What's New 2012-2013

ESO cultivates partnerships to empower youth through music education outreach

Edmonton, AB – The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) has embarked upon an extraordinary joint partnership with the Edmonton Catholic School District, the Rotary Clubs of Edmonton Riverview and Sherwood Park, and the Inner City Children’s Program (ICCP) whose work together will inspire a sense of community and empower Edmonton’s underserved youth through music education outreach.

YONA-Sistema (Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta) will begin as a three-year pilot outreach program launching in September 2013. Approximately 20 students enrolled at Mother Teresa Elementary School located in Edmonton’s city centre will begin participating in an intensive after-school orchestra program.

For three hours, five days per week, grade two and three students will receive group violin instruction in a safe and caring environment led by qualified teaching artists at no monetary cost to their families. Staff members from the Inner City Children’s Program, already well-known to the students, will provide additional after school care support. The free program encompasses nutrition and academic support and incorporates physical activity into free play time.

The conception of YONA-Sistema was inspired by the distinguished El Sistema program model developed over 35 years ago in some of the poorest regions of Venezuela. The program’s framework does not train students for musical excellence, but rather focuses on the promotion of positive social change through daily engagement in an activity that builds self-confidence and responsibility—learning to play an instrument. The program’s goals are simple: build stronger communities and provide the tools to create better futures for the children who participate.

“Our goal is to help youth see beyond the limitations they may believe about themselves in school or life,” says Annemarie Petrov, Executive Director for the ESO and Winspear Centre. “The transformative power of the program will enable students to develop a deep-seated confidence, help them cultivate a resilient self-worth, and learn how to incorporate the value of commitment into their lives. It has been proven in Venezuela, in the United States, and now in Canada—This program can change the trajectory of a child’s life. And with each child, these positive effects ripple out to families, friends, teachers and schools, and ultimately the whole community.” 

“We are extremely pleased to be in partnership with the ESO and Rotary Clubs to provide children at Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary with the unique opportunity of learning to play a violin at school,” said Joan Carr, Superintendent of Edmonton Catholic Schools. “Learning to play the violin will add another dimension to a child’s life and instill a passion that they will have for a lifetime,” Joan Carr added.    

“We at the ICCP are extremely excited with regards to this very serendipitous opportunity and are grateful to all the parties involved to make this happen,” says Karim Mouait, President of the Board of Directors for Inner City Children’s Program. “We believe the program will dramatically enrich the lives of the children and further impact the greater community.”

By the end of the three-year pilot, YONA-Sistema will expand to two schools, reach a wider age-group and offer a broader range of instrument instruction. As participants continue to build on their training, the older students will become peer mentors to younger and newer participants, helping to build a larger ensemble. By 2017, YONA-Sistema looks forward to the debut of the Youth Orchestra of Northern Alberta (YONA) for its first public performance. 

The generous contributions from the Rotary Clubs of Edmonton Riverview and Sherwood Park and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation have enabled YONA-Sistema to get off the ground.  Community partnerships will be instrumental to long-term program sustainability, along with funding support from foundations, government investment, and private and in-kind contributions. 

“The Rotary Clubs of Edmonton Riverview and Sherwood Park are pleased to be founding partners of the YONA-Sistema Program,” says Carl Simonson. “Research shows that music stimulates so many types of learning and improves language as well as motor and other cognitive skills. As a result, our Clubs believe that this unique musical program for underserved youth will benefit not only those youth, but their families, the school, and the community.”

“The two Rotary Clubs will be providing financial support to assist in the establishment and sustainability of this program and we will continue to engage in fundraising activities for YONA-Sistema, both through granting agencies and private donors, in the future,” Simonson added.

El Sistema’s founding father José Antonio Abreu asserts “music is an agent of social development because it transmits (our society’s) highest values -solidarity, harmony and mutual compassion.” For over 35 years, students and graduates from Sistema-based programs around the world have been impacted by this powerful philosophy and have experienced the immense power and joy of being part of something larger through musical collaboration.

New Program Announcement

On behalf of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO), Francis Winspear Centre for Music, Edmonton Catholic School District, Inner City Children’s Program, and the Rotary Clubs of Edmonton Riverview and Sherwood Park, I invite you to join us for an upcoming media event on May 16. We will be making an exciting announcement about a new program we are launching. Together with our founding partners, we are building a program that will empower Edmonton’s underserved youth through music educational outreach and inspire a sense of community.

Date:                    Thursday, May 16, 2013
Time:                    1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Location:             Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School
Address:              9008 – 105A Avenue, Edmonton, AB

We look forward to seeing you there! 
Annemarie Petrov

More information

Reading and Race Cars

To work on goal setting,  the Grade 2 students at Our Lady of Victories Catholic Elementary set a reading goal at spring break. The goal was for the class to read 250 books in two months which is approximately two books per week. The students demolished this goal with some students reading 5-8 books/week. The class goal was reached in 6 weeks!

To congratulate the class, this Friday, May 17th at 1 p.m., Grade 2 students will have a visit from Edmonton race car driver Roy Wallace! Roy accredits reading as a main contributing factor to his success and he will be sharing his life experiences with the class. He will be bringing his car onto the school field and the students will be able to sit in the driver seat and ask him questions.

FNMI Grad

Wednesday, May 15th from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., 65 First Nations, Métis and Inuit Grade 12 Grads will be recognized by our District’s Aboriginal Learning Services for their academic accomplishments.  Area First Nations Chief and Councils will be at the event for special presentations to the graduates and Chief Tony Alexis from the Alexis First Nation is this year’s Keynote Speaker.   

More Info

Invitation to Provincial Announcement (May 6th) KJ CHECK

On behalf of the Government of Alberta, I am pleased to cordially invite you to attend the launch of an initiative to support student success through engaging and hands-on learning experiences. The announcement will take place on Monday, May 6th, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. at St. Joseph High School, 10830 - 109 Street, in Edmonton.

This initiative is being supported through the ministries of Education, Enterprise and Advanced Education, and Human Services. It will enable high school students to build on their areas of interest while introducing them to post-secondary programs and workplace opportunities. Following the formal speaking program, there will also be an opportunity to meet with students and learn more about related learning opportunities offered at St. Joseph High School.

NEW SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENT

This morning, the Provincial Government announced new schools for Edmonton and area.  Of the three new schools scheduled for construction in Edmonton, the District received funding for a Kindergarten to Grade 9 school in Lewis Farms.

The school should be opening in September 2016.

To view the Alberta Government News Release click here

Interesting event - We are Bucketfillers

Monday, April 29th, from 9 a.m. until 11:20 a.m., St. Richard Catholic Elementary will be holding the "We are Bucketfillers" event and it stems from the We Day event that students attended in October. There will be a number of speakers, including a young lady who created a local organization called "Love Notes for Strangers.” I’ve attached the schedule for the morning.

We are Bucketfillers teacher Schedule

Ukrainian Easter Eggs

This week the St. Martin Ukrainian Bilingual Program Elementary students have all been writing traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs – Pysanky!  Please drop by the school tomorrow, Friday, April 26th if you’d like some footage of the Grade 4 and 5 students preparing for the Julian Calendar Easter.

This year Easter on the Julian Calendar is five weeks after the regular (Gregorian calendar) Easter. For the Julian Calendar Palm Sunday is April 28 and Easter is on May 5. Here is tomorrow’s schedule:

Friday, April 26 - 8:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. - Grade 5
Friday, April 26   12:35 p.m.  to 3:10 p.m. – Grade 4

Mayor to speak at WE Day at St. Cecilia

Friday, April 26th from 8:45 a.m. until 11:45 a.m., St. Cecilia Junior High will be transformed into a mini WE Day and Mayor Mandel will be one of the speakers (from 9:10 until 9:25 a.m.). The school’s Student Leadership Team attended WE Day in Calgary in the fall where they learned about helping others both locally and globally. All students in the school are trying to leave their footprint by taking action as agents of social change in our world today. The school has adopted the idea of ME to WE, by creating change as a whole rather than an individual.

People are in need around the world of fresh water as they do not have access to it. St. Cecilia students are going to be a part of the biggest penny collection in Canada and are encouraging everyone in the school to collect as many pennies as possible before they are out of circulation. The kick off for the penny collection began April 2nd. There will be numerous other fundraisers such as bake sales, etc. to raise funds for this project.

Here is a little bit about the ‘We Create Change’ campaign:
Why water?
~ Every day, women around the world spend a cumulative total of 200 million hours collecting water for their families.
~ 80% of illnesses in developing countries are linked to poor water and sanitation.

This year, in recognition of the global water crisis and the effect that events like last year’s East African drought have on developing countries, Free the Children has set a goal of providing 100,000 people with clean water for life. Free The Children’s We Create Change campaign, made possible by RBC, is one of Canada’s largest penny drives. Coinciding with the penny going out of circulation, students are challenging the school and community to donate their pennies to this truly important cause - water.

We Day Schedule

St. Mary's Health and Wellness Conference

This Saturday, April 27th from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., St. Mary Elementary will be holding their second annual Health and Wellness student conference.  I’ve attached the program and there are a number of interesting speakers and the Keynote Speaker is Susan Agrios, former International elite athlete and now CEO of Training by Agrios. 

Brochure
Schedule

National Volunteer Week - April 21st-27th

April 21st to 27th is National Volunteer Week when over 12.5 million volunteers across the nation are recognized for their contributions.

The Board of Trustees of Edmonton Catholic Schools warmly thanks our many parents, grandparents and guardians who volunteer in our schools and whose contributions have enhanced the school and the lives of our students and our staff.

Thank God for all of you! (1 Thessalonians Chapter 1 Verses 1-5)

Invention convention

This Wednesday, April 24th, from 11:30-1:00 PM, close to 200 of our students will be involved in the 6th Annual Invention Convention.  The event at St. Joseph High School is basically like a science fair only students have 'invented' something to make their lives easier; think ‘Dragon's Den’ for students in Grades 7 and 8.

Students in our District are from four of our schools; Cardinal Leger, Louis St. Laurent, St. Nicholas and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. My favourite inventions are: a walker with a brush attachment so snow can be swept from in front to expose ice; a leak proof stopper for pop cans and window decals that are visible to birds but not to people!  Students are encouraged to patent/copyright their intellectual property!

The event is hosted by The Learning Partnership’s I3 – Investigate! Invent! Innovate! The program is classroom-based and inspires students in Grades 7 and 8 to learn applied science, math and technology skills that will help them succeed at higher levels of education, and to think about pursuing a science and technology education and career. The program also instills an entrepreneurial spirit!  

The Troy Davies 'Stanley' Cup

This Thursday, April 25 at 10:45am, Annunciation Catholic Elementary will be hosting the final playoff game to determine who will have the honour of winning the Troy Davies Stanley Cup! 

The game officials will be:

• Don Cherry - Play by Play Official (Aka Tim Cusack – a Principal in our District)-
• Troy Davies-Referee (Former Principal of Annunciation School)
• Constable Jason Singh - Handler of the Troy Davies Stanley Cup (School Resource Officer at St. Francis Xavier High School)

The students at Annunciation Elementary have been having regular season hockey games for the last month at recess and lunch time on their table-top hockey game!  In total there are 26 teams (52 players) and special referees to officiate the games from Grades 4-5-6.

St Pius X Participation in Fifteen to Clean Media Event

Thursday, April 18th at 1 p.m. at the Woodcroft Library, 13420 114 Ave, a total of 25 students from St. Pius X Elementary will be taking part in ‘15 to Clean’ - a City of Edmonton awareness event about keeping our neighborhoods clean.  The school’s social justice group (students in Grades 4,5 & 6 who attended We Day 2012 in Calgary and lead social justice events at St. Pius X) will listen to the book The Lorax as it is being read to them.  There will also be a few speakers including Grade 3 teacher Helene Almon from St. Pius X, who is part of the social justice team.  

The students will then head outside to clean up litter around the library for 15 minutes.  Two Grade 6 students from St. Pius X will be available to speak with media.  

Heart of Glee! April 11th, 2013

​If you are looking for a great picture or footage tonight, the third annual ‘Heart of Glee’ event is taking place beginning at 7 p.m. at the U of A Myer Horowitz Theatre.  Edmonton Catholic Schools is presenting an evening of song, music and dance from students in ten junior high and senior high schools in the District.

This event is in support of our partnership with the Stollery Children’s Foundation and all funds raised will be supporting the Foundation. Last year $6,000 was raised for the Stollery and this year it’s hoped the event will raise the same amount!

Spencer West at St. Kevin

St. Kevin Catholic Junior High school is pleased to welcome Free the Children spokesperson Spencer West to their school for a presentation on Wednesday, May 1.  St. Kevin students have enthusiastically embraced the message Spencer delivered at WE Day, expanding their already tremendous Social Justice involvement!  This year, students have raised $9000 for the Terry Fox Foundation in our annual campaign. 

For more information - Click here

Congratulations to our District's Semi-Finalists for the
Excellence in Teaching Award!

​Congratulations to the eight semi-finalists for the 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award! 

Click here for more information

NFL player visiting school this Wednesday!

​It will be an exciting morning this Wednesday, April 10th at Good Shepherd Catholic Elementary as one of the students won a contest to bring an NFL player to his school!  Grade 6 student Dominik Ostrowski will be picked up Wednesday by NFL Detroit Lions player Ndamukong Suh in a limousine.  Here is the schedule for the morning:

Click here for more information

Grade 1 students at City Hall

​The 18 students in the Grade 1 class from St. Dominic Elementary has been invited to City Hall this Thursday, April 4th at 10:00 a.m. for the Donate A Ride wrap up ceremony.

For their class Social Justice Project, the students wanted to help people who don't own cars and have trouble getting their groceries and going to medical appointments.  The class raised about $350 from their January popcorn sale for the Donate A Ride charity.  St. Dominic is located in the north end at 5804 – 144 Avenue.

District-Wide Communities of School Council (COSC) Meeting - April 4th, 2013

​On Thursday April 4th the Board of Trustees is hosting District-Wide Community of School Councils’  Meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Courtyard of St. Joseph High School.

Click here to view the Agenda for the COSC meeting

We are pleased to acknowledge 24 of our educators who have been nominated for the provincial 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award!  

Since 1989 the Excellence in Teaching Awards Program has recognized the innovative and outstanding teaching that takes place every day in classrooms across Alberta. 

Click here for more information

Statement From Board Chair Becky Kallal on Tentative Agreement with the Province and ATA - March 19th, 2013

This afternoon the Board of Trustees discussed the tentative four-year agreement with the province of Alberta and the Alberta Teachers’ Association.  As a Board we support this tentative agreement and believe that labour peace is in the best interests of our students, staff and parents in the Edmonton Catholic School District.  If the agreement is ratified, our District can remain focused on a number of priorities including 21st century learning, high school completion and early learning to name just a few.  We are also pleased that possible pressure points in teacher workloads will be examined as part of the agreement. 

Stability of salaries is extremely important, and this tentative agreement will be fully funded by the provincial government, including a 2% increase and a 1% lump sum payment for each teacher in year four of the agreement. We know that there have been concerns expressed about the funding. But our Board believes that the provincial budget and the tentative agreement with the province and the ATA are different issues that should be addressed separately.

We appreciate the fact that the Alberta government has developed this tentative agreement at the provincial level and we believe that this does not minimize or weaken the role of locally-elected school Boards in serving the needs of our stakeholders now and in the future.   We thank the Minister for acknowledging that new models for negotiating agreements need to be explored in the future.

Digital Citizenship Day at St. Philip School

St. Philip Elementary will be hosting a Digital Citizenship Day.  From 10:30 to 11:30 and 12:30 to 1:30, one of our technology specialists will be making classroom presentations to students in K to 6 to enhance the students understanding and knowledge of their role as Digital Citizens.   

The presentations will be as follows:              K to 3 from 9:30 to 10AM
Grade 4 to 6 from 10:30 to 11:30AM.  
Grade 6 from 12:30 to 1:30PM 

As a District, we have a Digital Citizenship Policy and here is some information about Digital Citizenship:

Digital Citizenship is a concept which helps teachers, technology leaders and parents to understand what students/children/technology users should know to use technology appropriately. Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology.

You can also visit http://digitalcitizenship.net/ for more information.

Band Share Day

The District’s annual Band Share Day will be held this Monday, March 18th from 9 a.m. until almost 9 p.m.  A total of 24 schools and 28 performances will take place at the Winspear Centre and I’ve attached the draft program.  This annual event gives students the opportunity to perform in a world-class facility! This Edmonton Catholic tradition began in 1989!

More Information

A Heartwarming Story

A Grade 1 student at St. Lucy Elementary School began collecting new pairs of socks to bring to the school’s Family Dance ‘Sock’ (Sharing Our Compassion through Kindness)  Hop’ in February.  The socks would be donated to an organization that would help the needy.  Benjamin Fehr hadn’t quite met his goal of 100 pairs of socks before the fundraiser (he had about 70 pairs) so he continued to collect new socks.  His birthday was around the same time so he asked everyone to give him socks, instead of presents, for his birthday!  He has now collected 240 pairs of new socks for the homeless!

On Friday morning (March 15th) at 9:30 a.m., Peter Ouellette, Regional President of St. Vincent DePaul Society, will be coming to the speak to the Grade 1 class, thank Ben and collect the socks.  The socks were in tubs but are now in the library, laid out in a counting graph with 10 in each row!

Friday seems like the appropriate day to have the socks picked up because it is also ‘Crazy Sock Day’ at the school and everyone is asked to wear their craziest and most fun, pair of socks!

More Information

Premier attending Mini We Day at St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas Junior High will be holding a mini WE Day!  WE Day is a movement of young people leading local and global change.  Since the beginning of the school year, students have raised approximately $1500 for Christmas Hampers that go out to the school community.  Since January, students have been fundraising through Free the Children to provide clean water to a village in Kenya.  Clean water not only prevents disease, it also frees the women and girls from having to get water so they can attend school. Mini WE Day will consist of many speakers and performers who have donated their time to help inspire our students to go and make a difference in the world.

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ECSD Welding Partnership

The Edmonton Catholic School District is pleased to announce a one-of-a-kind partnership with the Canadian Welding Association (CWA) and the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) to enhance the District’s new Career Skills Centre. The Career Skills Centre is situated at St. Joseph High School and offers career training programs to students such as Automotive Services, Cosmetology, Health Care Aide and Welding. The Canadian Welding Association and the Christian Labour Association of Canada are providing state-of-the-art equipment for the Welding program.

News Release - February 26th, 2013

Pink Shirt Day

A recent survey of Alberta children and youth found that 50 per cent had been bullied since the start of the school year and 36 per cent admitted to engaging in this form of harassment at least once during the year.  The Redford government recognizes that the only way to address bullying in our schools and communities is for students, parents, teachers, administrators, trustees and community partners to come together to create and support environments where bullying is less likely to occur.  

Pink Shirt Day began in Nova Scotia when a Grade 9 student was bullied because he wore a pink shirt to school.  In response to the event, several students organized themselves, purchased pink shirts and distributed them to other students.  The following morning, the school foyer was awash with students wearing pink.  You can see the whole story at www.iccrevalcore.net/Sito_Polo/Agio%20e%20Benessere/story_of_pink_shirt_day.pdf. 

Since that time, a number of schools, communities and organizations have participated in Pink Shirt Day by encouraging people to wear something pink as both a proactive message of support for youth who have experienced bullying and as a way for people to show their commitment to refrain from bullying behaviours. 

I encourage the schools in your jurisdiction to participate in Pink Shirt Day on February 27, 2013.  Information and strategies for bullying prevention can be found at www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/safeschools/bullying-prevention.aspx. 

We all want to stop bullying in Alberta’s schools and communities.  We can do it—if we work together.  Participation in Pink Shirt Day is one way to raise awareness that everyone has a role to play in preventing bullying and creating welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environments for all students.

Sincerely,

Tim Wiles
Deputy Minister of Education

Transportation Study

The Board of Trustees for both Edmonton Catholic and Edmonton Public unanimously approved a feasibility study on student transportation late this afternoon at their respective Board meetings.

Transportation Study News Release

Parent Online Survey November 1st to December 15th, 2012

Click here to see more information

Sister Annata Brockman teacher travels to Norway to demonstrate innovative teaching techniques with Norwegian schools.

Click here to see the full article

Dance Academy students from St. Nicholas welcome
"So You Think You Can Dance" finalist to their school

on Wednesday January 9th, dance academy students from St. Nicholas will welcome a Canadian dance pro to their school.   Jeff Mortensen, a finalist from So You Think You Can Dance Canada Season 3, will give a personal and hands on lesson to students. Jeff will be running the students through a variety of exercises to essentially make them better dancers. As an academy dance school, St. Nicholas dance students utilize their Physical Education time to concentrate on dance performance, conditioning, choreography and technique.  Jeff will be addressing all of these areas in a small venue that caters to the serious dance student.

The school is located at 3643-115Avenue and your contact is Principal Simon Pryma.

The workshop will run from 8:30 until 2:00pm – please let me know if you’re interested in attending and what time you will be at the school.

Charity Hockey Game

Mount Carmel 8th Annual Hockey Classic - Thursday, December 20th

More info

Chix With Stix

The annual Chix With Stix hockey game will be happening tomorrow Thursday Dec 20, 2012 from 1:30-3pm at Bill Hunter Arena.  This event began nearly 15 years ago where the St. Francis Xavier Girls Hockey Academy plays a charity hockey game against the teachers with proceeds going to the Stollery Children's Hospital. 

The school’s contact for the event is Kaye Burrows and she may be reached at (780) 489-2571. 

Genocide Conference

This Thursday, December 13th  and Friday, December 14th, St. Thomas More Junior High students, with the help of teachers, have developed this Genocide Conference. The conference will be held at Annunciation Church in the west end. The address is 9420-163 Street. The two-day conference begins at 9:00 am and goes until 2:15pm. each day.

St. Thomas More students attended We Day in November in Calgary and the kids were inspired to do something to help other kids. They organized a rally and held a raffle in aid of Free the Children. They raised $5000.00 to be sent to Free the Children. They polled the students here at the school and the student body decided that our donation would be used for a clean water project in Africa. As a continuation to this they are working at being the change they want to see in the world and becoming Global Citizens. This conference will deal with genocide and about 100 St. Thomas More students will be in attendance.

The keynote speaker is Rich Hitchens, founder and head of the Canadian Centre for Genocide Education in London, Ontario. He runs summer courses and has taken Canadian teachers to both Rwanda and on a European Holocaust tour.

As well, Deb Bodkin, a retired police officer and inspirational speaker who has worked with victims in Bosnia and Darfur will also be in attendance. She just recently helped supervise the elections in Ukraine.

Christine Magill will also speak - she is a teacher from Strathmore and has visited both Rwanda and the Holocaust sites. She has spoken to several school groups as well.

Arthemon Ruwangwa, a Rwandan-born survivor and educator will be on hand as well to present his perspective on how and why the genocide in Rwanda came about.

More Information

Opening of One World...One Centre

On Friday, November 30th all schools in the Edmonton Catholic District are holding the second annual Holodomor Memorial Day.  This recalls the genocide inflicted upon the people of Ukraine in 1932 and 1933 that resulted in millions of deaths through starvation.

St. Martin (Ukrainian Bilingual) Elementary
11310-51 Avenue

St. Martin students will  not only recall the events and pray for the victims, but also in a symbolic way, get a sense of what it’s like to truly be hungry.

The day will also include a formal Holodomor Memorial Day program from 8:45 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.

• Entrance Procession with candles and a prayer.
• Grade 6 reads the story Enough
• Guest speaker – Holodomor Survivor Leonid Korowyk
• School Choir sings a song about Holodomor
• Explanation of Words to the Music Video Svicha
• Music Video Svicha by Oksana Bilozir
• Moment of Silence with Final Prayer

Additional information is attached. Your contact is Principal Taras Podilsky.

St. Matthew Elementary
8735 – 132 Avenue

Bishop David Motiuk, the staff and students of St. Matthew School and Ben Calf Robe School and several dignitaries will come together to observe Holodomor (Ukrainian Famine Genocide) Memorial Day as they share a Hunger Lunch.

The event runs from 9:45 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. as there will be presentations about the Holodomor.

Opening of One World...One Centre

Thursday, November 29th at 11 a.m., we will be holding an official opening of One World…One Centre.  The Centre is a one-stop service that supports our schools, students and families by offering several programs for newcomers to Canada including:

• Interpreter/Translation Services,
• English Language Learning programming and support,
• LINC – (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) English Language instruction for permanent residents and refugees,
• Mosaics Early Learning Centre
• The Schools as Community Hubs – academic learning opportunities during out of school time for children, youth and families
• Child Minding for children of parents attending LINC classes.

In attendance at tomorrow’s opening will be Mayor Stephen Mandel, Deputy Minister of Education Tim Wiles, MLA Brian Mason, Executive Director of REACH Jan Fox, Superintendent Joan Carr, Board Chair Becky Kallal.  The event will also include a cultural presentation.

Here is a link to a brochure about One World…One Centre which will provide additional information:

http://www.ecsd.net/programs/focus/pdf/ECSONEWORLDBROCH122.pdf

ECSD Graduate on her way to Oxford

A recent graduate from Edmonton Catholic Schools has been awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship!  Megan Engel graduated from Edmonton Catholic Schools in 2007 from Archbishop Oscar Romero High School. She is incredibly gifted and in addition to her scholastic achievements, her vocals are on the current video of our District’s ‘Growing in the Spirit’ song. 

Unveiling of The Money Project website

There's a dynamic and fun resource available for young Albertans looking to learn more about personal money management, and it's not what you're expecting…On November 15, "The Money Project" web portal went officially live at Edmonton's Holy Trinity Catholic High School, where a group of students were the first to explore the portal and discover all of its resources.

Click here for more information
Money Project News Release

8th Annual MTC Classic

The Mount Carmel (MTC) Hockey Academy will be hosting its 8th Annual MTC Classic Game at Southside Arena, 10525 – 72 Avenue,  on Thursday, December 20th, from 10:00am-12:00pm. 

The Our Lady of Mount Carmel School and community will watch the Junior High Hockey Academy play a game against each other.  There will be guests from the hockey community (NHL and WHL) who will volunteer and/or coach.  Those attending are asked to bring a non-perishable item for the Food Bank and used Sports Equipment for Sports Central. 

Grandin Tourtiere Fundraiser

On Saturday, November 24th from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the school gym, the Grandin school community will hold their annual Tourtiere Fundraiser!  The volunteers will make approximately 600 Tourtiere pies and sell to the community!

The money raised will go to numerous school needs such as SmartBoards, sporting equipment, fieldtrip support as well as purchasing instruments to maintain the music program.

Bully Free Alberta

Join Louis St. Laurent students on November 13th and Stand Up to Bullying! During this year’s National Bullying Awareness Week – November 12-17th - a number of events will be taking place in schools and communities across the province. Louis St. Laurent invites you to participate in a special interactive webcast with cyberbullying prevention experts. On Tuesday, November 13th,  visit www.bullyfreealberta.ca to join the conversation from your computer and/or select mobile devices. The event goes from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. Learn more about cyberbullying, how to stay safe online, and how to support others. You will have the opportunity to send in your questions and comments to expert panelists or you can also attend the webcast live at Louis St. Laurent Junior/Senior High School 11230-43 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta.

Watch an Anti-Bullying video created by St. FX students by clicking here.

Boys Exploring Science Together Conference

This Saturday, November 3rd, the BEST (Boys Exploring Science Together) Conference will take place from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at St. James Elementary, 7814 – 83 Street. The conference is specifically designed to deal with the learning styles of boys in Grades 4 to 6. 

SPooktacular at St. Gabriel

St. Gabriel Elementary will be holding a Halloween Spooktacular today beginning at 1 p.m. and going until 2:30 p.m. – St. Gabriel is located at 5540 – 106 Avenue; 780 466-0220.  Your contact is Principal Tisa Haesch.  See below for additional information:

IT’S A
HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR!

On Wednesday, October 31st  our school will be having a HALLOWEEN SPOOKATCULAR CARNIVAL! 
We’re planning lots of fun and spooky activities for our grades 1to 6 students. 
And, yes, it will be a real carnival!  The children will be given Boo-Bucks to spend at different activities that will be set up around the school.  There will be things like a Spider Dunking Pond, Balloon Animals, Halloween Bingo, Fortune Telling, a Spooky Movie Theatre and a Creepy Café. 

Catholic Education Sunday - November 4th, 2012

Let this be a day of celebrating how fortunate we are to have a publicly-funded Catholic education system, and a call to all to become informed and proactive in the preservation of it. 

Promotional Poster
Message for Catholic Education Sunday (Parish)

ECSD Environmental Award

The Edmonton Catholic School District has received an Environmental Award from Envirologic for using 100% recycled paper products in our Printing Services department.  

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Corine Gannon - 2012 Prime Minister's Awards for Early Childhood Education

Edmonton Catholic School District Principal Corine Gannon is one of 94 teachers/educators in Canada who has been chosen as a recipient of the 2012 Prime Minister's Awards for Early Childhood Education!  Corine was in Ottawa earlier this month to accept her award.

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2013-2014 Calendars approved - October 11th, 2012.

View the online Calendars by clicking here.

It's an EMU kind of Day

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Find out more information about EMU!

Digital READ IN - October 3rd

READ IN is going digital! Traditionally with Read-In week, guests come to our schools and read to our students. However, this year we have expanded this tradition to include the digital world by using resources like Skype and Facetime. Grade 2 and 3 Elementary students from our Spanish Bilingual program at St. Teresa Elementary will experience a digital version of READ IN Wednesday, October 3rd from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.  Senior high students from the Spanish Bilingual program at Austin O’Brien High School will connect to younger students via Facetime. The high school students will read in Spanish to the younger students by using our 21st Century learning environments. 

READ IN event Wednesday - October 3rd

The READ IN week activities continue tomorrow as Katherine Therrien Elementary students celebrate literacy by reading to man’s best friend.  The Edmonton Humane Society will be visiting the north Edmonton school on Wednesday, October 3rd from 9:00 – 10 a.m.  The SPCA will be bringing a dog to be read to by students in Grade 5 and 6.

There are benefits to reading aloud as it gives students the opportunity to develop their oral language skills and confidence. Oral language is the foundation of literacy. Through listening and speaking, people communicate thoughts, feelings, experiences, information and opinions and learn to understand themselves and others.

Important Information Regarding the Support Staff Strike

Important Information for Parents: Please click here for updated information on the Support Staff Strike.

UN International Day of Peace

Tomorrow, Friday, September 21st , is International Peace Day and I wanted to let you know that one of our school Choirs, St. Boniface Elementary, will be singing at a special event at City Hall at 10:30 a.m. 

The 54 children in the choir are all foiped so feel free to take any shots or footage of them. And if you need anything additional, the contact is the choir’s music director, Josie Burgess. 

Invitation (PDF)

Mother Margaret Mary High School

Edmonton Catholic School District’s newest high school doors are now open!  Mother Margaret Mary High School welcomes Grade 9 and 10 students for the 2012/13 school year.  In late August, the Education Minister Jeff Johnson, Infrastructure Minister Wayne Drysdale, Mayor Stephen Mandel and Councillor Bryan Anderson toured Mother Margaret Mary High School as part of a tour of all 15 new schools in the province.

Media was also there so watch for the story on the 5 and 6 p.m. CTV news, Global News, the evening CBC News, August 28th on Breakfast Television on City TV, in tomorrow's Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun.  In addition a story will be in this week's Edmonton Examiner. ​

More information on Mother Margaret Mary High School

Mother Margaret Mary High School

Edmonton Catholic School District’s newest high school doors are now open!  Mother Margaret Mary High School welcomes Grade 9 and 10 students for the 2012/13 school year.  In late August, the Education Minister Jeff Johnson, Infrastructure Minister Wayne Drysdale, Mayor Stephen Mandel and Councillor Bryan Anderson toured Mother Margaret Mary High School as part of a tour of all 15 new schools in the province.

Media was also there so watch for the story on the 5 and 6 p.m. CTV news, Global News, the evening CBC News, August 28th on Breakfast Television on City TV, in tomorrow's Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun.  In addition a story will be in this week's Edmonton Examiner. ​

More information on Mother Margaret Mary High School

St. James Elementary

More information on St. James Elementary

CTV Edmonton - Click here
Edmonton Journal  - Click here
Metro News Edmonton - Click here

Back to School for Year Round Program

On Monday, August 13th, over 1,100 students at three of our schools will be back in class!  St. Catherine, St. Alphonsus and Mother Teresa Elementary all have the Year Round Schooling program which gives students a five week summer break, two weeks off in October, a two week Christmas break and a two week Spring break in March.

I have invited media to Mother Teresa Monday morning so watch for stories on local stations throughout Monday on TV, Radio and in local newspapers on Tuesday.  All media who come to Mother Teresa on Monday will also have the story on their websites.