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Our Lady of Fatima School “Where talents shine and students excel”
6320 Taralea Park N.E. T3J-5C4
Principal: John Griffith
Vice Principal: David J Murphy
Administrative Secretary: Jacki Goalen
Ph.: 403-500-2112 Fax: 403-500-2312
e-mail: [email protected]
www.cssd.ab.ca/schools/ourladyoffatima
**Please visit our school web site for the monthly newsletters and
calendars**
SEPTEMBER 2016 NEWSLETTER
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATION Welcome back to Our Lady of Fatima School! I hope that all of you have enjoyed a wonderful, fun, exciting (or
restful and relaxing) summer holiday! Of course, our Year Round families have been back with us for the month of
August, and now we happily welcome back all of our Traditional Track families. Hopefully you saw some of the media
coverage which Our Lady of Fatima School received in early August. A few of our students and staff were interviewed,
both in print media and on TV, about some of the potential benefits of Year Round schooling. Thanks and
congratulations to Chiara, Luke, Joana and Ms. Tulissi!
We had a few changes during our spring staffing rounds and during the summer months. We welcome Mrs.
Tawkin, who is very familiar to us at Our Lady of Fatima and who will start the year in our Traditional Track
kindergarten class, and Ms. Wirth, who will begin the year as one of our grade 3 Traditional Track teachers. We also
welcome Mrs. Kriwokon as our Music teacher. We’re very glad to have all of you join our OLOF team!
TEACHERS FOR THE 2016-2017 SCHOOL YEAR; Principal-John Griffith Vice Principal-David J Murphy
Kindergarten-Traditional-Louise Piechotta/Janice Tawkin/Year Round-Ursula Kubok
Grade 1-Traditional-Magdalene Barneto, Maryla Farafoszyn/Year Round-Diane Granato, Cynthia Tulissi
Grade 1/2-Traditional-Jordana Klak
Grade 2-Traditional-Mary Milic, Dahra Toole /Year Round- Kathleen Kraft
Grade 3-Traditional-Ellen Guest/Rebecca Wirth, Erin Gerwing/Year Round – Kim Schermann
Grade 3/4-Year Round–Cherie Lamont
Grade 4-Traditional-Jennifer Wells, Kiera Curran
Grade 4/5-Year Round–Veronica Hermary
Grade 5-Traditional–Amy Harper, David Jurcevic
Grade 6-Traditional-Carol Manwaring, Sarena Williams/Year Round–Jeff Olsen Educational Support Class-ESI-Caitlin Kearns
Diverse Learning Teachers-Deborah Fitzgerald, Tracey Korol, Kim Rucki
Music- Carol Kriwokon, Michele Tschritter
The enrolment in our Traditional track is still being added to daily. Please keep in mind that there may be
changes to classes as we move further into the first few weeks of school. Please read over the Parent/Student Handbook that is part of the Agenda. The Parent/Student Handbook is
at the front of the Agenda, making it very handy to refer to all year long. There are important times and dates for you
to be aware of, as well as other information that will help you and your family have a successful school year.
There is a section in the agenda that discusses the need to drop your children off on time as well as ensuring
they are picked up on time; there is no supervision of students before 8:05 AM, so please do not drop your child off
before that time-school begins at 8:20 when the first bell rings. As well, there is no supervision after school so
please be sure to pick your child up promptly, and please ensure that we have the name and number of all adults who
may be picking up your child from school. Also, please check over the calendar that comes home monthly with the
newsletter, as this will be the most current and up-to-date for new events or date adjustments.
BELL TIMES
BELL TIMES (Grades 1-6) Kindergarten times
8:20-1ST bell 8:20-11:03 (Morning class)
**8:25-AM Classes begin
10:05-10:20 Recess 12:05-2:45 (Afternoon class)
11:30-11:55-Lunch Recess
11:55-12:17-Lunch
12:17-PM begins
2:45-School day ends
**If students are not physically in class at 8:25 when the second bell rings to begin classes, they are considered
late and teachers will mark them as late. Late students MUST come through the front doors and check in with
office staff before they can proceed to class. It helps everyone if you can help your child be on time to begin
their school day. Please understand that our automated SchoolConnects attendance system may still call you if
your child is late, although we do our best at the school to try to ensure that this does not occur.
LUNCHROOM UPDATE Please be sure that your child has a self-contained lunch that does not need to be heated in any way as well
as a lunch bag or kit that is re-useable. Please include a spoon in your child’s lunch if it is necessary for the style of
lunch you have provided. As well, it really helps us in the lunchroom if you have taught your child how to open all
food packages and containers they bring to school. Beginning on Sept. 7, we will once again be offering a milk
program. Students can use a prepaid card, purchased through the office, or buy milk at the Snack Shack. If you are interested in your child receiving a milk card as part of the milk program, please talk to Mrs. van Kuppeveld.
*Pre-paid milk cards cost $25.00 for 25 milk cartons, or $15.00 for 15 milk cartons.
*Individual milk cartons may be purchased for $1.25 each.
Note: Students with balances on their milk cards from last year will be able to use their current cards until
they run out. New cards may be purchased at any time.
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS Children’s birthdays are a family event and should be shared and celebrated by families. PLEASE DO NOT
USE THE SCHOOL AS YOUR PARTY LOCATION. Our school has many children with severe allergies or intolerances
to certain foods. We do not want to risk any child having a reaction or any child being left out. Teachers have
requested that parents let them know 1-2 days in advance if they intend to send in mini cupcakes or muffins to
celebrate birthdays. DO NOT SEND IN CAKES OF ANY KIND; the teacher doesn’t have access to a knife and other
utensils needed. Parents who bring ice-cream cakes will be asked to take them home; teachers, who are willing, will only
be accepting small cupcakes or muffins to celebrate birthdays. As a school community, we recognize each child’s
birthday with a pencil and a sticker. Some teachers have badges or other ways to recognize the day. We would ask
that parents organize all parties, invitations and events away from the school setting.
STUDENT INFORMATION AND FEES For families in our Traditional track, there are many forms and documents going home at this time of year, so
please be sure to read them over very carefully, complete and send back to the school as soon as possible as the
information on the forms is key to keeping your children safe. The demographic forms update all of your
family/personal information so if your family has new cell numbers or home phone numbers, emergency contacts, a
recently developed allergy of any kind, or there is any other data that has changed from the last school year, this is
the form you would use. It is critical that we have updated parent contacts and emergency contacts in the event
your child is suddenly ill or injured and the school needs to reach you so please ensure those numbers are updated
regularly throughout the school year.
As a strong learning community we enjoy seeing our parents in the school. If you are waiting quietly in the
front foyer for your child on cold rainy or snowy days, this is not an issue, but please go back outside to your child’s
door or designated area to meet them once the bell has gone. It is not possible to have all of our children leave
through the front doors or meet their parents there. Many voices in the front hallway, even quiet ones, make it really
hard for Mrs. Goalen and Mrs. van Kuppeveld to answer phones, talk to children with problems or work with teachers
who have questions at the end of the day. Your child keeps their outdoor shoes on a boot rack at their specific
entrance/exit. If you ask your child to meet you at the front door, they have to carry outdoor shoes through Mr.
Girum’s very clean hallways. Please remind babysitters or grandparents of this request to have a designated area to
meet that is NOT in the school.
Mrs. van Kuppeveld works on the school attendance every morning and every afternoon. Please help her out by remembering to call and leave a message on the school answering machine if your child is going to be away
for any reason. There are always emergencies and surprise events in any family; our answering machine is on 24
hours a day, so if there is something that occurs outside of school hours, you can always call the school number-403-
500-2112-and leave a message. Please speak clearly and leave your child’s name, grade, teacher and reason for the
absence.
School fees invoices will be sent home shortly. Remember, we cannot accept anything but cheques or cash at
the school, but you can pay on-line using Debit, Master Card or Visa. If you have a problem paying your fees, please
speak to Mr. Griffith to work out a payment plan. You can also sign up to pay your Transportation fees on-line,
although these fees cannot be paid until mid-October at the earliest.
We are a very welcoming community and we have already had a fantastic start-up with our Year Round track.
Please be sure to come and chat if you have any concerns or questions…we may not have immediate answers but we will
try to get them as soon as possible!
SCHOOL COUNCIL Welcome back to a new school year. My name is Andrea Maliczewski. I am the School Council Chair for
Our Lady of Fatima School Council; I would like to introduce our School Council Executive members
for this school year:
Council Chair-Andrea Maliczewski Vice Chair-Sharla Pottie
Treasurer-Lorna Dwyer Secretary-Caralene San Martin
Fun Lunches-Lorna Dwyer Parish Liaison-Lorna Dwyer
The activities that the School Council host require planning and a lot of help. That's where we ask our
volunteers to come in and give us a hand. All of our parents on council are parents too and so we
understand that as parents you have a busy schedule. Our council members consist of working parents
and stay at home parents, all with busy schedules, so we appreciate any extra help you can give us.
This year we are having our first school council meeting at 4:30 pm on Thursday, September
8th. At that meeting the dates for this school year will be discussed. If you have any questions
or ideas, or just want to sit in on a meeting, please come and join us. We look forward to
meeting all of you this year.
VOLUNTEER INFORMATION Volunteers are always a welcome sight in any school setting and we certainly do love and appreciate all that our
volunteers do for us. If you think you will be able to volunteer in your child’s class at any point in this school year, then
please come to one of our orientation sessions when they are offered during the first Parent/Teacher Interviews,
(unless you receive a renewal package because you acted as a volunteer last year).
ORAL INTERVIEWS On the evening of Thursday, September 15 and during the day on Friday, September 16 we are having our Oral
Interviews for Grades 1-6. This is the time when parents share information about their child and the ways that
parents and teachers can work together to make the current grade the best yet! Open communication is the key to
success, so please take this opportunity to share vital information. The meetings are only 10 minutes long, so there will
not be time for a formal interview…the Oral Interviews are about parents giving information to teachers as most of our students are just returning after a summer off. Year Round families have it a little different as the
students have been in school about 5 weeks.
Please remember that if you have concerns or questions about your child’s progress in school you do not have to
leave them for an interview time, you can make an appointment to see your child’s teacher at any point in the school
year.
PARENTS WILL NEED TO BOOK THEIR APPOINTMENTS ON-LINE TO ENSURE THEY ARE GETTING
THE TIME THAT WORKS BEST FOR THEM. PLEASE REFER TO THE INSTRUCTION SHEET THAT WILL BE
SENT HOME. The times for the interviews are: Thursday evening-3:00-4:30; 5:00-7:00 and Friday daytime-9:00-11:30 and 1:00-2:30
E-NEWSLETTERS Once again this year we are putting each of our monthly newsletters and school calendars on our school
web site; it is accessible to all of our families. ONLY PARENTS WHO REQUEST A HARD COPY OF THE
NEWSLETTER WILL RECEIVE ONE.
TERRY FOX RUN On Wednesday, September 29th, weather permitting, we will be hosting our annual Terry Fox Run!
Students are encouraged to bring in loonies or toonies to donate towards cancer research. We will begin our event with
a student assembly at 1:30, followed by the run/walk. Parents are welcome to come and run or walk with us.
PICTURES This year we are again working with Lifetouch Photographers for our school pictures. Our picture day with
our YRE students was very successful and we anticipate the same kind of success with our Traditional students. Our
picture day for our Traditional students is September 23.
PLAYGROUND ZONE/J-WALKING INFORMATION
School zones set for 7:30AM Playground Zones in our city begin at 7:30am, and remain in effect from 7:30am until 9pm. Please be careful
around all schools, as they all have someone’s children in them! Driving in playground zones is serious. The school is
very concerned when we see our parents choosing to make U-turns in our playground zone, double parking or parking in
front of our neighbours’ driveways. The fines for dangerous driving practices in these zones are steep and we would
not like to see any of our parents receive a traffic ticket, however, we need to remember to model following the rules
of the road with our students.
J-WALKING IS AN ILLEGAL AND UNSAFE PRACTICE. When we J-walk to save a few steps, we are teaching
our children a practice that is not conducive to their safety. Please take the extra few steps and cross your children
at the crosswalk. For most of the year, we have Safety Patrol teams in place before and after school who are there to
provide a safe crossing situation. We encourage parents to cross with the Patrollers when they are on duty, and to
continue to use the crosswalk at any time. Please choose Safety over Convenience!
BIKE SAFETY Children who are attending elementary school MUST be wearing bike helmets when they are riding anything
with wheels-specifically bicycles. We encourage students to ride their bikes to school during nice weather; however,
they must be wearing a bike helmet, and they must stop riding as soon as they reach school property. When riding
their bikes to school, please ensure that a working bike lock is available for students to lock their bikes at the bike
racks. Please note that skateboards, scooters, heelies, etc. are not allowed on school property. Please see the student
handbook for additional information.
PARKING LOT/BUS ZONES There are three school buses that transport our students to school and back home; the street area just past
the parking lot driveway is designated as a BUS ZONE; please do not park in the bus zone as it makes it difficult for
our buses to park and wait or pull away from the sidewalk if cars are blocking the road.
As you are aware, we are a large school; this year we again expect to have close to 600 students. The safety
and security of your child is paramount to us! Your children are continuously reminded that their school should be the
second safest place in their lives next to their own homes. PLEASE do not use the staff parking lot for any reason.
The parking stalls are all full; we even have staff who must park on the side streets as we have no more stalls to offer.
As well, teachers come and go throughout the day for meetings, in-servicing and personal appointments, so please do
not use the parking lot as a short cut or pathway as it could be a safety risk. We are also having a problem with
parents walking their children through the parking lot either to come to school or to go home. This is an unsafe
practice that we need your support to eliminate. Please take the extra few seconds and walk your child safely around
the school using the sidewalk.
SACRAMENT DATES FOR 2016-17
The following are our sacrament dates for this school year:
Reconciliation: Registration is from August 20th to September 18, 2016. This is for children in Grades 4, 5 & 6.
First Communion: Registration is in January 2017 – Specific date TBD
Confirmation: Registration is in April - Specific date TBD
For older children, grade 7 and up, the church also offers a Home Study Program for the sacrament of Reconciliation. Parents can call the parish for further information about this sacrament.
As dates become more solidly set, the church will send us that information. As well, you can check on their website, at www.stthomasmore.ca. Further, please note the detailed information on the Reconciliation schedule included with this newsletter. Thanks!
