October 2017

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE:

What a great start to the year! Students have gone through the

process of making their timetable adjustments as well as settling

into classroom routines and establishing a study rigour that fits

their needs. Students involved with clubs and teams have had a

great month and for those students who have not yet been

involved in this way I highly encourage them to do so; an

extra-curricular school community is a great way to make the

most of your High School experience!

The Principal message in the September newsletter focused on

the importance of communication between home and school.

That theme certainly continues this month and now that grades

are live between Power-School and Alberta Education it is crucial

that parents are signed up for their on-line access to their child’s

grades. As marks are typically outdated by the time a midterm

report card would reach home it is no longer the best-practice in

assessment to send one home as a mid-term report. What is best

practice is for parents to make it a habit of logging into their

Power-School accounts at least a couple times per month to see

an accurate update of their child’s marks and to keep in regular

contact with your child’s teachers. Important changes to report

cards for this year are outlined in the chart on this page.

October is also when our Fall Awards celebration takes place.

From academic achievements to special grants and bursaries

thousands of dollars will be awarded to current and former St.

Joseph students. The support of our community and Education Foundation at this event is

truly exceptional. We look forward to welcoming families to celebrate these awards on

Thursday October 26th at 12:40pm.

As our year begins to settle in it is also very important to us to establish

positive partnerships not only with our students but with our parents as

well. On October 10th and 11th from 4pm-7pm we encourage every one

of our parents and guardians to visit us for Parent Teacher Conferences.

In the meantime please remember to regularly check your Power-School

Parent Portal to stay informed about your child’s progress. Parental sup-

port in ensuring good attendance and upkeep of assignments is one of

the most important components to student success. Thank you for your

continued support of Catholic School Education! God Bless

Changes to Report Cards

BEFORE ... NOW ...

Mid-semester

Report Card

marks were

often changed

by the time the

report reaches

parents.

No more mid-term report card. At any time a

parent can either log-in to Parent Portal and

see up-to-date grades or email the school to

request updated grades be emailed to them.

Please call or stop by the school for help

setting-up and or using Parent Portal!!!

One size fits all

approach.

As students learning is personalized a

report at the same time mid-semester does

not align with teaching practices.

Parents had to

wait until

mid-semester to

see marks

entered.

Parents can see up-to-date marks at any time

of the month. We will have computers

available at the Oct 10th and 11th PTI’s (4pm

to 7pm) and will be assisting parents with

Parent Portal Sign-Up.

Parents may not

always be aware

of progress.

Starting in October the School will e-mail a

reminder every two weeks for parents to

check live grades in Parent Portal.

End of Semester

Report Cards.

This remains! A hard-copy Report Card will

still be sent home at the end of each

semester.

Roger Lauck

Principal

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6

Thanksgiving

Celebration

9:44am

7

8 9

Thanksgiving

Day

No School

10

PTI’s

4:00-7:00

11

PTI’s

4:00-7:00

Grad Meeting

7:00 Library

12

13 14

Disturbing the

Peace

15 16

17

School Council

Meeting 7:00pm

18

19 20

21

22

23

Grad Fashion

Show

7:00pm

St. Joe’s High

School

24 25

26

Fall Awards

12:40

27

PD Day

No School

28

29 30

Breakfast w/ the

Guys 9:45am

31

Haunted House

(cash donation)

Start Rite Driver Training

October Faith Insert

Our three year theme this year is, Connect to Something Bigger. As a district we hope and pray that the students, families, and staff in our schools have the opportunity to make con-nections and recognize and appreciate the connections we already have in our lives. A first step in doing this is to identify what the Something Bigger is for you, which may at first seem to be a daunting task. One would think that with the vast diversity of people in the world there would also be an equal amount of diversity of ‘Something Bigger. For the most part, that is the case, we all connect in different ways. There are, however, exceptions. One such exception is arguably the Biggest, Something Bigger, out there; Creation.

Built into all of us is a desire to connect with Creation, for we are all part of it. It is our com-mon something Bigger; our common home. And so it is fortunate that we find ourselves at the beginning of fall. Author Lee Maynard said of this time of year, “[It is] the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it”.

This season is a time lush with beauty, the colors, the smells, all combine to make it an ide-al time to get out and connect with our Lord’s creation. So, I encourage you to get out-doors. Go for a walk, a hike, sit in your backyard and take it all in. And maybe, as you con-nect with creation, you may form, or continue to form, another connection, to the Creator Himself.

Hello, my name is Anna Friesen and I am the facilitator and coordinator for a program called Challenge Girls. I

would like to extend the invitation to all girls in grades 9-12 to come and see what the program is all about when

we have out kick-off on Monday, September 25th.

Challenge Girls was run here in Grande Prairie for the first time during the 2016/2017 school year but we were

only able to open the program for girls in grade 5-8. The program was very successful and I am very excited that

this fall we will be able to start a Challenge Girls club specific for high school students too.

I started the Challenge program after God laid heavily on my heart that girls today need to see their infinite val-

ue and beauty because of who they are, just as God created them and intended them to be. Girls need to under-

stand and believe that they do not need to look, dress and act a certain way in order to find acceptance and love.

If we compare ourselves to the world’s standard, we will never be good enough. But the beauty with God is that

we are good enough, just as we are, because he loves us more than we can even imagine.

Challenge is a program designed to help girls deepen and better understand their faith. In so doing, they begin

to unwrap all that God intended for their life and how he accepts them for who they are. There is a tremendous

freedom when a person can truly believe that God does not want them to try to be someone they are not.

Very important aspects of our Christian faith are acts of service and mercy. An integral part of the Challenge cur-

riculum is community service, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life

as ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28. So too, Challenge girls are called to go out there and bring the love and

faith we receive to other people.

Challenge will run every Monday evening starting September 25th, from 7pm – 8:30pm at St. Joseph Catholic

Church. For our kick-off, Challenge will be held in Tranquil Hall, which is just through the east facing doors on the

more south end of the building. (Not the main church doors).

If you think this is something you daughter might be interested in, please feel free to call me (or text!) to ask

questions and/or to pre-register. If you just want your daughter to come to see what it’s about and then make a

final decision, that’s fine too.

My cell number is (780) 831-8338.

I look forward to seeing new faces as well as catching up with the girls who attended last year!

Blessings,

Anna Friesen

Grade 9 Immunization

Each year, Alberta Health Services reviews immunization records and offers vaccines free of

charge in school to Grade 9 students as part of a school based immunization program. Public

health offers and recommends:

A booster dose of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (dTap) vaccine for all Grade 9 students.

A single dose of meningococcal (Groups A, C, Y, W-135) conjugate vaccine for all Grade 9 stu-dents.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for all Grade 9 boys and any girls that have not completed a series. The vaccine is given as a series of three immunizations scheduled at recommended inter-vals throughout the school year.

Routine childhood vaccines that individual Grade 9 students may have missed according to the immunization record Public Health has on file.

Immunization consent forms will be sent home through school. Please sign the forms and return

to school the following day. If you are refusing vaccine please write “refused” across the form

and return it to school the following day.

If you have questions about vaccination or consents please contact School Nurse, Lisa Roy at 780

532 7779 extension 304.

Immunization information can be found at http://www.immunizealberta.ca/ and http://

www.albertapreventscancer.ca/

Grad Senior Baseball Shirts & Hoodies

Grad Senior Baseball Shirts & Hoodies will be on sale

starting in October.

Students will be able to place their order through Focus Block & lunch hours.

Sizes S-XXL will be available.

St. Joseph’s Graduating Class of 2018 presents the Annual

Fall Fashion Show 7:00 pm, Monday, October 23

Doors Open at 6:30

$8 with food bank item/ $10 without

Come out for a wonderful evening of fashion, refreshments & an amazing silent auc-

tion. Proceeds will go towards our Grad class & our Odyssey House Family for the

Christmas holidays.

Attention All Grad Parents

The first parent meeting will be taking place on Wednesday, October 11th at 7:00pm

in the school library. During this meeting the Executive will be elected.

Grad Bake Sale

During parent teacher interviews, October 10 and 11, the Grad class will be hosting a

bake sale. We are asking for bake good donations for both evenings. Please have all

bake sale goods dropped off at the library by 3:00pm on Tuesday, October 10th.

Thanks in advance for your support!

Grad Rings:

Jostens is coming to St. Joe’s to provide students the opportunity to purchase their graduation ring. Go online at www.jostens.com to see all of the new offerings for this year. Brochures are also available at the school office.

The Jostens Ring Man will be at St. Joe’s to help you place your order:

Tuesday, Oct. 17th during lunch, after school and a Parent Night (6:00-7:00)

Wednesday, Oct. 18th— during lunch only

https://www.facebook.com/St-Joes-CHS-445636302189361/

https://twitter.com/StJoesCHS

Lockdown & Fire Drills

To ensure for the continued safety of stu-dents and staff, we conduct fire-drills and lockdown drills at various times throughout the year. The focus of these drills is to ensure that students and staff know what to do in the event of an emergency. A minimum of six fire drills and two lockdown drills are carried out each school year. These drills are an essen-tial component of our school safety program.