Catholic Elementary School 3310-107 Avenue Edmonton, AB T5W 0C7 Tel: (780) 479-5847 Fax (780) 479.7727 www.stjerome.ecsd.net

January 2016 NEWSLETTER

New Year’s Wishes

What shall I wish thee? Treasures of earth?

Songs in the springtime? Pleasure and mirth? Flowers on thy pathway? Skies ever clear?

Will this ensure thee a happy new year?

What shall I wish thee? What can be found bringing thee sunshine all the year round?

Where is the treasure lasting and dear? That shall ensure thee a happy new year?

Faith that increaseth walking in light

Hope that aboundeth happy and bright Love that is perfect, casting out fear

These shall ensure thee a happy new year

Peace in the Saviour, rest at his feet All of his countenance radiant And sweet joy in his presence

This will ensure thee a happy new year

Francis Ridley Havergall

Message from Administration

We welcome our children back as we begin a new calendar year and continue our school year focused on student learning. Thank you to our families for your support in talking with your child about their learning, for setting up successful homework routines and for reading with your child. A great step towards student success is through a strong effort and continued progress every day. As a staff, we are always working and learning to grow in our profession, to become more knowledgeable, more able to share our gifts, to teach and inspire our students to work and become lifelong learners, readers, writers and problem solvers. Blessings to you this new year! Jackie Flynn Corinne Peacher Principal Assistant Principal  

Cold Weather Policy

As we are now in the season of winter, we would like to communicate the following guidelines to you: ¯ Extreme weather conditions are when air temperature and wind-chill

factors are below –20 degrees C. At this temperature, unprotected skin can freeze in one minute.

¯ Students will have recess indoors only during extreme weather conditions. ¯ If conditions are extreme, students can enter the school through the side

doors after 8:30 if it is below – 20 degrees C. They will know it is an inside day if there is a green square posted on the door.

¯ AMA Crossing Patrols will NOT be out in extreme conditions. ¯ Students should come to school dressed appropriately to be outside (winter

coat, snow pants, winter boots, toque, scarf, and warm winter gloves).

Fort School The grade 4 and 4/5’s participated in a week long site school at Fort Edmonton Park; Fort School. Fort school is an inquiry, discovery based learning, hands on model where the children are encouraged to unpack new information independently. The students spent time discovering how Edmonton was founded and then grew through 1885, to 1905 and finally into 1920. Students learned about the establishment and inner workings of the Fort, when and how Alberta became an independent province and the reality of Edmonton during the First World War. The students were encouraged to use their journals to document daily learnings as well as wrote daily letters home. Students learned to play a number of time period games including Capture the Flag and Kick the Can which was an eye opening experience to the fun to be had using simple materials (ie. A can and two dish rags). They also participated in a mock provincial election where they learned that women did not have the right to vote. They also had the opportunity to do some household chores including washing by hand, making butter and scones and carting wool; which they thoroughly enjoyed. Lastly they had an opportunity to learn about the First Nations culture by making tipis, traverses and bannock. They also played traditional Aboriginal games and went snow shoeing. Fort school was an incredible experience. The students walked away with a wealth of knowledge and were fortunate for the opportunity to participate in inquiry based learning at a site school.

Holy Doors On Tuesday, December 8th, along with all the cathedrals of the world, our St. Jerome school community opened its “Holy Doors”. This event was in response to Pope Francis’ call for an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy; a year-long focus on mercy and forgiveness. A holy door has been used for hundreds of years in the Catholic church. Many people often take a pilgrimage (or journey) to these Holy Doors as a symbol of leaving behind their sins and turning to God. In the words of Pope Francis, “There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into the life of communion with God: this is Jesus, the one and absolute way to salvation. ‘This is the door of the Lord where the just may enter’ (Ps 118:20).” As Pope Francis points out: “It is important that this moment be linked, first and foremost, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy.” The doors are a reminder to all who pass through it that Jesus is the way to salvation. It serves as a symbol of God’s everlasting mercy and his constant invitation to us to return home to him. Each class at St. Jerome was invited to view the Holy Doors and develop their understanding of the mysteries of our faith through the icons depicted on the doors. At the conclusion of their visits, each student walked through our Holy Doors and offered a prayer of contrition. Our school family took much pride in being Catholics and showed great reverence during our celebrations.

Numero Challenge The grade 4/5 class welcomed Numero teacher John Edwards from Annunciation School to their classroom on Friday December 10th to share an exciting educational math game. Mr. Edwards lead his school to a win at the Edmonton Catholic Schools

Numero 2014-2015 championship and brought his expertise and the school’s trophy to St. Jerome. Numero is a math game that is played around the world and develops numeracy concepts and problem-solving skills in a fun, educational way. Numero is much more than a math game…it provides opportunities to practice mental math, number operations, tactical thinking, fair play and conversation. The game is easily adaptable for all ages, concepts and skill levels. The grade 4/5’s will be teaching this game to other classes in the school. Look for Numero events in the upcoming newsletters.

Soccer Students who have joined the St Jerome Science Academy Soccer Team have been practicing hard through December and will continue to do so in January in preparation for our tournament at St Nicholas School on Thursday, January 28th. Mrs. Gryko and Mrs. Stelmaschuk have been practicing with the boys and girls who joined, on Monday and Wednesday during lunch recess. We are very excited to represent St.Jerome on January 28th.

December PAWS Leadership On Thursday, December 17th, from 12:30-1:00, 2-3 students from each grade attended our December PAWS Leader meeting. These students were selected on the basis of various leadership qualities displayed during the month of December. These ranged from being a good helper, being respectful to those around them and including others in their play. They received a certificate from their teacher and were able to bring it home following the meeting. Students shared with Mrs. Flynn & Mrs. Peacher why they were selected, what they loved about St. Jerome School and suggestions they had for making it even better. Students enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies as a special treat. It is our hope that all students will have had an opportunity to partake in this special recognition by the year end. Congratulations to the following students who were recognized for their leadership during the month of December:

Kindergarten- Hazel D & Duncan A

Grade One – Alaina P & Nana A

Grade Two/Three- Sophia S & Qorey N

Grade Three- Nate R & Paula V

Grade Four- Logan W & Amath A

Grade Four/Five- Keagan S & Samantha B

Grade Six- Blake S P & Tia D

The students identified the following as things they liked about their school: how everyone is nice, kind staff who is always willing to help, school uniform, how no one feels alone or is left out, the feeling of family and the books in the library. The students would like to see: more non-uniform days, more student spaces in the hallway, more class pets and more books in the library.

Christmas Concert On December 16th we had our Christmas Concert at St. Jerome Science Academy. The students put in a lot of work preparing under the direction of Patty Cleall as well as their classroom teachers. They performed beautifully and we are so proud of them! A special thanks to our School Council who raised money as part of their raffling off of front row seat tickets. These proceeds will go towards Catholic Social Services Sign of Hope campaign.

Canadian Test of Basic Skills January 4-15

The Canadian Test of Basic Skills will be given to students in grade six during the above two weeks in January. These tests are administered to all students across the District. Students will be writing these tests in language arts and mathematics. These are standardized tests, which measure students’ academic growth from year to year. The results provide us with another source of information which teachers can use to effectively program plan for their students. We encourage our students to do their personal best, so they can demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have gained over time. Results are always available to parents once they are received from Central Office.

Running Room Indoor Games

The Running Room Indoor Games will be held on February 17th and 18th. We are allowed 3 male teams consisting of 8 students per team, and 3 female teams consisting of 8 students as well. This will be open to grade 4, 5 and 6 students and the number of teams will be decided depending upon with how many students want to participate. We will be having our first meet up/tryout on January 20th and carrying the practices on every Monday and Wednesday during lunch recess. Closer to the date additional practices may be added.

School Council News

The next school council meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 6th at 6:30 p.m. Please join us in meeting the needs of your children. Childcare will be provided.

God is Love Project Based Learning Science Expo

Our 14th Annual Science Fair is quickly approaching! This year's Project Based Learning Science Week is February 29th-March 4th. The kick off for this exciting week will be on January 8th. Our theme for this year is "God Love" and we are looking forward to celebrating a week filled with the wonderful work of each of our students. More information will follow.

Epiphany Celebration On Friday, January 8th, the students and staff of St. Jerome will gather for an Epiphany Celebration at 9:15 a.m. We welcome any parents/guardians that would like to attend.

Theme Day

It will be Beach Day at St. Jerome on January 22nd! Come and enjoy the sunny skies in your best beach wear!

No School for Kindergarten Students – January 27 On January 27th there will be no school for Kindergarten students. This will be a professional development days for our Kindergarten teacher.

Skiing On Friday, January 15th, students from grades 4-6 will be going skiing at Sunridge Ski Hill. Field trip forms will be coming home in the next little while and we welcome you to join us as volunteers if you are able!

School Uniforms

A reminder that students should be wearing navy or white tops (no logo) and navy bottoms. Note, that jeans are not to be worn at St. Jerome. We are asking students to wear collared shirts for special events. Every Friday is casual Friday where students are free to wear clothing of their choice.

Faith Development Day, Tuesday, February 2, 2016

On Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016, there will be no school for students. The entire staff of Edmonton Catholic Schools will be gathering as an entire faith community to celebrate our Catholic faith.

Twitter at St. Jerome! St. Jerome Science Academy is live on Twitter! Our secure and private tweets will share student learning, important news and activities of our school as well as some of the great things we do to make learning fun and meaningful. Make a request to follow us by searching @jerome_2015 and clicking on "request follow". We are looking forward to sharing news and events of our school with you through Twitter. Please be aware that you will have to sign up again this year in order to follow.

We Welcome Your Feedback We would appreciate any feedback you may have about our school. Please have your child return this portion of the newsletter to their homeroom teacher. The winner of the December draw was Nana from grade one.

St. Jerome January Feedback Form

Name of student(s) attending St. Jerome School: ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Parent/Guardian Name ________________________________________ 2 Stars (positive things you’ve noticed) and a Wish (possible area for improvement):

January 2016

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped,

they were overwhelmed w ith joy. ~ Matthew 2: 9-10 ~

There is so much for us to learn from the story of the wise men as they sought out the Messiah. They had just met with Herod, who was afraid of the coming of the Savior. The Magi, however, were not afraid; they were drawn to seek Jesus by their faith. When they found him, in a lowly stable, a place of poverty, they were filled with joy. This is rich with significance for us in our modern times. We are reminded not to be afraid of what our faith asks of us, for the ultimate reward of our faith is joy. The journey may be hard, but it is worth it! We are also reminded of the humble beginnings of our Savior. Pope Francis reminds us constantly that we are to be humble and to live our faith out in service to those who walk in the marginalized circumstances that Jesus was born into, for it is in those places that we will most certainly find Him. This is our Epiphany!

The New Year is a very exciting and busy time for us in Edmonton Catholic Schools. We have many celebrations of our faith on the immediate horizon. Our Ukrainian programs will celebrate Ukrainian Christmas on January 7. February 1 will mark our first Father Michael “Catfish” Mireau Youth Faith Day for our grade 8 students. Father Mike enjoyed working with all students, and we chose grade 8 students to engage in a full day event that will have them participating in the Eucharist and listening to Jesse Manibusan and Mike Patin, two amazing youth evangelizers. The theme for the day is “Serve like a Superhero”. On February 2, all of our staff will gather together to listen to Jesse and Mike and to celebrate the Eucharist, as well, for our annual Faith Development Day.

We know that ongoing faith formation of staff is essential to our Catholic identity. This month, we look at Mark 4 of Catholic School Identity: Sustained by Gospel Witness. An excellent Catholic school hires and nurtures staff that are living witnesses to the Gospel, and intentional disciples of Jesus Christ and His Church. Edmonton Catholic Schools, at the District and school levels, offers many opportunities for our staff to continue to grow in their faith as they nurture children in their faith formation.

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Our schools will begin accepting new registrations for the 2016-2017 school year this month. We are very excited to be opening John XXIII Catholic Elementary/Junior High School this fall. Visit www.ecsd.net to find a school, learn about programs, or to find Open House information.

Did you know that schools complete a 3 year School Plan for Continuous Growth each year? This plan is tied to our District Goals and Priorities. Data from a variety of sources including Provincial Testing, the Accountability Pillar, and Tell Them From Me Survey results are used to target areas of growth for each community. You can find your school’s plan on their website.

Each year, the Council of Catholic School Superintendents of Alberta (CCSSA) acknowledges teacher excellence in Catholic education across the province. Edmonton Catholic Schools will very proudly put forth the names of three teachers/administrators to receive this award. Please consider nominating a teacher or administrator who is an outstanding model for Catholic education for this important award. Your school principal can share information about the nomination process with you. All nominations are due by 4 pm on January 29, 2016.

In order to further our work with numeracy and literacy, there are professional development sessions this year that are being offered to support teachers as they program inclusively with specific adaptations and scaffolding required for English Language Learners in the early stages of language development as well as struggling readers and writers in the literacy classroom. Similar numeracy sessions will also be offered.

From December 7-11, over 15,000 ECSD students in 68 schools participated in one of the largest worldwide educational events in history, The Hour of Code. Students participated in a variety of fun programming activities as a way of exposing them to computer science for one hour. Coding can strengthen computational thinking, problem solving, numeracy, and literacy skills, and participating for one hour during the week showed students that anyone can become involved and learn. Over 100 million learners in over 180 countries have participated in the Hour of Code. For more information, visit https://hourofcode.com/ca.

In January, the Emerging Technologies team will be promoting an excellent multimodal digital poster creation tool for learning called Board Builder. Students and teachers will have the opportunity to share their posters and be recognized. Stay tuned for more details!

I would like to share a final thought with you from Pope Francis as we enter into our Year of Mercy. “God sent his Son, God made himself man in order to save us, that is, in order to grant us his mercy” (General Audience, 10 September 2014). Our schools have now created and blessed a Holy Door of Mercy to help them observe this special year on an ongoing basis. Many blessings for 2016! Sincerely,

Joan Carr Superintendent

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The "Day After" Christmas The joys of the Christmas Season are gone. We have exchanged gifts and greetings. We have feasted together and delighted in fellowship. We have seen the angels, we have heard "... a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors" (Luke 2:13-14). Now we are back to our daily lives. The intensity of winter season is upon us. We have many bills to pay. We are experiencing the let-down feeling that is nurtured by the long time we have spent getting ready for the festivities. After a few hours of celebrations, it is all over! We have expected so much but it lasted so short. It faded away and we are back in the everyday routine with the same old problems. But if this is what Christmas is all about, then it is a terrible mockery. If it lifts our spirits briefly only to crush them down later, then Christmas is not hope, joy, peace, and good will, but utter cruelty. Clearly this is not what God has in mind for us. Let us look briefly at the Wise Men to see how Christmas affected their lives. When the Magi learned of the plot of King Herod to kill the infant Jesus, they did not come back to Herod, but went another way. What did the evangelist Matthew mean when he wrote that the Wise Men "departed to their own country by another way" (Matthew 2:12)? No doubt Matthew meant that the Magi took another route so as to frustrate Herod’s murderous intentions. But is there not more to these words than that? The Wise Men took another road home in the spiritual sense, too. What they had seen in the manger in Bethlehem had changed their lives. No one ever comes to Christ and goes back the same way he came. No one comes to Christ and goes back by the same route. You are always changed. Like the Magi, we have seen the star. Like the Wise Men we have followed the star to the newborn King. Like them, we have worshiped the Christ Child, brought Him our gifts, and received Him in the manger of our souls through the sacrament of the Holy Communion. Now let us go another way, God’s way, leaving behind the old doubts, the old grudges, the old sins, and the old sorrows. Let us walk into the future with Christ, more loving and more conscious of the needs of others, for unto us is born a child, Christ the Savior, Emmanuel – God with us. As we take down our Christmas decorations to store them in the basement or the attic, let us be careful not to take down Christ. He was meant not for the attic, but for the living room of your heart and mine the year round. After all, His presence with us is what Christmas is all about. Many years ago someone sent a card to a friend the day after Christmas and the words speak of great truth that we have tried to capture today (the author is unknown): When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers and sisters, To make music in the heart. Alleluia! Unto us a child is born. Fr. Julian Bilyj District Chaplain St. Matthew Catholic School

Laudato Si – Pope Francis` Encyclical on the Environment - On Care for Our Common Home

Chapter Three: The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis

In Chapter one, we read how our world is in ecological crisis… our world is slowly dying because of global warming and although this impacts everyone in some way, the greatest effects are felt in the developing countries where people are already struggling to survive on the little they have. It is time we face the facts and start making a unified change to care for, and preserve, what we still have: we need an ecological conversion.

In Chapter two, we read how it is our Christian duty to do something about our Creation in crisis. The Gospel calls us to seriously live out the two greatest commandments, love God and love one another. To love God, we must proactively care for our common home, the earth. To love one another, we must live in ways that respect people all over the world, especially those who are struggling to survive. As Christians who follow the Gospel values, it is time to live more simply and with more responsibility.

In Chapter three, we explore that the roots of this ecological crisis, sadly, belong to humans; the pope says that there is a ‘deterioration of the environment’ (107). We are the cause of global warming because of our over-consumption and irresponsible development; we have allowed profit, wealth, comfort and technology to become more powerful than caring for God’s fragile ecosystems. We have become falsely accustomed to a lifestyle that reflects our earth having an infinite supply of resources that can feed us and fuel our economic growth.

Technology has provided us with many beneficial products and medical advancements, and we are thankful for them, but we must also be guarded about how fast technology is growing, faster than we can keep up. Technology can be powerful but when it becomes disengaged from ethics, it can be harmful. Technology needs to be seen as an instrument, not a ‘need’ that dominates our life (108); as we all know, it can even lure us into social isolation. To counteract this, the pope says we need a ‘bold cultural revolution’ where we ‘look at reality in a different way, to appropriate the positive and sustainable progress which has been made, but also to recover the values and the great goals swept away by our unrestrained delusions of grandeur’ (114). It is time to be responsible stewards of the earth and live in ways that ‘respect the natural and moral structures’ that God has endowed the earth with (115).

How can we apply this to our lives here and now?

We cannot deny that technology is a big part of our lives. Our Catholic responsibility, however, is to be disciplined stewards of the earth and not allow technology to dominate our lives. We must be mindful to stand-up to consumerism. As Christians, we own nothing but are stewards of everything. It is time to put our cell-phones down, even turn them off for one hour during the day, and reflect on how we can live more simply in a way that respects the world for a lasting future where our children’s children can live in a flourishing, non-polluted world.

We need to always remember that everything is interrelated and we are all connected from one side of the world to the other. As Pope Francis says, ‘our relationship with the environment can never be isolated from our relationship with others and with God’ (120). Love God by living more simply, cherishing the earth and respecting one another.

Janice Stefancik, Religious Education Consultant

Grade 3 students participated in the Alberta Education pilot administration of the

Student Learning Assessments (SLAs) in September and October. General

information about the Grade 3 SLA is available on the Alberta Education website:

https://education.alberta.ca/media/15304270/p-07-sla3_quickfacts_parents.pdf

The primary purpose of the Grade 3 SLA is to improve student learning. The SLA is

also intended to enhance instruction and assure Albertans the education system

meets the needs of the students and achieves the outcomes of the Ministerial

Order on Student Learning. Grade 3 teachers are using the results of the

assessments to inform their teaching.

Alberta Education recommends that results be shared through a collaborative

conversation with parents. We invite you to contact us if you would like to meet

to discuss your grade 3 child’s SLA report, with the focus being how to continue

working together to support your child’s learning.