STF Principal's Weekly Message
June 1 - June 5, 2020
"Faith does not make things easy, it makes them possible". Luke 1:37
Principal’s Message
Hello parents,
I can't believe that I am sending you a June newsletter already! Time, in some ways, has flown by, yet in other ways, I feel like it has been an eternity since I have seen you all. The children's presence and your visits to the school are deeply missed. I know that everyone is doing their very best to make the most of these unusual circumstances, but on a very selfish level, I wish all the kids were back in the building as we used to be. Coming into such a quiet building every day has felt strange, at best.
We are on the home stretch for this year in terms of learning! Including this Monday, June 1st, there will be three more lesson sets sent out by teachers this month, with all assignments needing to be completed by June 19th at the latest. The last week of June will be the week when teachers will work on preparing report cards and comments for the end of the year report card, at that time we will ask all parents to bring back any items they have on loan from the school, be it books, textbooks, uniforms, materials, technology, so that we can safely sanitize and inventory them.
I continue to be impressed by everyone's efforts through distance learning, our students, staff and all of your efforts as parents have been tremendous. I appreciate all the sacrifices you have had to make over the last two and a half months to ensure student learning continued.
Happy June, Pace e Bene, peace and goodness to you all!
Diana
News for this Week
Week 10 Distance Learning Materials will be sent out by teachers before noon on Monday.
To further enhance physical distancing, access to St. Francis by parents and/or students is by appointment only. Please contact us by email or call the school phone number if you need access to the school and we will arrange a time for you.
We have some very exciting news St. Francis! Our staff LOVE and MISS you SO much! We will be hosting a social-distance drive-by parade!!!
On Wednesday, June 3rd families are invited to come between 12-1 pm in their cars to drive past the front of our school. Staff will be standing at the front of the school waving, cheering and sharing our love!
Just a reminder that it IS a social-distance parade. Families are asked to wave and cheer from their cars. All hugs and visiting can be reserved for next school year! See you soon! ☀️ ️
Please see below for route information, we are doing our best to ensure that no cars back up on the highway :)
Year End Report Cards
Year End Report Cards will be available on PowerSchool for all Gr. K - 9 parents to view on June 26 at 4 PM. As you know, Distance Learning began on March 16th, following the cancellation of classes by the Minister of Education. At that time, the Minister communicated that every student would receive a final grade and progress to their next school level.
Final grades and marks on the Year End report card will reflect the cumulative work completed both prior to, and during Distance Learning, with more emphasis being given to the learning that occurred prior to March 16 and also recognizing the hard work that was completed during Distance Learning. We want to assure you that no mark will be lower than the grade the student earned prior to classes being cancelled. We are fully aware that while some students thrived in the Distance Learning environment and had full access to resources and support, other students faced significant challenges.
The goal of Distance Learning has been to support every learner and not to penalize them in any way. Teachers have done their very best to engage every student in learning by covering critical learning outcomes to ensure success in their next grade. With care, compassion and using their professional judgement, teachers will include meaningful feedback to students through report card comments to support their continuous and ongoing learning.
Specific to Gr. K - 6 Report Cards, reporting on social and personal development will reflect information gathered prior to March 16, 2020. Year end marks will reflect largely social skills and work habits observed during the school year prior to Distance Learning.
Should you have more specific questions about report cards, please direct them to your child's individual teachers, or to Mrs. Atkinson or Mr. Schreiber.
This year's Yearbook will be a special one ... have you ordered yours? ...deadline is fast approaching...
Our Yearbook Committee (Mrs. Bilawchuk with the help of Mrs. Threlfall, Mrs. Oginski and Mrs. Atkinson, are working very hard to include all the amazing memories from this year). Purchase yours today! Deadline to order is the end of June as no extras will be printed this year.
Our Playground has re-opened!
Following the directions outlined by our municipality, our school playground re-opened a few days ago - certainly an optimistic sign for the future. It is important that anyone using the playground equipment continue to maintain two metres of physical distance and sanitize their hands before and after touching playground equipment by carrying hand sanitizer with them. Those using these amenities must also comply with the outside gathering restrictions of a maximum of 50 people, or at a capacity that ensures physical distancing can be maintained. Parents are asked to ensure children know the rules and how to follow them. They are also encouraged to accompany their children to the playground the first time so they can demonstrate how to use the equipment safely, following Alberta Health Services directives.
Additional information:
- Washroom facilities will not be available at the school.
- Municipalities are not required to clean or disinfect playground/fitness equipment. Please be aware of risks, use proper hand hygiene, do not touch your face and do not share sports equipment or toys.
In short, the playground is open, however, its use is at your own risk.
Junior High Academic and Sports Awards
Farewell to Our Grade 9's
Over the time of the pandemic and Distance Learning, all of us held hope that things would perhaps improve and that maybe, just maybe, we might be able to say goodbye in person, via a farewell gathering of some sort in June. Now that we have reached the month of June, we see that won't be possible.
Our tradition (this in only our second year of Grade 9) was to focus on Faith, Service and Community - important tenets of our school. We had plans for the grade 9's to complete a service project together (which we had booked and had to cancel in late May), our special year end Mass where students would have been presented with a special send off by our school community, complete with a faith memento to remind them of their time at St. Francis (sponsored by the school staff and also supported by our School Council) as well as a community event where the students, our staff and the Grade 9 parents would have attended a farewell dinner. The mass and dinner were scheduled on June 11th, though they clearly cannot complete as planned.
What's even more challenging, is that we are unsure what the future holds for us, what things might look like even in the fall, though we are certain that we would like to say goodbye and farewell, so as to give some closure to the year for our students, with the hope that one day, we might be able to gather as a group, at the school, for our special Grade 9's to receive a proper farewell.
What we would like to offer so that we could still sneak a little "farewell" and see our students is the following:
On Wednesday, June 24th, weather permitting, we would like to invite our Grade 9 students to drive by the school for a "Drive by - Pick up - Farewell" parade between 1:00 - 3:00 pm. Junior High Teachers and other staff who have had a connection to our Grade 9's will be standing by outside the school ready to congratulate the Grade 9's on their successful completion of Junior High, we will present them with a package including our faith memento/ small gift, a certificate of completion, academic and sports award certificates, and a couple of other little surprises we would like to include. If the weather doesn't hold, we will try for the following afternoon. We are excited about saying farewell and giving our Grade 9's our very best wishes, so we hope that lots of you can stop by for a few minutes that afternoon!
Lastly, although we have no way of planning anything right now, we hope to be able to gather in the fall, or as soon as we are allowed to gather as a larger group (53 students, 30-35 staff plus all the parents) and have a small get together, perhaps in our Atrium or gym, where we can see each other face to face, where the now "High School-ers" can properly say good bye to the school, see the space again, perhaps enjoy catching up and some speeches or take some photos with our staff. We are not giving up on this idea, and will be in touch with everyone as soon as it is possible to plan such an event.
Lastly, parents have asked if they could come by and take photos in front of the school with the students nicely dressed up. You absolutely can, anytime (mornings and evenings provide excellent lighting opportunities for photos and the playground is now open as well), so long as you follow the physical distancing measures in place when you come; I think students will appreciate having such a memento in future years.
No matter what is happening in the world right now, we have immense pride for our Grade 9's, the growth and learning that they have done over the past four years at St. Francis of Assisi Academy and we are excited for their journey to continue at the various high schools they will attend. We miss you and love you, Grade 9's, you have made us so proud!!!