St. Cecilia Community Messenger

Mon, Sept 16, Day 4

Tues, Sept 17, Day 5

• Hymsing 10:30 AM

Wed, Sept 18, Day 6

Thurs, Sept 19, Day 1

Fri, Sept 20, Day 2

• Terry Fox Run PM - Toonie for Terry
• Gr 4-6 to Carburn Park - Consent forms required.

Sept 24: Picture Day - Volunteers needed. TBA

Sept 25: Evening PT Interviews

Sept 26: Orange Shirt Day - All students encouraged to wear orange

Sept 26: Parent Trustee Forum - Details TBA

Sept 27: Pt Interviews, No classes

Sept 29: National Rail Safety Week

Sept 30 Truth and Reconcilliation Day - No Classes

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

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 19: Last day of classes before Christmas break

Dec 20: PG day - No classes

On Friday morning St. Cecilia students, teachers and some parents attended our opening Mass at St. Cecilia Church. I was very pleased with how this event unfolded and I am proud of our students and staff as we negotiated the walk over to the Church. I am grateful for Father Paul's support as well as for the help of our parent volunteers who assisted with supervision. Everyone made it to the church and back again without incident and we were also blessed to have a beautiful sunny day for the walk over.

I was particularly moved by Father Paul's homily where he said that if we place our Faith in God, our needs will be taken care of and he will not give us challenges we cannot overcome. Through prayer and relying on the support of our colleagues, families and resources in the school district I am confident that we can overcome the challenges created by the recent homeroom re-organization that was necessary to complete.

I have copied and pasted a reflection from our liturgical planning document in the Faith Formation section below.

Thank you to all parents who attended Thursday evening's school council meeting. All parents of the St. Cecilia School community are members of school council and i encourage all parents to try to attend at least one school council meeting over the course of the school year. Please note the information about school council in the attachment below.

The next meeting will be held on Oct 17 at 6:30 PM.

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.

Please use this link to book your parent teacher conference on either the evening of Sept 25 or during the day on Sept 27. Please note that the purpose of this meeting is for parents to discuss their child's learning needs with teachers. Teachers will not have gathered enough data or assment to be able to give an update on learning. Kindergarten parents are not expected to book interviews as kindergarten students have just completed staggered entry.

St. Cecilia Conference Manager (schoolsoft.com)

St. Cecilia Students will participate in the Terry Fox Run on Fri, Sept 20 in the afternoon. Div 2 students will be attending a field trip to Carburn Park and will observe Terry Fox Run on the way to and from the park. We ask that all students and families consider donating a "toonie for Terry." All proceeds will be donated to the Terry Fox Foundation.

• School Council Chair and Executive Orientation and General Meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 26 at St. Francis High School (877 Northmount Drive NW).

• Principals, and a school council chair or a representative from each school must attend.
  RSVP HERE by September 23, 2024.

• The forum is also open to interested parents/guardians.

• The meeting will review the School Council Handbook and roles of each School Council member. There will also be a panel Q&A session followed by breakout discussions.

Last week it was necessary to re-organize the homerooms at St. Cecilia. We went from 11 classes to 10 classes and that meant that some teaching assignments and student placements had to change. Although the re-organization had to be completed quickly, student circumstances and strengths of teachers were considered in making the changes.

This type of change is never without its challenges and I thank our parent community for the support that we have received. Please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have with me by calling the school at 403 500 2040 to make an appointment or you may also contact me by email. Please note that the upcoming parent/teacher conferences will also be an excellent opportunity for parents to ask questions and share information about learning needs with homeroom teachers.

Combined classes are a common way to organize students for learning when enrollment numbers do not lend themselves to complete classrooms. The student to teacher ratio in Alberta schools is around 28:1. This means that schools are generally allocated 1 teacher for every 28 students. Sometimes, there are circumstances which may lead to an additional teacher or extra educational assistants being allocated. These resources are used as efficiently as possible in order to create the best possible scenarios for all students.

Administrative Procedures are the main source of direction in our school district. These public documents can be found on the District website at this link.

Please see updated transportation routes in the attachment below.

Please open the attachment below to read about an opportunity for parents of diverse learners. The information will help parents to advocate for better inclusive education for all children. There will be group discussions and case studies etc. There will be 4 workshops held over the course of this school year on Sept 21, Oct 26, Jan 18 and March 15. Space is limited.

On Thursday morning students met in the gym for an assembly where various school procedures and expectations were discussed. Below is a summary of the messages students received. So far, we are pleased with student behavior at St. Cecilia and as we continue to establish norms and expectations for the year we will continue to patiently remind students of behavior expectations at school.

Div 1 (Gr 1-2-3)

• Bus behaviour
• Recess
• Reminders of when they have the playground
• Expectations of behaviour: no jumping on each other / dragging each other / playfighting / tag on the actual playground
• Read a story - our class family
• talked about how we're a school family and even though some might be changing classrooms, we were all one big family so everything will be ok
• Reminders to be kind, patient and respectful
• Just dance for a body break
• Practiced standing quietly and sitting quietly
• Talked about walking to church tomorrow, reminded them to dress for the weather

Div 2 (Gr 4-5-6)

• Bus behaviour
• Lunch expectations
• Recess
• Reminders of when they have the playground
• Expectations of behaviour: no jumping on each other / dragging each other / playfighting / tag on the actual playground
• Field soccer games - not in the afternoon since it's div 1 time in the field and they have to be careful with how hard they kick the ball
• Watched a video - Crow: The Legend, talked about being part of a team and how we all have our unique gifts
• Just dance for a body break
• Practiced standing quietly and sitting quietly
• Talked about walking to church tomorrow, reminded them to dress for the weather
• Watched a mindfulness video - mindful choices, that talks about strategies for when things don't go our way.

Hello everybody,

Getting enough sleep at night is important for all of us but especially children. When kids regularly get the proper amount of sleep it not only makes mornings easier and more pleasant, but it also has some pretty surprising benefits for their mind, body and overall wellbeing. It improves memory, reduces stress, increases creativity, improves problem solving and social skills. Not getting enough sleep can affect their mood, concentration, behaviour and their physical and mental health.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:

· Infants under 1 year: 12-16 hours

· Children 1-2 years old: 11-14 hours

· Children 3-5 years old: 10-13 hours

· Children 6-12 years old: 9-12 hours

· Teenagers 13-18 years old: 8-10 hours

Tips for setting up a bedtime routine:

· Limit or avoid caffeine.

· Try to have a set bedtime every night. This will make it easier for them to fall asleep.

· Try to limit screen time at least an hour before bed and designate this as reading time. You can read together, or they can lay in bed and look at books.

· Children and teenagers don't need cell phones when they should be sleeping , none of us do! Have them give you their phone at bedtime, they might not like it, but they will absolutely sleep better without it.

· Try to have a warm bath or shower before bed.

· Keep the room cool and dim when it’s time to sleep

Here are a couple of informative articles on the subject. Check them out!

https://caringforkids.cps.ca/handouts/pregnancy-and-babies/healthy_sleep_for_your_baby_and_child

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/children-and-sleep

The text below is a reflection that is part of Liturgical planning for our Opening school liturgies and Masses.

Probably everyone of us knows the experience of being thirsty, especially after spending time outdoors on a really hot day. We greatly enjoy a glass of cold water after a game of soccer or skateboarding, a day of gardening or a hike in the mountains. But do we recognize that, in addition to our physical thirst for water, we also have a spiritual thirst? A deep thirst for God. This is a thirst that we may not always recognize. Or, if we do recognize that we have a thirst, we might think it is for something material such as the latest toy, electronic device or style of clothing or that it might come from a desire to be around friends. These items and time spent in the company of others, however, only satisfy us for a little while. Our thirst for God remains.

In his abundant kindness, God provides for our spiritual needs and satisfies our deepest thirst. He fills us with the richness of his love. He makes his mercies new every morning. He fills our hearts with joy and gladness. He grants us the gifts of faith, hope and love. His love and desire for us to be his people is so great that he came into the world as one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a truth we profess every time we pray the Nicene Creed, saying Jesus Christ “came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.” By becoming one of us, God united himself to us and became like us in every way except sin. He worked with human hands, thought with a mind similar to ours, made decisions about what actions to take and loved his friends and family with a human heart. He also engaged in learning. He walked the path of life with us and so understands our sufferings, fears, and hungers, as well as our joys and hopes.

But God’s love did not stop with becoming incarnate, however. God loved us so much that Jesus bore our guilt and our shame on the cross and gave his life for the world. He took away the sin of the world and opened the way for us to spend eternal life with God. This sacrifice was a gift from God the Father himself. In addition, this was a free gift given to all. It was not based on our own merit, strength, goodness or piety. It was pure gift. The Gospel writer, John, expresses this greatness of God’s love when he writes, “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” He adds that “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” This demonstrates that God desires goodness, peace and joy for all of humanity.

In Jesus, we have an indescribable gift. Jesus makes the invisible God visible and by listening to him, we can know that God is all loving, merciful and compassionate. Jesus continues to accompany us on our earthy journey and is close to us always. As Pope Francis writes, “Christ is alive! He is our hope … He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there … He calls you and he waits for you … he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope.” Christus vivit,1, 2

Our response to this gift is gratitude and thanksgiving, as well as striving to live a Christian life of holiness. A life of holiness means that we love God and our neighbour wholeheartedly. It means that we invite God’s grace into our lives to help us live and love like Jesus did. It means that we put the needs of others ahead of our own. We receive God’s grace by engaging in prayer, by allowing our hearts and minds to be shaped by scripture and by participating in the sacraments. By participating in these activities, our thirst for God is satisfied and we are filled with every blessing in abundance. God supplies the strength and all that we need to love and serve others.

May this year spent on deepening our understanding of God’s indescribable gift of Jesus overflow with thanksgiving and may we drink deeply from his well of grace that we may grow in love of God and neighbour.

Please take a look at the Sacramental Preparation documents we received from St. Cecilia.

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 13, 2024

To view the Calgary Catholic Board Meeting Highlights for the Regular Meeting of September 11, 2024, as well as previous Highlights please access the following link: https://www.cssd.ab.ca/highlights-minutes

September 11, 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:

Regular Board Meeting June 19, 2024, (last of the year)

Organizational Meeting June 19, 2024,

Special Board Meetings July 3, 24 & Aug 28, 2024, as well as previous minutes, please access this 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