The SAM Explorer

Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. As we start the new year, we find ourselves in the midst of an exceptionally chilly stretch. We will continue to have indoor recess time on extremely cold days while we look for other innovative ways to provide students opportunities to get their wiggles out throughout the day. Even on days that we have indoor recess, it continues to be extremely important that our students come to school dressed warmly as we will continue to find opportunities for short breaks outside (when appropriate). Once again, if you are in need of warm clothing for your children, please do not hesitate to reach out to Ms. Sara Gossa, our Health Recovery Facilitator, who can help get you some extra layers.

We are also thrilled to share that January will be a busy month full with interesting events. With many field trips planned, our students continue to have varied opportunities to explore and study outside of the classroom. In addition, our Climbing Club and Running Room Games Club have also started up this month and we will also be hosting our Division 1 Winter Carnival and Division 2 Ski & Snowboard days later this month. Stay tuned for more information about our Coding Club coming up! There is always lots to do at SAM School.

Finally, we are excited to extend an invitation to you for our Kindergarten Open House on Tuesday, January 30th from 6- 7pm. This evening is a great way for parents to learn more about our kindergarten programs, get to know the teachers, and explore all the amazing things SAM School has to offer our students.

We wish you all a wonderful (and WARM) weekend!

Dawn & Cam

Week of January 15 - 19th

• Tues, Jan 16th: Running Room Games Club (7:50am SAM School gym)
• Tues, Jan 16th: SAM Fundraising Society Meeting (6-7pm)
• Tues, Jan 16th: SAM School Council Meeting (7-8pm)
• Wed, Jan 17th: Lockdown Practice Scheduled for 1:40pm
• Thurs, Jan 18th: Running Room Games Club (7:50am SAM School gym)
• Thurs, Jan 18th: Climbing Club (3:45pm SAM Gym)
• Fri, Jan 19th: Hot Lunch (Subway/Booster Juice)

Week of January 22 - 26th

• Tues, Jan 23rd: Running Room Games Club (7:50am SAM School gym)
  
• Tues, Jan 23rd: Panago Hot Lunch
• Thurs, Jan 25th: Running Room Games Club (7:50am SAM School gym)
• Thurs, Jan 25th: Div 1 Winter Carnival
• Thurs, Jan 25: Div 2 Ski & Snowboard Trip
• Fri, Jan 26th: IHOP Hot Lunch
• Fri, Jan 26th: SAM Spirit Assembly (10am in the SAM Gym)

St. Albert Public Schools is hosting a Kindergarten Fair on Saturday, January 13, 2024 starting at 10am at Bellerose Composite High School (doors open at 9:30am). To learn more information about our division kindergarten programs, please click here for more information: Kindergarten Fair.

Additionally, SAM School is hosting our Kindergarten Open House on Tuesday, January 30th at SAM School from 6-7pm where parents and students are invited to come in and learn more about our school and programming. Click here for more information about Kindergarten at SAM School.

Kindergarten registration for the 2024-2025 school year opens SOON! Please stay tuned for more information.

If you have returned your field trip forms to participate in the Division 2 Ski & Snowboard Trip on Thursday, January 25th, these fees are now available to pay online in your PowerSchool account. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Administrative Assistant, Ms. Sarah Stadnyk (sarah.stadnyk@spschools.org) for assistance.

We are very excited to announce that SAM School has been chosen to be the host site for a new Soccer Academy for students in grades 4, 5 & 6 starting in the 2024-25 school year. We are pleased to announce that Jeff Paulus has been chosen to lead the Soccer Academy. Jeff has an extensive coaching resume that includes:

• current Technical Director of the St. Albert Soccer Association
• Technical Director of the Edmonton Scottish United Soccer Club
• various roles with FC Edmonton, Canadian Premier League which included: Director of Soccer Operations and Head Coach, Interim General Manager, and Academy Technical Director and Assistant Coach.
• NAIT Men's Soccer Team, Head Coach

Come meet Jeff at our next School Council meeting on Tuesday, January 16th at 7pm in the SAM Library. Stay tuned for more information coming out shortly about a Soccer Academy Information Evening!

Click here for more information.

To ensure our students, staff, and systems are prepared in the case we need to respond to a potential emergency, we conduct regular fire drill and lockdown practices. All teachers have already taught our students the procedures for both a potential evacuation (i.e. fire drill) and/or a lockdown. On Wednesday, January 17th at 1:40pm, SAM School will be practicing our lockdown procedures. Please note that this is just a practice drill. We will always inform our students, family, and division office staff before we conduct a lockdown practice. It is important to us that people are aware when we are conducting these practices as we do not want to cause any unnecessary concern or stress amongst our students, staff, and community.

This year we’d love to offer SAM apparel with our school logo and an image on the back reflective of the 2024 grads time at SAM. Our thought so far is to have all the students’ signatures and an inspirational quote of some kind.

Would this be something you’re interested in for purchase? We would most likely have the option of a t-shirt or sweatshirt, price reflective of the grad’s choice. Stay tuned for a quick survey being sent home with your grade 6 student. After receiving your responses we will send out order form information and pricing.

Our next School Council meeting is on Tuesday, January 16th from 7-8pm in the SAM Library.

Our January agenda will welcome Mr. Jeff Paulus who will be available to speak about the Soccer Academy being offered at SAM School starting the 2024-25 school year.

Just a reminder that the cold weather has finally found us and it is important the students come to school every day with warm clothing. Please ensure you child is wearing a heavy coat, toque, gloves, snow pants, snow boots, and a neck/face warmer. Please contact our Health Recovery Facilitator, Ms. Sara Gossa (sara.gossa@spschools.org) if you could use a few extra layers to provide your kids. Alternatively, if you have extra layers that you would like to donate, please also reach out to Ms. Gossa - we always need extra warm clothing for our students!

On days of severe cold weather, students will be invited into the school starting at 8:35am and will enjoy an indoor recess. When you see the green dots on our doors, please feel free to come on in! Despite these cold weather plans, please ensure students still come prepared for the weather as some classes may still take the students outside for short outdoor brain breaks (approx. 5-10 minutes) so the students can move and get some fresh air (depending upon the conditions).

In January, we will be offering a two-part Lunch & Learn series on ‘Sleep and Your Family’s Mental Health’ where we will discuss the importance of sleep hygiene and how we can ‘set the stage’ for good sleep.

To register for a session, follow the links found in the attached newsletter or visit: https://www.cyfcaregivereducation.ca/virtual-education