Eckville Elementary News - Parents

Thank you to everyone who completed the demographic form updates last month. These updates are so important — they include consent for Physical Education activities, the acceptable use agreement for technology, consent for walking field trips, and most importantly, updated emergency contact information. Your attention to this helps keep things running smoothly and ensures we can best support your child.

It’s hard to believe we’ve already finished our first month of school! When I look back, it’s no wonder the time has flown by — we’ve had a successful school start-up, our Terry Fox Run and fundraiser, Orange Shirt Day, a Professional Development Day, our first School Council meeting, Open House, AMA Patrol training, cross-country running, volleyball, and so much more. What a great start to the year!

Looking ahead, October will be another exciting month. We’ll be focusing on farm and bus safety training, taking time to reflect and give thanks during the Thanksgiving holiday, and continuing with all the learning and activities that make our school such a special place.

-Mr. Jay Cottell

STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

Grade 1 - Bridger, John

Grade 2 - Athena

Grade 3 - Arlo, Eliana

Grade 4 - Zane

Grade 5 - Keeley

Grade 6 - Berklee

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Grade 1 - Monica

Grade 2 - Clark

Grade 3 - Kruze

Grade 4 - Nova

Grade 5 - Halen

Grade 6 - Temple

CHAMPION OF RESPECT

Grade 1 - Callie

Grade 2 - Ava

Grade 3 - Cole

Grade 4 - Gemma

Grade 5 - Maddie

Grade 6 - Kale

• Tuesday, September 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - No School

• Thursday, October 2 - Pizza w Principals - September Awards
• Friday, October 3 - First Day Options Gr 4-6
• Sunday, October 5 - World Teacher Day
• Wednesday, October 8 - Heartland Farm and Recreational Safety Presentations - Gr 1-6
• Egger School Breakfast - Supported by St. Paul's Presbyterian Church
• Friday, October 10 - PD Day - No School
• Monday, October 13 - Thanksgiving Day Holiday - No School
• Thursday, October 23 - Bus Safety - K and Gr 1 - 1:00 - 2:00 PM
• Friday, October 24 - PD Day - No School
• Tuesday, October 28 - October Assembly 2:45 pm
• Thursday, October 30 - Pizza w Principals - Oct Awards
• Friday, October 31 - Halloween - see our note about costumes below!

• Parent Teacher Interviews - NOVEMBER 5 and 6

We’re thrilled to share that our school has launched a brand-new music program! Students are already beginning to explore and engage with music in exciting new ways—from learning rhythms and melodies to discovering instruments and creative expression.

We invite you to join in our excitement and ask your child about what they’re starting to learn in music class. You might be surprised by what they can already share!

Stay tuned for more updates as the program grows!

We are excited to celebrate Halloween with your children but we want to ensure everyone is feeling safe at school. Please keep in mind that we are a school of PreK-Grade 6 students. Scary costumes and masks depicting blood or gore will not be allowed at school

Costume Restrictions

• no weapons allowed
• no costumes with blood or gore
• no scary or violent masks

*** The school reserves the right to ask any student to remove their mask or costume if school administration believes it is too scary. If you are unsure, please contact the school and ask first.

Thank you to Shaun Byrne and Eckville Machining and Welding for their donation of materials and time to make bushings for our new volleyball posts! We can't wait to try them out!

Thank you to Central Alberta Co-op for their generous donation that will continue to support our monthly student recognition program and Pizza with the Principals!!

Central Alberta Co-op also generously donates materials to our wood shop option class for Grade 4-6 students! Thank you!!

Thank you to St. Paul's Presbyterian Church for their donated time and materials to support our first SCHOOL EGGER BREAKFAST!

Thank you also to the Breakfast Club of Canada and the Egg Farmers of Canada for their donations!

This year, we are excited to focus on the 7 Sacred Teachings as part of our character education. Each month, we will highlight one teaching to help guide how we treat ourselves, each other, and the world around us.

In September, our focus was on Respect. Students heard weekly messages during morning announcements, explored stories in the library, and reflected on respect through classroom activities. This month, our focus shifts to Humility — learning that no one is greater than another, and that each person has something valuable to contribute.

To help bring these teachings to life, we’ve introduced a new “Champion of the Sacred Teaching” awards (seen above), which will be presented each month to students who model the teaching in their daily lives.

This work has been supported by our district, with staff taking part in professional development at the start of the year alongside colleagues from Eckville Jr/Sr High. Together, we are committed to weaving these teachings into our school culture in meaningful and lasting ways.

Just a reminder to everyone that all school visitors need to check in at the main office. When students are being picked up early, please come to the office and let us know, then we can call or walk down to the classroom. This helps limit classroom disruptions and lets us ensure we know who are always in the building as visitors, in case of emergency.

Please ensure all student medications are accompanied by a district required parent consent form. This includes everything from inhalers and epi-pens to tylenol, antibiotics and advil. The consent forms are available at the office and are required for any and all student medications in the school.

All our EE Parent Newsletter are posted on our website under the PARENTS tab. It is emailed to you as well but might end up in your spam/junk folder. We have a new mass email program called BRIGHT ARROW. If you don't receive our newsletter, check these folders and mark us as 'not junk/spam'.

Hot Lunches will be available to order in your Parent Portal. If you require support in accessing your
Parent Portal, please contact the school office.

• Beginning in late October, no dates planned as of yet

Click the image below to link to the full three page document.

Our School Resource Officer, Dave Lahucik, shared this resource that promotes awareness around online safety for Canadian children. Click above and below to access their website and click on the image to link to the shared resource.

https://www.protectchildren.ca/en/

*Safety Note from SRO Lahucik - please remind your kids to activate the crossing lights before they enter the roadway to cross at the 4 way. He has seen a lot of kids crossing and not doing so, and it's just an extra precaution that helps us make sure everyone gets to school safely each and every day.