St. Cecilia Community Messenger

Mon, Sept 30 - No classes Orange Shirt Day. Please see information on the community event below.

Tue, Oct 1, Day 1

• Latin American Heritage Month begins

Wed, Oct 2, Day 2

Thurs, Oct 3, Day 3

Fri, Oct 4, Day 4

Oct 5: World Teacher Day

Oct 7: Custodian Appreciation Day

Oct 10: World Mental Health Day

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.

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

Nvo 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

Thank you to all families who attended parent teacher conferences this week. St. Cecilia Staff considers parents the primary educators of their children and as such we are keen to work with parents and caregivers to achieve our School District mission and vision which is: Living and Learning in our Catholic Faith, so that STUDENTS centered in Christ, realize their full potential.

Please note that as partners in education parents and caregivers may request a meeting to discuss progress at any time of the school year. You are not limited to the formal interview times. If the interview time is not long enough to discuss your child's progress you may book another time to continue the discussion.

School calendars were sent home with youngest student in the family this week. The purpose of the calendar is to provide a hard copy of the student handbook as a reference and the calendar pages have the Day 1, 2, 3, etc marked on each day as well as the main holidays and PG days etc. We encourage you to use this as an organizational tool and to inscribe the dates from the On the Horizon section of this newsletter onto the calendar in order to keep track of school events. If you have not received the calendar (1 per family) please check your child's backpack or speak to your child's teacher.

It is recommended parents drop students off on the east side of the school, opposite the main entrance. There is access to the school yard adjacent to the field next to the playground and a bit further north on the same side of the school. Please do not park or drop students off in the staff parking lot.

Please note the image below advertising school branded clothing available for order. There is a QR code in the image that will take you to a link where you may place an order if you wish. This is completely optional.

Over the last few weeks there have been some issues with Stocks bus tracking GPS APP that parents and schools were instructed to use for tracking their buses and receiving delay notifications. Please note that the system has been fixed and parents can once again resume using the app for tracking the bus and receiving those notifications. I have reattached the BusZone Parent Flyer in case you need a refresher on how it works or to access it.

Formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that educators use to receive feedback for the benefit of students and teachers. This feedback allows teachers to make adjustments to their instruction; for students, they know what they need to do to improve and are given time to make those adjustments. In order for formative assessment to be successful, the relationship between teacher and student is paramount. In the end, the purpose of formative assessment is to progress learning.

Formative assessment does not involve grades or marks, whether numeric or letter grades. Instead, it is about comments, feedback, and progress. Formative assessment is at the heart of student-centered assessment, taking place primarily in the classroom as a part of the learning cycle. It can be both formal or informal and happens minute by minute, day by day. Formative assessment is about learning, forward progress, and ensuring students feel comfortable demonstrating their learning without the fear of making mistakes. In the book "Grading for Equity," Feldman captures the importance of the student-teacher relationship in regard to the learning cycle. Speaking about teachers, he states,

"Most of us entered teaching to build meaningful relationships with young people, to engender in them a sense of trust and safety by accepting mistakes along a path to proficiency...Effective teacher-student relationships require students' confidence that the classroom is a space to take risks without penalty, to disclose weakness without being judged, to simply feel safe knowing that they don't have to perform perfectly day in and day out" (p. 32).

What is the parents/guardians role in formative assessment?

• Support your child in their growth and the learning cycle.

• Pay attention to teacher feedback and support the child in applying the feedback going forward

• Ask your child questions related to their learning rather than about their grades

• Praise the effort in the process of learning, instead of the end result

• We invite parents/guardians to watch the videos below on what formative assessment is and how to develop a growth mindset

Do you have a child with special needs? The Immigration Education Society (TIES) is launching The TIES Online Support Group for Moms with Special Needs Kids, starting on September 24th! This group is designed to provide a safe, supportive space for moms who are caring for children with special needs. It’s a place where you can connect with other moms, share experiences, and access valuable resources.

Group Details:

• Start Date: September 24th, 2024
• Schedule: Every Tuesday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
• Location: Online via Zoom
• Registration Link: https://forms.gle/bx98kBztpaTt9oGWA

What to Expect:

• Peer support from other moms who understand the unique challenges of raising a child with special needs.
• Resource sharing and expert advice to help navigate daily life and long-term planning.
• A welcoming, non-judgmental environment where you can share your experiences and feel supported

I look forward to sharing more resources with all of you in the future. Take Care 🙂

This month, we continue to learn more about Jesus – on page 3, we learn about Jesus’ identity as the Bread of Life – a core Catholic principle. We also have a section on how Jesus appears in art!

A big occasion for us to show our thankfulness for Catholic education is coming this month. We will celebrate Catholic Education Week during the week of Oct. 19-25!

The theme this year is Testify! Share the Reason for Your Hope! During this week, we are all asked to share our reasons for choosing publicly funded Catholic schools to work and thrive in and to unite across our province in prayer and thanksgiving.

Remember to wear blue during the week and rejoice in the difference that we make in our schools and communities.

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.

Students and staff at St. Cecilia observed Orange Shirt Day on Sept 26. Classes participated in a variety of activities related to learning about Residential Schools. Grade 1-2-3 had the chance to see a large interactive map laid out on the gym floor. The map contains dates and stories of events that are important in our history. Grades 4-5-6 participated in online workshops in their classroom.

Div 2 classes attended a virtual session for Orange shirt day/ Truth and Reconciliation called "Be an Upstander for Truth and Reconciliation". It was presented in French and encouraged us all to realize that we have the ability to be an upstander for Truth and Reconciliation, that Upstanders recognize injustice, Upstanders have personal strengths, gifts and abilities, Upstanders use their strengths ands abilities to create positive change in their communities. The goal of the session and the reason I wanted my students to attend is to inspire us all to take the "Upstander challenge" . How can we be upstanders for Truth and Reconciliation??

We encourage all families to participate in the annual Orange Shirt Day activities that will take place on Sept 30, 2024 at the location in the slide below.

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.

September 25, 2024

Just a reminder that the schedule of the Board Meeting dates is posted on the district website and can be accessed through this link: https://www.cssd.ab.ca/meeting-schedule

To access the Calgary Catholic Minutes for the Regular Board Meeting September 11, 2024 and the Special Board Meeting September 18, 2024, as well as previous minutes, please access this link: https://www.cssd.ab.ca/highlights-minutes.

September 26, 2024

To view the Calgary Catholic Board Meeting Highlights for the Regular Meeting of September 25, 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

Aug 26-Sept 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/8n1cr

Sept 9-13, 2024 : https://secure.smore.com/n/at85k

Sept 16-20, 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/uaxp4

Sept 23-27, 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/kb635

Sept 30-Oct 4, 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/kuvsr