The Bison Bugle
March 18 - March 22
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
Mar 15 - 6:00pm Notre Dame School "Way of the Cross" ALL FAMILIES WELCOME
Mar 18 - Student Faith Assembly (5th week of Lent with Gr 3/4's) ✝️
Mar 18 - 12:40pm Gr 1-5 BISON Lunch Winners! 🦬
Mar 18 - "Shelter-In-Place" Schoolwide safety drill for students
Mar 19 - Gr 5 "Coyote" Activity Challenge @ Primeau (Pickup at SKT 4:00pm)
Mar 20 - BISON Clothing deadline to order! 🦬
Mar 20 - 8:45am Gr 4 & 5 BISON Breakfast! 🦬
Mar 20 - 11:00am Reconciliation (Gr 3-5) with Father Trini
Mar 21 - "Break-A-Rule" Day - Proceeds go to Catholic Social Services Lent Project ✝️
Mar 22 - Schools Closed (lieu day) SPRING BREAK BEGINS!
April 1 - EASTER MONDAY HOLIDAY Schools Closed
April 2 - Welcome back to school!
April 3 - 8:45am ALLELUIA MASS (Led by Father Trini, Gr 5 & Kinder AM) ALL FAMILIES WELCOME
April 3 - 6:30pm ICE - Internet Child Exploitation Unit - FREE Parent Presentation!
April 11 - Health Hunger (McDonalds) Ordering still available online
April 11 - 6:30pm School Council (All Parents Welcome)
April 12 - 6:00pm SKTA School Spring Dance (details to follow)
Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving - Three pillars of Lent ✝️
Lent is a time to prepare our hearts and minds for Easter. As a way to focus our preparation, the Church recommends “the 3 pillars of Lent”: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
- PRAY - Prayer is how we communicate with God. During Lent, we are called to increase our prayers, to raise our hearts and minds more often to the Lord as we prepare to celebrate His Passion.
- FAST - Oftentimes, as part of our Lenten practices, we will fast from a particular activity or treat in addition to fasting from food as a way to draw closer to God and offer a sacrifice to Him.
- GIVE -As a sign of gratitude for all God has given us, and as an act of love to those in need, we try to give generously to those less fortunate during Lent.
Returning BISON Registration Contest!
We are hosting a 'Returning Registration Contest' for students and families! Click HERE to register!
*STUDENTS - The first class to have all their registrations in for next school year will win a special ice cream treat!
*FAMILIES - All families with returning student for the 2024/2025 school year who submit their registrations forms before March 21st will be entered into a draw to win 1 of 2 'waiver of school fees'.
Winning families will NOT have to pay school fees for the 2024/2025 school year for one child!
SKTA BISON CLOTHING - Deadline March 20th
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 APRIL 11th. 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 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!
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 - FREE 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!
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 6:30pm at St. Kateri Academy School
Please contact us for more information at: sktacouncil@gmail.com
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
March: Nutrition Month
Expert Tips for Parents of Picky Eaters
Have some picky eaters in your house? Although picky eating is very common, it still makes things stressful, challenging and frustrating for meal planning! Check out these 11 tips for parents of picky eaters put together by a team of experts at Kids Eat in Color. If you want more tips, here is a free 14-page picky eater guide to give you step-by-step things you can try to begin to improve family mealtime.
1. Start “no-pressure” meals
2. Say, “You can eat it when you’re ready”
3. Have open and closed hours for the kitchen
4. Sit down to eat
5. Grown-ups set the menu
6. Add some fun with food activities
7. Keep serving it
8. Teach kids what foods do in their bodies
9. Make dessert less exciting
10. Model the behavior you want to see
11. Use expert tools for extremely picky eaters
11 Expert Tips for Parents of Picky Eaters
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.
Parent and Student Sign In Click HERE
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.