Principal’s Message:
In 2015/16 CCS and the LSCE began saving money for a new playground. If you have been around for a long time, you will remember that almost all of our fundraising from then had been in regard to a playground addition. Over the course of those years, we were able to save quite a bit, and in 2019, we even struck up a committee to begin the process of researching and selecting a playground, and begin the grant writing process.
That group, composed of Rebecca H, Jody N, Leanne S, Curtis P, Lisa G, and myself spent many hours planning and setting the stage to get CCS the perfect playground. We had a playground company create a plan that suited our needs, the ground was leveled, and a fence was put around the future area. We were excited and ready to begin the next stage: building!
And then like everything else, it stalled for two years. We did not hear from any grants or other agencies. Our great start stalled. The fence surrounding the area started to look more and more decrepit. People had even stopped asking about it (mostly), and we were disappointed and even a little frustrated.
That was the state of affairs until Thursday last week. On Thursday, we received a letter from the Minister of Culture, Jason Luan, in regard to the Community Facility Enhancement Program (CFEP) grant. The letter stated we had received a matching $125,000 for the playground! And now, as quickly as our momentum stopped, it has been re-established! With a tight turnaround, we have re-connected with all of the necessary players, and we hope to have a brand new structure ready for our return to CCS next fall!!
A huge thank you to Minister Luan and MLA Rick Wilson for the great news! I ask for your prayers as we continue our journey to make CCS a place where our students can Flourish in their learning, Delight in God, and be Inspired to serve Him in all they do.
Announcements:
3J Walk for Water Update
At the end of school last June, the 3J class participated in a FLEX activity called “Walk for Water.” The project involved partnering with Edu-Deo Ministries to raise money for an above-ground water tank for the Msuzi School in Lundazi, Zambia. Over the weekend, Mr. Simmons received an update on how things are going with the water system that our school helped get up and running in Msuzi! Please see the letter and video below with an update from the Edu-Deo Team!
Hi Andy and Donavin!
Happy 2023! I hope your year got off to a great start. I must say that I spent New Year’s Day very uniquely this year – flying to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! My colleague Justine and I spent a week in Ethiopia and a week in Zambia and it was INCREDIBLE. Hard to put into words.
One of the major reasons for our visit was to see the progress of various projects and update our donors on the great things happening on the ground. I was so excited to visit Msuzi for myself to see the fully functioning water system and hear how it’s affecting students and the surrounding community. We made a video to thank you and your donors, and to thank another individual named Hayden who also raised funds for this project by running a marathon in the spring. The video that I showed when I presented to you in October had great visuals but poor audio – so I am extra excited to share this version with you (filmed by Justine and starring Collins, one of the men Andy’s students met via Zoom last year): https://youtu.be/tDyy9vIyNgc.
Please share this widely with your students, staff, and parents and celebrate again the impact your students are having on other students around the world. It’s a beautiful thing!! Praise God!
Looking forward to what the future holds!
Laurie Koning
School Relationship Manager
Edu-Deo Ministries
Bell Let’s Talk Day Today!
Today is Bell Let’s Talk Day. Since 2011, Canadians and people around the globe have joined in the world’s largest conversation around mental health on Bell Let’s Talk Day. Together we have taken big steps to reduce the stigma around mental health issues, inspire one another to take action, and help create a Canada where everyone can access the mental health support they need. But it is clear more needs to be done.
At CCS, our school teams have worked really hard to make sure that we are supporting students in a variety of ways to help with their well-being – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Just recently, we have added one more piece to the table, and have created time for Ms. Moody to come into classrooms to talk to all students about their mental wellness. This universal approach adds on to the many targeted approaches we have to work one on one with students as well.
Mental health is health, and it is something that none of us should take lightly. If you or a family member are needing support in any way, talk to somebody. #notalone
Stable Table – Question of the Week
A huge congratulations to the Frazerfamily who were randomly selected as the winner of Mr. Simmons’, “traditions question” posted in last week’s Chronicle! A prize will go home today (check backpack)! The other night we were talking to our kids about old television programs that we used to watch (and said how much better ours were to the shows they watch now!) It had me thinking of shows like Reading Rainbow, Under the Umbrella Tree, and The Flintstones/Jetsons! 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 are some shows that you remember watching, compared to what your kids are watching now?!
Pastries with the Principal – January 31, 2023
During this time, parents are invited to come in and have a coffee, eat a pastry and engage in the topic we have planned for. For this first meeting, we will have some coffee, and snacks, and learn a little bit about the “Cyberworld.” The presentation will be “Cyberworld: What happens when youth press send.” In this presentation, we provide parents and caregivers with information on the popular websites, games, and apps that are being used by children and youth. We discuss legal consequences and potential dangers online. We share helpful tips on starting conversations with their children and youth. I am sure this will be a great time of learning and fellowship. I hope you can find time to put it into your calendar!
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!
Kindergarten/New Student Registration
Dear parents/guardians and caregivers,
Kindergarten registration opened on January 9, 2023, for the 2023-2024 school year.
Children may begin Kindergarten in a school within the Black Gold School Division in September if they are at least 4 years 8 months old as of August 31 of the respective school year.
We encourage families to register early. Please note that programs and class preferences are subject to change based on enrollment, space and program viability.
For more information, please visit: www.blackgold.ca/schools/programs/kindergarten
Here are a few things to note regarding registration:
- If you have a student currently in our preschool program who will be going to kindergarten in the fall, you will NEED to complete Kindergarten Registration forms (CCS Enrolment Form, Black Gold Online Registration Form, and Confidential Pastor’s Report). Our preschool is a separate program from our K-9 program and you are considered a new family.
- If you are a current CCS family (you have older children (Grades K-9) already enrolled at CCS THIS year) and you have a student who will be registering for kindergarten in the fall, you will ONLY need to complete the Black Gold online registration form.
- If you currently have students enrolled in Covenant this year in grades kindergarten to nine, they will automatically be enrolled at CCS for the 2023-2024 school year, you do NOT need to register them again.
- All our registration forms (CCS Enrolment Form, Black Gold Online Registration Form, and Confidential Pastor’s Report) the process you need to go through is on our website under the Registration heading here.
Preschool Registration
Preschool Registration is open for existing Covenant families only until January 31, 2023. If you have a student attending CCS in grades K-9 and have a student who will be 4 years old by December 31, 2023, you may register them for our Preschool program here. This is for CCS families only, please do not share this link. More information is below.
Registration opens to the general public on February 14th, 2023.
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.
School Council
We held our monthly school council meeting today after Celebration. See next week’s Chronicle for a summary of what was discussed.
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 Wednesdaysfor 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. All items that were unclaimed before Christmas have been donated to a second-hand store.
Athletics:
Basketball
Elementary Girls – will continue to practice at noon hours on selective days. They will have their season-end tournament on January 27-28.
Elementary Boys – participated in their season final basketball tournament over the weekend. The boys learned a lot and played hard til the end! They showed great teamwork and won their final game.
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. The boys had a home game yesterday against Mother d’Youville.
Senior Girls – will have weekly practices on Tuesdays until 5:00 pm. They will have games on Thursdays. The girls won their first league game last week at Pigeon Lake.
Senior Boys – will have practices on Wednesdays after school until 5:00 pm. Games will be held on Thursdays. The boys played well as a team and won their game in Pigeon Lake on Thursday last week. They also played in a tournament at Holy Spirit in Devon over the weekend. The boys worked hard and came away with the Bronze medal! Congratulations, boys!
Elementary Badminton
We have the opportunity to have a grade 5 and a grade 6 team participate in a badminton tournament coming up in February! An email with all the details was sent home yesterday to the parents of all those students in grade 5 & 6 who indicated they would be interested in attending.
Tryouts will be held at specific times over the next two weeks (see email sent out for details). A permission form and fee will be added to PowerSchool to those individual’s accounts who are selected for the teams. Please refer to the email sent home for more specific details.
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:
January:
- 25 – School Council Meeting (Immediately following Celebration)
- 30 – PD Day – No School
- 31 – Pastries with the Principal (8:40 am – 11:00 am)
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
- 23 – Pastor’s Day
- 23 – 100s Day Dress Up Day
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.