required to contact the school if a child is late or absent. Please notify the school office at 780-462-3806 and leave a message if all lines are busy. Parents are also encouraged to download the "School Messenger" app, as attendance can be reported online, directly in the app. Please ensure that any changes to personal information are reported to the office to keep our records up to date. Students who have appointments and must leave the school prior to dismissal are asked to ensure the teacher is informed as well as the office staff.

Records of student achievement, student attendance, lists of fees/fee payment platform, forms, and more, can be found by logging into Parent PowerSchool, here: https://powerschool.ecsd.net/public/

The 2025/2026 School Registration Fees support the operational decisions made at St. Clement. We are dependent on this financial support to carry out the educational goals set for the school year. School fees should appear on PowerSchool in the coming weeks. Payment can be made using the online payment through your Parent PowerSchool account. We appreciate school fees being paid as soon as possible, once they are applied to student accounts. We appreciate your attention to this request.

We are happy to announce that several supplementary experiences will be provided to our students across the school year once again. These opportunities enable children to explore the curriculum and deepen their understanding of the world around them beyond the walls of the classroom. Families will be provided with written notification in advance of all field trips. A completed permission slip signed by the parent or guardian needs to be returned before a student may participate in the field trip. Just a friendly reminder, payment needs to be made one business day prior to the field trip through your PowerSchool account. No child will be denied participation in field trip experiences due to lack of funds if the situation is brought to the attention of the principal prior to the scheduled event. Confidentiality will be honoured.

Please ensure you have communicated with the school office about any medical conditions or severe allergies that your child may have. If your child requires medication to be given at school or your child self-administers, a form is required. Please either come into the office or download the document off the school website and fill out a current medical alert form as soon as possible to ensure we have the most up to date information. Please note that a doctor’s signature is required on the form before any medication can be given/taken (self-administered) at school. Should a child become ill while at school, parents or guardians will be notified and asked to pick up their child. Thank you also for keeping your child home if they are unwell. We thank you for ensuring your child's safety and well-being!