"Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)

February 2 - PD Day (No school for students)

February 13 - Shrove Tuesday

February 14 - Ash Wednesday (Lent Begins)

February 14 - Valentines Day

February 19 - Family Day (No school)

February 19-23 - Winter Break for Students

February 20 - Holiday

February 21 - PD Day (No school for students)

February 22 - PD Day (No school for students)

February 23 - PD Day (No school for students)

February 28 - Pink Shirt Day

February 28 - Lent Mass

We will be hosting an Open House on Wednesday February 7 from 6:30-8:00 pm for St. Gregory the Great families interested in learning more about our school, St. Lorenzo Ruiz Middle School. This Open House is intended for St. Gregory the Great families and we ask that if any of our current families have wonders about the recent boards decision to contact Mr. Coumont at the office for more information.

To view the letter we sent to families on January 29, please click here.

Our Lost & Found is overflowing again. Please remind your children to stop by the gathering area during school hours to claim their missing items. We will be posting pictures of these items to our Facebook and Instagram pages.

We have been advised that Peace Officers are going to be on patrol around our school during peak pick up and drop off times watching for traffic concerns.

We are looking to fill two Executive positions within our School Council. These important roles are Secretary and Faith Lead. If you are interested in either of these positions, or would like more information, please email rob.coumont@rdcrs.ca and slr.schoolcouncil@gmail.com We thank you for your consideration.

Every year the Alberta Government sends out a survey to families in regards to their school. These surveys are important information to our school and staff as they allow us to see the progress we have made, and our successes and allow us to set priorities. In middle school, these surveys are sent to Grade 7 families. A letter was sent out to Grade 7 families, to provide them with more information on these surveys. We look forward to your responses.

If your child would like a First Year at St. Lorenzo Ruiz t-shirt you can follow the directions on the purchasing form that was sent home last week. These shirts are intended to commemorate the experience of being at SLR for the very first year. Any profits from the purchase of t-shirts go to School Council, however, please note the focus was to have the clothing be affordable for families. The shirt design was done by a Grade 9 student, after having a shirt design contest. Order deadline is February 6, 2024.

UPDATE: Thank you to all our families who got their forms completed, we only have 62 forms left! We will continue to send out daily reminders next week to those who are still outstanding so please complete and submit your past due forms to avoid these alerts.

You should have received notification that the 2023-24 Student Information Update form was sent to you. This form is MANDATORY and required by Alberta Education. The information in this form must be updated and current. Please pay close attention to medical and legal alerts as these are often out of date and need to be current. The form can be found by logging into PowerSchool on your browser (not available on the app) and clicking on SchoolEngage at the bottom of the menu on the left hand side. Please take a few minutes to complete this form and submit. CHANGES MUST BE SAVED FOR EACH PAGE BEFORE CLICKING NEXT.

STUDENT INFORMATION UPDATE FORMS ARE PAST DUE AND MANDATORY

We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Feb. 13 this year throughout the division. Valentine's day events will occur on this day, as Feb. 14 is Ash Wednesday, a day of reflection as we start our Lenten Journey.

We sent out our 2024-2025 Intent forms last week. This form is used to give us an idea of student numbers for the coming year to help us start planning for next year. The form only takes a couple minutes to fill out and we ask that it be completed by February 6. We thank you in advance for your assistance. Deadline is February 6, 2024.

Do you or someone you know have old t-shirts to donate? Our shop CTF class is in need of rags for stain applicaiton and old t-shirts work perfectly! If you have some to donate, please send them with your child to the office and we will make sure Mr. Visser gets them. Thank you!

We would like to remind our families to please use our North parking lot when parking and exiting vehicles. This is especially important on game nights when we have an abundance of visitors parking near the school. In an effort to show kindness to our community, we are asking our school community to please be considerate of our neighbours across the street and leave that parking for residents only.

As you know in Grade 6 and Grade 9 students have Provincial Achievement Exams (PAT's). Here is the exam schedule for the PAT's.

Grade 6 English Language Arts (ELA) Part A Writing May 15

Grade 6 ELA Part B June 12

Grade 6 Math Part A June 13

Grade 6 Math Part B June 14

Grade 6 Social Studies June 19

Grade 6 Science June 20

Grade 9 ELA Part A Writing May 13

Grade 9 K&E ELA Part A Writing May 13

Grade 9 ELA Part B June 12

Grade 9 K&E ELA Part B June 12

Grade 9 Math Part A June 13

Grade 9 Math Part B June 18

Grade 9 K&E Math June 18

Grade 9 Social Studies June 19

Grade 9 Science June 20

As always, if you need to reach our office for any reason, please contact our main line at 403-406-7365. This is also the number to call should you need to call in your child's attendance. This number is alway available on our website.

UPDATE: On Wednesday, we sent home fee statements to those families with balances owing. Please pay these fees ASAP or call the office to make arrangements to pay as they are past due. We accept cash or cheque at the office or you may choose to pay using a credit card online by following these steps:

To pay online, please log into your Parent PowerSchool account to view your outsanding fees and make your payment online through RYCOR. If you are unsure how to pay using RYCOR, please follow these steps:

1. Visit your school's website and click on the PowerSchool quick link (or use link above).

2. Sign in using your PowerSchool Username and Password. If you have forgotten either/or please contact the school office for assistance with resetting your password.

3. Click on link, "School Fees and Forms", located on the left-hand side.

4. Please follow the instructions provided on the screen when you are taken to RYCOR. If you have any questions, please contact the school office.

**RYCOR can only be accessed via PC/Tablet, the program does not work using the PowerSchool app.

St. Lorenzo welcomes Shanda Lyons to our team as our Family School Counsellor. We wish Amy Job all the best on her maternity leave. Shanda comes to us with a wealth of experiences such as supporting families and children through the addiction and recovery process via the PChAD program, and assisting in and out of class with crisis management and interventions within a Stabilization and Assessment Centre for youth in care. She also teaches physical literacy skills and mindful movement for youth and adults and is looking forward to working with the St. Lorenzo Ruiz team, the students and their families!

Family Law Information

ATTENTION ALL RDCRS parents of teens!

Check out this FREE workshop coming to you!

Click the link to register: https://forms.gle/Fvp1oYwt1xudbv7E6

Adams Taekwondo is accepting registrations for their next session starting February 12.

We are in full swing with basketball season. As always, please join us and cheer on our Golden Eagles for their tournaments and regular season games - home and away game dates and times can be found on our SLR Sports Calendar.

Basketball fees are now in Rycor and can be paid online using a credit card or at the office by cash or cheque.

As always, for anything sports related, please see our SLR Sports Calendar for the most current dates and times. This calendar is updated regularily and is the best way to stay on top of everything SLR sports. If there is ever a change in the schedule, this is where you will find it.

**It has come to our attention that online ordering is unavailable. We are working on the issue and will update once it becomes available. We apologize for the inconvenience. We are still accepting orders at the cafeteria as normal.

Online ordering for the Eagles Nest Cafe is available at slr.hotlunches.net

Parents can order in advance using this online system. Students are still able to pre-order at the school as well. For more instructions on how to sign up and use the system, please read this letter.

Want to earn money for our school by simply shopping for groceries? Please see the poster below for more details.

For anything School Council related, please contact:

School Council Information

Email: slr.schoolcouncil@gmail.com

Winter weather has arrived! We know it can be tricky to convince teenagers to wear their jackets, but we ask that you please remind your children to dress for the weather as outdoor recess does continue through the winter months.

As noted in the signage at our front entrance, to support the safety in and around our school we have indoor and outdoor cameras.

St. Francis of Assisi presents Disney's Frozen Jr. Tickets go on sale January 8, 2024 and showtimes are February 29 & March 1, 2024. For more information, please see poster.

We are excited to extend an invitation to you to become a homestay host for international students enrolled in our school. Your participation in this program is vital, and it is through the support of families like yours that we can provide an enriching experience for our students.\

By opening our doors to students from around the world, we enhance our programs, strengthen our community, and offer life-changing experiences to our Canadian students, shaping their perspectives in a meaningful way.

Our dedicated hosts have discovered that homestay has not only brought them lifelong friendships but also created lasting connections across the globe. They take pleasure in sharing Canadian experiences and customs with their international students, fostering cultural exchange and understanding.

To support our homestay host families, we have partnered with the Canada Homestay Network Society (CHN), a family-led, not-for-profit Canadian organization that has been a leader in homestay since 1995. CHN provides comprehensive orientation, 24/7 emergency support, a host allowance to help offset expenses, and the opportunity to bring the world right to your front door.

If you would like more information about becoming a host for one of our students, please reach out to hostinfo@canadahomestaynetwork.ca, call 1-877-441-4443 ext. 2264/2176, or visit

https://whyihost.ca.

To start the process of becoming a CHN host, please visit:

https://hostportal.chnonline.ca/apply