The Good News October 30th, 2026

Dear Families, as your children look forward to the excitement of costumes and trick-or-treating this weekend, we are also blessed to welcome All Saints’ Day—a gentle reminder of Halloween’s roots as All Hallows’ Eve. While dressing up lets our kids explore their imaginations, the feast of the saints invites us to celebrate real-life heroes of faith who shone brightly through kindness, courage, and selfless love. As you enjoy the festivities and gather around your neighborhoods, we wish you a fun, safe weekend filled with joy, gratitude for our warm community, and a shared commitment to let our own light shine for others.

Warmly,

Mrs. Erin Croft (Principal) & Mrs. Jennifer Maynard (Assistant Principal)

Monday, Nov. 2

• Linking Generations
• Picture Retake Day (Pre K AM & PM, Pathways AM & PM, M/R Kindergarten, 1S, 1P, 1K, 2W, 2Y)

Tuesday, Nov. 3

• Picture Retake Day (T/F Kindergarten, 3F, 3EH, 3/4 G, 4D, 4R, any students absent on Nov 2)
• Parent Teacher Interviews 4-7 pm
• Book Fair

Wednesday, Nov. 4

• Early Dismissal Spirit Day - Twin/Triplet Dress Up Day!
• Book Fair
• NO kindergarten Scheduled for any of the classes (this also includes Nature Kindergarten)
• Parent Teacher Interviews 3-6 pm
• Métis fiddler - 12:30pm-1:30pm
• Parish Visit

Thursday, Nov. 5

• Book Fair

Friday, Nov. 6

• 10:30 am Remembrance Day Celebration (All parents welcome)
• Sock Toss
• Book Fair

Nov. 9-13 - November Break (No School)

Nov. 16- Parent Council Meeting @5:45 in the library, followed by the Playground Society AGM (see poster below)

Nov. 17 - Hot Lunch - Booster Juice

Nov. 24 - Guest Speaker for parents of our school community (see poster below for more information)

Nov. 26 - Hot Lunch - McDonald's

Dec. 9 - St. John XXIII Christmas Concert (afternoon and evening performances- more information to follow)

Teachers are looking forward to connecting with families this week on Tuesday, November 3 and Wednesday November 4. The booking site is open till Monday, November 2 at 10:00 am.

Book your appointment here:

Pre-K - Grade 4 November 2026 Parent-Teacher-Student Conference Link

All classes will have an opportunity to visit the book fair. The hours of the book fair are below. You will notice that the book fair is open Tuesday and Wednesday evening, during parent teacher interviews.

The book fair plays an important role in growing and maintaining our school library.

November 3-6:

November 3: 12:15-3:15 pm & 3:30-7:30 pm

November 4: 8:30-12:30 & 1:40-2:15 pm & 2:30-6:30 pm

November 5: 8:30-3:30 pm

November 6: 8:30 am-12:00 pm

*We are still hoping to find a parent volunteer to help Thursday morning. If you are able to help, email may-leeb@eics.ab.ca

Your child's ISP is ready for review and your endorsement. If you have not already done so, please log into powerschool and follow the instructions below to endorse your child's ISP.
ISP parent meetings will happen in early December and more information will follow.

Step 1: Log into Powerschool EICS Public https://powerschool.eics.ab.ca/public . The parent selects the student on the top bar.

Step 2: Under "Additional Resources", click "Individualized Support Plan".

Step 3: Click “Manage”.

Once you are in the ISP, you can view the contents of the ISP by scrolling down.

Step 4: Parent click "Add Parent ISP Endorsement" at the top left of the page.

Step 5: Parents can provide an optional comment, but then must click "Submit" to finish endorsing:

• The suggested guideline is that students do not go outside if the temperature is - 25 C or colder. The suggested guideline above is at the discretion of school Administrators and staff as part of their consideration for determining whether recess will be inside or outside. Outside time is sometimes shortened or withheld to accommodate winter conditions

• Morning: Supervision begins at 8:30 am, please do not drop off students prior to 8:30 am. Doors open at 8:35 am. Students should always be entering the school through their designated doors.

• Outdoor breaks are a very important time for students for play, get some fresh air, and exercise. We will go out almost every recess; rain, snow or shine. Please ensure that your child comes prepared for the weather. Recesses will be indoors only during extreme weather conditions deemed unsafe to head out for even short spurts. We have three recesses a day.

We know from research that outside play is so important for a child's mental, social, emotional, and physical well-being and we will do all we can to support daily outside play as much as possible.

If you have any questions, please contact the school.

Students will have a chance to throw individually wrapped pairs of socks into bins for some fun prizes, and all for a good cause. All socks will be donated to the Bissell Center. The sock toss will be happening on Friday, November 6, afternoon, so there is still time to purchase NEW Socks and send them to school with your child.

*A pair of socks wrapped together with masking tape and your child's name written on the masking tape would be very helpful for our staff.

Please ensure that you are sending cutlery with your child (if needed), and a thermos that they are able to open by themselves.

2026-2027 school fees were applied to your child's account in PowerSchool on Tuesday, September 29th.

If you require assistance with the online payment, please refer to the link at the bottom of this newsletter, and contact our school at 780-998-7777 if you need further assistance.

If you are experiencing financial hardship please review the fee waiver here.

Parent council is excited to announce that the November hot lunch session is open.

Payments can be made easily using Visa, Mastercard, debit-credit card.
https://www.eics.ab.ca/parents-and-students/powerschool-log-in
Go to: “Student Fees and Field Trip Forms”

November 17th - Booster Juice
November 26th - McDonald's

The form will close at 11:59pm on Wednesday, November 4th (there will be no extensions).

*Please visit the school website to review the “How to Order and Pay in PowerSchool” documents if you require assistance.

If you require further assistance, please reach out to: Hotlunchstjohnxxiii@gmail.com

Support Our School with a COBS Bread Loaf Card!

Bring home fresh bread all year long while supporting our school! For $45, the COBS Bread Card provides 12 complimentary loaves, one each month from January 2026 through December 2027 — that’s 12 loaves for only $3.75 per loaf!

This form will go live in PowerSchool on Friday, Sept. 18th at 4pm. If you are having trouble ordering, please refer to the ordering link at the bottom of every newsletter or go to the PowerSchool page on our school website.

Cards will be sent home with students on the week of December 14th.

St. John XXIII Parent Council is happy to partner up with the other Catholic Schools Parent Councils in Fort Saskatchewan to offer parents this informative session by Daniel Sundahl. All Parents welcome!

We are so proud of our students for exemplifying Decalogue Two this month: 'I will adapt to circumstances, without needing circumstances to adapt to my needs.' By demonstrating true understanding, compassion, and flexibility, their empathy for others shines through.

A special thank you to Mrs. Schaub and our student choir for sharing their beautiful voices with the parishioners at OLA Parish on Sunday, October 25.

At our school, learning and faith grow hand in hand, and our students recently reflected on what a true gift it is to be part of a Catholic school family. Centered on the image of our school tree, our students know they are deeply rooted in Christ’s love, united as one community, and sent forth each day to share the unique gifts and talents represented by each leaf. Whenever they pass this tree in our hallways, let it serve as a daily, visible reminder that they are cherished children of God, called to let their light and virtues flourish wherever their learning journey takes them.

SAB students came to visit Nature 3 for some Halloween fun!

Here are our grade 4 students learning about Composting in Science

We are so thankful for our partnership with Linking Generations. We are grateful for many seniors who share their time with our students.

Our Parent Council Executive members and parent volunteers deserve a big thank you for the time and energy that they put into making our school Halloween Dance a success! What a wonderful community event that brought together our school families!

Email: stj@eics.ab.ca
Website: https://stj.eics.ab.ca/
Location: 9526-89 Street, Fort Saskatchewan, AB, Canada
Phone: 780-998-7777
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St.JohnXXIII
Twitter: @St_JohnXXIII