St. Cecilia Community Messenger

Mon, Oct 14 - Thanksgiving Day, No classes

Tues, Oct 15, Day 3

Wed, Oct 16, Day 4

Thurs, Oct 17, Day 5

• Thanksgiving Liturgy 10:30 AM at St. Cecilia School
• School Council Meeting 6:30 PM

Fri, Oct 18, Day 6

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

School fees are being assessed and will soon be due. Please open the attachments below to view important information and for instructions on how to pay school fees.

Our next school council meeting will be held at St. Cecilia School next Thursday at 6:30 PM. We will welcome our school trustee, Myra D'Souza to the meeting where she will discuss governance as well as other topics of interest. The agenda for the meeting is in the attachment below. Please also review the minutes from the September 12th meeting. We hope to see you there!!

We value your insights as we continuously work to improve our district calendar. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will play a role in shaping the final version of the 2025-2026 calendar. Click here to review the draft calendar highlights, the draft calendar, and provide valuable feedback in a brief nine-question survey. The survey closes October 21, 2024.The calendar committee will consider the feedback before finalizing next year’s calendar in December. Special thank you to Area Director, Carrie Lodermeier and the calendar committee members for thoughtfully preparing the draft calendar.

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.

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

Every grade six student in Calgary is eligible to receive a free YMCA 13-month membership to the YMCA, thanks to the generous support of the Calgary Flames Foundation.

Visit the site for more information: Calgary Flames Grade 6 YMCA Membership | YMCA Calgary

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 families,

As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us are reflecting on the things we are thankful or grateful for and this is important, but did you know the act of practicing gratitude has numerous physical and mental health benefits? Gratitude is the actual feeling of being thankful for the people, places and things in your life and showing it. According to research, actively and regularly thinking about what we are grateful for trains the brain to notice the positives in our lives and boosts serotonin and dopamine, which improves mood, self-esteem, empathy, resiliency, and sleep patterns. It has also been shown to lower stress and help manage anger.

There are many ways to practice gratitude, like writing a thank you card or in a journal, taking a mindful minute or smiling at someone you appreciate. The more we do it the more natural it becomes and the better we feel no matter how old or young we are.

What are you grateful for today?

Click on the link to read about teaching gratitude to children. Happy Thanksgiving, I am grateful for you all.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/teaching-your-child-gratitude

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)

There are several available spots in the Big Brother Big Sister program at St. Cecilia. If you are interested in the program please feel free to contact me at denis.fortier@cssd.ab.ca or by calling the school at 403 500 2040. More information at this link or in the attachment below.

https://bbbscalgary.ca/programs/mentoring-in-school/

Please take a look at the PDF in the attachment below for information and tips on parking near Calgary schools.

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.

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

October 10, 2024

To view the Calgary Catholic Board Meeting Highlights for the Regular Board Meeting of October 9, 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

HealthyHunger.ca Healthy Hunger.

Links for Playground Donations

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

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

Oct 7-11, 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/kaxy90

Oct 14-18, 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/t5dgy