Oct 30 - Nov 3, 2023

Friday morning our grade 4, 5, and 6 students went to the movie "La legende de Sarilla" in Sherwood Park. It was so great to be with all division 2 French Immersion schools for this event. The film was filled with great action and adventure! We all had a great time!

Have you ever wondered if your child is reading at their level when they choose a book at the Public Library or bring a book home from school? The five finger rule could help you out! Have your child read one page of the book to you. Each time your child makes a reading error discretely raise a finger. Count the fingers you have up at the end of the page.

0 - 1 fingers = too easy

2 - 3 fingers = just right

4 - 5 fingers = too hard

We hope that helps and thank you for supporting your child in their literacy journey!

Halloween Reminders: Please remember costumes need to be "Elementary Friendly". Students are not allowed to bring in weapons or loose accessories that could become weapons. If costumes have a mask, students will be asked to keep the mask in their locker until the school parade at 2:00pm. Once the parade is over, they will then be asked to return masks to their lockers. Each class is celebrating the day a little differently, if you have specific questions about the afternoon, please email teachers directly. After last recess we will invite students down to the gym to participate in a "Halloween Parade" to show off their costumes in front of everyone. Parents are welcome to join us starting at 2:00pm that day (student will be invited to come down to the gym right after our last recess which ends at 2:04pm.) Once the parade is over, students will return to their classes and continue with activities that have been planned by the teacher.

Remembrance Day: Our upcoming Remembrance Day Ceremony, which will be taking place on November 3, at 10:40am. We are planning on having special reserved seating for any of our families or family members who are currently serving in the military, or veteran members. To do that we will need to know who is planning on joining us for this special event. If you or a family member fall into this category, please fill out this Remberance Day - Call our to Current or Veteran Service Members form. Also, we would like to include any students who are involved in Brownies, Scouts, Girl Guides, or Cadets in our ceremony to serve as the Colour Guard. If you haven't yet emailed me, please do so at tandy.atchison@eips.ca by Friday, Oct. 27.

• Please follow this link to watch our announcements: Le 30 October

What's happening this week at École Parc:

Oct 30 - Panago Hot Lunch-Kinder A

Oct 31 - Panago Hot Lunch-Kinder B-Grade 6

Oct 31 - Halloween

Nov. 1 - Early Out

Nov 1 - Sports Day-Dress up in your favorite jersey!

Nov 1 - Monthly Assembly at 10:30 a.m.

Nov 3 - Remembrance Day Ceremony at 10:30 a.m.

Nov 5 - Time change set clocks back one hour.

Upcoming Dates to be aware of:

Nov 6 to 10 - November Break

Nov 12-17 - Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week

Nov 15 - Kindergarten Transitions and PALS Parent-Teacher Interviews

Nov 15 - Fire Drill

Nov. 16 - Parent-Teacher Interviews PALS and French Immersion K - 6

Nov 17 - Parent Teacher Interviews Kindergarten only

Nov 20 - National Child Day

Nov. 21 - Parent-Teacher Interviews French Immersion Gr K- 6

Nov 21 - Earth Rangers Assembly K-6 9:00 am-10:00 am

Nov 27 - Grade 3 Field Trip Ukrainian Village

Nov 29 - School Council and Fundraising Meeting 7:00 pm

Nov 30 - Hold and Secure Drill 9:50 am

You will receive an email on November 8th with all your booking information. Please note the Parent Teacher Interview booking system will open for booking at 3:00 pm.

Get involved in activities across the province to learn how to stand up to bullying wherever it happens.

Click here for more information.

At Ecole Parc, we continue to build positive citizenship through the guiding principles of the Seven Sacred Teachings. Each month, we encourage students to focus on one principle or teaching. Our teachers are looking for students who display great examples of this teaching in the classroom and throughout their day. These students may be recognized by earning the Citizenship award for their class. During the month of November, we are focused on the teaching of Love.

With the winter season almost here, we want to remind families to dress children appropriately for the weather when getting ready for school or the bus. The weather often changes unexpectedly throughout the day, so please select suitable outerwear and ensure your child is prepared for changing conditions.

If inclement weather conditions occur, Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) advises families of any bus cancellations using various communications tools—automated-telephone messages, email, SMS, alerts posted on eips.ca and school websites, Twitter, Facebook, local radio stations, and notification through both the Bus Status and the Ride 360 apps. Morning bus cancellations are posted on eips.ca by 6:30 a.m.

Decisions regarding bus cancellations are guided by EIPS administrative procedures that state, “school bus service may be suspended…when there is a forecast or current temperature of -40 C, including wind chill factor, in one or more regions.” Other reasons for suspending or delaying school bus services include adverse weather and poor road conditions. When school bus services are suspended, schools remain open to students. EIPS believes families have the right and responsibility to make choices for their children based on their beliefs and perceptions of safety during times of inclement weather.

For more information, contact EIPS Student Transportation at 780-417-8151.

School fee information for the 2023-24 school year will be posted on the PowerSchool Parent Portal in late September. All fees are due within 30 days of being posted. To access your fee information, simply log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal and go to “Student Fees.” There you can view your fees and pay online using a credit card.

Don’t forget to log in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal regularly throughout the year. Fees are often added to your child’s account to cover the cost of certain school activities such as field trips, class projects, athletic-team fees and more. Additionally, junior high and senior high fees can change as courses are added and deleted.

If you’re unable to pay your school fees, you can apply to have certain fees waived by submitting an Application for a Waiver of Fees. The application deadline is Dec. 15, 2023.

For more information about school fees, waivers and payment deadlines visit eips.ca. Alternatively, contact Sherri Prince, Business Manager at Ecole Parc at 780-998-3741.

To view your student's photos please log in to www.mylifetouch.ca and use your student's ALBERTA STUDENT NUMBER as the password(this is the password your child uses to log in at school). If you do not know the ASN, it is listed in Powerschool when you click on Student Fees. If you have any questions, please contact Life Touch. Thank you.

If your student is absent, being picked up early or will be arriving late, we ask that you please email our attendance email at EPEAttendance@eips.ca or call the school at 780-998-3741. Please send any DQ permissions to this email as well.

If your child requires any medication, please click here to access the form. Please note we have 2 medical forms. We have a Personal Care Plan and an Administering of Medication Form. Please do not send medication with your child for safety reasons.

The health and safety of staff, students and visitors is a top priority. Continue to reinforce the following hygiene habits to protect staff and students from spreading respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19.

• Stay home if you’re feeling sick.
• Wash or sanitize your hands often.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes.
• Avoid touching your face.
• Clean and disinfect high touch surfaces regularly.
• Wear a mask if you get sick or develop symptoms while at school or work.

As per Alberta Health guidelines, staff, students, contractors and visitors who have symptoms of respiratory Illness or test positive for COVID, should stay home until:

• symptoms have improved,
• they feel well enough to resume normal activities, and
• they have been fever-free for 24 hours without using fever-reducing medications.

For anyone who has a respiratory illness or has tested positive for COVID, it is recommended that they wear a mask for a total of 10 days from the onset of symptoms—even if the symptoms have resolved or improved—when in indoor settings with other individuals.

Calling All Grizzlies!

Get ready to show your school pride, the Grizzly Gear fundraiser is back! We love seeing the school pride worn in our school in all different colours!. Ecole Parc clothing will be available for purchase starting Friday October 20th 2023 until November 13, 2023.

Items will be available for purchase through the online store on the Ecole Parc Fundraising Society Website starting Friday.

https://www.epeschoolcouncil.com/shop

Items will arrive prior to Winter break, so if you're looking for a few items to put under the tree for Christmas perhaps some Grizzly Gear for your little or big grizzlies is just the thing!

An important note - this will be your only opportunity this year to purchase Grizzly Gear, in previous years there have been two opportunities to purchase Grizzly Gear (Fall/Spring), however this year we are only offering one. As such we've extended the fundraiser a little bit longer this year to hopefully accommodate our Grizzly Families.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to the Ecole Parc Fundraising Society via email at epeschoolcouncil@gmail.com

Our first Hot Lunch will be PANAGO!

Mon Oct 30 - Kinder A

Tues Oct 31 - Kinder B - Gr 6

Ordering is closed for this hot lunch.

During the 2022/23 school year staff identified that the playground structures were not meeting the needs of all the students, both in type of structure, and space available for students to play. When the playground structure was first built in 2013 there were 180 students in the school. We now have 326. The population has doubled and we have a larger group of students in the PALS and Division 1 (K-3) age group. The existing play structure is designed for ages 5-12. We need an additional play area that meets the needs of students aged 4-8. The goal is to have the project completed within 3 years.

We are excited to hit the ground running with this and officially kick things off this year. We are always looking for more volunteers to join the committee. We meet once a month, time commitment is flexible and there is always lots to do and input needed.

If you are interested in joining the committee or would like more information please feel free to email us at ecoleparcplaygroundexpansion@gmail.com.