St. Cecilia Community Messenger

Mon, Oct 7, Day 5

• Custodian Appreciation Day

Tues, Oct 8, Day 6

Wed, Oct 9, Day 1

Thurs, Oct 10, Day 2

• World Mental Health Day

Fri, Oct 11 - PG day, no classes

Oct 14: Thanksgiving Day - No classes

Oct 17: School Council Meeting 6:30 pm

Oct 19: Catholic Education Week, Catholic Education Sunday; Wear blue throughout the week.

Oct 24: Halloween Dance 6:00 PM-8:00 PM. Details TBA.

Oct 29: Photo Retakes

Nov 1: District Faith Day

Nov 3: Daylight Saving time

Nov 8: Indigenous Veterans Day

Nov 11: Remembrance Day - No classes

Nov 17: Metis Week

Nov 26: Scholastic Book Fair Arrives

Nov 28: Evening PT Conferences

Nov 29: PT Conferences - No classes

Dec 2: Bookfair leaves

Dec 13: Student Faith Day - Face to Face Ministries

Dec 19: Last day of classes before Christmas break

Dec 20: PG day - No classes

Hello Everyone,

Fun Lunches have returned to St. Cecilia!

We are using the Healthy Hunger platform again, so please sign up for an account at HealthyHunger.ca

If you already have an account, double-check to make sure your child is connected to the correct class. The vendors sort our food (most of the time) by class and nobody wants to feel like they were skipped when lunches get handed out!

To start, we will be alternating Dominos Pizza and Subway on Thursdays, but if your child has a favourite fun lunch from the past (or you have a favourite fun lunch provider) let Mallorie know (Mallorie.Peters@gmail.com) as we are looking to add a few more vendors to our list!

If you can help sort/deliver lunches on Thursday’s, sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0945A4A922ABFC1-51821059-stcecilia

Please note that Kindergarten students may order under the Summit Kids classname. Please do not order lunch for K students who are dismissed and do not remain at school for Summit Kids.

Our School Council and Education Society are continuing to work on fundraising for a new playground build. Our current playground is nearing the end of its sustainable life and will soon be removed. In order to meet the needs of St. Cecilia students and the surrounding community, a new playground will be essential.

I would like to thank all families who have donated in the past and also at this year's welcome back barbecue. We raised approximately 1000.00 from your donations and sucker pull activity. In order to facilitate donations and to ensure donors receive a tax credit we have set up a donation form online. You may use this to donate any amount. Donations over 25.00 will receive a tax credit from Calgary Catholic School District.

The donation form is updated to show both general donation and playground donation.

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

The screenshot below shows what the donation form looks like.

School Council is happy to present our Halloween Dance party on Thurs, Oct 24 from 6:00-8:00 Pm here at St. Cecilia School. Please the poster below and please RSVP at the link below if you plan to attend. Admission is 10.00 per family. Thanks and hope to see you there!!

https://forms.gle/hNnNSUP7n6CxTj5v5

Students in Div 2 (grade 4-5-6) participated in a field trip to Carburn Park on Friday. We were blessed with beautiful fall weather and lots of interesting sights, sounds and smells. Students observed nature, saw wildlife and identified flora and fauna. Thanks to all parent volunteers who attended the field trip.

Now that we are well into the school year and our admin team and supervisors have had lots of opportunities to supervise students and get to know everyone, we have noticed that there is some roughhousing and at times lack of personal space. We often remind students to maintain personal space at all time and that roughhousing is not allowed. Roughhousing may look like children just being children but it can quickly become problematic when one person does not want to engage in it and then it leads to conflict. Please remind students to maintain personal space when lining up after the bell and when playing at recess.

Hello St. Cecilia

Did you know that October 10th is World Mental Health Day?

We all have mental health, just like we have physical health. Mental health is a person's condition with regard to their psychological, emotional and social wellbeing. This can affect how we think, feel and act. It's important to take care of our mental health: nurturing what's good for us and limiting things that have a negative impact on our mental health. During World Mental Health Day, we can take the time to reflect on how we can best take care of ourselves. Most people will need some mental health support during their lives:

• There are many sources of help to support people with mental health conditions, and a wide range of treatments are available.
• Most people who are affected by mental health conditions simply want to lead independent lives while contributing to their community and families.
• With the right support, we can help people with mental health conditions live lives that are complete, fulfilled, and free of stigma.

Tips for looking after your mental health:

Making sure you look after your mental health is just as important as looking after your physical health. Here are some suggestions that everyone can try, to help manage stress and look after your mind.

1. Spend time with or in nature. You may go to a local park, find a tree-lined street to travel down; visit a nature reserve or go to a community garden. Spending time in natural surroundings or with animals is proven to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety and improve your mood.
2. Practice meditation or mindfulness to find calm and restore. There are lots of ways to include mindfulness in your day — you can take time to focus on your breathing or try out mindfulness colouring.
3. A few times a week, take time to move. Mind and body are one; so, whether it's going for a walk, climbing, swimming or attending a yoga class, movement is a great way to de-stress, increase feel-good hormones and improve your overall health.
4. Have a digital detox. Phones and social media can cause us to feel anxiety and pressure. Taking some time away from technology, whether it's short breaks away from your phone or a day when you limit all technology, can be really helpful for reducing stress and worry.
5. Talk it out. If you're ever worried about your mental health or start to feel like you're becoming stressed or anxious, talking to someone you trust, such as a friend or family member, is a great way to calm yourself down and look after yourself.

For more information about World Mental Health Day, click on the link 🙂

https://ymhc.ngo/blogs/news/world-mental-health-day-2024-understanding-its-importance-and-how-to-observe-it#:~:text=Organize%20group%20activities%20such%20as,to%20join%20the%20global%20conversation.

Also, today (October 4th) is the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Animals and Nature. Here is a mindfulness exercise to practice together at home, which is included in the wonderful book by Dr. Gregory and Barbara Bottaro, called "Sitting Like a Saint".

Take care 💖

The following are the October AHS Healthy Children and Teens newsletters on “Engaging with your children/teen” ready to be shared with your school community. Please feel free to post on your school website or include in your school newsletter.

• The perks of parent engagement (English and French)
• Engaging with your teen’s school experience (English and French)

Thanks very much to all families who brought a non-perishable food donation to Parent Teacher conferences last week. Your donation is very much appreciated. As we continue the fall and as part of the lead up to Advent and Christmas, you may drop off a food donation at any time and we will submit all items as part of our Advent food drive.

Catholic education Sunday will take place at weekend masses Oct 19 and 20, 2024. St. Cecilia School Administration will attend the 9 AM mass on Sunday, Oct 20 and will deliver a message at the end of the Mass on Catholic Education. More information will be available in this weekend`s Parish bulletin. I hope to see many of our families at Mass on Catholic Education Sunday. We thank you for your support.

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.

October 2, 2024

To view the Calgary Catholic Board Meeting Highlights for the Special Board Meeting of October 2, 2024, as well as previous Highlights please access the following 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.

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

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