Dear St. Gabes Students and Families,

Last year at this time I was writing about how "spring is almost here!" but with this recent dump of snow (which is so badly needed) spring seems a wish for the distant future.

We are a month into the semester now. We've noticed a big uptake in student attendance at school for seminars, extra help or simply coming to school to work. This is truly wonderful. We know when students connect with their school and teachers, they do better in their courses. If you are behind, please contact your teacher to make a plan to get caught up and to stay on track. We all want you to succeed!

Two weeks ago we began the season of Lent, a time of prayer, forgiveness, and charity. Please be sure to read below for our calendar events for March.

Finally, we encourage you to stay in touch with us and to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. We value your feedback and welcome the opportunity to work together to support your success.

Many Blessings to you all,

Renee Trottier

principal

March 8 - International Womens' Day

March 10 - Turn your clocks ahead

March 12 - School Council meeting

March 14 - Parent Teacher Interviews

March 15 - PD Day - School Closed

March 17 - St. Patrick's Day

March 22 - April 2 - Spring Break. School is closed.

March 24 - Maundy Thursday

March 29 - Good Friday

March 30 - Holy Saturday

March 31 - Easter Sunday

April 1 - Easter Monday

April 2 - School opens

Dear Families,

Thank you to all those who have already completed their registration for the upcoming school year. For those who haven't yet registered, we kindly remind you to do so at your earliest convenience. Registering promptly allows us to accurately plan for class sizes, allocate resources efficiently, and tailor our educational programs to meet the diverse needs of our students. Your timely registration plays a crucial role in helping us create the best possible learning environment for your child.

Please contact the school if you need any support with the registration process.

Click here to register for the 2024/25 school year.

We will do a draw for prizes each month for those who register before the end of June. If you have questions, please contact us and we can help.

The first winner of our draw for early registration is . . .

Thank you for taking the time to read about what's happening at St. Gabes each month. Our newsletter is a really important way for you to keep up with what's happening at school.

Each month you can enter our draw for a gift card. I reset the draw each month so you can win more than once! Congratulations to Kayla Veenstra! Please come to school to pick up your gift card.

https://forms.gle/kx5u8TWpSDKAw8Jn8

Our last interviews for the year are scheduled for March 14 from 5:30-8:30. Please click the link below to register. Our interviews are online or in person at our school site, 15 Mission Avenue.

Click on the link below to book your time with your teachers. If the system asks you for a code (which it shouldn't if you click the link below) the code is xv8hy.

Please note - Mrs. Ketsa will be meeting families online on Wed. March 13. She will contact all of you.

Grade 9 parents, please fill out the following form regarding Grade 9 farewell.

Our next school council meeting is on March 12 at 6:30.

We are in need of a parent volunteer to be the secretary for our meetings. It's not a big job and can be done during the meeting. Most of our meetings are only an hour long. Meetings are once/month except for December and June. You can find the link to the meeting on the agendas which are posted on our website, or email Renee Trottier at rtrottier@gsacrd.ab.ca for the link. We're happy to have all parents and guardians join us, even if you can't commit to coming each month.

A school with a School Council is a strong, productive and viable school!

1. Check in - Always check in at the office - sign in with our QR code. This is for students and guests.

2. Check out - Always check out again before you leave.

It's important that we know who is in the building for safety reasons. If there is a lock down or evacuation, we need to be able to identify who is at school so that we can help to keep you safe.

3. Do not wander into areas of the school that aren't part of St. Gabe's. Our division office employees are working in other classrooms and offices in the building and we do not want to disturb them.

4. Parking - DO NOT park in the staff parking lot to the east of the school. You will be asked to move your car. You can park in the public parking lot across the street, in front of the school on the street, at the tennis court parking lot, and on the side streets.

5. Washroom facilities - we have 2 washrooms dedicated for student use close to our common room. There are student washroom signs on the doors. Do not use the staff washrooms that are closest to the front office.

6. Bring your own reusable water bottle. We now have a water bottle filling station in the hallway.

Just a reminder to read over our course completion policy which is linked in Moodle and can be found on page 6 of our student handbook. We believe in flexibility at St. Gabes but we are NOT a self-paced school. Students are expected to keep on track with completing assignments and exams. Students who hand in assignments and complete exams late may find themselves withdrawn from their courses. Teachers are under no obligation to mark assessments that are more than 2 weeks late or from previous units. Again, be sure to talk to your teachers if you are struggling with the course load. Communication is always the key to success.

Junior High students - remember that you are expected to join classes on time for prayer and announcements. Attendance in junior high is mandatory for all classes. If you are going to be absent, please contact Val Franklin at mailto:vfranklin@gsacrd.ab.ca or call us at 780-459-6616

We no longer print and send home report cards. Marks are all recorded in PowerSchool on a continual basis, including comments if necessary. Parents and students are expected to check PowerSchool regularly.

Students - You can access PowerSchool using your student email and password.

Parents - If you don't have a parent PowerSchool account, please contact Principal Renee Trottier. You will need an access ID and Password from the school in order to set up your account. You can add all of your GSACRD children on one account.

The PowerSchool App - Did you know there is an app for PowerSchool? It's super easy to use. Once you've set up your account, download the PowerSchool App from your phone's app store. When it prompts you for our district code, type in QNMM.

Note - parents, you must set up your account from a computer first. After that, you can access your account from your phone or the app.

MyPass is an Alberta Education secure self-service website for Alberta students to:

• View and print diploma exam results
• Register to write a diploma exam
• Order high school transcripts
• View progress towards a credential (diploma or certificate)
• View and print a Detailed Academic Report (DAR)
• Order additional copies of an awarded credential
• View student personal information

Link to MyPass: https://public.education.alberta.ca/PASI/myPass

We are about half way into our Lenten Season right now. How are you doing? I know I've been struggling this year to keep my lenten promises. Sometimes just spending time in prayer can refocus us on what is important during this season.

The 3 Pillars of Lent

1. Prayer - Spend more time in prayer each day.

2. Fasting - Giving up something that is a luxury for you. This doesn't have to be a food item. You can give up social media, video games, negative thoughts, judgemental thinking, etc.

3. Almsgiving - donating to charity, giving of your time, talents and resources to others.

This month at SGEC myself and fellow teachers are focusing on helping students stay on track with their courses. We know just how easy it is to fall behind. You might find that suddenly you have multiple late assignments and that things are piling up, including those emails from your teacher asking where your work is.

It is natural to feel a fair amount of anxiety while working through a course. It is hard work and whenever we are doing hard things our brains and bodies respond to that stress and in some people this comes in the form of anxiety. That's ok. What matters is what we do with that anxiety. Anxiety is our body's way of protecting us, but when it comes to school work your body has mistaken the stress you feel about completing work as a threat to your immediate survival, causing it to overreact. The best way to calm your anxiety is to face the stress head-on, which means... start tackling the work, little by little. This way your body recognizes that it is not an actual threat to your survival and will relax, making it easier and easier to accomplish your work. However, if you avoid the work, your body relaxes only temporarily and then it responds with MORE stress, making the anxiety worse. Anxiety loves to avoid tasks, but it only makes things worse.

Here at SGEC, we can help you with all of this. Step by step, day by day, we can help you deal with the stress that comes with school. Here are just some of the tips we are recommending to students this month:

• Check powerschool and make a list of any assignments overdue or needing to be redone.
• IPP: if you have an IPP make an appointment to review it with your course teacher.
• Review your assignment calendar and make any necessary adjustments based on your performance last month.
• If marks in courses are less than where you want or need them to be, set up at least 2 help sessions with the course teacher via email.
• Make a list of things that are distracting/challenging you from achieving the goals set in Module 1. For each distraction/challenge list ways that you will address/fix those going forward. If you need help, contact your teacher.
• Make a list of things that are working well for you (i.e. taking notes, organizing materials, setting aside time for school etc.)
• Maintain attendance or make alternate arrangements

Students and families can make an appointment with me or their teacher to go over any of these strategies for success.

Don't forget to check out our "Mental Health and Wellness" section on our website for wellness ideas, tips, resources and sessions that are being offered. Click on "community supports" for information about services in St. Albert and area to support you or your family.

Did you know that Alberta has a service that you can call, text or live chat? It's called 2-1-1 and it's a distress service that covers a really large number of topics. It's free, confidential and operates 24/7.

https://ab.211.ca/

Check out these sessions. Most of them start March, April or May.

Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium is now offering parent sessions that you might be interested in.

River's Edge workshop lineup for 2024 is updated. If you are interested in classes on any of the following topics, please click the link to register.

• Teen Wellness
  

• Embodied Stress Management

• Heartstrings: A Journey Towards Hope and Healing

• Circle of Security Parenting

• Talking about Puberty!

• The Compassionate Road to Building Self-Esteem

• Journey Through Grief: Touchstones of Hope

• Getting through the tough stuff: A workshop for supporting children and teens through self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and other disclosures.

• Parenting Through Divorce: Helping Kids Thrive

Do you need school supplies and are struggling to get what you need? Just ask at our front office. We have a few supplies available for students in need.

Just a friendly reminder to park in the student designated parking areas:

• Public lot across the street
• In front of the school on the street
• Public lot by the tennis courts
• On the side streets

We kindly ask that you comply with the following:

1. Do not park in our staff parking which is located to the east of the school

2. We also ask that you do not use the handicapped parking spot for drop off and pick up as we have students who need it.

Thank you!

Please leave us a review on Google or Facebook. It will only take you a few moments but it will go a long way to advertising our program to others in the province. The more students we have, the more robust the programming we can offer. Thank you in advance!

Please fill out the link for our draw! (Please do not enter more than once per month)

https://forms.gle/kx5u8TWpSDKAw8Jn8

Did you know that we update our social media accounts on a regular basis? Following us is one of the quickest ways to find out what's going on at school and getting those last minute, emergency updates.

Please follow and share with your friends. We want everyone to know what a great place St. Gabes is!

https://www.facebook.com/StGabeHS

https://www.instagram.com/st.gabes/

Email: rtrottier@gsacrd.ab.ca
Website: https://www.stgabe.gsacrd.ab.ca/.
Location: 15 Mission Avenue, St. Albert, AB, Canada
Phone: (780)459-6616
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StGabesHS

Teachers are available:

Monday to Wednesday
8:30 am to 3:00 pm

Thursday

8:30 am to 5:30 pm

Friday

8:30 am to Noon