SILC News

Spring is in the air...

"...But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings." Malachi 4:2

Did you know that the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton has a weekly electronic newsletter called The Window? The sign up is quick and easy, and you can have the latest news from the Archdiocese delivered directly to your email. Visit https://caedm.ca/window/ to sign up and to read past issues.

A few weeks ago, I communicated to you how important it was for families who receive an Alberta Education Assurance Survey in the mail to share their thoughts on how their child’s school was performing in various areas. The Ministry has extended the deadline to March 24 due to a mailing backlog. If you have received a survey package in the mail, we deeply value your input into how we are doing; please take a few minutes to help us know what we are doing well and what we need to improve.

I leave you with a further thought from Pope Francis’ Lenten Message:

Dear brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit inspire and sustain us this Lent in our ascent with Jesus, so that we may experience his divine splendour and thus, confirmed in faith, persevere in our journey together with him, glory of his people and light of the nations.

JUNE Diploma Exams

If you are currently registered in a diploma exam course at St. Isidore, and are local to our area, your teacher will advise the office and we will register you to write the examination here, for the course in which you are enrolled and have completed - there is no fee for a first time write! If you are upgrading and intend to rewrite a diploma exam, you are responsible for registering and paying the rewrite fee prior to the exam date.

**If you do not live in the Sherwood Park area, then you will have to find a Diploma Writing Centre in your area. You will need to create an Alberta Education "myPass" account for that. Please do that ASAP: myPass.alberta.ca PLEASE phone the writing centre in nearest to you and kindly ask permission to write the exam there. You then will have to go into your "myPass" and register at that site. If you need help, please email Mrs. Melnyk @ tracym@eics.ab.ca for help registering! DEADLINE IS MARCH 23/23!!

ALL students REWRITING diploma exams MUST register and pre-pay DIRECTLY with Alberta Education by the established deadlines to ensure an exam and label will be supplied to the school for the diploma writing session. For each rewrite there is a non-refundable fee of $26.25.

Details on registering and paying rewrite fees are explained on Alberta Education's website.

Students can register to write and rewrite diploma exams using the Alberta Education secure self-service website: myPass.alberta.ca and receive instant registration confirmation.

Visit Alberta Education for more information on writing diploma exams.

National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC)

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I am writing to inform you of an exciting opportunity for your son/daughter! In November of 2023, EICS Island Catholic Schools would like to take students from our five High Schools on a life-changing trip to the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC). NCYC is a massive high energy, youth conference where students will have the opportunity to see world class speakers, engage in personal and communal prayer, and engage in service to others.

The goal of this project is to give an opportunity for young people from four different communities to come together to deepen their faith and learn how to live as a disciple of Christ in today's world; to realize that they are part of a vast, vibrant and universal Church, and to connect with other students from different schools across EICS. This is the third time that EICS high school students will be attending this conference and we are hoping that this trip continues to be a genesis for a group of EICS student faith leaders who accept the challenge of Jesus, the call to be a saint.

If interested for MORE INFORMATION, please reach out to our Chaplain, Mrs. Justine Wright justinew@eics.ab.ca

PDF attached below for dates and approximate costs.

First deposit would be due Early May 2023

Fundraising will be available as well

Save the date - Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews will be held virtually again this year. The booking link will open up to parents on Thursday, March 16th, at 9 am. and will close Monday, March 20th at noon.

Interviews will be held on:

Tuesday, March 21 from 4:00-7:30pm

Thursday, March 23 from 4:00-7:30pm

If these dates and times do not work for you, please connect directly with your child's teacher to arrange an alternate time for the meeting.

Please follow the booking link here to book your appointments. Each slot is 10 minutes in length. Please be respectful of everyone's time; it is a tight turnaround, for sure :)

Link: https://schoolinterviews.ca/code/q6pw8

You will receive an email from the teacher you booked with. In that email will be a Google link for your interview. Please be mindful these interviews can only be 10 minutes as we have several parents to get through. If you require a longer interview, please arrange an alternate date and time.

Thank you.

**Please note: Because some teachers are only part-time, their availability also reflects this in the schedule.

St. Isidore Virtual & In Person OPEN HOUSE - Wednesday, April 12

Are you looking to register for online / outreach learning grade 1 to 12 this Fall? Check out our #SILCfamily Virtual and In Person Open Houses below! NEW SILC SWAG and enter a draw for your school fees to be paid for the year! Click on the links for your virtual experience!! Also, attend in person on Wednesday, April 12th 2pm -4pm & 5-7pm. In the meantime, check out our "Virtual " Open House links below:

MAIN SITE

https://sites.google.com/eics.ab.ca/silcopenhouse/home

ELEMENTARY

https://sites.google.com/eics.ab.ca/elementary/home

JUNIOR HIGH

https://sites.google.com/eics.ab.ca/silcmiddleschool/home

HIGH SCHOOL

https://sites.google.com/eics.ab.ca/silchighschool/home

CHESTERTON

https://sites.google.com/eics.ab.ca/chesterton/home

Registrations are now OPEN for 2023-2024

St. Isidore Learning Centre (SILC) is now accepting applications for the 2023-2024 school year. Register early - as we are a "School of Choice" space fills up fast! When you head to our website to "Register", https://silc.eics.ab.ca/register-now you will see a few options. Please choose the correct program:

Online Education - Primarily learning online from home using our Canvas Online LMS - Teacher Directed (Grade 1-12)
Outreach Education - Students who require an "in person" connection with teachers and are required to have weekly check-ins in the SILC Centre (Grades 9-12)
Chesterton Academy - Fully Synchronous "Joyfully Catholic Classical High School Cohort" Grade 9-12 ONLY. **Tuition Fees may be applied Contact Headmaster McLarney for more information: gerardm@eics.ab.ca Check out the website: https://chesterton.eics.ab.ca/
Home Education - Parent Directed Home Education with our partners, THEE - https://thee.ca/

Please follow the instructions carefully. All students, even those already attending, must fill out a new registration form. While St. Isidore is a "School of Choice" and not a designated boundary school, we reserve the right to deny any registration that is not complete. Space is limited.

Any questions? Feel free to contact our secretary, Natalie Mangatal, 780-449-6463 or email silc@eics.ab.ca

GrACE Contest A Celebration of Catholic Education

GrACE exists to inspire, invigorate and embolden the spirit of Catholic education in order
to unite, engage, educate and communicate with one voice on its behalf. GrACE, in partnership with the REAL Foundation, is happy to present this contest to EICS students. This is our fifth annual GrACE Contest: A Celebration of Catholic Education.

We invite EICS students of all grade levels to submit work reflecting the importance of, and their experience with or contribution to Catholic education. This year our theme is Better Together. How have students worked towards this theme, or how have they contributed to spreading the message of being better together?

Student Submissions could include such things as (but not limited to):

*Please note, all digital submissions need to be in “view all” format before submitting.

A work of art
A student poster
A formal or informal essay
Original music
Poetry
A presentation (video or otherwise) of social justice work
etc

Contest Rules

All Submissions due to Chaplain Wright justinew@eics.ab.ca by April 28 in digital format.

Prizes will be presented May 14 in each community’s parish (This is the kick-off to Catholic Education Week). There will be 14 prizes!

K-8 students = 50 dollar prize in the form of a gift card
9-12 students = 100 dollar prize in the form of a gift card

Prizes will be granted by grade level and community:

K-6 Veg. ($50 gift card)

7-12 Veg. ($100 gift card)

K-4 Camrose ($50 gift card )

5-8 Camrose ($50 gift card)

9-12 Camrose ($100 gift card)

K-4 Fort Sask ($50 gift card)

5-8 Fort Sask ($50 gift card)

9-12 Fort Sask ($100 gift card)

(2 prizes) K-4 Sherwood Park ($50 gift card)

(2 prizes) 5-8 Sherwood Park ($50 gift card)

(2 prizes) 9-12 Sherwood Park ($100 gift card)

Minister’s Youth Council - Applications Due March 24th, 2023

Recruitment for the 2023/24 Minister’s Youth Council will officially begin on February 15, 2023. We are looking for approximately 40 junior and senior high school students from across Alberta, between the ages of 14 and 19 and representing diverse interests, identities, backgrounds and perspectives, to join next year’s council.

Of the 40 council members, we will accept up to eight returning members and at least 32 new members. Participation on the council will give students the opportunity to make a real impact on Alberta’s education system, build their leadership skills and leave a legacy that will last for generations to come.

The deadline for students to apply is March 24, 2023. For more information, please visit alberta.ca/student-engagement.aspx.

Hey students... please apply!!

2023-2024 School Year Calendars

The 2023/24 approved school year calendars are available by clicking this link: https://www.eics.ab.ca/about-us/media-room/post/2023-2024-school-year-calendars-released

Here is the approved 2023-2023 school calendar for Sherwood Park.

First day of school: Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023
Fall break: Week of Monday, Nov. 6, 2023
Christmas break: Monday, Dec. 25, 2023 - Friday, Jan. 5, 2024
Spring break: Week of Monday, March 25, 2024
Victoria Day weekend: Thursday, May 16, 2024 - Monday, May 20, 2024
Last day of school: Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Elementary Classroom

Hello from Mrs.Oikonen!

Welcome to week 28 of online learning! We have Parent Teacher Interviews coming up this week. It is not too late to sign up for a time.

Click on this link to sign up.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

4:00pm- 7:30pm

There are no google meets on Monday, March 20.

Here is what we will be doing this week.

SUMMER SCHOOL

St. Isidore Summer School offers courses that allow YOU to earn credits, upgrade marks, lighten workloads for the year ahead or finish pre-requisite courses.

Summer School Registration is opening on January 19! St. Isidore Summer School is opening registration earlier as schools and students plan their term two classes and look forward to student schedules for the upcoming school year.

Term 1: July 4-13; Term 2: July 14-24; Full Term: July 4-24

We are offering synchronous, asynchronous, and in-person courses. Check out https://silc.eics.ab.ca/summer-school-2023 to view the courses that will be offered and how to reserve your spot! See the Course Listings here.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Melissa Damur, Summer School Principal melissad@eics.ab.ca

Math 30 help!

Are you registered for Math 30-1 and feeling a little anxious? Have you completed Math 20-1 and wondering if you can handle Math 30-1? The blog post below may be able to help.

https://mathpqjq.com/ready-for-grade-12-pre-calculus-math/

Indigenous Student Opportunities

Still I Rise conference - May 4, 2023, sponsored by Ever Active Schools

Grades 6-12 youth
Indigenous and non-Indigenous students walking together towards reconciliation
No cost, but registration is required
One-day virtual event. Students can join individually, or classes can join together.

Scholarships and Bursaries - various deadlines for application

ATCO - First Nations, Métis, Inuit
Rupertsland Post-Secondary Education Funding - Métis specific

YOUNG WOMEN IN TRADES AND TECHNOLOGIES – SPRING CAMP

March 27-30 | Edmonton

Our in-person spring camp returns in 2023! Female students interested in gaining hands-on experience in the skilled trades, technologies, forestry and agriculture are encouraged to apply to attend. Spots are limited.

CAREERS REFINERY INTERNSHIPS FOR INDIGENOUS YOUTH

Suncor Energy Edmonton Refinery

Suncor is offering paid work placements for Indigenous students to explore different career pathways at the Edmonton refinery this summer. Check out the poster/QR code for more information. The application deadline is March 17.

APPLY NOW