Dear SWH Families,

We live in a highly digital world and young people have access to a wealth of information at their fingertips. With the increasing use of digital platforms and social media, Sherwood Heights has partnered with Saffron to host two virtual sessions for our families to learn about safe and responsible online practices. The sessions are:

• Feb. 23: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm: Foundations of Connections
• Feb. 24: 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm: Cyberworld: What Happens When Youth Press Send?

For more details about these sessions, please see the information outlined below.

Also, rapid test kits went home last Monday with students. If your child was absent or has not received their test kit yet they can collect it in the school office. Here is a how-to video for caregivers on how to use the rapid test kits.

And finally, if you have not done so already, please take time to complete the Returning Student Registration on PowerSchool using the Parent Portal prior to February 28. All students planning to attend a school within Elk Island Public Schools for the 2022-2023 school year should complete the registration information.

Can you create a curve by using straight lines? This is a question the students in Numeracy 7 explored on Monday as they created Valentine’s Day cards using string art. By stitching lines on cardstock using a numerical pattern, a heart was formed. The stitched lines created beautiful cards and the students were able to prove that indeed, curves may be formed by straight lines!

Elk Island Public Schools’ (EIPS) returning student registration process is now open. All returning students must complete the online Returning Student Registration Form to confirm their child’s enrolment in a school for the upcoming 2022-23 school year. Additionally, students who want to attend a non-designated school need to make that request through the returning student registration process—acceptance is based on available space. All returning EIPS students are required to complete the form by February 28, 2022.

To access the Returning Student Registration Form, simply log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal.

If you don’t have a PowerSchool Parent Portal account, you do need to set one up. For help see: Create a PowerSchool Parent Portal account

For more information contact the school directly at 780-467-5930.

RELATED INFORMATION:

Returning Student Registration Process
Frequently Asked Questions
EIPS School Boundary Maps
Closed boundaries 2022-23
Find my designated school
Applying to a non-designated school

For the 2022-23 school year, the Junior High Honours program will be offered in grades 8 and 9 at Sherwood Heights Junior High and F.R. Haythorne Junior High, with one class in each grade at each school.

The Junior High Honours program is designed for students in grades 8 and 9 with high achievement in their core courses and who enjoy a challenging academic environment. Students in the program follow the Alberta Education Programs of Study.

Students must have a minimum 80 per cent average in each of the four core subjects to be eligible to apply to the Junior High Honours program. Conditional acceptance will be confirmed in early-March based on a student’s marks in the four core subjects, as of February 28. Students must maintain their honours standing on the year-end report card in June to receive final acceptance in the Honours program for the upcoming year.

Learn more about the Junior High Honours program

If you’re interested in registering your child in the Junior High Honours program, you must:

1. Indicate this interest by emailing juniorhighhonours@eips.ca by noon on Friday, February 25. Be sure to include the following information in your email:

• Student name; first and last
• Current grade of student
• Current school of student
• Parent/guardian email address

1. Complete the returning student registration form for your child by February 28. The responses collected on the form provide the Division with the information required should your child not be accepted in the Junior High Honours program.

Enjoy browsing a wide selection of products from a variety of brands that you can then customize with the approved logos and graphics found on the site. Display your pride in fantastic apparel customized entirely by you. Our site lets students, parents, fans, & staff choose from approved merchandise to fit their needs 24/7 with no minimum order quantities. All orders are shipped directly to your own home!

2021-2022 Online Cougar Wear Store

The following changes regarding spectators at school events are currently in effect.

• Spectators are permitted at indoor practices, games and performance events.
• All spectators, except EIPS students and children 12 and younger, must wear a mask and physically distance, whenever possible.
• EIPS recommends spectators are limited to family only, at this time.
• EIPS reviews its protocols for spectators on an ongoing basis throughout the year.

Please visit the EIPS Operations Guidelines 2021-22 for a more detailed look at the most recent changes.

In honour of Black History Month, here are some junior high book recommendations that speak to past, present and future of powerful, young black lives. All of these books have been written in the last three years and some have Canadian content.

1. Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi - This inspiring memoir, chronicles Top Chef star Kwame Onwuachi's incredible and odds-defying fame in the food world after a tough childhood in the Bronx and Nigeria.

2. Punching the Air by Ibi Aanu Zoboi - Written in poetry, Zoboi and Salaam hold no punches when detailing the dehumanizing experience of an unfair trial and prison sentence for wrongly convicted 16 year old Amal.

3. The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed - Affluent Ashley Bennett struggles with her identity, her family, and figuring out where she belongs in this compelling novel set in 1992 during the immediate aftermath of the Rodney King trial.

4. Charming as a Verb by Ben Phillipe - To fulfill his dream of attending Columbia University, Henri creates a dog-walking business for the New York City elite in this clever fiction that explores moral ambiguity alongside racial and class struggles.

5. A Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Phillipe - A fish-out-of-water story about Norris Kaplan, a Black French Canadian teen suddenly navigating high school in the suburbs of Austin, Texas – a story that’s intelligent, hilarious, and surprising.

Also, here are some recent articles about the history of Black people in and around Alberta.

1. Black Albertans You Should Know
2. Alberta’s Black Pioneer Heritage
3. Black on the Prairies

Tips for Reading Narrative Text

Sherwood Heights has partnered with Saffron Centre & Strathcona County Family and Community Services to deliver a free parent session on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

The presentation will focus on helping parents learn about healthy relationships including boundaries and consent. They will explore the language you can use and how to develop healthy habits with your children. They will also discuss how to teach your children about consent, conflict and how to recognize healthy or unhealthy behaviours in others.

The presentation will take place virtually through Microsoft Teams.

The presentation will take place virtually through Microsoft Teams.

Join the upcoming virtual mentorship session to learn more about careers in information and communication technology (ICT)—including social media and communications, IT maintenance, junior programming, quality control testing, hardware engineering and software developer—and forestry.

Thursday, February 24
5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Learn more | Register

Young Women in Trades and Technologies (YWITT) is a program designed to break barriers and give young women the opportunity and confidence to explore different career options in non-traditional skilled trades and technologies. Registration is open to female-identifying students currently in grades 9 to 12.

Are you ready to discover your passion! A free in-person camp for female identifying youth in grades 9-12.

During the camp, students will have the opportunity to explore several careers in the skilled trades, gain hands-on experience, talk with female mentors who are working in the field, and connect with other young women with similar interests. This year we will be accepting 12 participants for our 4-day camp.

Click Here to Register

EIPS First Nations, Métis, and Inuit team invite you to join their upcoming virtual gatherings. It is a great way to make connections, create a supportive environment for dialogue, share hopes and ideas, and learn what’s happening around the Division. We’re grateful to Elder Wilson Bearhead for attending the virtual gatherings last school year and agreeing to open each gathering again this year.

Gathering 3: March 15, 2022 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

• words from Elder Wilson
• topics to be determined based on wishes, hopes and interests expressed in previous gatherings

Sessions will take place online using Microsoft Teams Meetings. For more information visit our Division website or reach out to the school at 780-467-5930