Wolf Tracks

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 7 - Labour Day (No School)

Sept. 8 - Library Schedule Starts

Sept. 9 - Early Dismissal at 2:14pm

Sept. 9 - Jr. High Option Change Deadline

Sept. 14 - School Picture Day (KA only)

Sept. 14 - School Wide Bus Evacuations at 9:00am

Sept. 14 - Little Elk Island Adventure Schedule A at 9:30am

Sept. 14 - Linking Generations Information Session 9:00am

Sept. 15 - School Picture Day (KB-9)

Sept. 15 - Little Elk Island Adventure Schedule B at 2:15 am

Sept. 15 - Lakeland Ridge Band Club Parent Meeting at 6:00pm

Sept. 15 - School Council & AGM 6:30pm

Sept. 16 - Early Dismissal at 2:14pm

Sept. 22-26 - Truth and Reconciliation Week

Sept. 23 - Terry Fox Run

Sept. 23 - Early Dismissal at 2:14pm

Sept. 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (No School)

*More dates to come! Check our school website for the most up-to-date information.

Students with severe allergies (anaphylaxis), asthma, epilepsy, or diabetes require a medical plan. Please contact our office if your child has one of the conditions listed above or has a medical condition that requires a medical plan. A permission click will be emailed to you to complete.

If your child requires medication to be accessible at the school, such as Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl, Reactine or Tums, contact our office. A permission click will be emailed to you to complete.

Students are not permitted to administer their own medication at school. All medication should be provided in its original packaging and labelled with the student’s name. All medication will be stored in the office with administering recorded.

Our first School Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 15 at 6:30 pm. Parents/Caregivers will have the option to attend in person in our Learning Commons (library). School Council is a collective association of parents, teachers, and administrators who work together for the betterment of the school community. Among other important roles, the School Council dialogues with the principal on a variety of school matters. We will be selecting our School Council Executive for the 2024-25 school year at our first meeting. The agenda and link for the meeting will be uploaded to our school website later next week.

Junior High students who wish to request an option change can collect the form from the office starting September 4.

Signed change request forms must be returned by Wednesday, September 9. No late requests will be accepted. At this time, we will be doing both Semester 1 and 2 course changes. We do our best to try to ensure every student receives the classes that they are interested in but cannot make guarantees due to limits on class size.

Dear Parents and Students,

My name is Mr. Semple and I am the current music teacher at Bev Facey Community High School. I have been given the fantastic opportunity to spend some time this fall creating a Band club at Lakeland Ridge School for students in grades 6-9. This will be a lunchtime group that meets 1 - 2 days per week at the school between 12:30 and 1:30. The goal of this group is to introduce students to the world of concert band and plant the seeds of enthusiasm for music education. Students will have the opportunity to learn to play a variety of wind instruments. The instruments available to rent are:

• Flute

• Clarinet

• Trumpet

• Trombone

• Alto Saxophone

• Euphonium

All of these instruments will be available for parents to rent from Long and McQuade for the duration of the fall. We will be holding an info night for parents on September 15th at 6:00 PM at the school in the drama room. This will take place shortly before the parent council meeting at 6:30 PM. I will be at the school on the 9th and 10th of September during lunch hour giving demonstrations of the instruments and talking to students about band.

In this club students will learn:

• proper breathe support and posture,

• proper hand position and embouchure,

• proper care and maintenance for their instrument,

• to read standard musical notation,

• to work in a team as a member of a musical ensemble.

Why learn music?

Learning music is a workout for the brain. Research shows that musical training strengthens memory, concentration, problem-solving, language skills, and the brain’s ability to process information. When students play in a band, they aren’t just learning music. They are developing cognitive skills that support success across all areas of learning.

Students will have the opportunity to present the music that they will learn at the Bev Facey Winter Concert in December alongside the Facey High School Band. I am inviting you to take your first step into what may turn out to be a lifelong love of the arts. I’m excited for you to join me as we learn and play music together!

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at:

Joe.semple@eips.ca

Mr. Joseph Semple

When dropping off and picking up students, please ensure you are not parking in bus zones or staff parking spaces at any time, even for a quick stop. Staff parking spaces have all been allocated between the staff from Lakeland Ridge, Holy Spirit and EIPS Supports for Students. All staff parking spots are in use, however, you may see some open spots because staff from all 3 organizations arrive and depart at various times of the day. Please do not park in an empty staff parking space.

Did you know you can sync the school calendar to your own calendar? Simply, visit https://www.lakelandridge.ca/about/calendar, click on “Subscribe to Calendar” and follow the instructions. Within seconds, your calendar will contain all Lakeland Ridge's important dates including holidays, school-closures days, planned activities and events, and it will remain synced with all the latest updates throughout the school year.

Wondering when and how to pay for school fees? School fee information for the 2026-27 school year will be posted on the PowerSchool Parent Portal in late September. All fees are due within 30 days of being posted. NOTE: Additional fees may be added throughout the year—for example, at the beginning of each semester, as your child takes part in various activities, or they may be adjusted by changes in selected optional courses in junior and senior high school. If you’re unable to pay your school fees, you can apply to have certain fees waived. The application deadline is Dec. 15, 2026.

For more information, visit the https://www.lakelandridge.ca/about/180409 on the school website. Alternatively, contact Cathy Eyben at Lakeland Ridge at 780-416-9018.

Is your child riding the bus this year? If yes, download the My Ride, Bus Status and SchoolMessenger apps to stay in the know about your child’s bus stop location, route, pickup time and whether their bus is running on schedule.

EIPS has outlined rules about the use of personal mobile devices for each grade level in Administrative Procedure 145: Use of Personal Mobile Devices. Processes outlined within this AP are based on direction provided by the provincial government through Ministerial Order 014/2024: Standards for the Use of Personal Mobile Devices and Social Media in Schools. This includes the use of various electronic devices, including smartwatches and Meta glasses. Lakeland Ridge also has a Personal Mobile Device (PMD) Plan that provides additional details for our school.

We encourage families to review our PMD plan with their child to ensure students understand where and when they can and cannot access their personal mobile devices at school.

In 2026-27, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) is piloting a new reporting scale for communicating elementary student achievement. Most recently, kindergarten to Grade 6 student achievement has been reported using a five-point scale. This year, the Division is piloting a new three-point scale for kindergarten to Grade 2 and a four-point scale for grades 3 to 6. The goals of the pilot are to provide useful, clear communication to parents and caregivers about their child’s progress, and provide a clear, consistent framework for teachers to use for assessment of student learning.

The draft achievement scales were developed based on teacher and administrator input, assessment research and reviews of best practices across Alberta, Canada and the world. However, it’s critical parents and caregivers feel confident about the reporting structure. Throughout the fall and winter, Division and school staff will share more information to introduce the new grade scales, collect initial feedback and answer questions through school council meetings, school interviews and school newsletters. The feedback collected will help EIPS revise the grading scales as needed, and opportunities for further feedback will be available later in the school year.

In 2026-27, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) is piloting a new mechanism for families to have live, direct access to student assessment information for grades 1 to 6. Through the PowerTeacher Pro dashboard in the PowerSchool Parent Portal, parents and caregivers will be able to log in to see assessment information throughout the year, rather than waiting for a report card. With this change, elementary schools will also shift to two formal report cards for grades 1 to 6 for the school year, rather than three.

Elementary schools will roll out the new approach in two groups. Lakeland Ridge is part of phase 1, and live access to student assessment information will be available starting in Semester 1. Throughout September, students will be settling into routines and begin work on their first units of study. As these first units wrap up, parents and caregivers can expect to see assessment information starting to be available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal later in October.

This new approach does not replace any existing methods of communicating student learning with families. Schools will still issue formal report cards and conduct school interviews in the fall and spring. Live access to student assessment information through the Parent Portal is just an additional way EIPS schools will communicate student learning for the coming year.

Throughout September, parents and caregivers are encouraged to log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal, to ensure the login process works smoothly and to get familiar with the platform if you haven’t used it in the past. If you have any issues logging into your account, reach out to the school office at 780-416-9018.

Learn more about the changes

Alberta's new junior high curriculum takes effect in September 2027, and Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) is piloting specific grades and some of the new courses starting this September.

Junior high students across Alberta will see updates to the Mathematics and Social Studies curricula this year. In addition, two new courses—Physical Education & Wellness (PEW), and Career Education & Financial Literacy (CEFL)—will be implemented. PEW combines concepts from the previous Physical Education and Health classes into one combined class. CEFL is a new course designed to support students in their journey toward career and financial independence in their teenage years. This is a province-wide change, the first major junior high curriculum update in over two decades.

Before the full rollout in September 2027, we’re using the 2026–27 school year as an optional piloting year. Piloting lets teachers test draft curriculum, build expertise and refine instructional practices. EIPS’ approach is deliberately careful, with continuity of student learning as a top priority.

What this means for our students:

• Grade 7 students in Lakeland Ridge will pilot all of the new curriculum subjects, with full piloting in Math, Social Studies, PEW and CEFL.

• Grade 8 students will fully pilot PEW and CEFL, with partial piloting in Math to ensure a smooth transition into Grade 9 and high school.

• Grade 9 students will continue learning the current curriculum in Math and Social Studies. There are no changes to Grade 9 PATs so the transition to high school stays predictable. PEW and CEFL are the new subjects that Grade 9 students will experience.

Supporting our teachers

Every junior high teacher of these subjects will participate in professional learning sessions to prepare them for new curriculum. We’ve also designated a Curriculum Lead in each subject to support colleagues with planning and resource development and curation. Curriculum Leads attend additional learning sessions across the year. This work will help teachers provide a strong foundation for our students as we navigate the changes in new curriculum over the course of the next few years.

Want to learn more? Talk to the admin team, attend an upcoming school council meeting or visit alberta.ca/curriculum. We will have more information throughout the year!

Tech and Teens
Date: September 17

Technology is an important part of family life, but conversations about technology can often lead to conflict, confusion, and concern. This interactive workshop will help parents and caregivers learn practical strategies for supporting teens in developing healthy relationships with technology.

Participants will:

• Explore current research and perspectives on technology and youth
• Learn conversation tools to better understand their teen's experiences
• Discover ways to support healthy technology habits and digital well-being
• Reflect on family values and how technology can support those values

Register here:
https://www.strathcona.ca/community-families/parents-children-families/family-resource-network/?utm…

Email: general.llr@eips.ca
Website: https://www.lakelandridge.ca/
Location: 101 Crimson Drive, Sherwood Park, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-416-9018
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lakeland-Ridge-School-1490402014609661
Instagram: @LakelandRidgeWolves