Message from our Holy Cross Administration

This week, we celebrate Epiphany. It is the

culmination of the Advent/Christmas Season and

it is the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas,

which are counted from the evening of December

25th until the morning of January 6th. The term

epiphany means "to show" or "to reveal." It

remembers the coming of the wise men bringing

gifts to visit the Christ child.

The Wise Men or Magi who brought gifts to the

infant Jesus were the first Gentiles to

acknowledge Jesus as "King" and the first to

"show" or "reveal" Jesus to a wider world as the

Christ. This act of worship by the Magi was one of

the first signs that Jesus came for all people, of all

nations, of all races, and that the work of God in

the world would not be limited to only a few.

Epiphany is a time for us to remember to reach

out to others and “show” Jesus as the Savior of all

people.

Mme Lorraine Press Principal

Mme Lynnette Anderson Assistant Principal

  

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Playground Zones

Playground zone signs will soon be installed in all 425 playgrounds and play areas

in the City of Edmonton. This includes 195 playgrounds adjacent to schools, 36

playgrounds already included within existing school zones, and 16 new schools.

Existing school zones will become playground zones by year end. Once the signs

are up, the 30 km/hr speed limits are in effect from 7:30am to 9:00pm every day

where playground zone signs are posted.

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Safe in 6 During the months of January and February, our Grade 6 students will

participate in the Safe in 6 program, delivered by Edmonton Police

Services. This program, presented over the course of several weeks,

provides students with skills and knowledge related to healthy

relationships, drug resistance, and internet safety. More information

will be sent by email to Grade 6 parents before the program begins.

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Holy Cross celebrates 10 years as an APPLE School

Over the next 3 months, Holy Cross is looking forward to celebrating 10 years as an APPLE

School by taking part in the APPLE 10th Anniversary Challenge. M. Chaylt is getting ready to

organize events such as a whole-school workout activity, a healthy taste test, and a healthy

celebration. Watch for details on how everyone can participate!

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Pyjama Day During the last week of school before the Christmas Break, students took part in Pyjama Day.

The cold weather certainly encouraged the students to come to school in their warmest

nightwear! Students of all ages enjoyed wearing the perfect pyjamas at school.

Franco-Fun Day On January 19th, our Grades 5 to 8 students will take part in Franco-Fun Day. This is a biennial

French cultural celebration for the over 1000 French Immersion students in Grades 5 to 8 in

Edmonton Catholic Schools. This full-day event provides the opportunity for students to

celebrate French language and culture outside the classroom, meet other French language

learners, and interact with artists and performers from the francophone community. Students

have already selected their workshop choices, and are looking forward to a day of engaging and

exciting presentations.

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Canadian Test of Basic Skills for Grade 6 students During the first two weeks of January, students in Grades 6 will take the Canadian Test of Basic

Skills (CTBS). The CTBS identify student achievement in core subject areas including vocabulary,

reading, language, mathematics and science. The results are used to build an overall learning

profile of the students.

Grade 1 Community Members The Grade 1 students recently completed their second IB unit of inquiry entitled “Un pour tous,

et tous pour un” (One for all, and all for one). This unit of inquiry, under the theme of Sharing

the Planet, focused on how people in our larger community (Edmonton) cooperate in order to

give us a good life. As a summative assessment, students showed their understanding of how

people work together in our community by dressing up as a community member and explaining

how this person contributes to our community. Together, we created a classroom book about

our community based on student's understanding.

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Grades 1 to 6 Christmas Concert On December 14th, the Grades 1 to 6 students held their annual Christmas concert. Families

were treated to a performance of singing, rhythm, dance, and handbells. From the red plate

percussion, to the Canon de Noel, everyone enjoyed the spectacular Christmas performances. It

was great to see all the students sharing their talents, and to see so many families take time

from their busy schedules to attend.

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Senior Boys’ Volleyball The Senior Boys’ Volleyball team finished the regular

season in third place in their Division 3/4 pool.

Unfortunately, they lost the quarter-final match to St

Catherine School. The team showed good

improvement throughout the season. We

congratulate the boys on putting forth their best

efforts and for showing team spirit and good

sportsmanship throughout the season. We would

like to thank our coaches, Ms. Chantelle Ison and Ms.

Natalie Ross, for their time, effort, and dedication to the team. Their coaching and guidance

helped the boys improve in skill both individually and as a team. We would like to thank our

parents and the school community for their support throughout the season.

Junior Volleyball Our junior teams had a packed schedule this season. With the district’s addition of a junior

league this year, our players were able to maximize participation. This new set-up promotes

enjoyable and challenging experiences. We also enrolled in two tournaments at the beginning

and at the end of the season. This amount of play time offered many immediate and long-term

benefits. Players improved tremendously, and developed positive physical behaviours and

life-skills. We are hopeful they will be encouraged to invest themselves in this sport later on.

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Holy Cross Grade 1 Makers On Wednesday, December 20, the Grade 1 students took part in a Makerspace to construct

objects of their choosing out of recycled materials as the culminating project for their Science

unit on building things. Throughout November and December, the Grade 1 students learned

about different materials and how to put materials together to make a variety of objects, such

as toys and houses. Before our Makerspace visit, the students watched "Caine's Arcade" to get

inspiration. Students built objects like toys, houses, forts, cars, and rockets, both individually

and in small groups. We would like to thank our parent volunteers for their time and effort in

helping us with our Makerspace projects. Objects built are on display in the library and by the

Grade 1 classrooms.

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CTF Courses in MYP

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CTF Courses in MYP

Next term, students can look forward to their second option. Students in Grade 9 will be part

of video production, in preparation for their Community Project presentation, and students in

Grades 6 to 9 have selected from the following Term 2 options:

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St John the Evangelist Parish News

Please see the St John the Evangelist Parish website for more information on Sacrament Preparation.

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2017-2018 SCHOOL FEES

ECSD School Fees have now been approved by the Minister of Education. Detailed information

on school fees can be accessed on our website.

This year, schools cannot charge for:

● textbooks, workbooks, photocopying, and printing

Schools can charge for

● agendas

● technology fees including student-used software and apps

● headphones

● whole-school activities such as cultural presentations

● communication envelopes and pouches, and agendas

● Phys Ed apparel

These fees have been bundled as a Supplemental Education fee.

Kindergarten: $30

Grades 1-6: $50 Grades 7-9 $60 Schools can also charge additional fees for:

● Academies ● Senior High $90 refundable textbook deposit ● Options/complementary courses ● Activities like field trips, farewell/ graduation activities ● IB and AP exams ● Personal music equipment like recorders, mouthpieces/reeds, and handbell gloves ● Optional items and activities: social activities; hot lunches; yearbooks; extracurricular

teams; clubs; optional fitness program/fitness room access; apparel; refundable cap and gown rental

● Replacement of lost resources or those that have been damaged beyond use MYP (Grade 6-9) students are also charged additional fees for Music, Art, and CTF option courses. These fees vary by course. Specific costs for each course can be found on our website.

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Please be advised that the following Radio and TV Stations will carry announcements with respect to transportation cancellations due to inclement weather conditions.

RADIO STATIONS TV STATIONS

● 630 CHED *CITYTV ● AM 930 *CTV Edmonton ● The Light CJCA *GLOBAL Edmonton ● CBC *CBC TV ● CISN FM 103.9 ● SHINE 105.9 FM ● CHFA (CBC Fr.) ● FRESH FM 92.5 ● TSN 1260 ● CFCW 840 ● INEWS 880 AM ● 95.7 CRUZ FM ● CAPITAL FM 96.3 ● Kiss FM 91.7 ● The Bear 100.3 FM ● K97 97.3 ● UP! 99.3 FM ● SONIC 102.9 FM ● 102.3 NOW! Radio ● HOT 107 FM ● 104.9 VIRGIN Radio FM

Every effort will be made to have messages broadcast commencing no later than 6:30 a.m.

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The Wondrous Gift of Epiphany

During the Christmas season we celebrate with our families and friends with the

giving and receiving of various gifts. Perhaps the greatest gift we receive, as

Christians, takes place during Epiphany, when our Lord makes his first public

appearance.

Throughout the ages, Christians have celebrated Christmas, including the twelve

days between Christmas and Epiphany, which falls on January 6. The season

begins with the Nativity of our Lord, and ends with the celebration of His

baptism, and His manifestation ("Epiphany") as Messiah of Israel and Son of

God. This extraordinary gift calls for us to open our hearts and minds to God

through His son, Jesus, who came to us as man, to live and suffer in the same

way His lay people would.

Another one of the extraordinary gifts we receive is our ability to praise and

worship the Father through the Holy Spirit, as a result of the Baptism of Jesus by

John the Baptist. Knowing Jesus is the Body of Christ, we, through our Baptism,

enter the Body of Christ as members of our faith community. Through this union,

we are able to share in the cleansing of sins, and essentially, our re-birth.

The gifts of the eastern Magi, allow us to remember that they offered what little

they had (Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh), and in return, Christ gave them

Himself. This ‘exchange’ of gifts takes place for us whenever we celebrate the

Eucharist, by the glorious power of the Holy Spirit!

Throughout the holy Christmas season, God fills us with joy and hope! By

celebrating Epiphany and these wondrous gifts bestowed upon us by the

Christ-child, may we, in-turn, use them to take a step closer to the Kingdom of

God, in unity with His one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.

Susanna Kaup and Kathleen Nguyen

Religious Education Consultants

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