St. Mary's Catholic School

Monday, Dec 8th - Day B

Sr. High Personal Fitness @The Brickhouse @1:30pm
Jr. Girls Basketball Practice 3-4:30pm
Sr. Boys Basketball Practice 4:30-6:30pm
Sr. Girls Basketball Practice 6-8pm

Tuesday, Dec 9th - Day A

"What's in the Chimney" Christmas Activity during lunch hour
Jr. High Sports - Swimming at @12:00pm
Sr. High Personal Fitness - Swimming @1:30pm
Jr. Girls Basketball Practice 3-4:30pm
Jr. Boys Basketball Try-Outs 4:30-6pm

Wednesday, Dec 10th - Day A

*Early Dismissal @2pm*
🎄 Red & Green Dress-Up Day!
Sr. Boys Basketball Practice 4:30-6:30pm
Sr. Girls Basketball Practice 6-8pm

Thursday, Dec 11th - Day B

Hot Chocolate and Cookies @Lunch Hour
Jr.H Sports - Swimming at @12:00pm
Sr.H Personal Fitness - Swimming @1:30pm
Jr. Boys Basketball Try-Outs 4:30-6pm

Friday, Dec 12th - Day A

Candy Cane Fishing Christmas Activity
Sr. Boys Basketball Tournament @Tofield (Boys leaving at Lunch Hour)
*Awards Night* at 7pm (Doors open at 6:30pm)

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Upcoming Dates:

December 20th-January 4th Christmas Break

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

- Matthew 3.11

Peace and blessings to you all!

During this season of Advent, we’re invited to prepare our hearts for God’s work and for the blessed coming of our savior at Christmastime. Our gospel reading above was spoken by John the Baptist, and he reminds us that turning towards God begins with a willingness to change and to make space for something greater. His humility shows us how to open ourselves to God’s presence, while Jesus’ “fire” represents the inner courage and renewal the Holy Spirit brings. In the busyness of this season, and as Father Chad reminded us in Mass today, sometimes we simply need to slow down, put down our phones, and create a quiet space where God can speak to our hearts. As we move closer to Christmas, this passage encourages us to welcome Christ’s light with hope and expectation. May we allow God to shape us from within so we can receive the joy and new beginnings that Christmas promises. Doesn't this sound beautiful and peaceful? We sure think it does. Where do you sense God calling you to grow, change, or be renewed as Christmas approaches?

This week we are extremely thankful for all the amazing people who go above and beyond with their time for our kids; our staff members and parents who help make our school a better place by coaching, organizing fun events, helping with community projects, feeding our kids through the breakfast program, preparing our grade 12s for graduation and organizing our upcoming Awards Ceremony this coming Friday. Thank you!

Once again, may this Advent season fill us all with hope, peace, and joy, and may we continue to walk together in faith as we prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ.

Blessings for a wonderful week!

With gratitude,
The STMY Administration Team

Thank you once again for your patience and support as we return to normal operations following the three-week labour stoppage. Our collective focus remains the same: ensuring every student has the opportunity to meet the necessary instructional outcomes and curriculum expectations for their current grade level.

To maximize student learning, we plan to use the proposed calendar changes to extend Semester One to January 30th, with Semester Two beginning Monday, February 2nd.

Report Cards: End-of semester report cards will continue as usual.
Diploma Exams and Grade 9 PATs: To ensure students and teachers can concentrate on learning after lost instructional time due to the teacher strike, Alberta’s government has cancelled the January 2026 diploma examinations and Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs). Students will be automatically exempted.

Students who choose not to write at a later date will receive their school-awarded mark as their final official course mark. A notation will be added to transcripts confirming that no diploma exam was written. This ensures there is no impact on students’ ability to graduate or transition into post-secondary programs.
Students may choose to write January diploma exams in April or June 2026.

Exam Week: This may be condensed to two days: January 29th and 30th. All final assessments will be completed at this time. Regular instruction will continue until Jan 28th.

These changes allow us to recover a significant amount of instructional time for the first semester, with minimal impact on the second.

Proposed School Calendar Amendments:

The Board of Trustees will be considering amendments to the 2025/26 school calendar, to add extra instructional days for students, and to provide teachers with extra time to complete instruction.

The Board plans to review following proposed changes which will be finalized at their November 18th, 2025 public board meeting:

For all schools:

January 28th, 2026 - currently a Professional Development Day, will now become an instructional day for Semester 1
January 29th, 2026 - will remain an instructional day, but in Semester 1
January 30th, 2026 - will remain an instructional day, but in Semester 1
February 2, 2026 - will remain an instructional day, and mark the start of Semester 2

Busses will be running on January 28th, which will follow the normal Wednesday (early out) schedule.

Our Commitment to support uninterrupted learning:

Training and professional learning will focus on essentials—such as curriculum implementation and student support—while keeping classroom time as the top priority.
We will seek to maximize student learning, while balancing student wellness
Central Learning Services will minimize meetings to promote teacher/student time in classrooms.
Schools are balancing the time committed to non-curricular school wide events to optimize student learning

How We Will Communicate Student Learning

As we return to regular learning routines following the recent disruption, we wish to share a few important updates and adjustments about assessment, reporting, and student support plans for this term. These adjustments are consistent with Alberta Education’s expectations and ensure that our assessment, reporting, and individualized support practices continue to meet all provincial requirements.

Parent-Teacher Conferences: Fall conferences remain an essential opportunity to connect about your child’s learning. Schools will complete conferences between November 3 and December 12, either on original or rescheduled dates. St. Mary’s will run their conferences from November 19 and November 20, 2025.

Report Cards:

Grade 7-12: One formal report card will be issued at the end of each semester.

What Students Will Be Learning

All Alberta Education outcomes remain in effect. We are working divisionally to pace outcomes in ways that are meaningful to optimize learning.Our focus is prioritizing key learning outcomes.

Individualized Support Plans(ISPs):

As shared in the September communication, Elk Island Catholic Schools is implementing a new ISP process to better support students and strengthen collaboration with families. To allow for implementation training and meaningful parent engagement, timelines have been adjusted as follows: K–12 ISPs: December 19, 2025

Parents remain valued partners in the development and review of all Individualized Support Plans. If you have any questions regarding your child’s ISP, please contact your school.

We recognize that families and educators have faced significant change this fall. Through compassion, collaboration, and clear communication, we continue to live our divisional theme:
“Growing Together in Christ’s Love.”

If you have specific questions related to your child’s course load or schedule, please contact your child’s teacher, or the school.