St. Cecilia Community Messenger

Mon, Jan 27, Day 3

• Coco Brooks and Spolumbos fundraiser begins

Tues, Jan 28, Day 4

Wed, Jan 29, Day 5

Thurs, Jan 30, Day 6

• Evening PT Conferences

Fri, Jan 31, Day 1

• PT Conferences - No classes

Feb 1: Black History Month begins

Feb 13-14: Teacher's Convention

Feb 20: School Council Meeting; 9:30 AM.

Feb 24: Last day for Coco Brooks and Spolumbo's

Feb 26: Pink Shirt Day

March 1: Francophone Month

March 4: Djembe drums

March 5: Ash Wednesday Mass

March 6: Pick up Spolumbos and Coco Brooks

March 20: School Council 6:30 PM

March 24: Readathon begins

March 25: Lockdown Practice 10:00 AM

March 27: Lenten Liturgy 10:30 AM

April 7: Book Swap

April 11: Pledges from Book Swap Are Due

April 16: Holy Thursday Liturgy

May 1: Asian Heritage Month

May 8: Spring Family Dance

May 15: School Council

May 19: Victoria Day - No Classes

May 22: Marian Liturgy

May 28: ELA PAT - Gr 6 Students

May 30: Sacramental Recognition Liturgy - 10:30 AM

June 5: School Council Meeting - 9:30 AM

June 6: PG Day - No classes

June 12: Gr 6 ELA PAT Part B

June 13: Gr 6 Math Part A

June 18: Year End Mass

June 21: National Indigenous People's Day

June 25: Last day of classes for students

June 26: Last day for teachers

The Foundation for St. Cecilia School is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded the Building Communities Grant for $50,000 through the Calgary Parks Foundation! This is a huge leap forward in our efforts to raise the funds necessary to build a new playground.

A heartfelt thank-you to our amazing parent volunteers for their dedication and hard work on this project!

The playground committee is preparing an exciting fundraising update—we can’t wait to share our progress and updated numbers with you soon.

We’re also looking forward to seeing a fantastic turnout at our upcoming Pub Night fundraiser. Let’s keep the energy going!

If you’d like to get involved in supporting this important project, we’d love to hear from you. Please email stceciliafoundation@gmail.com

Registration for Kindergarten in September of 2025 will open online on Feb 3. Please do NOT complete the registration before Feb 3 and Please note that ALL registrations must be completed online. Completing the registration at the link below does NOT guarantee your spot in Kindergarten. Once the form is completed the information must be verified and confirmed by school administration. Please refer to AP 301 in the attachment below. If you still have questions about kindergarten registration, please do not hesitate to call us at 403 500 2040.

Register - Calgary Catholic School District

Dear Parents, Friends, and Families of St. Cecilia,

The Countdown is On—Don’t Miss This Night of Fun and Fundraising!

The St. Cecilia Foundation invites you to our Pub Night & Silent Auction Fundraiser in support of our new playground project.

Event Details:

• Location: Canadian Brewhouse – Mahogany (7 Mahogany Plaza SE #700, Calgary)
• Date: Saturday, February 8, 2025
• Time: Doors open at 7 PM, Silent Auction starts immediately
• Tickets: $10 per person (includes one drink valued at $7.99). Food and additional drinks can be purchased from the menu.

Why Attend?

• Support Our Students: Every dollar raised helps build a playground for St. Cecilia kids.
• Amazing Silent Auction Items:
• $350 Pasta Dinner Voucher
• Signed Flames Jersey #96 Andrei Kuzmenko
• Flames Tickets
• Women’s Bicycle
• Gift Baskets, Mini Golf Passes, Laser Tag Passes, Jump Passes, and more!
• On-Site CASH 50/50 Draw: Your chance to win big while supporting a great cause.
• Community Connection: Meet fellow parents and friends in a fun, relaxed atmosphere.

Silent Auction Schedule:

• Round 1 Closes: 9:15 PM
• Round 2 Closes: 9:45 PM
• 50/50 Winner Announced: After 10 PM

Get Your Tickets:
Email stceciliafoundation@gmail.com with your name and ticket count. We’ll confirm your order and send e-transfer details. Seating is limited—act fast!

Want to Donate to the Auction?
We’re still accepting contributions! Email stceciliafoundation@gmail.com to help make a difference.

Spread the Word:
Invite friends, family, and neighbors! Let’s make this playground a reality for our kids.

This is more than a fundraiser—it’s a chance to build community, have fun, and leave a legacy. We can’t wait to see you there!

Sincerely,
The St. Cecilia Foundation Team

Please consider supporting the Calgary Catholic Education Foundation raffle which is currently underway. The CCEF supports Catholic Education by providing grants to schools for things such as playgrounds and technology upgrades. You may purchase your ticket at this link: 2025 CCEF ANNUAL 50/50 RAFFLE | Rafflebox

Or, scan the QR Code.

Thank you for supporting the CCEF!!

Progress Reports for most students have been issued. We are working through some technical difficulties with a few students. We ask for your patience while we work through those issues.

Conference Manager will open tomorrow, Jan 25 at 11 AM and we encourage all parents to book a meeting with your child's teacher to discuss progress. You may book your conference at this link. You can access the Conference Manager at https://stcecilia.schoolsoft.com/login.jsf

Hello Families,

Did you know that today is World Education Day?

World Education Day, officially known as the International Day of Education, is celebrated on January 24 each year. This day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 3, 2018, to highlight the importance of education in promoting peace and development.

The theme for 2025 is "AI and Education: Preserving Human Agency in a World of Automation"

This theme focuses on the role of education in helping people understand, adapt to, and shape the rapid changes brought by artificial intelligence and technology.

Education is recognized as a fundamental human right and is essential for achieving global goals, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

Please click on the link for a message from UNICEF about children's struggle for education that is still relevant today. May we all do our part to ensure that children everywhere have their right to education respected and provided.

Take Care 🙂

Next week we will start a special activity with selected students who have demonstrated desirable behaviors and who have been nominated by their teachers. Students will be invited to "Tea time with Mme Dina. " The purpose of this activity is to recognize and positively reinforce behavior that contributes to a safe, caring, welcoming and respectful school environment.

Students will receive an invitation that describes the behavior they demonstrated. More information is available in the attachments below.

Please click on the link below for the GRACE newsletter. Grace stands for Grateful Advocates of Catholic Education. This is a grassroots organization that is committed to preserving and advancing publicly funded Catholic Education.

GrACE Newsletter | Smore Newsletters for Education

Part of our Epiphany Celebration involves a demonstration of Faith where we mark our doorways with blessed chalk. When you come to the school you may note the numbers and letters 20+C+M+B+25 inscribed above doorways. The numbers represent the current year and the letters are the first initials of the three magi who visited Jesus in the manger. The attachment below provides the liturgical significance and the rationale for why we do this. We encourage all families to take a moment to read the attachment and consider inscribing these letters and numbers in chalk above your doorway to signify that Christ lives there.

Please watch for information coming home next week on Family Life. Fully Alive is part of our PE & Wellness curriculum. Unit 3 covers topics related to Family Life therefore the classroom teacher must teach this portion of the program. In Grades 1-3, this material is taught as it comes up in the sequence of units. However, in Grades 4-6, Unit 3 is reserved until the month of June and is taught in Religion class.

Should any parent choose to have their children exempted from Unit 3 instruction, parents must notify the principal of the school in writing, as detailed in Section 58.1(2) of the Education Act.

Each year Alberta schools are required to analyze data and make plans for continual school improvement. Our school plan flows from the School District plan and is framed around District Priorities which are; Faith Formation, Student Success, Well Being and Indigenous Education. Our school plan is housed on our school website at this link: Reports & Publications - St. Cecilia School.

Over the coming weeks I will include snippets of data from our AEM report and Student Voice Survey in this newsletter. Ongoing discussion, analysis will occur at the school level as the school year continues to unfold.

Each year, students in grades 4-5-6 are asked to complete the Student Voice Survey. The SVS collects data on the District Board Priorities and students are asked a variety of questions.

1. I often worry that other students will think I am not good enough.

- 25.49% strongly agree they often worry about what other students think of them.

- 23.53% disagree they often worry about what other students think.

- 39.22% agree they often worry about what other students think.

- 11.76% strongly disagree they often worry about what other students think.

2. I often worry that I will get poor grades at school.

- 33.33% strongly agree they often worry about getting poor grades.

- 20.59% disagree they often worry about getting poor grades.

- 40% agree they often worry about getting poor grades.

- 5.88% strongly disagree they often worry about getting poor grades.

3. I feel completely overwhelmed when I don't know how to solve a problem at...

- 26.47% strongly agree they feel overwhelmed when faced with problems they can't solve.

- 28.43% disagree they feel overwhelmed in such situations.

- 35.29% agree they feel overwhelmed when faced with problems they can't solve.

- 9.8% strongly disagree they feel overwhelmed in such situations.

The data provides insights into the students' worries and feelings of being overwhelmed. The responses show a range of perspectives, with significant percentages both agreeing and disagreeing with the given statements. This highlights the diversity of experiences and challenges faced by the students.

The Education Act requires the Calgary Catholic School District to prioritize resources and facilities for resident (Catholic) students. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the advancement of a non-resident (non-Catholic) student from one grade to the next in the same school or from elementary to junior and senior high school.

We do not reassess the enrollment priority of a non-resident student during a school year, but we may do this for a future school year. This may result in us informing you to seek enrollment at a different school in the Calgary Catholic School District or another school division for a future school year.

Please contact me at denis.fortier@cssd.ab.ca or by phone at 403 500 2063, if you have any questions about your child’s enrollment priority.

January 23, 2025

Just a reminder that the schedule of the Board Meeting dates is posted on the district website and can be accessed through this link: https://www.cssd.ab.ca/meeting-schedule

To access the Calgary Catholic Minutes for the Regular Board Meeting of January 8, 2025, and the Special Board Meeting of January 15, 2025 well as previous minutes, please access this link: https://www.cssd.ab.ca/highlights-minutes.

Formed, AKA Netflix for Catholics

All About Shrove Tuesday

My Child's Learning: A Parent Resource

Canadian Parents for French - CPF is an advocacy group whose aim is to promote French bilingual education.

St. Cecilia Student Handbook

K to 12 Education in Alberta: This link gives a broad overview of Alberta's K to 12 education system.

New LearnAlberta Parent Support Website: Contains an overview of grade level topics and is a good place to start for parents who are looking for ways to engage with their child's education.

Programs of Study: Links to K-12 programs of study as well as Tools for Parents.

Please click the links below to view the volunteer orientation and please make sure to complete the acknowledgement forms. These steps are very important in keeping you up to date as a school volunteer.

Volunteer Orientation: https://youtu.be/QaOxx2x3-eM

Acknowledgement Form: https://forms.gle/sDCD7aYau9PTGgSPA

Indigenous Education Links

21 Things You May Not Have Known About the Indian Act

Indigenous Veteran's Day - Nov 8.

The Seven Sacred Laws Animated Web Series

RupertsLand Institute

Indigenous Elder Definition

Action for Happiness Action for Happiness is a great resource to bring more positivity in our lives.

The Summit - The Summit program is an Alberta Health Services program that supports children and families experiencing mental health concerns that need to be addressed. They provide long term counselling as well as walk in’s.

CanLearn Society - A great resource for parents on how to manage mental health issues or concerns in the home.

Healthy childhood development through outdoor risky play: Navigating the balance with injury prevention.

Brief review about outdoor play

The importance of regaining outdoor PA

HealthyHunger.ca Healthy Hunger.

Bullying Prevention Resources for Alberta Government

Links for Playground Donations

For St. Cecilia School students/parents, please click below link to login school fee payment account to make the donation:

https://www.studentquickpay.com/CSSD/Default.aspx

For guest donors, please click below link to login and make the donation:

https://www.studentquickpay.com/CSSD/MyAccount/Main.aspx?webitemid=8670

Aug 26-Sept 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/8n1cr

Sept 9-13, 2024 : https://secure.smore.com/n/at85k

Sept 16-20, 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/uaxp4

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Dec 12 - 19, Christmas Edition: https://secure.smore.com/n/s9b4mq

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Jan 20 - 24, 2025: https://secure.smore.com/n/6w5tue

Jan 27 - Jan 31, 2025: https://secure.smore.com/n/a0489