February 2016

At A Glance

New Registrations

Important Dates

Reading Corner

St. John Bosco Parish News

Random Acts of Kindness

Open House Information

Health Talk

Superintendent's Message

Bishop David’s Message

During February, we will focus on Kindness remembering that we are called to:

“...be kind to one another, tender-hearted,

forgiving one another...” Ephesians 4:32

Next Newsletter

February 29th

Principal: Mrs. Lori McDonough Assistant Principal: Mrs. Michelle LaFrance Administrative Assistant: Mrs. Renee Bourlai Website: stmariagoretti@ecsd.net

School Council

Meeting

Monday, March 7th

Administration Team Message

This February, as we naturally focus on friendship and love, let us all reach out to others in the spirit of kindness to make the world a better place. On February 2nd all staff in Edmonton Catholic Schools will meet for a day of reflection, prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist. This is a special time of the year for Edmonton Catholic Staff Members, when we take the time to think about what it means to us personally to work in a Catholic school system. It is a time for us to focus on our vocation and how we can best celebrate our faith on a daily basis. As always, our students have been busy in various extracurricular activities. Our indoor soccer team competed in a tournament at St. Nicholas School, our floor hockey team participated at a tournament at St. Elizabeth Seton School, and our Glee Club performed the National Anthem at Rexall Place for the Oil Kings game. Our students are starting to prepare for the Knights of Columbus Basketball Free Throw Competi-tion in March. At this time, we are half way through the school year, we do appreci-ate all the support given by our parents. Thank you for; helping your children with their homework and setting them up for success, organiz-ing our fundraising and family events, assisting on field trips and with classroom projects, providing hot lunches for our students, donating to our school community’s social justice projects, and so much more! We thank you for your dedication to the St. Maria Goretti School Community.

May your February be full of love, kindness, care, friendship, and family.

Mrs. L. McDonough Mrs. M. LaFrance Principal Assistant Principal

February 2016 Newsletter #6

4214 -127 Ave.

Edmonton, AB T5A 3K6

Ph.(780) 475 - 0158 FAX (780) 478 -8635

www.stmariagoretti.ecsd

St. Maria Goretti

Kindergarten Open House

Thursday, March 3rd

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

4214 - 127 Avenue

780-475-0158

All are welcome!

Important Dates for February:

While the attached calendar outlines the events for February, we would like to high-

light the following:

Tues., Feb. 2nd- Faith Development Day—NO SCHOOL

Mon., Feb. 15th - Family Day—NO

SCHOOL

Thurs., Feb. 25th & Fri., Feb. 26th

NO SCHOOL Teachers’ Convention

Upcoming Dates for March:

March 3- Kindergarten Open House

March 11 - Report Cards are sent home

March 17 - Demonstration of Learning &

Book Fair

March 24 - Dismissal at 12:00 p.m.

March 25 - Good Friday—No School

March 25 - April 1 - Spring Break

NO SCHOOL

April 4 - Back to School

Reminder:

Morning supervision starts at 8:22 a.m.

We ask that students are dropped off outside be-

tween 8:22 and 8:37 a.m. Students are asked to

wait/play outside until the bell rings at 8:37. We

have several students entering the building before

the 8:37 bell and this is problematic as our teachers

are preparing for the day and we do not have supervi-

sors in the hallways. Staff members are on supervi-

sion outside at 8:22.

Students on morning broadcast and patrols should

be the only students entering the school before 8:40.

In conditions of –20 C. we open the doors early to

allow students in before 8:37.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter!

Kindergarten Registrations

We are now accepting Kindergarten registrations for the 2016 - 2017 school year. Children must be 5 years of age on or before March 1, 2017 to register. Word of mouth is, without a doubt, the most effective way to promote our school. We ask that you spread the good news about our wonderful school to your friends and neighbours.

Strong Kindergarten programs ensure a bright future for our school. It’s time to let everyone know how great a school St. Maria Goretti really is!

Safety Over Convenience

The safety and security of our students is our first priority. We need your help to ensure that our stu-dents arrive and depart from school safely. To this end, please do not park on the school grounds on the south side of the parking area. This is a dangerous practice as students are not on the look out for traffic on the field. We ask for your cooperation in this matter. We appreciate your support in providing a safe environment for all children.

Student Teachers

St. Maria Goretti School community is

pleased to welcome two Student Teachers

from the University of Alberta:

Miss Sydney Volk &

Miss Marianne Madrazo

Thanks to Mr. Nagy, Mrs. Giles and all our

staff, who will be mentoring our Student

Teachers. They will begin their field experi-

ence in March—April.

Visitors to the School

Please remember to always check in with the office when visiting the school. Thanks for being so very

respectful of the learning environment that we work so hard to maintain for the success of all. Thanks also for volunteering, remembering to sign in at the office and wear a Volunteer tag.

Knights of Columbus Basketball Free Throw Competition

S.M.G. students ages 9 to 12 will have the opportunity to participate in the K of C Bas-ketball Free Throw Competition to be held on Sunday, Feb. 21st, Feb. 28th, March 6th and March 12th at St. Elizabeth Seton. Our stu-dents have been practicing! Good luck to all our participants!

Accountability Pillar As an annual check-up on the education sys-tem, the Accountability Pillar provides an oppor-tunity for Alberta Education and school authori-ties to ensure that we’re equipping students for success.

The Accountability Pillar uses a set of 16 indi-cators consisting of surveys of students, parents and teachers on various aspects of quality; stu-dent outcomes such as dropout and high school completion rates; and provincial assessments of student learning.

From January to the end of February, Alberta Education will be conducting the annual Accountability Pillar Survey. In January, parents of students in grades 4, 7 and 10 will receive a survey from Alberta Education. In February, stu-dents in grades 4, 7 ,10, and all teachers will be completing their surveys online at school.

All surveys are anonymous and ask questions about experiences with the school. In addition to English and French, the parent survey is available in Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree, Korean, Spanish and Tagalog.

Your participation in the survey helps provide important information on the quality of educa-tion your child is receiving, so we encourage you to return your survey promptly.

Survey results will be available to school au-thorities in May 2016 and will be reported pub-licly as part of their 3-Year Education Plans and Annual Education Results Report.

Random Acts Of Kindness Week

This year Random Acts Of Kindness week is from

February 8th to 12th.

Remember there is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end. In order to become involved, all that is need-ed is a greater awareness of the importance of kindness and a willingness to translate good inten-tions into actions. Whether it is kindness to one-self, kindness to the earth, or kindness to others, each act no matter how small makes a difference

and contributes to making our world a better place.

This message is the one that we will share with our students. Please take some time to talk to your child about kindness, celebrating and focusing on their acts of kindness by sharing your stories of

kindness, you have given or received.

In an effort to raise student awareness of this spe-cial week, we will share examples of just, kind, and

good behavior.

Thanks for your participation in bringing this spe-cial week alive for your children. We want our stu-dents to extend ripples of kindness for their whole

life.

Valentine’s Day at S.M.G.

February 12th

A special day to show love and

friendship to others

Please remember if your child wants to

send Valentines to members of their class,

please send one for every student in the

class.

Happy Valentines Day !

It is never too early (and never too late) to start

cultivating a child’s love of reading, language,

and words. So keep working hard and reading

nightly, it will make a difference!

Read-At-Home Winners

Congratulations to the following students who

are winners of the Read-At-Home program for

the month of January:

KA- Xavier J.

KB- Antonee S.

KC– Allison P.

1A– Emma A.M.

1B– David M.

1C- Kalen W.

2A– Karen J.R.

2B– Abule L.

2/3- Steven M.

3A- Deng D.

4A– Julianna G.

5A– Johanna A.

5/6– Matthew M.

6A– Sofia M.

LOST & FOUND

Parents, please do regular checks of

our lost and found box. Many beautiful

articles of clothing are in the box.

Skiing Grades 5 & 6

On January 22nd, our Grade 5 and 6 classes went skiing to Sun Ridge Ski Area. Students will be skiing again on February 5th. Thanks to our Parent Council for sponsoring this wonderful op-

portunity for our students!

January Critical Thinkers

*Tot C.

*Krystal S.

*Jessie R.

*Deng A.

*Nathaniel R.

*Maria K.

*Franz A.

*Joshua M.

*Emma B. S.

*Gabriella C.

*Pierce N.

*Kadyn S.

*Pritika N.

*Alix R.

*Claison S.

*Keira C.

*Maria O.

*Althea W.

*Antonio D.

*Emma L.

*Hermela M.

*Preston M.

*Julianna G.

*Brooklyn R.

*Johnny C.

*Jenna R.

*Maddyx P.

*Tyson P.

*Ashley M.

*Jucuntee F.

*Alison K.

*Cristina B.R.

*Maxson P.

*Emma M.

*Gavin M.

*Alicia C.

*Paul M.

*Olivia K.

*Avery G.

*Jesse Z.

*Chelsea I.

*Justice W.

*Jade S.

*Aa’Niyah T.H.

*Johanna A.

*Brady H.

KIDS NOW

Congratulations to the grade 6 students who

completed the Kids Now Program. The students

were dedicated in meeting every Tuesday for 12

weeks. A special thank you to Mitchell for leading

the group in developing leadership skills.

Girl’s Team Alix R.

Pritika N.

Amaya R.

Alison K.

Abegail G.

Keira C.

Kayla Q.

Madison S.

Ashley M.

Maria O.

Brandi L.

Boy’s Team Darius C.

Raymond C.

Elijah L.-R.

Lucas P.

Claison S.

Carter G.

Nicholas F.

Kyran S.

Alonzo B.

Nana A–M.

Noah D.

Jordan Y-S.

Theo M-P.

Alex C.A

Austin R.

Spencer N.

St. Maria Goretti Floor Hockey Teams

Our St. Maria Goretti Floor Hockey Teams

participated in the St. Elizabeth Seton Floor

Hockey Tournament on Saturday, January 23rd

Our Girls placed 2nd and our boys represented

the school well!.

Both teams played hard showed great sportsman-

ship!

Thank you to our to our coaches:

Mr. Nagy & Miss Hansma

Indoor Soccer Tournament

On Thursday, January 28th, our Indoor Soccer Team participated at a tournament at St. Nicholas School. The students played hard and represented St. Maria Goretti well! Thank you to our coaches, Mr. Haro and Miss

Sdao.

Congratulations to the following students:

*Zewdu M.

*Saran T.

*Zachery L.

*Abegail G.

*Tariq S.

*Kayla Q.

*Alonzo B.

*Joshua M.

*Wol W.

*Faith K.

*Alex C.

The GLEE Club was invited to sing the National Anthem at Centre ice at Rexall Place for the Oil Kings game on January 22,2016! Way to go!!

OPEN HOUSES

Triple P - Positive Parenting

All parents are welcome to join us for our upcoming

Triple P Discussion Groups on Positive Parenting!

With so much conflicting information about parenting,

how do you know what’s best and what works? Triple P

Positive Parenting Program has 30 years of research to back it up. Come out and learn strate-

gies and approaches to a better family life.

Monday, March 7th - Dealing with Disobedience

Monday, March 14th - Managing Fighting and Aggression

Monday, March 21st - Developing Good Bedtime routines and Hassle Free Shopping

5:30-8:00– St. Maria Goretti School

Supper will be provided.

More information to follow.