Rider's Digest

Welcome to our weekly newsletter, designed to keep parents informed with a convenient week-at-a-glance overview.

Find all the links to school-related resources at the end of this newsletter.

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."

– Henry Ford

Dear Landing Trail Families,

It has been another full week at LT. Some of our students had a wonderful time participating in SPS’s annual Creative Arts Festival, and it was great to see their creativity and confidence on display. We also had Twin Day with Gibbons School and Legal Public School, which brought a lot of fun and connection across our communities.

Please note that STEAM Games at FWPS has been postponed to April 30. Thank you, Mrs. Plamondon, for supporting this opportunity.

We would also like to recognize Administrative Professionals Day and extend our sincere thanks to Ms. Kailey and Ms. Patti. Their work behind the scenes is essential to our school's day-to-day operations, and we are grateful for all they do to support our students, staff, and families.

We are pleased to welcome Ms. Shula, who is spending time at LT supporting students through Literacy and Numeracy Intervention. Her work will help provide targeted support to students as they continue to build their skills and confidence. We also look forward to welcoming Ms. Christina, a Mental Health Coach from Hype, who will be working in our school over the next eight weeks. She will support students through both small-group work with our CYCs and some whole-class lessons with some of our classrooms. These lessons will align with curriculum outcomes and focus on building students’ social-emotional skills and overall well-being.

We would like to take a moment to welcome Ms. Gracie, who will be joining us in a part-time role as a Child and Youth Care worker. Many of our students already know her from her practicum, and we are pleased to have her continue supporting our students and school community.

A reminder that our next school-wide hot lunch will take place on May 12, generously sponsored by Melissa Botha, Local Realtor. Students will be provided with a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of soup. Gluten-free and dairy-free options will be available; however, we cannot guarantee or accommodate all allergies. If your child does not like these options, they will need to bring a lunch from home. If your child requires more than what is offered, please ensure they bring additional food. Students should continue to bring snacks as usual.

We intentionally alternate the days of our school-wide hot lunches so that both of our kindergarten classes (KM and KT) have the opportunity to participate in at least one of these opportunities throughout the year.

As we move into the final months of the school year, many events and activities are taking place. Please continue to check your email regularly and review the weekly newsletter to stay up to date with important information and upcoming opportunities.

As mentioned last month, families are welcome to share learning preferences or considerations that may support their child’s success in 2026/2027. These must be submitted directly to me by email. Verbal requests are not tracked.

The staff at Landing Trail School carefully develop class placements by considering a number of factors, including student learning styles, learning preferences, classroom environments, behavioural considerations, developmental readiness, social relationships, gender distribution, and access to additional supports. While all input is thoughtfully reviewed, it is important to note that requests are not guarantees, as our goal is to create balanced classes that support all learners.

Please note these important dates:

• May 5 – School Council AGM
• May 12 - School-Wide Lunch
• June 9 – Third Annual Summer Festival
• June 17 – NIPD Celebration with Gibbons School & Legal Public School
• June 19 – Annual Water Fight with GFD
• June 24 - Music Celebration of Learning
• June 25 – Awards Day

Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping Landing Trail welcoming, caring, respectful, and safe.

With gratitude,

Louise Loh, Principal

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of our parent volunteers. From our weekly readers, field trip volunteers, School Council, PIA and everyone who supports our classrooms and events, your time and dedication help create a welcoming and well-supported school environment for all students. We truly appreciate the many ways you contribute to our school community—thank you for making a difference! I hope we will see you at the Volunteer Tea on Thursday, April 30th.

Grandfather Teaching Update

Grade 4 Leadership students introduced a new Grandfather teaching for April: Honesty the Sabe, reminding people to live truthfully. It teaches integrity, encouraging us to be honest with ourselves, speak from the heart, and accept our own gifts.

Some ways we can show honesty:

• When we tell the truth, people trust us, and trust is the foundation of friendship.

• Admitting to a mistake is a sign of courage and strength.

• Honesty makes your heart feel light, while lying can cause worry or trouble.

• It is possible to be both honest and kind at the same time.

• Everyone makes mistakes and telling the truth is the first step to fixing them.

Logos

The Logos parent committee is looking for volunteers for the Grandparents’ Tea on May 28th. Please reach out to logoscommittee@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out.

Upcoming Events:

• Logos BBQ May 7th 4-5pm @ Lilian Schick
• Grandparents Tea May 28th @ 1:30

Worship Wednesdays

Grades 2-4 Logos students continue to meet on Wednesdays. We are preparing songs for the Grandparents Tea in May and our final chapel in June.

A big thank you to our Landing Trail parents and family members who continue to help out with their time and generosity throughout the school year. We invite you to attend the Volunteer Tea on Thursday, April 30th, at 11:20 am. We look forward to treating you to a morning of music and tasty delights!

Connected Moment
Set aside 10 minutes each day to be fully present with your child no screens, no multitasking.

Try This at Home

• Let your child choose the activity

• Sit beside them and follow their lead

• Keep it simple no need to teach or correct

Why This Matters
Children are more willing to listen, cooperate, and take guidance when they feel connected first. At school, we see that strong relationships make everything else learning, behaviour, and problem-solving more successful.

• April 28: Sturgeon Night of Music @ Winspear
• April 28: Hot Dog Fundraiser
• April 30: Volunteer Tea @ 11:00 am
• April 30: STEAM Games @ FWPS
• May 1: King's Kids visit LT
• May 4: Bus Driver Appreciation Day
• May 5: School Council AGM
• May 6: Hats On for Mental Health
• May 7 & 8: No PreK Classes
• May 10: Mother's Day
• May 12: School-Wide Hot Lunch (Grilled Cheese & Soup)
• May 13: Kindergarten Celebration of Learning (Everyone is welcome)
• May 15: PD Day (No Classes)
• May 18: Victoria Day (No Classes)
• May 20: Pizza Fundraiser & KM Field Trip (Makery)
• May 21: Grade 4 Field Trip (TWOS) & KT/KL Field Trip (Makery)
• May 22: Tentative Grade 4 Track & Field @ Gibbons
• June 9: Third Annual Summer Festival
• June 17: NIPD with Gibbons & LPS
• June 10: Annual Water Fight with GFD
• June 25: Awards @ 9:30 am

Ordering deadline for May closes on April 28th @ noon.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support!

Please follow instructions bellow to make an account for the 25/26 school year.

• Go to landingtrail.hotlunches.net
• Click on "Click Here to Register"
• Enter Access Code: LTHL
• Complete the rest of the registration form including your email address to ensure you receive reminder emails about hot lunch order deadlines, and vour child's hot lunch order for the upcoming week.
• Click the "Register Now" button at the bottom.
• Follow the instructions to add each child in your family who attends Landing Trail School. Once your child(ren) are registered, click on "Orders."
• Proceed to order hot lunch for your children.

Orders open monthly and will be primarily completed online, if you would like to submit a paper copy please print the attached form and send it back to the school by the given date.

PayPal option:

We accept hot lunch online order payments through PayPal (www.paypal.com)

You can either pay with a credit card as a PayPal guest (Visa, Mastercard or Amex), or set up your own PayPal account.

Cash option:

Cash can be sent in to your child’s teacher or dropped at the office, please use exact cash as no change will be given. If choosing to order online but pay by cash complete the order online but do not check out via PayPal at the end. Please be sure to label any cash sent into the school.

Please Note: Should you experience any issues with your PayPal account, you must contact PayPal

directly to solve the issue.

Once hot lunches have been ordered no refunds will be given under any circumstance. No late orders or payments will be accepted past 12:00 pm on the cutoff date, any unpaid orders will be automatically deleted from the system after 6 hours left unpaid and an email will be sent to the email on your account.

If your child is not at school on hot lunch day you can arrange to pick up in the office after hot lunch service has closed for the day at 12:30 pm, please make arrangements for pick up with the office by 10:00 am or you can choose to donate the lunch to a student in need. If no arrangement for pick up is made, and the lunch goes to the classroom, your child’s lunch will be donated.

Due to timing of classes, we can not accommodate Hot Lunch for Pre-K.

Please be sure to double check all kindergarten days as no refunds will be given for wrong Friday orders.

** ALL MEALS ARE PEANUT AWARE - DAIRY AND GLUTEN AWARE ITEMS WILL BE LABELED ON ORDER PAGE AS AVAILABLE**

Attendance plays a critical role in your child's education. When your child is absent and you have not contacted the school to inform us, effort will be made to contact you to ensure that your child is safe at home. Please report your child's absence by calling or emailing the school.

There are three ways to report your child's absence:

• Online - Use this link to report your child's absence.
• Telephone - Call 780-923-2898 and leave a voice message.
• Please include the following information:
• Your child’s full name & class or teacher
• When your child will be absent or late
• The reason for the absence or late
• When your child is expected to return to school

• Email - ltrail@sturgeon.ab.ca to report your child absent.
• Please include the following information in the email:

• Your child’s full name & class or teacher
• When your child will be absent or late
• The reason for the absence or late
• When your child is expected to return to school

Did you know that grade 2 students have been doing all our morning announcements since last year? Tune in every morning at 8:35 am if you'd like to watch!

*Students with ATIA (FOIP) permissions lead announcements.

Sturgeon Public Schools is proud to be the first division in Alberta to partner with Unplugged Canada, a parent-led movement that encourages families to delay giving children personal smartphones until at least the age of 14. Waiting can have a profoundly positive impact on children’s mental health, relationships, and overall well-being.

As part of our end-of-the-year planning, we are in the process of creating a 2025-2026 school yearbook Laurentian for the orders and programming. We still use Lifetouch for the individual photos that are placed into the yearbook. Recently, Lifetouch has been in the news.

Here is a statement that the company has issues to address some of the concerns that have been presented:

“At Lifetouch Canada, owned by Everest Solutions in Canada, student safety goes beyond the camera lens. As a trusted partner to schools for 90 years, we’re committed to protecting the privacy and personal information about every student we serve."

We are aware of some misinformation circulating regarding school photos and want to share accurate information with our community.

• Student photos taken by Lifetouch Canada are used only for school records and to provide families with the option to purchase photos.

• Lifetouch also partners with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to provide free Pictures to Protect cards, which families can use in emergencies.

• Student images are not shared, sold, or used for AI, facial recognition, or any third-party purposes.

• While Lifetouch is part of a larger corporate structure, external investors do not have access to student images or day-to-day operations.

• All practices follow applicable provincial and national privacy laws.

We value your trust and remain committed to protecting student information while helping families capture important school memories.

For additional information, families may contact: privacy@everestsolutionsgroup.ca

This is a friendly reminder that there are designated non-parking areas in front of the school. We kindly ask that you do not stop or park in these spaces during drop-off and pick-up times.

Please note that peace officers do monitor these areas regularly and may issue tickets if vehicles are parked in violation.

We appreciate your cooperation in helping keep our school entrances safe and accessible for all students.

PowerSchool App

You will require a District Code to access your child's profile on the PS App.

District Code: JDQX

Find the PS App for Google here.

Find the PS App for Apple here.

Looking for more information on Outcomes-Based Reporting? Click this link to find out more.

Did you know that parent volunteers run our Hot Lunch program? A huge thank you to parents who give up hours of planning, organizing and delivering hot lunches to our students and staff almost every Friday. If you're looking for other ways to volunteer for PIA Events/Hot Lunch in the 2025/2026 school year, please get in touch with our PIA at landingtrailpia@gmail.com.

NEXT MEETING: September 2026

If you are interested in helping with planning or volunteering, please e-mail: logoscommittee@gmail.com

We are so encouraged by the positive response to our smudging opportunity! With such strong interest from students, we will now be dividing into two groups to accommodate the large numbers. We began on Monday, September 22nd. Students will have the opportunity to participate in optional smudging at the end of the day (around 2:45 pm) on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Smudging is a traditional Indigenous practice that uses the smoke of sacred medicines (such as sage, cedar, sweetgrass, or tobacco) for purification and reflection. Participation is always voluntary: families may choose to have their children participate, observe respectfully, or not take part at all.

This practice supports our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, helping students grow in respect, understanding, and a strong sense of belonging.

Parental permission is required for a child to participate (Click this link to give consent).

Please note that OSC is operated by an independent contractor and leases space in the school building.

OSC Hours:

Morning: 6:45 AM – 8:30 AM

Afternoon: 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Full-day care during school breaks and PD days

Landing Trail Spirit Wear

Get your LANDING TRAIL SPIRIT WEAR! The online store is open with a great variety of clothing and accessories to be purchased.

Register at the following website and start shopping NOW!

https://landingtrailschool.entripyshops.com/

• Shoppers will be able to place orders year-round.
• There is no cut-off for orders. Entripy will process all orders that it receives in a timely fashion.
• Each time an order is placed, you will input a shipping address. Entripy will ship the order to the address that you have specified.
• Entripy accepts credit and debit payments using Visa and MasterCard.
• Note: All sales are final
• NO Sizing Kit is available.

Click on this link to contact a staff member.

General Email: ltrail@sturgeon.ab.ca