Madonna Catholic School News

Dear Madonna Families,

As we conclude the first week of November and head into a well-deserved Fall Break, we hope your families enjoy this opportunity to rest and recharge together.

The Gospel reading for this Sunday, November 8, shares the Parable of the Ten Virgins, reminding us of the importance of keeping our lamps burning brightly and our oil replenished. In the busy, everyday rhythm of the school year, it is easy to let our spiritual and physical reserves run low. Just as the wise figures in the parable knew they needed extra oil to keep their light alive, we too must recognize when it is time to pause and refill our own lamps.

May this Fall Break be a blessed time of renewal for your household. We pray you use this time to step back from the daily rush, reconnect as a family, and restore your energy. We look forward to welcoming our students back, refreshed and ready to continue sharing their light with our Catholic school community. Have a safe, peaceful, and joyful break!

Fiona Wimmer, Assistant Principal

Cathy Hinger, Principal

November 9-13 - Fall break * no school*

November 16 - Classes resume at Madonna

November 18 - Prayer Club & Priest Visit

November 20 - School Spirit Day: Jersey Day

November 25 - Prayer Club & Priest Visit

Parents and grandparents: if you are interested in volunteering at our school or for school events/fieldtrips, please make sure you complete all our Volunteer requirement. We have attached the Volunteer Forms for your convenience.

If you haven’t joined yet, please feel free to join our Parent Council WhatsApp group. We use it for meeting reminders, upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, quick updates and just to stay connected throughout the year.

Join here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/JB2V5hfggfxLEptGCIiMIB?mode=gi_t

Thanks everyone for your continued support and for always helping us make these events happen!

Madonna Catholic School Parent Council

As we continue our focus on the Saints this month we shift our focus to St. Martin of Tours. He was a Roman soldier who famously cut his military cloak in half to share with a freezing beggar before dedicating his life to serving others. As highlighted on the bulletin board outside our front office, his story reminds us that "Even small acts of kindness make a big difference". We hope that by focussing on this saint our students will take the opportunity to share with classmates and choosing peace on the playground. We also will help students to see how St. Martin's everyday compassion was reflected in his legacy of service just as those we focus on during our Remembrance Day reflections.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mrs. Larose, her student teacher Ms. Bishop, and the entire 2L class for preparing and leading a beautiful, memorable Remembrance Day observation for our whole school today. Their hard work and dedication resulted in a truly moving and reverent assembly. A special thank you as well to the many family members who were able to join us for this important occasion of reflection and remembrance.

Mrs. Niezen's grade 3 in-school presentation "What's the Matter?" took place this week. The students acted as science detectives to help clean up "Muddy Buddy" the dog by exploring solids, liquids, and gases. Through interactive, hands-on stations, they created custom soap, experimented with non-Newtonian fluids (Oobleck), completed state-of-matter experiments, and painted watercolors to model phase changes in the water cycle. We've put a few extra photos of this fun learning experience on our Madonna Facebook page.

This week our ECS classes took their learning about our community on a road trip! The school bus came and took the kindergarteners to OLPH Parish where they experienced a wonderful tour. Shortly thereafter, they boarded the bus to the County Library where the staff there showed our students all the programs and fun they can have in that space.

A huge thank you to our incredible parent volunteers who dedicated their time and energy to host a spectacular family fun evening for our Madonna Catholic community last Friday night. From the delicious meals to the fantastic DJ, it was a truly wonderful night of fellowship and fun for everyone.

To register, please call 780-416-6730 or register online at Cozy Connections - Unparented - Grades 2 and 3 - Two-day program, Monday, November 9, 2026, 9am - 12pm - Family and parenting supports | Strathcona County

OLPH (Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish)

Masses at OLPH will be livestreamed. Please join using this link. https://www.facebook.com/olphsherwoodpark/videos/

Visit OLPH Website for more information about the parish and in regards to sacramental preparation.

Visit www.facebook.com/olphsherwoodpark