Dec 4 - 8, 2023

Did you know that your child's report card was published on Friday, Dec. 1? If not, you can find it in your Parent Portal. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's teacher.

Express Lane: Just a reminder to families that our parking lot is an "Express Lane". This one way, no parking, "Kiss and Go" lane allows parents to quickly and safely drop off or pick up their students during busy mornings and afternoons. We ask that you do not leave your vehicle unattended and quickly load or unload your students before and after school. We appreciate your support in keeping traffic moving smoothly and our students safe!

Wow! December is already here! We are getting very excited for the Winter concerts that are coming up very quickly. Please check the calendar below to see which night your child/children will perform. We look forward to seeing everyone. Please remember that our gym gets extra full and quite stuffy during our concerts. We encourage people to attend our afternoon concert to alleviate this issue.

Have a great week everyone!

• Please follow this link to watch our announcements: Le 4 decembre

What's happening this week at École Parc:

Dec 4 - Class of the week: ECS A

Dec 6- Early Dismissal

Dec 6 - Tie Dye Day

Dec 7 - Monthly Assembly

Dec 7 - Grade 6 Immunizations

Upcoming Dates to be aware of:

Dec 11 - Class of the week: ECS B

Dec 12 - Winter concert ECS B, Grade 1, 2, 3(1:00pm and 5:30 pm)

Dec 13 - Winter concert ECS A, Grade 4, 5, 6(1:00pm and 5:30 pm)

Dec 14 - PALS and Kindergarten Transitions Winter concert(5:30 pm)

Dec 18 - Class of the week: Kinder Transitions

Dec 22 - Last day of classes

Dec 23 to Jan 7 - Christmas Break

Jan 8 - Classes resume

Jan 8 - Class of the week: PALS AM

Please have your child at the school for 5:00 pm for the evening performance of the Christmas concert. Thank you.

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 December, we are focused on the teaching of Respect.

École Parc Elementaire will close for the Christmas break at the end of the day on Friday, Dec. 22, 2023. The school will reopen on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. During this time, if you have any school-related questions or concerns, contact Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) Central Services at 780-464-3477.

EIPS Central Services Christmas Break Hours

Closed Dec. 25, 2023 to Jan. 1, 2024

Open Jan. 2, 2024; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

*for location and contact information visit www.eips.ca.

From everyone at Elk Island Public Schools, we wish all of you a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year.

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.

Our book fair was truly out of this world! Our community is so generous. We sold $8084.35 worth of products, which far outstripped our goal of $4000. That means, after we take off tax and shipping costs, we will be receiving almost $4000 in credit for the school. In addition to that, some people left us their change and we sold many of the wrapped, donated books for a total of $27.10. BUT the most amazing thing is that 81 books were bought for our teachers! You are all so amazing – you blew us away! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The winners of the draw were Nate and Mlle Sass! Congratulations!

Jennifer Milanovic

Library Technician

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 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.

Do you know someone who may be interested in part-time, flexible work as a substitute educational assistant (EA)? Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) is hiring—spread the word!

EAs are integral to the school team, assisting teachers with instructional and non-instructional tasks in the classroom and other school activities. Whether it’s working one-on-one with individual students or with a small group of students in a class or special program, EAs provide support and assistance to help students achieve success.

Substitutes are needed to fill positions at all school locations until the end of the school year. The application deadline is December 8. If you know someone who’d be great in this role, encourage them to apply today.

Is your child turning five on or before Dec. 31, 2024? If so, it’s almost time to register for kindergarten.

Kindergarten registration opens for the 2024-25 school year on Feb. 1, 2024.

To help families prepare, Elk Island Public Schools has put together an online EIPS Kindergarten Tool kit to make the transition as smooth as possible. The kit includes information on registration, important dates, programming options, what to expect, eligibility, how to find your designated school, transportation and more.

Have you recently moved or has your contact information changed? EIPS encourages families to review the information the Division has on file to ensure it’s up to date. Using the Student Information Update available through the PowerSchool Parent Portal, families can review the current information on file for each student—including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, parent and guardian information, emergency contacts, medical details and other related information—and submit any updates needed.

Reviewing and updating the form ensures the school and Division have the most up-to-date information regarding your child. Your review is especially important as the Division prepares for 2024-25 registration processes beginning in the new year.

NOTE: Only submit updates for the changes that have already taken place. If you’re moving later this school year, you’ll submit the necessary updates to your information through the Student Information Update after you’ve moved.

If you have questions about the form or any trouble with your Parent Portal account, contact the school office at 780-998-3741.

Alberta Education allocates funds to school boards to fulfill their delegated responsibilities of providing education programs for students in kindergarten to Grade 12. As part of Elk Island Public Schools’ (EIPS) commitment to stakeholder engagement and to continue allocating resources according to local priorities, the Division conducts an annual budget planning survey to seek input from staff, families, Grade 12 students and community partners.

The survey is voluntary, anonymous and takes about five to 10 minutes to complete. The survey questions suggest possible budget areas for EIPS to focus its resources, which align with the Division’s current Four-Year Education Plan. If you believe there are other areas where the Division should concentrate its resources, you can also indicate what these are. EIPS will consider all budget planning input to guide future decision-making.

COMPLETE THE SURVEY NOW
Survey closes Dec 20, 2023
Grade 12 students will complete the survey at school.

Thank you for sharing your input to help inform Division planning.

Hot Lunch ordering is open for December's Hot lunch. Please check out our website to order. https://www.epeschoolcouncil.com/

PANAGO PIZZA!

Orders Open NOV 25 - Closes Tuesday Dec 12 @ NOON

Thursday Dec 21 - Kinder B
Friday Dec 22 -Kinder A -Gr6

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.