Monsignor J. S. Smith School Newsletter MARCH 2016

2919 DOUGLASDALE BLVD., S.E. CALGARY, AB T2Z 4H9 PRINCIPAL: Mrs. Deborah Woods PHONE: (403) 500 2069 FAX: (403) 500 2269 VICE PRINCIPAL: Mrs. Kathryn Olson EMAIL: monsignor.smith@cssd.ab.ca ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: Ms. Ashley Kilpatrick SCHOOL WEBSITE: http://www.cssd.ab.ca/msgrsmith

Message from the Principal Traditionally, March is the month of growth and new birth. As we move through the days and weeks of Lent, we hope that staff and students are working to grow in their faith and experience the birth of further kindness and humility. Since our last newsletter, the school community celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a scone sale hosted by our School Council and participated in an Ash Wednesday Liturgy with Father James from St. Albert the Great Parish. Both of these events served as a starting point in the goals mentioned above. March will continue to provide opportunities to remind ourselves and reflect on Jesus’ journey in the days and weeks leading up to Easter, hopefully deepening our spiritual awareness at this most important time of the liturgical year. March is also a month to focus on student learning. Students in grades 5-9 will have the opportunity to hear a presentation on March 3 regarding the development of responsible digital citizenship. Progress Report distribution is March 11 and Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for March 17-18. Finally, our Easter Food Drive sponsored by School Council runs from March 11-21 and gives each person the chance to learn the value of contributing positively to the lives of those less fortunate. Our final Lenten learning activity is the Holy Thursday Liturgy on March 24 at 9:30am, just prior to dismissal for Easter break. As always, all members of our school community are welcome to attend. On behalf of the MJSS staff, I wish all families a blessed Lenten season and joyful Easter celebration.

School Council Corner Our School Council committees continue to be hard at work! The Special Lunch committee sold “Cobs” scones on Shrove Tuesday, which was a big hit again this year. The next Special Lunch will be on Friday, March 11th – Little Caesar’s is available for elementary students and Booster Juice is available for junior high students. The Family Programs committee will be hosting the Child Safe Home Alone program on April 18th and 19th during lunch hour. Registration will be opening soon. Watch for an email with more information. The Lenten Food Drive benefiting the St. Vincent de Paul Society will take place from March 14th to March 21st, and the food will be delivered to the church sometime around March 22nd. Emails regarding donations will be coming home in the upcoming weeks. A reminder that elections will be held at the May School Council Meeting for all School Council Executive positions for the 2016-2017 school year. These include Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. Our School Council Constitution limits an individual from serving more than two consecutive years in any one council position; therefore we will need a new Chair and new Vice-Chair for next year. If you are interested in running for these or any of the Executive positions, please contact me. Due to parent teacher conferences in March, the next school council meeting is WEDNESDAY, March 16th at 7:00 pm in the school library. Please consider attending to find out more about what’s going on in the school and to give your input. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at ctbardos@shaw.ca. Tracy Bardos Chair, Monsignor J.S. Smith School Council

Miscellaneous News School Fees- payments can be made by Debit or Credit online through the district website at http://www.cssd.ab.ca/parents/fees/ or by cash or cheque made out to Monsignor Smith School. If paying by cheque please allow time for processing. Parents with financial concerns or other issues with fees are encouraged to discuss these with Mrs. Woods.

Moved? If you have moved, or have a new phone number or email, please update this information with the office.

Moved out of area? If you have moved out of the Msgr Smith areas, please notify us and please register your child at the school where you are living for September 2016

Absences- must be reported to the office. Also please inform the office if your child has an appointment and is going to be late. This will prevent our automated system from contacting you regarding unknown absences.

Gym strip- payments can be made online and the receipt should be brought to Mrs Jarman who will provide the item to the student.

Pink Shirt Day Pink t-shirt day started years ago when a student was bullied because he wore a pink shirt to school. In support, his friends began wearing pink to school as a way to stand up to the bullies. On Wednesday, February 24, everyone in our school was encouraged to wear pink. Students joined in an anti-bullying pledge to start the day and kindness reminders were placed around the school. At the end of the day, those who wore pink were given a pink balloon as a prize.

Ralph Klein Park The first week of February the grade 3 classes spent three days on a Ralph Klein Park Adventure based on the Open Minds concept. We were fortunate to take part in this program, which gave us an opportunity for a long term interdisciplinary study that encompassed the Grade 3 curriculum and more. The programs at Ralph Klein Park combined arts and culture, ecology and nature, natural living, and sustainability. The students developed their skills of higher level thinking, deep observations and general awe for nature. It was a time to learn and to sit still and use our senses to listen and observe. We were thankful for the many parents who offered their time, expertise and guidance during our 3 days. We all loved our time there and were sad to leave, but we also know we took so much away from our experiences there.

Band News! A big congratulations to our Junior High bands! Both the Junior and Senior bands participated in the Alberta International Band Festival at the University of Calgary this month. We were able to spend the day listening to and supporting other school bands, performing our own music and working with world renowned adjudicators to improve our playing. We also had some fun team building time together. On February 26th the grade 6/5 musicians spent the whole day at Mount Royal University for a one day band camp. Here they got to work with professional musicians on their instruments, listen to a concert and have an intensive rehearsal in a new concert hall. It was a great day together to get ready for their performance at the Alberta International Band Festival on Tuesday March 15 at 11:40am at Bishop Carroll High School. Coming up we will be having a new fundraiser to raise money for our upcoming band camp for the junior highs. Keep an eye out for this new and exciting chance to support our talented and hardworking band students!

Easter Food Drive As Easter fast approaches please consider participating in our schools Lenten Food Drive. The dates are chosen in conjunction with the St. Vincent de Paul Society and are set for times when food stocks are low. All items will be donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, who will then coordinate the distribution of food hampers. Monsignor JS Smith food drive will take place March 14th to March 21st. Each family is kindly asked to send in non-perishable food items to the school. The following is a list of hamper items assigned to each grade. **Please send in items to homeroom teachers during the above dates – they will then be assembled in the front foyer. Macaroni & cheese dinners (KD) KINDERGARTEN Breakfast cereal GRADE ONE Rice GRADE TWO Canned fruits & vegetables GRADE THREE Soup GRADE FOUR Canned pasta GRADE FIVE Canned baked beans GRADE SIX Cooking oil GRADE SEVEN Tooth paste GRADE EIGHT Hand soap GRADE NINE

Spotlight on Grade 1

The grade one students are learning about landmarks in and around Alberta. They have come to recognize these special places as significant features of the community. Mrs. Bedeau's class created postcards and mailed them to their parents. The students were excited to have their postcards mailed to their homes!

Great work!

St Albert the Great Parish News

First Communion For those parents who have children registered to celebrate First Communion (Grade 2 and up) at St. Albert the Great Parish in May and June, the first Preparation Session will be held on Saturday, March 5th from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon OR Sunday March 6th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. at the church. At least one parent and the First Communicant (your child) must attend one of these sessions. If you have not yet registered your child, there is still time to do so. If you have any questions, please contact the church: 403-257-6054.

Youth Ministry The Junior High Youth nights for this month will be on Tuesday, March 8th (Movie night) and Tuesday March 22th from 7 pm. to 9 pm. All students in grades 7, 8, and 9 are invited! Join us for a night of fun, food, prayer and reflection. Come and bring your friends! If you need more information, or to register, please contact us at youth@st-albert-parish.com

1 2/29/2016 10:59 AMMonsignor Smith

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

1 2 3 4 56 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 1920 21 22 23 24 25 2627 28 29 30 31

March 2016

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

1 23 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 1617 18 19 20 21 22 2324 25 26 27 28 29 30

April 2016

March 2016

Feb 28 29 Mar 1 2 3 4 5

DAY 5 (CCSD) DAY 6 (CCSD) Cyber Issues w/ Cst

Carter - 1PM

DAY 1 (CCSD)

100th Day of School!

DAY 2 (CCSD)

Communion Classes

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Communion Classes DAY 3 (CCSD) DAY 4 (CCSD) DAY 5 (CCSD) DAY 6 (CCSD) DAY 1 (CCSD)

Progress Reports

Rocks and Rings

Special Lunch

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

DAY 2 (CCSD)

Easter Food Drive

Begins

DAY 3 (CCSD) DAY 4 (CCSD)

School Council Meeting

- 7PM

DAY 5 (CCSD)

Parent Conferences

(PM)

K-9 Parent Interviews

H.S. PD Day (CCSD)

No School

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

DAY 6 (CCSD)

Last Day of Easter Food

Drive

DAY 1 (CCSD) DAY 2 (CCSD) DAY 3 (CCSD)

Holy Thusday Early

Dismissal (CCSD)

Liturgy - 9:30AM

Good Friday (CCSD)

No Classes

27 28 29 30 31 Apr 1 2

Easter Sunday (CCSD) No Classes

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

2 2/29/2016 10:59 AMMonsignor Smith

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

1 23 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 1617 18 19 20 21 22 2324 25 26 27 28 29 30

April 2016

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 2122 23 24 25 26 27 2829 30 31

May 2016

April 2016

Mar 27 28 29 30 31 Apr 1 2

No Classes

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

DAY 4 (CCSD)

Learning Clicks in Gr 9

Health

Regular classes resume

(CCSD)

DAY 5 (CCSD) DAY 6 (CCSD) DAY 1 (CCSD)

Hockey Info Night -

7PM

DAY 2 (CCSD)

Gr. 2 Rosaries

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

DAY 3 (CCSD)

YRE classes resume

(CCSD)

DAY 4 (CCSD)

Gr. 2 Teacher's Pet Boats

DAY 5 (CCSD) DAY 6 (CCSD) DAY 1 (CCSD)

Gr. 2 Priest Visits

Kindergarten Church

Pilgrimage - 12:30 -

Special Lunch

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Band Camp

Home Alone Courses

DAY 2 (CCSD) DAY 3 (CCSD)

DAY 4 (CCSD) DAY 5 (CCSD)

School Council - 7PM

DAY 6 (CCSD)

H.S. Interviews (CCSD)

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

No Classes

Professional Day K-12

(CCSD)

DAY 1 (CCSD) DAY 2 (CCSD) DAY 3 (CCSD) DAY 4 (CCSD)

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY