The Bison Bugle
February 26th - March 1st
MISSION STATEMENT
At St. Kateri Tekakwitha Academy, we are a spiritual, Christ - centred community that nurtures resilient, responsible, lifelong learners through love and service.
CONNECT - INSPIRE - ACHIEVE
UPCOMING EVENTS for our BISONS
Feb 26 - Student Faith Assembly ✝️ (2nd week of Lent with Gr 4's)
Feb 26 - Gr 4 & 5 Cheer Team Pep Rally @ Assembly
Feb 26 - Gr 4 & 5 Beyblades Club @ lunch recess with Mrs. Palidwar
Feb 26 - Gr 4 & 5 Running Club @ lunch recess with Mr. Paik
Feb 26 - 12:45pm BISON Lunch Winners Gr 1-5's
Feb 27 - Academy & Gr 4 & 5 Options (Tues/Thurs)
Feb 27 - Gr 1-3 Reading Groups (Tues/Wed/Thurs)
Feb 27 - RAINBOWS Div I & Div II group with Mrs. Palidwar
Feb 27 - Gr 3-5 Mrs. P's Lunch Club @ lunch recess
Feb 27 - Gr 3 & 4 Team Games @ lunch recess with Mrs. Zadunayski
Feb 27 - Gr 5 Leadership Club with Mrs. Zazulak
Feb 28 - PINK SHIRT DAY! 👚 Special student lessons (Wear anything pink)
Feb 28 - 8:45am BISON Breakfast Gr 4 & 5's
Feb 28 - Gr 4 & 5 Running Club @ lunch recess with Mr. Paik
Feb 28 - Gr 2 Mindful Club with Mrs. Zazulak
Feb 29 - Gr 3 & 4 Team Games @ lunch recess with Mrs. Zadunayski
Mar 1 - NO Kindergarten Classes
Mar 1 - Alberta Ed Assurance Survey Deadline (Gr 4 & 5 parents)
Mar 1 - "True North" Cheer Team Competitions at Northlands Expo Centre
Mar 1 - Ski Trip deadline to return forms and pay online
Mar 1 - Gr 1 Games Club with Mrs. Miller
Mar 4 - Student Faith Assembly ✝️ (3rd week of Lent with Gr 2's)
Mar 6 - Gr 4 & 5 team Running Room Indoor Games @ Butterdome
Mar 7 - 6:30pm School Council (revised date) ALL PARENTS WELCOME
Mar 8 - Gr 1-5 Tawatinaw Ski Trip
Mar 10 - Daylight Savings - MOVE CLOCKS AHEAD!
Mar 11 - Student Faith Assembly ✝️ (4th week of Lent with Gr 3/4's)
Mar 14 - 6:00pm SKTA Open House ALL FAMILIES WELCOME
Mar 18 - Student Faith Assembly ✝️ (5th week of Lent with Gr 5's)
Mar 22 - Schools Closed (lieu day) SPRING BREAK BEGINS!
Tawatinaw Ski Trip - Grades 1-5
Deadline to submit permission forms and payment for our ski trip is MARCH 1st.
Please note that if our ski trip is cancelled due to weather/lack of snow, all money will be fully refunded.
40 Days of Lent ✝️
During Lent we are invited, as Catholics, to step outside of our day-to-day routines and into a formal time of personal preparation for Easter. The Church calls us to a sort of spiritual “spring cleaning”; to participate in practices that help us turn back to God. We are encouraged to prepare our hearts through increasing our intentionality and practice of the three pillars of Lent —prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—guiding us on our Lenten journey, helping us grow closer to God and preparing our hearts for the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection at Easter.
PRAYER - We pray more than usual during Lent to grow closer to God and show him we appreciate all he has done for us.
FASTING - This means to give something up for a period of time. During Lent, we choose to give something up to show that we are turning away from sin and growing closer to God.
ALMSGIVING - This is when we do something extra to show Jesus that we love him. Watch the video to understand more about almsgiving.
SKTA BISON Cheer team!
Congrats to our amazing little ladies at the "Cheerific" Cheer Competitions last weekend and their dedicated coach, Ms. Plsek on their 3rd place finish.
Best of luck to our team at the "True North" Cheer Competitions at Northlands Expo Centre - March 1st!
SKTA OPEN HOUSE & Kindergarten Information Night - Thursday March 14th @ 6:00 PM
We are thrilled to welcome all families and invite you to come and check out our dynamic learning spaces and programming options. Our school's unique design and flexible areas are designed to foster a sense of creativity, confidence and inspiration to our students.
Come check out our Open House on Thursday March 14th @ 6:00pm to see for yourself the amazing things happening in our classrooms at all grade levels.
We will also be having opportunities for prospective Kindergarten families to learn about our great ECS programming and Kindergarten options!
2024-2025 New Student Registration - NOW OPEN
New Student Registration for the 2024-2025 school year is NOW OPEN! Current GSACRD students will be emailed a notification email the following week with instructions to register via their PowerSchool Parent Portal. Click HERE
Current GSACRD Student Registration
Already with Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools?
Current GSACRD students: please do not fill out a New Student Registration as a notification email will be sent shortly to register for the next school year. Once you receive the email, you can log into your PowerSchool Parent Portal Account and complete a returning student registration online form.
Returning Registration Contest!
We are hosting a 'Returning Registration Contest' for students and families!
For Students: The first class to have all their registrations in for next school year will win a special ice cream treat!
For Families: All families with returning student for the 2024/2025 school year who submit their registrations forms before March 21 will be entered into a draw to win 1 of 2 'waiver or school fees'. Winning families will not have to pay school fees for the 2024/2025 school year for one child!
Alberta Education Assurance Survey - Grade 4 & 5 Parents/Guardians DEADLINE MARCH 1st
As 'Survey Season' continues, families with students in grade 4 & 5 can expect an Alberta Education survey package sent directly to your homes. The Alberta Education Assurance (AEA) survey gathers feedback on the quality of education provided by school authorities and their schools. Schools and school authorities use this information to understand how they are doing and plan for the future.
We would like to encourage all families who receive the AEA survey package in the mail to please take the time to complete it, as the data collected is instrumental in future school planning! Thank you!
Heelys - Wheeled Shoes at School
We have had an increase of students wearing 'HEELYS' (shoes with wheels in the heals) to school. While fun and exciting for kids, we have had a few issues with students 'wheeling' around the inside of the school and on sidewalks around the school. This has become a safety concern, as well as, an issue with marking our hallway floors and gym floor. We are asking that student's do not wear HEELYS to school, and if that is their only form of foot wear they will be asked to take out the wheel. We thank our SKTA families for your ongoing support with this expectation.
SKTA Student Yearbooks!
YEARBOOKS are available to PRE-ORDER for only $20.00 on your PARENT PORTAL!
Don't miss out on your child's memories for 2023-2024 as there are only LIMITED COPIES AVAILABLE!
Parent Council & Friends of SKTA
Thank you to all parents and guardians who joined us at our last Parent Council meeting last week. We have such a great group of engaged parents. Our next meeting is THURSDAY MARCH 7th. Parent Council & Friends of SKTA are both wonderful ways for parents & guardians to get involved and support our school and it's initiatives. All parents & guardians with children registered at SKTA are welcome to join! Participating in Parent Council will allow individuals to share their voice and their talents with the school community and serve our students. Any families who would like to review the Agenda's and Minutes can access them on our SKTA website (CLICK HERE)
Join a Great Community of Parents on our ST. KATERI ACADEMY PARENTS facebook page!
SKTA FUNDRAISING
Mabel's Labels
You can buy Mabel’s Labels for your child's items - they are waterproof, durable labels to help reduce classroom mix-ups and keep your items coming home! CLICK HERE for more information on how to order. This fundraiser is ongoing - no deadline.
Friends of SKT thanks you so much for supporting our school and our students.
Save the Date - April 3 - ICE - Internet Child Exploitation Unit - Parent Presentation!
Our AMAZING SKTA Parent Council has secured a presentation from The Northern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit to present to our families in early April! We are asking families to fill out the 'Form' below to registered and give us a sense of participants in attendance. We look forward to engaging with our parents on this important topic!
When: Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 6:30pm
Where: St Kateri Academy School - 980 Westwinds Drive, Morinville
Contact us for more information at: sktacouncil@gmail.com
*This presentation is FREE*
The internet plays an integral role in everyone’s lives, and when it comes to youth, their social lives exist largely in cyberspace. Over the course of the past four years and through the Global Pandemic, Alberta has experienced a significant increase in cases of child exploitation on the internet. With more users online than ever before, and new apps and software being developed every day, it can be difficult for parents and teachers to keep on top of the latest trending platform. Advancements in technology are exciting and helpful, but it opens an ever-growing gap between the levels of digital literacy between youths and busy adults.
The Northern Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit investigates incidents of child luring, sextortion, possession, transmission, and the making of child pornography as well as internet-related voyeurism involving youth. This presentation will focus on education, prevention, and putting parents and teachers in a position to protect their children from online sexual exploitation. The presenters will discuss the role of ICE in Alberta, Sextortion, sharing of intimate images, current online applications and internet platforms, and additional resources which are available to parents so they will be able to better support healthy and productive online experiences for their children and teens.
GSACRD Voice - Building Self-Esteem
Pink Shirt Day
In Canada, one in three students have reported being bullied (Bullying Canada, 2022). Both the victims of bullying and the bullies are at risk of higher rates of suicide (Holt et al, 2015, as cited HERE). These statistics highlight how serious the problem of bullying remains.
Pink Shirt Day is a day to wear a pink shirt or some token of pink to show support and stand up for the victims of bullying. We often talk about how to stand up to bullies, but what if your child is the one doing the bullying? This can be a very tough conversation to have if you know or suspect that your child may be perpetrating acts of bullying. Take the time to reflect with your child and understand from their perspective. Do not judge their actions. Some reasons kids may bully others include seeking attention from others, low self-esteem, or an inability to properly express their feelings (Stomp Out Bullying, 2022). Developing a trusting and open line of communication might be one way to help your child understand that bullying is not okay.
For tips on what you can do to help your child stop bullying and understand that bullying is not okay, check out this guide from GSACRD Voice below:
Caitlin Josey: cjosey@gsacrd.ab.ca (SKT & Legal)
Student Absences, Appointments and Early Pickup
Please enter ALL your child's absences on safe arrivals. Some examples include vacation, illness, appointments, or needing to leave early. Ensuring your child's attendance is accurately recorded is essential for us to provide the best educational experience.
Please visit our website (Click HERE) for detailed instructions under the MENU.
Ongoing Reporting - Viewing your students marks
We encourage all parents to use PowerSchool as a tool to remain informed about student progress. Questions or concerns about student assessments should be directed to your child's homeroom teacher. Interviews to discuss student progress will continue to be a valuable opportunity for collaboration between home and school. In addition to this, reciprocal emails and phone calls will also be essential to maintaining a solid relationship that is focused on student success.
Please watch video on our website (Click HERE) for a step by step on how to access.
St. Jean Baptiste Parish
As partners in faith with our local St. Jean Baptiste Parish, please see the link below to find out mass times and locations, upcoming parish events and more. Regular Sunday Mass is held at École Notre Dame School Gym during the rebuild of the church building.
Holy Week
Families are encouraged to take a moment and review the Holy Week bulletin, outlining mass times and locations throughout Holy Week.
Sacramental Preparation
For families with children in grade two and above, please see the attached bulletin regrading Sacramental Prep. registration for the 2024 year. Thank you.