The SAM Explorer

Thank you to all our families who took time out of their busy schedules last week to come meet with their children's teachers. The Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences are such valuable opportunities to strengthen the school-home connection and create goals together. We understand that all families might not have been able to attend last week so please feel free to reach out to our teachers to set up a phone call, an in-person meeting, or a Google Meet. We are partners in your child's education and regular, on-going communication is important to us.

We also have some very exciting news ... SAM Spirit Assemblies are back! We have been hearing quite clearly from our families that there is a desire to bring back these monthly gatherings. SAM has a long standing tradition of both academic excellence and empowering our learners to lead. Building upon a legacy of student driven leadership established through our participation in the Leader In Me program, we continue to recognize the importance of student voice and agency by creating opportunities to learn what it means to be a good leader and good community partner. These monthly Spirit Assemblies will be an important time for our school community to recognize the incredible contributions of our students, staff, and volunteers whose dedication and commitment to community make SAM an amazing school to come to every day.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Dawn & Cam

Reminder that the 3rd rotation of SAM Explores Drama, Outdoor Education, and STEAM begins on Monday, October 30th. Students in K-2 will be participating in Outdoor Education, students in grades 3 and 4 will start Drama, and our grades 5, 6 , & ACE students will be exploring the STEAM Lab.

Week of Oct 30 - Nov 3

• Mon, Oct 30 - Grade 6 Swim Lessons
• Tues, Oct 31 - Halloween
• Wed, Nov 1 - Early Dismissal - No Kindergarten
• Wed, Nov 1 - Cupcake Day
• Thurs, Nov 2 - SAM Chorus Rehearsal - 8am Music Room
• Fri, Nov 3 - HOT LUNCH Boston Pizza
• Fri, Nov 3 - Grade 6 Immunizations 8:45am
• Fri, Nov 3 - SAM Spirit Assembly 10:30am

Week of Nov 6 - 10

• Mon, Nov. 6 - Grade 6 Swim Lessons
• Wed, Nov. 8 - SAM Chorus Rehearsal 8am Music Room
• Wed, Nov. 8 - Remembrance Day Assembly 10:35am
• Thurs, Nov. 9 - PD Day - No Students
• Fri, Nov. 10 - NO SCHOOL

LUNCH TIME REMINDER

Please remember to send your children with the utensils required to eat their lunches. The office does not have a supply of utensils to provide students and spaghetti gets messy without a fork.

Our Grade 6 volleyball is underway with practices happening on Tuesday's during recess from 12:02 - 12:32pm. Friendly games with some of our division elementary schools will take place throughout the month of November. Come on our and cheer on our SAM Volleyball players!

Girls Game Schedule

4:00-5:00 pm

Kinosayo - November 14

Leo Nickerson - November 21

SAM - November 28th

Boys Game Schedule

4:00-5:00 pm

Kinosayo - November 15

Leo Nickerson - November 22

SAM - November 27th

Our first monthly SAM Spirit Assembly will take place on Friday, November 3rd at 10:30am. This will be a short, student-led assembly where we:

• reintroduce the importance of these monthly gatherings to our students and families,

• highlight upcoming Student Leadership Club (SLC) and school events,

• recognize student contributions to the SAM community (i.e. x-country, volunteerism, SAM Chorus, etc.),

• present the monthly SAM SPIRIT Awards; and,

• introduce the SAM CARES Awards.

SAM CARES Awards

The SAM CARES Awards will be our opportunity to recognize students, teachers, or community members “caught doing good” or demonstrating various qualities such as kindness, cooperation, responsibility, and teamwork. We will be creating nomination cards that anyone can fill out and put into our SAM CARES Awards boxes that will be distributed to each classroom and the office. These nominees will be entered into a monthly draw for some SAM swag.

SAM SPIRIT Awards

The SAM SPIRIT Awards will be monthly theme awards where teachers will choose 2 students from their classrooms to recognize each month who have demonstrated our SAM SPIRIT qualities. This month we are going to recognize students who have worked hard toward demonstrating qualities of friendship. Families whose children will be receiving a SAM SPIRIT Award will receive advance notification from your homeroom teacher so they can choose to be present for the assembly for when their child receives their award.

We are very excited to recognize our amazing students and community!

Please join us on Wednesday, November 8th at 10:35am as our SAM community pays our respects and expresses our gratitude to the brave men and women who have made unimaginable sacrifices for our freedom and peace. Each year it is important that we come together to remember and commemorate the courage and selflessness of those who served, and those who continue to serve, in our armed forces and peace keeping missions. Together, let us reflect on the sacrifices of the past and on the responsibilities of the present and future. Let us honor the memories of those who served by working towards a world of peace, freedom, kindness, and unity.

Thank you to everyone who came out to support our Fall Book Fair! We hope you all found some wonderful books to enjoy. Your love for reading helped SAM School raise over $3000 that will be put towards purchasing new books for our library that all students can enjoy.

We also have some prize winners to announce:

• Sawyer in 3MP - Squids birthday is on Oct 11th
• Cohen in 5B - There were 57 monster eyeballs
• Drew in 3M - Mike Wazowskis' job is a scaring assistant
• Avery in 6L - Winner of the $25 family door prize & $25 for class.

Once again, thank you to Mrs. Leathem for such an incredible event and thank you to all our families who came out to support reading at SAM School.

Once again, thank you to all the families who came out to our October School Council meeting. We had a wonderful opportunity to invite Janelle Hobbs, our Division Coordinator for Inclusive Education, to provide our families more information regarding the division's Grief & Loss guidelines involving permanent memorials in schools. Thank you to all who attended and participated in this conversation.

As a reminder, all meetings are open to any parents or guardians who are interested in learning more about SAM School and would like to participate in conversations about the learning and activities that takes place at SAM School.

Click here to view the meeting minutes from the October School Council Meeting on our school website. You can reach out to your School Council Chair by emailing sc-chair.sam@spschools.org.

First Aid Kit Fundraiser

The SAM Fundraising Society is pleased to introduce our newest fundraiser for SAM School, First Aid Kits provided by Canadian Safety Supplies. These kits cover a variety of scenarios and can make great gifts! Order forms were sent out to students this week and are due back to the school with all collected money by November 22, 2023. If you have any questions, please contact SAM Fundraising using at samfundraising@spschools.org.

Family Movie Night

SAM Fundraising Society is starting to organize our fall Family Movie Night on Friday, November 17th. Please visit the SAM Parent Facebook page as voting for which movie to show is now open!

Looking to volunteer?

There are many low commitment ways that you can help out with the fundraising at SAM School. A few hours of your time goes a long way in putting on some incredible events for our school community, as well as fundraising money to support student learning. If you are interested in volunteering, please click here to view our current volunteer opportunities.

Neutral Ground is a new Non-Profit Society in St. Albert whose vision is to help combat isolation within our community and encourage social interaction through hobbies an other activities. They are focused on creating permanent, safe, and inclusive spaces for social interaction.

On Saturday, October 28th from 10am - 4:30pm at the St. Albert Public Library students are invited to come play, create, and connect with each other in a safe and inclusive space.

The City of St. Albert is once again presenting Sports Day on Saturday, November 4th from 11am - 2pm at Servus Credit Union Place. This is a great opportunity for kids to try new sports and to learn about various sport organizations in St. Albert for FREE! Visit their website for more information.

Brainworx! is an interactive and empowering FREE online program where students in grades 1 - 6 can learn and have fun in a safe, online environment. The goals of the Brainworx! program are to:

• Identify strengths
• Acquire capacities (self-awareness, creativity, self/relationship management, decision making, resilience, growth mindset)
• Develop coping skills and become resilient learners/leaders
• Build community/belonging
• Set goals, track progress, and receive positive reinforcement
• Participate in activities creating predictability/regulation

Click here for more information.