October 2026

Hello families,

Thank you for a wonderful first month. We have spent lots of time settling into our new routines, and we are excited for the year ahead. We were honoured to come together in buddy classes to celebrate our school opening celebration on the morning of September 29. We had hoped to be in the gym, but our new A/V system is still being installed - we cannot wait to use it!

As we look forward to the rest of this school year, we offer thanks for this community. During this month of thanksgiving, let us choose to practice humility and gratitude. God is good!

-St. Clement Administration

Thank you for a wonderful September, Chargers! We recognized Truth and Reconciliation, had our School Opening Celebration with trustee Laura Thibert in buddy class groupings, had so much fun at our Terry Fox Run, and more.

Thank you to everyone who purchased a veggie bundle in our school fundraiser. As a school, we donated 29 bundles of veggies directly to the Food Bank - how amazing! Bundles ordered by families will be available starting on Wednesday, October 7, at the school for pick up. We will be in touch with these families.

Thank you Father Varghese for celebrating with us. Our grade 4 students received their very own bible on the morning of October 1, in a special ceremony with Father Varghese, the pastor at St. Theresa Catholic Parish.

At the start of the school day on November 23, we will be celebrating our 50th Anniversary as a school! Students can expect special guests, a mass, and lots of excitement. Happy 50th birthday St. Clement!

Thank you to our school community for the generous donations! We had such a wonderful morning running together and cheering one another on. Father Jake from St. Theresa Parish surprised us all by being one of the fastest runners of the day.

Please join us for our next School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting of the year. All parents are welcome to attend. Our SAC does important work in collaborating with school administration, supporting events and initiatives, and in assisting the school financially. We appreciate our SAC! The meeting will take place Monday, October 5 at 6:00pm, at the school, in the IB Learning Commons.

www.healthyhunger.ca/parent-register to create an account and add your child(ren). Purchasing hot lunch on Healthy Hunger Fridays is completely optional. Students are always welcome to bring their own lunches from home.

Visit Cobs Bread at Harvest Pointe and 5% of your purchase will come back to St. Clement. Harvest Points Cobs is located at 5225 Ellerslie Rd SW. We also have an ongoing Fundscrip fundraiser happening! Sign up here. Our code is 6B55D5.

The best way to become a better reader is to read! 20 minutes of home reading a day is recommended to improve literacy skills, develop vocabulary, become a critical thinker, and to see accumulated benefits over time.

Meet our multidisciplinary team! Together, in partnership with the administration team, staff, and the school behavioural team, Ms. Celine and Mr. Marco work to support students and families outside of the classroom with a variety of needs. If you believe your child could benefit from working with Ms. Celine or Mr. Marco, please reach out. Mental Health Matters!

While ECSD does not organize a Take our Kids to Work Day, families may wish to plan a shadow day for their own Grade 9 students on November 4. Please remember to call the school and excuse your child if they will be away exploring the world of work!

Parent information sessions for First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion (usually done in grade 2) are coming quickly at our partner parish, St. Theresa. Please visit their website, or see the brochures below, for more information. St. Theresa parish holds the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Spring, but work is starting soon. Santo Chines from the church visited our Grade 6 classrooms with hardcopy brochures, but more information can also be found here.

Elementary students at St. Clement and in schools across the province of Alberta will be participating in mandatory standardized government literacy and numeracy screeners. The nature of the screeners vary depending on the grade of the student. Screener data will be collected and shared with families once it is ready to send out. Data is used to inform classroom practices and interventions in the interest of student success. The first round of screeners is currently wrapping up, and data will be ready to share in a few weeks.

We have a focus on Optimal Learning at ECSD! The ECSD Education Plan, and the St. Clement School Education Plan, include work in Optimal Learning. Optimal Learning includes 9 learning conditions that are required to develop the whole learner. In our school, we strive to develop these learning conditions. Within an environment focused on the learning conditions, students should develop competencies that eventually complete our division's "Portrait of a Graduate." We endeavor to graduate students who will be successful in life! This month, staff at St. Clement have reflected on the learning condition of Catholic Faith Permeating. We do a lot of wonderful things for Catholic Faith Permeating, and are always working on growth towards a stronger presence of our faith, as well.

Feel free to refer to the handbook on our website for general school information and our student code of conduct. The newsletter features some highlights of this information, but it is not exhaustive.

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 that there is a City of Edmonton Bylaw that states dogs are not allowed on school grounds, sports fields, playgrounds, and golf courses. Please help us keep our school yard safe for everyone by keeping dogs leashed and on city sidewalks. Thank you for your cooperation!

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 be practicing fire drills, lock downs and emergency procedures to ensure the safety of all within our school. We have had our first set of drills and the students did incredibly well. We will continue to practice, sometimes with less coaching and notice. Talking about safety at home can help students feel prepared and confident at school.

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/

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.

Students are asked to dress for the weather, keeping in mind that all students receive at least one outdoor recess each day (one for JH and two for elementary). Elementary students should also bring a clean pair of non-marking indoor shoes to change into, especially as we move towards wetter and colder weather. These shoes can stay at school for the year. Labelling your belongings can help us return them to your child should they get misplaced at school. Thank you!

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!