Principal’s Message:
As the wind blows out January and we enter into February, we have officially hit the halfway point of the school year. These last five months have been packed full of opportunities for our community to be at the table together, and I am sure the next five months will give us even more opportunities to do so.
If I think back, we had so many opportunities to be together already. Kicking things off to start the year with the “Back to School BBQ” was a great way for us to be at His table. From there:
- Our Jr. Highs went on their “Jr. High Retreat” to build community
- Covenant hosted the November BGSD Professional Development Day
- The Queen’s passing brought us together to mourn
- The staff headed to Calgary for the PCCE Teachers Convention
- Successful Volleyball seasons
- A week of no buses even reminded us that getting outside and away is a good thing
- Performance of a live Christmas Concert packed to the gills!
- Enjoyed Christmas dress-up week (Formal, Socks, Grinch, and more)
- Hosted a basketball tournament
- First ever “Pastries with the Principal” to increase parent engagement (more to come)
And that is only 10! I am sure I missed many important, fantastic things that occurred over the last five months!
Now, with eyes looking forward, I am incredibly excited about some of the things upcoming!! Starting this Friday with 90’s day! I, like many of you, have many great memories from the 90’s and am really excited to see all of the fun costumes that our students (and staff) will dress up in for it! I am sure many will be based on what is in the very back of your own closets!
As I think more deeply, a top ten list of upcoming events include:
- School Wide Movie Night on Feb 8th (Gr. 9 fundraiser)
- Pink Shirt Day Feb 22nd
- Pastors Day/100th Day – Feb 23rd
- School Trustee Visit – March 15th
- His Story My Part Presentations (Gr. 9 cumulative projects) Mid-March
- Beauty & the Beast Jr. Musical Performance – March 22 & 23
- Celebration of Learning Magazine – Comes out April 21
- Grandparents/Special Friends Day – April 21st
- 40th Anniversary Weekend (CCS turns 40 this year!!)
- Gr. 7’s and 9’s traveling to Jasper for Science/Bible curriculums
All of these events will allow us an opportunity to seek our neighbours and show God’s love to our school community and the greater community. As we allow our students to Flourish in their learning, Delight in God and be Inspired to serve, we need these events to get them out of their desks and into the world to practice what they are learning!
It is my hope that you are enjoying sitting with us, as we work together to show our kids how to be Kingdom Builders!
Announcements:
Ski Day – CANCELLED
Unfortunately, due to weather, we will need to cancel our Gr. 4-9 ski trip to Rabbit Hill for tomorrow. While we will actively try to reschedule for a new date, the hill does fill up very quickly.
This decision was not made lightly or with haste. We understand many of you will be quite happy with the decision, and yet many others will be quite disappointed. With temperatures starting the day at -28C with the windchill, and only warming to -23C with the windchill by 1:00 pm, for student safety, cancellation needed to occur. While many apps will show that the high for tomorrow is -11C, this will occur at 7:00 pm and does not include windchill at the hill.
Please know that all staff are disappointed, although we are unable to control the weather.
Parking Lot Safety
Over the last little while, we have been having some issues in the parking lot, which has caused us to once again put in our reminders about our unique parking lot design. Please read below about how to navigate our lot. Also, please make sure that:
- You are only parking in designated parking spots
- You are only driving in/out through the correct entry/exit ways
- You are not driving in the bus lanes (only the two dedicated parent lanes)
- You are not driving in or through our ditches
Our parking lot was not designed for the amount and type of traffic that we experience, so we all need to cooperate to ensure the safety of our students. These are the key procedures:
- Always enter through the south driveway and exit through the north driveway
- Drive slowly and be particularly alert during recess and noon hour when the students are outside.
- Do not drive through or park in the “BUS LANE” (the area between the school and the first row of cars) between 8:25-8:40 and 3:00-3:20 as this is when the buses are present or due to arrive.
- If you want to park and walk your child to school, please park on the far west side of the parking lot (by the basketball court). Walk toward the auditorium and then up the crosswalk.
- The middle of the parking lot is where vehicles drive through to drop off students. Students should exit vehicles quickly and make their way to school (NOT between the cars).
- Students or adults should NEVER walk between buses.
- Yield to buses when they are arriving or leaving.
- Take extra care when backing out of a parking stall as students are not always paying attention.
Stable Table – Question of the Week
A huge congratulations to the Wakulchyk family who were randomly selected as the winner of Mr. Simmons’, “TV shows question” posted in last week’s Chronicle! A prize will go home today (check backpack)!
Since I posted about parking lot etiquette, I started thinking about vehicles, and my own first “car.” I remember vividly how each student would “exit” the parking lot (such a waste of tires…) every day. My first vehicle was a 1984 GMC Sierra 350 Short Box with roll bars mounted. It was much too nice of a vehicle for my first one and unfortunately, I soon found myself driving an ’89 Dodge Shadow.
Please see below for this week’s question. Please talk amongst your family, and fill in this form for your chance to win next week!!
This week’s question is…what was your first vehicle, and what was your favourite memory of it!?
Dress-Up Days!
As we have been doing for the past several years, we will be dressing up to celebrate the 90th and 100th days of school this year! Students can dress up in their best 90s fashion on Friday, February 3.
On Thursday, February 23, students are encouraged to dress up as if they were 100 years old. We’ve had some great costumes over the past years and it’s always fun to see how our students age for the day!
Movie Night Fundraiser for Grade 9
A grade 9 graduation fundraiser is around the corner. Save the date and please join us for the return of Movie Night, where we will be watching Hoodwinked!
- Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 @ 6:30 pm
- Tickets are $10 and include 1 admission as well as two slices of pizza.
- The tickets are available to purchase through PowerSchool. For anyone wishing to come who does not have access to a PowerSchool account, please contact the office directly at 780-986-8353. The deadline to order tickets is Sunday, February 5th at midnight.
- We are also having a silent auction for two VIP seating prize packages. Here is the link for bidding! The auction closes at Noon on February 8. Payment can be made at the movie night.
- Family VIP Package includes a large couch for your movie viewing, pizza, pop, popcorn, candy, and your own personal grade 9 wait staff.
- Date Night VIP Package includes two recliners, for your movie viewing, sparkling apple beverage, and chocolate-dipped fruit.
- Childcare will be available and provided by the grade nines for a donation for children 4 and under. Potty-trained children only, please.
Lego Club for Grades 1-3
Spring Program Request
We are now preparing for Beauty and the Beast Jr, which will be performed on March 22-23, 2023 at the MacLab Theatre here in Leduc.
We have started many projects but need some community assistance in preparing for the performance. Please help in the following ways.
- Costumes – A few parents are already working on dresses and costumes. We need a few more individuals that would like to design costumes for our cast, including pieces for our feature number, “Be Our Guest.”
- Construction and Painting – We have our Grade 8 parents working on sets, but we could always use more people to create, design, and build!
- Props – Please click on this link to view the list of needed props. If you have any of the items we could use, we’d be grateful for your help.
Please email Mr. Ward at [email protected] if you want to join the team!
Pastor’s Day – February 23
As members of the Christian community, pastors are very important to us here at Covenant.
Each year we have a special day when we welcome our pastors and church leaders to be part
of our Covenant community. This gives us a chance to acknowledge and show our appreciation
for all they do for us. Invitations have been created and one will be sent home with the youngest child in your family so you can invite your pastor, youth pastor or church leader to join us! We will also be emailing invitations to all of the churches connected to Covenant. On February 23rd, they’ll come and worship with us, be a part of weekly Celebration, and will then be invited to stay after the assembly for a pastor’s brunch.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the office at 780-986-8353.
Student-Led Conferences
We will be holding Student-Led Conferences in person this year on Thursday, February 23 from 4:30 pm until 7:30 pm in the student’s homeroom.
A student-led conference is a meeting with a student and his or her family and teachers during which the student shares his or her portfolio of work and discusses progress with family members. The student facilitates the meeting from start to finish. Student-led conferences can be implemented at all grade levels, K–9. Preparation for a conference creates an authentic purpose for good organizational and communication skills. The structure builds students’ sense of responsibility and accountability for their own learning, and it helps to hone their understanding of what it means to meet learning targets.
Successful student-led conferences require changes in the roles that teacher, student, and parent have played in traditional parent conferencing. Teachers become facilitators, students become leaders and parents become active listeners and questioners.
Teacher Role: To organize the conference environment and guarantee success. This includes guiding ‘portfolio’ collection, training students to walk through the folio with parents, and setting up the google meet situations. The teacher would guide students on how to take their parents through the process.
Student Role: Through all stages of the student-led conference process; preparation, implementation, and evaluation, the student becomes the key participant. The student becomes responsible for working with the teacher to identify strengths, identify learning needs, and collect evidence to validate learning. In student-led conferencing, as students prepare to conference with their parents, they engage in a self-reflection process about their achievements and future goals.
Parent Role: Parents become partners in learning when students led a conference. The opportunity for parents to have one-to-one time with their child focused on learning and achievement is important to the conferencing process. The parent’s role is to listen.
School Council
Please see below for the meeting minutes from our meeting last week.
Celebration
We hold weekly assemblies, which we call Celebration. We alternate between Wednesday and Thursday mornings each month so our kindergarten students are each able to join us every other month. We will hold Celebration on Thursdaysfor the month of January. All parents are welcome to join us each week!
Hot Lunch
We are excited to once again offer a weekly Hot Lunch Day! This year, Hot Lunches will be on Wednesdays.
We are noticing that a number of our families are unintentionally placing more than one order for hot lunch day/student. If you are unsure if you have ordered a hot lunch or not, you can always check your email for a confirmation receipt. You can also check under the Completed Forms tab on your student’s PowerSchool account. All of your completed forms will be listed there and you can view them each by clicking on the small eye icon.
Please see the photo below for where to find this.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding Hot Lunch, you can reach our Hot Lunch Coordinator, Mrs. Hofstra, via email at: [email protected]
Lost & Found
We will post weekly pictures of our lost and found. If you see something that is your child’s, please have them stop by the table and pick it up or let the office know.
Athletics:
Basketball
Elementary Girls – played really well as a team and learned a lot in their final tournament over the weekend.
Junior Boys – will have practices on Mondays after school until 5:00 pm. Games will be held on Tuesdays and a schedule was emailed home to parents.
Senior Girls – will have weekly practices on Tuesdays until 5:00 pm. They will have games on Thursdays.
Senior Boys – will have practices on Wednesdays after school until 5:00 pm. Games will be held on Thursdays.
Elementary Badminton
We have the opportunity to have a grade 5 and a grade 6 team participate in a badminton tournament coming up in the next few weeks! Teams have now been selected.
Grade 5 badminton team will practice after school this Friday from 3:15-5:15 pm and Saturday morning from 10:30 am until 12:00 pm.
Grade 6 badminton team will practice at 7:45 on Wednesday mornings for the month of February.
A permission form and fee have been added to PowerSchool for those individuals who were selected for the teams. Please log in and complete the form and make payment by this Friday, February 3, 2023.
LSCE News:
Fundraising Opportunities
Although we do a few special fundraising campaigns throughout the year, don’t forget about our ongoing fundraisers that you can take advantage of all year long.
Drop any of your Boston pizza receipts at the office for the school to receive 5% back on the total of your bill.
Purchase CO-OP gift cards from the office in $50, $100, and $500 denominations.
Save the Date
The LSCE has some exciting events happening in the new year so mark your calendars!
Saturday/Sunday, April 22/23, 2023 – 40th Anniversary Homecoming Weekend
Saturday, June 10, 2023 – 3rd Annual CCS Golf Tournament
Social Media
We’re on Instagram and Facebook! Come say hi and stay up-to-date on all the events and fundraising opportunities we have to offer. You can find us on Instagram with the username “fundraising.lsce”.
https://www.facebook.com/covenantchristianschoolfundraisingpage
Calendar:
February:
- 2 – Grade 4-9 Ski Trip to Rabbit Hill
- 3 – 90s Day – Dress Up Day
- 9-10 – ATA Teacher’s Convention – No School
- 20 – Family Day – No School
- 21 – PD Day – No School
- 22 – Pink Shirt Day
- 23 – Pastor’s Day
- 23 – 100s Day Dress Up Day
March:
- 13 – PD Day – No School
- 15 – School Trustee Visit
- 22-23 – Beauty & The Beast Performances
- 27 – April 3 – Spring Break – No School
Community Events:
Please click on the image below to learn more about community events in our area! Also found under our Parents menu on the website.
Odds & Ends:
Sign In/Out Form:
In an effort to reduce the amount of shared touched surfaces, we will be using a QR code that you will need to scan with your phone for signing in and out of the school. You can also use this link if you are in your vehicle and need to sign out a student but can’t scan the code. This means that students/parents/visitors can scan the QR code when entering or leaving the office/school to sign in or sign out on their own phone/device.
Parents will also be able to sign their kids out from their vehicle in the parking lot when they arrive to pick them up for appts. etc. please use the link above if you can’t scan the QR code. We do ask that parents pull into a spot (not bus lane) where you can contact the office to let them know you have arrived and we can make eye contact with you
from the staff/office door. Students must also stop by the office before leaving the school. At that point, once a connection is made, we are able to send students out to you.
Facebook Page:
Check out our Facebook page for more highlights of happenings at CCS by clicking here.