The PAW Print

We are excited to welcome everyone back for another amazing school year! Please take a few moments to review our Back-to-School Edition of the PAW Print, where you’ll find important start-up information, including:

• Staggered entry days
• Class door entrances
• Our daily bell schedule
• Information regarding Classroom Assignments

We can’t wait to reconnect with our returning families, welcome those who are new to SAM, and begin a another amazing year together!

See you next week!

Week of August 31 - Sept 4

• Mon, Aug 31 - Staggered Entry for Students Grades 1-6 (Surnames A-K) & Kinder Group 1
• Tues, Sept 1 - Staggered Entry for Students Grades 1-6 (Surnames L-Z) & Kinder Group 2
• Wed, Sept 2 - First Day of Regular Classes for Students in Grades 1-6 & Kinder Group 3
• Thurs, Sept 3 - First Day of Regular Classes for all Kindergarten students
• Fri, Sept 4 - Regular Classes for all students

Week of Sept 7 - 11

• Mon, Sept 7 - NO SCHOOL (Labour Day)
• Wed, Sept 9 - Cross-Country Fun Run at SAM
• Thurs, Sept 10 - Welcome Back BBQ (5pm - 6:30pm)
• Fri, Sept 11 - Picture Day

Our grades 1 - 6 students will also have a staggered entry on the first few days of school according to their surname. Students with surnames beginning with A - K will attend school on Monday, August 31 (but not Tuesday, Sept 1). Students with surnames beginning with L - Z will attend school on Tuesday, Sept 1 (but not Monday, August 31).

All students grades 1 - 6 will attend school for their first day of regular classes on Wednesday, Sept 2nd.

We are excited to welcome all our new students to SAM! All our kindergarten students will be assigned to a group. All kindergarten families will receive an email before the end of June informing them of what group their child will be in for staggered entry.

• Group 1 - Monday, August 31
• Group 2 - Tuesday, September 1
• Group 3 - Wednesday, September 2
• All Kindergarten students attend - Thursday, September 3

Our website has been updated with the most recent lists of school supplies organized by grade.

Class placements for 2026/27 will be shared on PowerSchool on Wednesday, August 26th at 4pm.

We look forward to seeing everyone at our annual Welcome Back Family BBQ on Thursday, September 10th at 5:30 p.m. Please join us for complimentary hotdogs and the opportunity to connect with teachers and other families as we celebrate the start of another great year together.

It is important that students arrive to school by 8:40am for attendance. This will be the start of the school day where students have the opportunity to get important information regarding their day, as well as have their attendance taken by their homeroom teacher. Attendance for the afternoon will be taken again before afternoon classes begin at 12:30pm.

Please review the below map to identify the school door your class will use throughout the school year to enter and exit the school each day, as well as the location of your classroom. On the first day of school, please wait outside your assigned door as your teacher will greet you outside and bring the class into the school together. Please note that kindergarten students will meet at the Main Office door on their staggered entry days.

Door A - Main Entrance (Parents & Guests)

Door B = 2 Raven, 2 Smolley, 2 Boughen, 3 Taranko, 3 Mitchell, 3 Bilodeau

Door C = K Bowen, K Dreger

Door D = 1 Phillips, 1 Provost, 1 MacKay

Door E = 4/5 Robertson, 4 Lastwika, 4 Owens, 6 Ringuette,

Door F = 4/5 ACE Sheppard, 6 ACE Friedenthal, 5 Larocque, 5 Elliott, 6 Girard, 6 Letendre

We understand that drop-off and pick-up can be challenging with many vehicles moving through limited spaces in a brief window of time. For the safety of our children, please only use the designated areas for vehicle traffic.

In the past, our neighbours at St. Albert Montessori Preschool (located at the former Braeside Presbyterian Church) have experienced challenging situations in their parking lot during our drop-off and pick-up times. This is a reminder that this parking lot is Private Property owned by the St. Albert Montessori Preschool is only available for the staff and families who attend that pre-school; SAM families and staff are not permitted to park in this lot. There is also additional parking by the Fowler Track. Please help us be respectful neighbours by honouring their business and the safety of their children who are coming and going.

SAM is excited start our second year of hosting the Soccer Academy at SAM School. Students who are registered for Soccer Academy this year will be assigned to their training group based on their homeroom assignment; however, both training groups will train together on Wednesdays.

• Group 1 (M, W, Th) - Block 4 - 4OWE, 4/5ROB, 6LET, 6GIR, 45SHE

• Group 2 (T/W/F) - Block 4 - 4LAS, 5LAR, 5ELL, 6RIN, 6FRI

Student homeroom placements will be posted on PowerSchool on Wed, August 27 at 4pm. Please have all soccer academy students prepared to start their training on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Just a reminder that the monthly Soccer Academy program fee of $150 is due on the first school day of each month. For your convenience we are happy to offer the option to set up a monthly payment plan for an automatic recurring credit card payment through your parent portal in PowerSchool. Please note that with any credit card payment there is a small payment processing fee of 2.4%. We also accept exact cash or post dated cheques made out to St Albert Public Schools in the school office.

Click here for your Soccer Academy Newsletter from Coach Paulus.

School Council is an important group of parents, community members, and school staff members who work together to support and enhance student learning. It is important that schools promote meaningful and positive engagement of parents and families in our education system and School Council is a wonderful way to bring various family perspectives to the school.

The responsibility of a School Council is to:

• foster, develop, maintain, and reflect the culture of the school;
• provide the opportunity to participate in an advisory role;
• create a forum for discussion; and,
• seek and represent various school community views.

School Councils provide a means for members of the school community to consult with and provide advice to the principal and the school board.

Our first School Council meeting of the year is on Thursday, September 24th at 7pm. Our Annual General Meeting will introduce the roles and responsibilities of a School Council, provide descriptions of elected Board positions, and engage in nominations and elections for the 2026/27 SAM School Council Board positions.

Our SAM Fundraising Society provides a means for parents and community members to provide additional financial resources and support to the school. This wonderful group of parents and community members have been responsible for creating and supporting a number of amazing activities throughout the year that both contribute to the vibrancy of our school culture while also fundraising money to support various school initiatives and purchases.

In the past our SAM Fundraising Society has raised money to:

• purchase and build our playground equipment;
• purchase Chromebooks for student use; and,
• purchase equipment to start our STEAM Lab (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics)

This year, we are very excited to announce that the fundraising money raised from last year's events will go towards paying for swimming lessons for all of our students from K - 6!

Parents and school community members are welcome to participate in one or both of the School Council or SAM Fundraising Society. Our first School Council and SAM Fundraising Society meetings of this year will be held on Thursday, September 24th at 6pm. All families are welcome to attend and we are hopeful to see many new faces this year!

Our amazing SAM Fundraising Society is once again organizing a Hot Lunch program for our SAM students this year. All proceeds made from Hot Lunch go to support many wonderful opportunities for our SAM students. Last year, our SAM Fundraising Society donated $25,000 to purchase equipment to our STEAM Lab. This year, the Fundraising Society is also support our SAM kids by funding swimming lessons at Fountain Park Pool for our Division 1 students and Cross-Country Ski experiences at the Nordic Centre for our Division 2 students. Consider signing up for our Hot Lunch Healthy Hunger program to support SAM School!

HOT LUNCH ORDER DEADLINES

Orders for hot lunch close five days prior to the lunch date. For Friday hot lunches, orders close Sunday at midnight. For Tuesday pizza days, orders close Thursday at midnight.

ABSENCES ON HOT LUNCH DAYS

If you have placed an order for hot lunch and your child is absent on the day of that lunch please contact the front office by phone BEFORE 10:00AM and specify if you will be:

1. Picking up the order(s) from the front office after 12:30pm.
2. Sending the order home with a sibling or friend.
3. Donating the order.

Please contact samfundraising@spschools.org with any questions or concerns.

To place a Hot Lunch Order, click here: Healthy Hunger Order.

Click here more information on setting up a Healthy Hunger Account.