February 2026

Dear Families,

Welcome to the second half of our school year!

January provided the opportunity to spend time learning with friends. Our classrooms were busy! We are looking forward to lengthier days and the beginning of our Easter season. There is a joy and brightness to this time of year.

February is Black History Month. This year, Canada is celebrating 30 years of Black History Months with the theme of Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations - From Nation Builders to Tomorrow's Visionaries. We look forward to honouring this important time through relevant music, art, literature, announcements, awareness, and more.

Our artist in residence is here and our students are doing such amazing things with her. Our junior high wellness leaders attended a leadership symposium and have been bringing some great ideas back to our site. Recently, they decorated all junior high lockers with positive messages. We are so grateful to have such strong student leaders in our school. Our students also each wrote a prayer of hope for the new year. These prayers have been connected into a chain representing our shared intentions for the season. The chain is a beautiful visual representation of our collectiveness.

Our learning communities in grades 5 and 9 are still hard at work planning for our International Baccalaureate Exhibition and Community Projects. These milestones for our Primary Years Programme (up to grade 5) and our Middle Years Programme (grades 6-9) demonstrate culminating understandings of the International Baccalaureate and are truly a reason to celebrate. More information to come!

We look forward to ongoing conversations with our Grade 6 and Grade 9 students about transition to junior high and high school. Students or families with questions about the process are encouraged to see us in the office for help.

We are grateful for the warm and caring community that is our school.

St. Clement Administration

Carnaval is a French-Canadian and Métis winter celebration that combines French and Indigenous traditions. This year, St. Clement is excited to observe the occasion on February 17 with activities for our students. February 17 is also Shrove Tuesday. In the Catholic tradition, this is a day to feast on sugar and flour, emptying the larder prior to the Lenten season of fasting. Every student will receive a donut this year, to celebrate this tradition.

Thank you to our amazing SAC members. The school community is grateful for your hard work and support. Our next meeting is scheduled for February 9 at 6:30pm. All are welcome. In the meantime, support our SAC with Fundscrip gift card purchases (our school group code is 6B55D5).

The Exhibition process is underway in Grade 5. Currently the class is in the “research phase” finding ways to take action around global and local issues connected to the Sustainable Development Goals. You can find more information about these goals here: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/

This month, the students chose a goal that they are passionate about. Next, they will begin to create their central idea and lines of inquiry. Students are excited to work with mentor teachers this year and look forward to sharing their exhibition journey with you.

MYP (Grade) 9 Community Project

Our Year 4 students have been diligently working on their research and proposals so that they can begin taking action and the time has finally arrived. During the months of February and March students will share their time and talents to improve our community by providing service and bringing awareness to issues in our community. Students are excited to share their process work with you at our Student Led Conferences in March.

The pre-enrolment process will run from Monday, February 2 to Friday, March 13, 2026. Please complete the following steps:

• Log in to PowerSchool
• Click the “Pre-Enrolment for Next Year” icon in the left-hand menu.
• Select the school your child will attend for the 2026-2027 school year.

For assistance, please contact the office, or visit the pre-enrolment page of ECSD.

Thank you to our parent council for continuing their Healthy Hunger lunch days at St. Clement this year! Families who wish to participate can create an account and preorder lunch for their child(ren) on Healthy Hunger Fridays. The ordered items will be distributed to your child(ren) at school for lunch. Healthy Hunger lunches take place on Fridays, and the deadline to order is the Sunday prior to a Friday service. Payment is handled directly via the Healthy Hunger website at the time of order.

Students are asked to dress for the weather (warm jackets, snowpants, hats, mitts/gloves, and warm boots), keeping in mind that all students receive at least one outdoor recess each day (one for JH and two for elementary). Labelling your belongings can help us return them to your child should they get misplaced at school. Thank you!

Congratulations to all those participating in boys basketball. Home games will start in February. Parent spectators are always welcome at home and away games. ECSD student spectators are only permitted to watch home games (games at their own school). Go Chargers!

We look forward to welcoming new faces at our Open House!

Students wishing for extra help or information about choosing a high school are welcome to visit Mrs. Androschuk in the office for assistance anytime. Please check out our ECSD Open Houses to get more information on your designated high school (the one predetermined by your address) or programs of choice at other ECSD high schools.

Our partner parish, St. Theresa, and Corpus Christi, are starting their Winter Sessions for sacramental preparation courses. We encourage students and families to look at the information available through their parish website, and remember to register at your parish in order to be included in important communication. Please explore the Sacrament section on your parish's website below:

Ø The turnaround in front of the school is a NO PARKING zone during peak drop-off and pick-up hours of the day. There is no drop off or pick up in the bus zone in front of the school (turnaround).

There is no parking in the turnaround between the hours of 7:30-8:30 am Monday-Friday. Also, 2:30-3:30 pm on regular school days AND 11:30 am -12:30 pm on Thursdays (early dismissal).

Ø The turnaround can be accessed once the buses have left.

Ø Families are asked to keep traffic moving by using the turnaround to STOP, DROP-OFF/PICK-UP and GO (only once the buses have left).

Ø Please avoid parking at the entrance and exit of the turnaround so that buses can have easy access.

Ø For parents and guardians who wish to remain with their child(ren) in the morning, there is parking available across the street and next to the school sidewalk.

Ø Parents are asked to remember that there is no parking in the staff parking lot. Our staff parking lot is completely full, and we ask parents not to park there.

We feel it is important to bring this forward as we work together to assure all students are safe. Thank you for your understanding and patience to ensure that every student is safe to and from school. We are very thankful our school is part of the wonderful community. It is very important to us that we are all good neighbours and show kindness to one another.

Please remember to bring a reusable water bottle to school in order to stay healthy and hydrated throughout the day! Students should please have their water bottles labelled with their names.

Parents/Guardians who pick up their children at school are asked to be on time for pick up, and to meet their children at/near their designated doors, in particular for students in younger grades. In cases where an older sibling is the one picking up the child, please have that sibling report to the correct door on time. Children with no one to meet them will be brought to the office. Please let us know if an emergency has caused you to be late. Please communicate with your child's teacher, well in advance, or call the office, if you have changed the plan for pick up on a particular day.

In the weeks ahead, the children and staff will continue to practice fire drills, lock downs and emergency procedures to ensure the safety of all within our school community. Students have done excellent in our fire drills and lockdown drill so far! Please inform your child that these drills can occur, especially to alleviate any anxiety or worries from our younger students.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Regular attendance is directly related to success in school. Please ensure that your child arrives on time so that they can be welcomed into the classroom learning experiences taking place each day. Students who arrive late are asked to report to the office to check in.

Families are required to contact the school if a child is late or absent. Please notify the school office at 780-462-3806 and leave a message if all lines are busy. Parents are also encouraged to download the "School Messenger" app, as attendance can be reported online, directly in the app. Please ensure that any changes to personal information are reported to the office to keep our records up to date. Students who have appointments and must leave the school prior to dismissal are asked to ensure the teacher is informed as well as the office staff.

Records of student achievement, student attendance, lists of fees/fee payment platform, forms, and more, can be found by logging into Parent PowerSchool, here: https://powerschool.ecsd.net/public/

We are happy to announce that several supplementary experiences will be provided to our students across the school year once again. These opportunities enable children to explore the curriculum and deepen their understanding of the world around them beyond the walls of the classroom. Families will be provided with written notification in advance of all field trips. A completed permission slip signed by the parent or guardian needs to be returned before a student may participate in the field trip. Just a friendly reminder, payment needs to be made one business day prior to the field trip through your PowerSchool account. No child will be denied participation in field trip experiences due to lack of funds if the situation is brought to the attention of the principal prior to the scheduled event. Confidentiality will be honoured.

Please ensure you have communicated with the school office about any medical conditions or severe allergies that your child may have. If your child requires medication to be given at school or your child self-administers, a form is required. Please either come into the office or download the document off the school website and fill out a current medical alert form as soon as possible to ensure we have the most up to date information. Please note that a doctor’s signature is required on the form before any medication can be given/taken (self-administered) at school. Should a child become ill while at school, parents or guardians will be notified and asked to pick up their child. Thank you also for keeping your child home if they are unwell. We thank you for ensuring your child's safety and well-being!