Together in Learning and Faith
November 3, 2018 - Our Lady of the Angels Catholic School
Catholic Education Sunday hosted by OLA & St. John XXIII
Our faith community here in Fort Saskatchewan will be gathering on Sunday, November 4th at 9:00 am at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church to celebrate the gift of Catholic education in our province. We invite you to join the students and staff from St. John XXIII and OLA Schools as we pray for the gift of Catholic Education in the Province of Alberta. As we plan this gathering, we are in need of Altar Servers and Eucharistic Ministers. If you can help out, please email Mrs. Weller at sandyw@eics.ab.ca or call 780-217-2318.
Timely Topic: Catholic Education
You are invited to join the panel of experts on Monday, November 5 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at OLPH Parish in Sherwood Park to learn more about Catholic education in the Province of Alberta and what you can do to preserve it for future generations.
Panelists:
Archbishop Richard Smith, Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton
Dean Sarnecki, Executive Director, Alberta Catholic Schools Trustees Association (ACSTA)
Anna Laparco, Partner, Dentons Canada LLP, legal counsel to ACSTA
Paul Corrigan, Assistant Superintendent & Division Principal of Faith and Wellness at EICS
3-Way Conferences & Evidence of Learning Portfolios
In preparation for our upcoming Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences, your child's Evidence of Learning Portfolio went home last week. Many classrooms this year have moved to a digital format for their students' portfolios - it is our hope that you have reviewed these before the 3-Way Conferences. We encourage you to celebrate your child's growth and success since September!
Your teachers will be hosting Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences on Wednesday, November 7th from 3:30 - 8:30 pm. Parental participation in children's learning is instrumental for their success.
If you have not already done so, please follow these simple instructions to book your interview time:
1. Go to www.schoolinterviews.ca
2. Select the “MAKE A BOOKING” button on the top right-hand corner of the page
3. Enter the OLA event code: mvyue and press “GO”
4. Enter your details
5. Select the teachers you wish to see
6. Select the appointment times that suit your family best
7. Click “FINISH”
Your interview timetable will be emailed to you automatically. (If you do not receive your e-mail immediately please check your junk mail folder.) You can return to www.schoolinterviews.ca at any time to change your conference times until the bookings close on November 6th; please remember to use the same name and email address you used for your original booking. Parents wishing to change their conference times after the closing date should contact May-Lee in the office at 780-998-3716.
All conferences will be booked on a first come first serve basis. If you do not have access to the internet please contact the school office and we will gladly assist you in booking your interviews.
The website will be closed for bookings on Tuesday, November 6th at 8:00 am. We look forward to meeting with you!
Remembrance Day Celebration
We are extremely grateful for the dedication and sacrifice of many Canadians who have made and continue to make incredible sacrifices to ensure our freedom and safety today. In recognition and honor of these individuals, OLA would like to invite all families to join us as we celebrate Remembrance Day on November 9th at 11:00 am. If you or a family member are a current or past Service Member, we would like to invite you to join us and be a part of this assembly. Please contact Mrs. Weller at sandyw@eics.ab.ca or by calling 780-998-3716 if this is something you are able to do for our community. In addition, current students are encouraged to wear their uniforms of service (i.e. Cadets, Scouts, Girl Guides etc.)
Halloween!
3K Presents our Monday Faith Assembly
Congratulations to our Faith Leaders!
As well, any time your child celebrates a Sacrament this year: Baptism, First Reconciliation or First Communion, please bring in a picture! We would love to celebrate you, through your actions, as you spread the Good News!
Power of Positivity to Unwinding our Minds
During the month of October we learned more about how to increase our happiness levels:
We shared that when sunlight reaches our skin, we produce vitamin D which helps produce serotonin. This explains why being outdoors makes people happier.
Happiness levels have been shown to increase by doing random acts of kindness. We planned to do something nice for someone and to share our plan with a friend.
We enjoyed some jokes and humour - because laughing out loud increases our serotonin.
November's theme to help our whole health is: Unwinding our Minds. Mindfulness will teach us how to unwind our minds. Mindfulness means paying attention to things in our lives on purpose and without judgement. We will practice being mindful each morning this month.
Cold Weather Approaching...
It is imperative that children are dressed properly to enjoy the outdoors as children will be indoors only during extreme weather conditions. Thank you in advance for ensuring your child has necessary outdoor clothing, rated for cold weather, so they can have fun in the winter sun.
We are inviting families to donate any extra gently used winter clothing with OLA for when children forget particular winter clothing pieces. These can then be provided for the children's recess enjoyment.:-) Thank you in advance for your help as this expands the reaches of OLA's caring corner.
Please click the following links below for additional information:
Enhancing OLA
We are looking to kick-off the following projects and would love parental involvement:
- Cleaning up and setting up an outdoor classroom space in OLA's courtyard, including the building of/getting outdoor seating
- Learning about, completing and applying for grants for technology (ie. interactive boards in classrooms) and for outdoor classroom spaces
- Installing a "Buddy Bench" near our park, which requires some cement work
- Furniture building or collecting (pews or benches) for the chapel
We look forward to working with you on these projects to enhance OLA and bring even more beautiful learning experiences to OLA's students.
We are especially excited that we have several elements for our chapel making their way to OLA, and one includes a beautiful wooden altar from St. Patrick's Parish in Edmonton!
This Week Around OLA . . .
School Council Parent Corner
Boston Pizza's Operation Education
OLA School Council has partnered with BP's Operation Education to help raise funds to support the many programs offered by our OLA SC. The OLA SC will receive 5% back on all Boston Pizza receipts collected from September 1st - December 31, 2018. Please ask your friends and family to save their receipts, too - they can be dropped off at the school office anytime.
And, a quick reminder to save your bottles and cans - your OLA SC is planning a bottle drive.
Fort Schools Playgrounds - We need your help!
So, what do we need?
- Quorum - enough members of our 4 school communities to vote on decisions
- An executive (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer) to formalize decisions about the funds and decisions
- Volunteers to help at one large silent auction fundraising event (the one and only fundraising event for the playgrounds)
- Community partner organizations to volunteer time and equipment when the time comes to install the playgrounds.
Please join us at the meeting on the 26th to find out more and help us make decisions!
Looking Ahead . . .
Sunday, November 4
- Daylight Savings Time Ends - Clock Fall Back 1 hour
- Catholic Education Mass 9:00 am at OLA Church hosted by OLA & St.John XXIII
Monday, November 5
- Monday Faith Assembly 9:00 am in the gym - please join us!
- Catholic Education Forum 7:00 pm at OLPH Church Sherwood Park
Wednesday, November 7
- Twin & Triplet Spirit Day!
- Early Dismissal at 2:19 pm
- 3-Way Conferences 3:30 - 8:30 pm
Thursday, November 8
- Grade 4 Rec Swim
Friday, November 9
- Kindergarten class
- Remembrance Day Celebration 11:00 am in the gym - everyone is welcome
- Grade 4 Peacekeeping Circles
- Grade 3 Rec Swim 1:00 - 2:30 pm at Harbour Pool
Sunday, November 11
- Remembrance Day - We Remember Them with Grateful Hearts as We Pray for Peace
November 12 - 16 NO SCHOOL - ENJOY YOUR FALL BREAK!
Have a wonderful God-kissed fall break! See you on November 19th!
A Little Further Ahead . . .
November:
November 19 Welcome back after Fall Break
November 19 Faith Assembly @ 9:00 am
November 19 Clay for Kids with Grade 1s
November 22 School Council Meeting 7:00 pm
November 26 Fort Schools Playground Meeting @ OLA 7:00 pm
December:
December 13 Advent Celebrations 1:30 & 6:30 pm
For more upcoming dates, please visit our website calendar.
You can view our Kindergarten Calendar here and our Pre-K Calendar here.
"We need smiling Christians, not because they take things lightly, but because they are filled with the joy of God, because they believe in love and live to serve."
Pope Francis
October 31, 2018
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
Twitter: @OLAFortSask