Choose Joy!
Week of February 7, 2021
Begins February 1, 2021
KINDERGARTEN IN EICS
Independence, initiative, decision making, creativity, the ability to learn, relationships and feelings of self-worth - all have their beginnings in early childhood. We believe that each child is unique and, together with parents as our partners, we build upon children's natural curiosity and spontaneity, encouraging and supporting them as they take their first step into school.
Please note that Kindergarten registration for the 2021-2022 school year will be available online on Monday, February 1st, 2021.
Eligibility Starting Date for Kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year:
To register for Kindergarten in the 2021-2022 school year, your child must be five years old on or before December 31, 2021.
Thank you for sharing this newsletter with any families interested in joining the OLA family; in Kindergarten, Grades 1-4 or in our PUF/Flexible Pathways Programs.
It's a great way to share who we are as a community. :-)
PUF Pathways Information
It is housed at St. John XXIII and is called PUF Pathways. In our program, children learn and develop their skills in a play and faith-based environment led by a certified teacher and supported by Educational Assistants. Children in the program benefit from a team of consultants such as Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant, Physiotherapist, and Inclusive Learning Consultants.
Criteria for Eligibility
To be eligible for our Flexible Pathways (PUF) programs, children need to be 3 or 4 years old and meet the following criteria:
- Maximum age of 4 years and 8 months by Sept. 1, 2021
- Severe developmental delay (i.e. CP, Autism, Down Syndrome)
- Severe delay in speech and language
This year we will be holding screening clinics in the spring to determine eligibility. Please contact Andrea Boyle at andrea.boyle@eics.ab.ca for more information or to book an appointment.
To help you see how your child is doing compared with other children the same age please visit the following websites:
Talk Box Newsletter: Three Year Old
Talk Box Newsletter: Four Year Old
Alberta Health Information, Growth and Development Milestones
This week @ OLA
- Week 4b of Power Options
- Welcome to the Djembe Drums!
- Thank you for completing the EICS Assurance Plan Surveys that arrived in your email inbox (or junk mail) on January 25, 2021. Your voice matters!
- Your child's progress reports are available through your PowerSchool Parent Portal. An email was sent to you with instructions on how to view them. Please contact us if you have difficulties viewing them. Thank you for connecting with your child's teacher with any questions about your child's learning progress.
Monday, February 8, 2021
- Buses Cancelled Today and OLA remains open. If your child will be away, thank you for using one of these ways to report their absence or email ola@eics.ab.ca.
- Cohort Assemblies
- Collaboratively Responding to Student Needs Meetings
- Student Support Team Meeting
- Fort Saskatchewan Playground Society Meeting @ 7pm (Design Revealed!)
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
- Let's Choose Joy together!
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
- Staff Mass @ OLA
- Virtual Morning Announcements
- Father Daniel or Father Kris visit OLA
- Progress Reports available on PowerSchool
Thursday, February 11, 2021
- Teaching Mass/First Reconciliation Option 1 @ 6:30pm
- Choose Joy Today! It's starts with Gratitude :-)
Friday, February 12, 2021
- Friyay! Spread Joy and Kindness like confetti!
Saturday, February 13, 2021
- Teaching Mass/First Reconciliation Option 2 @ 11am
Sunday, February 14
- Happy Valentine's Day - Let's spread Love and Joy today!
- Beginning of Random Acts of Kindness Week
Monday, February 15 - No School
- Family Day
- Enjoy this special time with your family.
- See you tomorrow for Shrove Tuesday!
Tuesday, February 16
- Shrove Tuesday
-----------------------------------------
To see what is up and coming even further ahead, please visit our website calendar.
You can view our Kindergarten Calendar here.
Pausing for Prayer
We begin each day together in prayer at 8:55am. During this time of prayer, all staff and students take pause and are attentive to Christ's messages to us each day. Thank you for honouring this time with us as we will answer the front door and our phone lines after our prayer time together is complete.
Career Day - Preparing For Bright Futures
Mr. Lowe, Gibbons Fire Chief
Mr. Blonski, Mechanical Department St. Albert
Mrs. Veenstra, Police Officer
Mr. Conley, Electrician
Mrs. Dealy, Registered Nurse
Thank you for engaging with us to celebrate Career Week, and our Spirit Day Career day when we "Dressed for Success!!"
Celebrating Our Present and Guiding Our Future
-
January kicks off the month when we gather your feedback in four key areas:
- Faith Formation
- Quality Teaching and Learning
- Wellness
- Engagement and Improvement
Your past feedback helped to shape our direction which is captured in our OLA Assurance Plan linked here and available on our ola.eics.ab.ca website under "About."
Who is invited to share their voice?
Grade 4 students will be sharing their voice at school by participating in the Provincial Accountability Survey (still to come) as well as the EICS Assurance Survey (in progress).
All families are invited to share their voice in the EICS Assurance Survey which has come to your email inbox (please check your junk mail.) In addition, Grade 4 families will be invited to complete the Provincial Accountability Survey online or on paper (still to come).
Thank you in advance for your participation in these surveys and sharing your voice.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mme Gravelle at 780-998-3716.
What Do you want to Be When you Grow up?
Career Week Quotes
Mme Gravelle: "What are you dressed as today?"
Grade 4 student: "A manager."
Mme: "Interesting! What does a manager do?"
Student: "I manage people and pay myself."
Mrs. Maclean: "What would you like to do when you grow up?"
Kinder Student: "A French Fry!"
Mrs. Maclean: "Oh, you want to make fries? Like work at a restaurant?"
Kinder: "No, I want to be a French Fry."
Mrs. Maclean: "Oh, ok!"
Animated Literacy - 1MW
Fresh Air & Free Play =
Healthy Hearts, Bodies & Minds
Outdoor Play & Village Support
Fresh air and free play
are vital elements for children's mental wellness,
healthy bodies and growing brains.
Thank you for your help to ensure your child comes to school with all the proper gear to be outside. We will be outside for regular recess up to -25 degrees Celsius or -25 Windchill.
When temperatures or Windchills are below -25 Celsius, outdoor recess play will continue with reduced free play times outside. These will become our Polar Bear Recesses!
We can help keep children warm and safe during free fresh air play time outside. We have some cold weather gear in the office for children to borrow or use. Should your child require additional clothing to support their outdoor play, we will send you an email to let you know that we helped them dress properly for the weather. If your child received some of this gear last week, or this coming week, and it is no longer needed, thank you for washing it and bringing it back in a ziplock bag for others to use. We follow all re-entry protocols before re-distributed this clothing.
We are here to help.
If you need help with anything else, please reach out.
It takes a village.
You are our village. We are yours.
For details about our Inclement Weather Policy, please click here.
See you Tuesday, March 2nd @ 11:00 am.
See you at our next meeting, on Tuesday, March 2nd @ 11:00am
Google Meet link will be shared with you that day.
Thank you for checking your email inbox or spam/junk folder.
To connect with your OLA School Council, please email schoolcouncil.ola@gmail.com.
Click below to order your OLA Spirit Wear!
From our OLA Parish
If you have any questions or concerns about Sacramental Preparation, please feel free to contact Father Kris at the parish 780-998-3288 or kris.schmidt@caedm.ca.
Important Dates - Please mark your calendar:
1st Reconciliation
(Optional)
Parent ZOOM meeting #2: February 18 @6:30pm or February 20 @11am
(Choice)
Teaching mass: February 11 @6:30pm or February 13 @11am
(All attend)
Reconciliation retreat and celebration: March 6, 2021 10:00-12:30pm
1st Communion
(Optional)
Parent ZOOM meeting #1: March 11 @6:30pm or March 13 @11am
Parent ZOOM meeting #2: March 25 @6:30pm or March 27 @11am
(Choice)
Kids adoration: March 18 @6:30pm or March 20 @11am
(All attend)
1st Communion Retreat: April 10, 2021 11:00-12noon
1st Communion Celebration: April 11, 2021 11:30am
Resources for parents
Home guide training video:
https://www.smp.org/resourcecenter/resource/14010/
Reconciliation home guide:
https://www.smp.org/dynamicmedia/files/3a1832cb52dabd952ca9f1712b327377/R4500RHG_Rec_HG.pdf
Eucharist home guide:
https://www.smp.org/dynamicmedia/files/6488adc35158fa59c4b7b54764fa47b0/R4500EHG_Euc_HG.pdf
Exercises for Reconciliation
Daily family prayer challenge
- if you don’t have the practice of family prayer already, pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1
Glory be, 1 thing you’re thankful for, and 1 person to pray for every night before bed.
Exercises for 1st Communion
Daily family prayer challenge
- if you don’t have the practice of family prayer already, pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary, 1
Glory be, 1 thing you’re thankful for, and 1 person to pray for every night before bed.
Movies, Games and All Things Media
Check out these great websites for parents:
Common Sense Media: Age-Based Media Reviews with Families in Mind
Media Smarts: Canada's Center for Digital and Media Literacy.
JPII Playground! Come see the design!
Playground Society meeting date changed to Monday, February 8th @ 7:00pm.
We will be sharing the JP2 playground design
and filling you in on all the many exciting updates!
Hope to see you all there.
The link to the meeting will be sent out on the 8th.
For more information, please contact fsplaygroundsociety@gmail.com.
Name the Snow Plow Contest!
Please click here for information!
For full contest details, please click here.
Student Illness and your Child's Learning
- Fever, Cough, Shortness of Breath or difficulty breathing, Runny Nose, Sore Throat, Chills Painful swallowing, Stuffy Nose, Headache, Muscle or joint aches, Feeling unwell, fatigue or severe exhaustion, Gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or unexplained loss of appetite), Loss of sense of smell or taste, Conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink eye.
Please email Mrs. Desaulniers, susande@eics.ab.ca and cc: your child's homeroom teacher to share what symptoms your child is experiencing as well as an approximate date for your child's return so we can plan for your child's learning and growing in Literacy and Numeracy while away.
Thank you for continuing to connect with us with your child's test results.
Alberta Health Documents
Looking Ahead...
- Family Day - No School
February 16, 2021
- Shrove Tuesday
- Power Option Selection Week
February 17, 2021
- Ash Wednesday
- Lent begins
- I Read Canada Day
February 24, 2021
- Pink Shirt Day
March 3, 2021
- School Spirit Day - Story Book Character Day
- Early Dismissal - 2:19 pm
March 5, 2021
- PD Day - No School
Holy Redeemer - Nature Kindergarten Brochures
Preschool Registraion
Socks and Snacks
Click here for the news report celebrating their efforts and the very generous donations collected!
We invite any OLA families to connect with Mrs. Desaulniers, Mrs. Heesing or Mme Gravelle if these items could help your family. :-)
School Fees
School fees have now been added to your PowerSchool ParentPortal and are now due. Payment can be made by debit or credit card by visiting your PowerSchool account.
If you require assistance signing into your account please call Mrs. Desaulniers at 780-998-3716 or email susande@eics.ab.ca.
Field trip: to date all field trips involving bussing are cancelled. Virtual field trips and walking trips may still occur. Once these have been finalized we will share the field trip fee for payment
All unpaid fees by March 1, 2021 may be sent to a collections agency.
Our Lady of the Angels School
Fort Saskatchewan, AB
T8L 1W7
Email: ola@eics.ab.ca
Website: https://ola.eics.ab.ca/
Location: 9622 Sherridon Drive, Fort Saskatchewan, AB, Canada
Phone: (780)998-3716
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/OLASchoolFtSask/photos/?ref=page_internal
Twitter: @OLAFortSask