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,

I hope everyone enjoyed a restful winter break and that the return to school has been a smooth one for our students and families. It has been wonderful to see our classrooms full again. We’re enjoying settling back into routines together.

We are happy to welcome Mrs. Ameobi, our Vice Principal, back from maternity leave. We are grateful to have her return to the Landing Trail team and look forward to the leadership, care, and support she brings to our school community.

I would also like to congratulate both Landing Trail School and Gibbons School for collecting over 2,000 items for the Bon Accord/Gibbons Food Bank. This incredible act of generosity speaks volumes about our students, families, and staff. As promised, you can catch Mr. Paziuk and me working our day in inflatable costumes on our social media channels today. Students enjoyed their popcorn reward on December 19th. Thank you for supporting families in our wider community through your kindness and giving.

As we move through January, we look forward to several upcoming opportunities for families to connect with our school community. Here are some important dates:

• Tuesday, January 13: Assembly at 2:00 p.m., followed by the School Council Meeting at 3:15 p.m. We hope you’ll join us for both events!
• Friday, January 16: Educational Assistant Appreciation Day. Please help us recognize the important work our EAs do each day.
• Tuesday, January 20: Logos Meeting at 3:15 p.m. Everyone is welcome.
• Thursday, January 29: Grade 4 Leadership students have planned "Anything But a Backpack Day" for both Gibbons School and Landing Trail — a fun and creative way to build school spirit together.

As winter continues, we kindly remind families to ensure students come to school dressed for the weather, including warm coats, boots, mittens, and hats. Being properly dressed helps students stay comfortable and safe during outdoor learning and play.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support. We look forward to another positive week of learning and connection at Landing Trail School.

With gratitude,

Louise Loh, Principal

Raising children in a digital world can be challenging. The Unplugged Pledge helps families work together to support healthy technology habits and student well-being.

1. Mental Health - Early smartphone use is linked to increased anxiety and social pressure. Delaying smartphones helps students grow with fewer digital stresses and more emotional support.
2. Better Focus & Sleep - Without constant notifications, children sleep better and focus more, supporting learning, mood, and daily routines at home and at school.
3. Real Connection - Phones can distract from friendships and family time. Unplugging encourages in-person play, meaningful conversations, and stronger relationships.
4. Community Support - When five families in a grade pledge together, Unplugged connects them. Shared expectations make healthy habits easier to maintain.
5. A Positive Culture Shift -Each pledge helps build a school-wide culture that prioritizes balance, well-being, and responsible technology use.

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.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) helps children learn important life skills like managing big feelings, talking about their emotions, understanding others, and solving problems. These skills help kids make friends, handle challenges, and enjoy learning. At Landing Trail School and Legal Public School, we make SEL a priority because we know children do their best when they feel safe, valued, and connected.

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.

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

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 September 26th, 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**

• January 13: January Assembly (Everyone welcome @ 2:00 pm)
• January 13: School Council Meeting @ 3:15 pm
• January 16: EA Appreciation Day
• January 19: ECS Puppet Tree House
• January 20: Logos Meeting @ 3:15 pm
• January 26: No PreK Classes
• January 29: Anything But a Backpack Day
• January 30: PD Day (No Classes)
• February 5-6: Teacher's Convention (No Classes)
• February 16: Family Day (No Classes)
• February 24: Kindergarten PD Day (No Kindergarten Classes)
• February 25: Pink Shirt Day
• February 25: No PreK Classes

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.

Dear Grade 1 Families,

Please review your Grade 1 student’s immunization records and visit https://myhealth.alberta.ca/topic/immunization/pages/recommended-vaccines.aspx for more information on recommended vaccines. If your child has missed one or more vaccines, or if you have any questions or concerns contact your school nurse at 780-342-2661 as soon as possible to get your child caught up. If you miss an appointment, or if your child hasn’t been immunized yet, it’s never too late to catch up.

Thank you!

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 2024/2025 school year, please get in touch with our PIA at landingtrailpia@gmail.com.

NEXT MEETING: January 20 @ 3:15 pm (Landing Trail School)

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

This year, Kindergarten-Grade 3 students in Sturgeon Public Schools will complete both the provincial literacy and provincial numeracy assessments. Grade 4 students will complete the provincial numeracy screeners.

• Grade 1-4 students are assessed in September 2025, January 2026 and May 2026.

• Kindergarten students will be assessed in January 2026.

These assessments help guide teaching and are part of the support already in place to ensure that all students develop strong literacy and numeracy skills. This information helps classroom teachers support students as they develop critical learning skills in these areas. Please refer to the following document from Alberta Education for more details. Guardian Q&A.

If you have any questions or do not want your child to participate in these assessments, please contact me at 780-923-2898 or by email by January 12, 2026.

Testing will be completed by February 4, 2026.

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.

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