June 2015

Principal : Boyan Yarovenko

Email: Boyan.Yarovenko@ecsd.net

Assistant Principal: Irene Sieben

Email: Irene.Sieben@ecsd.net

Secretary: Leanne Junck

Email: Leanne.Junck@ecsd.net

14410 - 96 Avenue

Edmonton, AB

T5N 0C7

Phone: 780 452 1510

Fax: 780 452 1681

Website: www.st.paul.ecsd.net

At St. Paul Catholic School

We believe in children.

We pray together.

We play together.

We grow. We create a loving

environment where learning has no limits.

We believe.

Dear Parents and Guardians, It’s June!! Can you believe it? Our children can easily be distracted by the warm weather, extended daylight, soccer, baseball, and dancing competitions. Please remind them to pace themselves and stay on task in school. Before they know it, June 26th will be here and they will have plenty of time for rest and recreation. Good luck to students on all your tests and exams. To the staff, families and children who will be leaving St. Paul for the last time in June, we wish you well as you continue on your life journeys. To Mrs. Gregoraschuk, Mrs. Rice, Miss Schwartz, Miss Rusnak, and Miss Rebarge, we thank you for your dedication to the school and students. This has been a very successful year and I thank the parents and teachers for their cooperative efforts in the education of our students. Have a safe and restful summer. Yours in Catholic Education, Boyan Yarovenko Irene Sieben Principal Assistant Principal

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

Gr. 4 Swimming

All Library Books Due Back

This Week

2 Gr. 4

Swimming

3 Gr. 4 Swimming

Parent

Appreciation Coffee/Treats

8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.

4 Professional Development

Day No School

5 Gr. 4

Swimming

6

7 8 9 10 11 Break A Rule

Morning

12 13

14 15 16 17 Gr. 6 PAT

L.A. Part B

18 Gr. 6 PAT

Math

19 Gr. 6 PAT Science

Hot Lunch

Theme Day

20

21

1st Day of Summer

22 Gr. 6 PAT

Social

23 24 Fun Day

25 Full Day

Year End Mass

9:00 am at Church

Dismissal at

3:08 pm

26 Farewell

Celebration @ 9:15 am School Gym

Early Dismissal

@ 11:56 am

Report Cards On Line

27

28 29 30

June

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2 3 4 5

6 7 Labour Day

8 First Day of School

Gr. 1 - 6

Staggered Kindergarten

9 10

11

12

13 14

15 16 17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24 25

26

27 28 29

30

September 2015 (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

FAMILY BARBEQUE Thank you to Kelly Petryk and her crew who

organized the family barbeque again this year. It was a huge success and, as usual, fun was

had by all.

As this is Kelly’s last year, we would like to extend our appreciation for all the time she

has spent making the family barbeques run so smoothly. Kelly you are a wonderful person

and we will miss you so much. Your dedication has been invaluable!

Thank you to Andrea Archimowitz who has kindly volunteered to organize this special

annual event next year.

PARENT APPRECIATION What would we do without you? Parents are such an important part of our day to day life at St. Paul School. Your efforts throughout the year make a huge difference in allowing us to deliver so many enrichment activities to our students. It truly is appreciated by all of us! In order to show our appreciation to our Parents, the staff will be hosting a coffee and treats drive thru on 145 Street by the picnic tables from 8:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday, June 3rd. If you do not have time to stop for a visit, no worries, we will come to you. See you then!

SCHOOL HOURS 2014 - 2015

GRADES 1 - 6 Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.

AM Bell 8:25 Classes 8:30 - 10:25 Recess 10:25 - 10:40 Classes 10:40 - 12:10 Lunch 12:10 - 12:30 Recess 12:30 - 12:50 Classes 12:50 - 1:55 Recess 1:55 - 2:10 Classes 2:10 - 3:08

Thursday Early Dismissal at 11:56

EARLY CHILDHOOD Mon., Tues., Wed., Fri.

AM Bell 8:25 Classes 8:30 - 10:25 Recess 10:25 - 10:40 Classes 10:40 - 11:44 Thursday

No Classes

STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK THANK YOU

A big “roaring” thank you goes out to all the parents and students who contributed to another fabulous Staff Appreciation Week that was just wild. There were over 70 families who contributed. Once again you showed the staff how much you truly appreciate their efforts during the year and you reminded all of us of the wonderful community we have here at St. Paul! Every day the staff were treated to something special: a rap to kick off the week, messages of love from the children, stunning flower arrangements, hot and cold treats in the staff room, supervision coverage for the week, and a fabulous staff luncheon on Thursday. Many thanks to the Staff Appreciation Committee!

BREAK A RULE DAY

On Thursday, June 11th, St. Paul Catholic Elementary School will once again hold their Break a Rule Day. As a social jus ce project, students will raise money by breaking certain rules. Each classroom will determine their own rules to break and how much it costs to break the rules. This is the 6th year that St. Paul School and the Glenrose Rehabilita on Hospital have coordinated the Break a Rule Day to benefit the children at the hospital. Cara Kaup, Physical Therapist, will accept our dona on on behalf of the Glenrose Hospital. Thank you Cara! This year money raised will go towards the purchase of some new equipment for the pool which is used for pool therapy. The other item the Hospital really need is a crocodile walker. Please see the next page for pictures of the equipment that is needed.

Library News Thank you to all students who have returned their library books. If your child has not returned their library book(s) yet, please do so no later than the week of June 1st. If you have received a payment letter for lost or damaged books, please send cash only to pay for the item(s) by Monday, June 8th.

OFFICE/TRANSPORATION NEWS

If you are not returning to St. Paul Elementary School in September, could you please inform the office as soon as possible. Thank you! June bus passes must be paid for by Monday, June 1st. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 2015-2016 Transportation Information For Kindergarten Students - The start date will be Monday, September 14th. Letters will be sent to parents the week of August 17th with the pick-up and drop-off times and stop locations for the regular bus, as well as pick-up or drop-off times for the curb service noon hour transportation. 2015-2016 Transportation Information For Grade 1 to Grade 6 Students - The start date will be Tuesday, September 8th. A synervoice phone message will be sent the week of August 24th for students on regular routes directing parents to view the schedules on the district website or through your PowerSchool Parent Portal. IMPORTANT TRANSPORTATION REQUEST - If there are changes to any of the addresses, phone numbers, or email addresses over the summer, please notify Transportation Services immediately at transportationservices@ecsd.net. Please email Mrs. Junck, St. Paul School Administrative Support, at leanne.junck@ecsd.net so that she is aware what change has been made and can update her office documents as well.

EARLY CHILDHOOD REGISTRATION We are presently accepting applications for our Early Childhood Program for the 2015-2016 school year. This program is offered to children who will be five years of age before March 1, 2016. Our first responsibility is to accommodate students who are Catholic and live within the boundaries of St. Paul School. If you have not registered yet, better do it soon! If you have any relatives or friends that have children in this age group, please make them aware of our program.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR 2015-2016

All orders that were placed by May 8th will be delivered the week of June 15th. If anything is missing or broken, simply call Write-On Stationary at 780 486 4169 or email them at marhea@write-on.ca, and they will bring a new item to the school at any time during the year.

Don't forget to check the Lightning News Website on a regular basis. There you will find all information pertaining to your Parent Council (i.e. hot lunch and forms, fundraising, St. John The Evangelist Parish

news, and St. Paul School events).

www.lightning-news.webnode.com

MILK PROGRAM The milk program will run until Monday, June 22nd. Milk cards are NOT refundable but will be carried over to next year. Please note the price for each milk card is $8.00 and this gives students 10 milks. It is great to see so many of our children drinking milk at lunch time. Healthy bodies equal healthy minds!

ST. PAUL SCHOOL GARDENS Once again, volunteer families are needed to help look after the St. Paul School gardens now and over the summer. During the summer months duties include watering and weeding for one week. It is a fun family activity that only takes a couple of hours and helps keep the school grounds looking sharp. Many thanks to Dave Buchanan who has been instrumental in keeping our school gardens looking so nice for many years, including the summer months. Dave is passing the torch and his green thumb to Cathy Wilm who can be reached at cdwilm@shaw.ca. There are still some weeks that need volunteers to tend to the gardens. If you could spare some time, please contact Cathy. Thank you to everyone who have already signed up to help. Many thanks to Mrs. Andrew’s and Mrs. Benoit’s Kindergarten classes as well as Mr. Patan’s Grade 4 students who planted flowers and vegetables in our school gardens. A special thank you goes out to all the Parents and Grandparents who lent a helping hand!

YEAR END MASS Our year end Mass will take place at St. John The Evangelist Church on Thursday, June 25th at 9:00 a.m. During the Mass students who have received the Sacrament of First Eucharist and Confirmation this year will be recognized. All families are invited to attend this special event. We congratulate the following students and their families. First Eucharist: Roman, Julia, Keira, Lucas, Benjamin, Brodie, Claudia, Luca, Ethan, Rebecca, Cale, Corbin, Nate, Tea, Dana, Michael, Audrey, Gracie, Justin Reconciliation: Roman, Julia, Keira, Lucas, Benjamin, Brodie, Claudia, Luca, Ethan, Rebecca, Cale, Corbin, Nate, Tea, Dana, Michael, Audrey, Gracie, Justin If your child received one of these Sacraments, as well as Confirmation, for the first time this year, and they have been missed from our list, please contact the office at 780 452 1510. We can then make sure they are recognized along with the above mentioned students at our year end Mass.

HOT LUNCH/THEME DAY Our final hot lunch for those that ordered will be on Friday, June 19th when hot dogs and Booster Juice will be served. Why not dress up for this occasion by wearing your “Sunday Best”.

FUN DAY Weather permitting, Fun Day is scheduled for Wednesday, June 24th. Teachers are busy planning a variety of fun activities for this day.

FAREWELL CELEBRATION

It is so hard to believe that we are saying farewell to our Grade 6 students. We are very proud of the accomplishments of this outstanding group of young people—they certainly have the potential to achieve many more great accomplishments! The event will take place during the Farewell Celebration on Friday, June 26th at 9:15 a.m. in the gym. We invite all parents to join us.

On May 28th our Grade 6 students enjoyed a day at Birch Bay Ranch. The students spent the day zip lining, wall climbing, archery and repelling. The day was a great way to bond and deepen friendships before leaving the halls of St. Paul School for Junior High.

If you have any school pictures that could go into the St. Paul 2014 - 2015 yearbook, please email them to the following link.

stpaulschool.yearbook@gmail.com

YEAR END DISMISSAL After the Farewell Celebration on

Friday, June 26th, students will be returning to their classrooms until dismissal time at 11:56 a.m.

SUMMER CAMP ACTIVITIES Please check the bulletin board across from the office regarding summer camp activities. This is the best way for us to distribute the information to the students as we receive a large number of requests.

REPORT CARDS

Final report cards for students in Grades 1 to 6 will be available on your PowerSchool Parent Portal on Friday, June 26th after 12:00 noon. Please note that these report cards will only be available on line until July 3rd.

ACTIVE LIVING ACADEMY From May 19th to May 22nd, the Grade 2 students from St. Paul participated in an exciting week-long active academy at various venues throughout the city. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to explore curriculum with a hands on approach while achieving fitness goals. It was wonderful to see the joy and excitement on our students’ faces as they worked up a sweat! We focused on the active living and healthy lifestyle choices in our curriculum. We would be remiss if we did not thank our fantastic parent volunteers. This would not be possible without their efforts and we are grateful for the level of parent support we received for this field trip. We would also like to thank the School Council for contributing to the costs of this event. We had a wonderful time and left with an appreciation for the talents and abilities God gave us and the fun we can have in the great outdoors. Come on St. Paul – let’s get active!

STUDENT REGISTRATION 2015-2016

Students who are currently registered at St. Paul School are automatically registered for the following year. If you know of any new families in your neighborhood, please let them know we are now accepting registrations for all grades. The office will be collecting school fees during the month of September. A statement of your child’s account will be sent home before the end of September.

Fees for 2015-2016 school year are as follows:

Kindergarten $170.00 Grades 1 to 6 $130.00

Parents please note that you may pay your school fees on line through your PowerSchool Parent Portal beginning Tuesday, September 8th. Bus passes will be available to purchase on line or in the office starting Tuesday, September 8th. (exact amount only if paying in the office please) Starting Monday, September 21st, we will be accepting cash for your school fees and please be aware that only the exact amount will be accepted as the office will not be able to make change. If paying by cheque, please make the cheque payable to St. Paul School.

STAFFING UPDATES We bid a fond farewell to the following staff members. Miss Lisa Rusnak, Miss Amanda Schwartz, Mrs. Karla Rice who has accepted a Grade 1 position at Mary Hanley Elementary School, and Mrs. Cathy Gregoraschuk who will be joining St. Rose Junior High as Administrative Support. We wish all of you the very best and thank you for all the memories. Happy Trails! We welcome back, from maternity leave, Mrs. Kyla Garcea who will be returning to work in Grade 3.

NEW Edmonton Catholic Schools

Pre‐Kindergarten Programming

100 Voices Valley Zoo

Genesis School, as part of Edmonton Catholic Schools’ 100 Voices Pre‐Kindergarten pro‐gram, offers unique programming for 3 and 4 year olds in City of Edmonton Recrea on Cen‐tres and A rac on sites throughout the city. Loca ons include the Edmonton Valley Zoo, John Janzen Nature Centre, and more! For a complete list of loca ons and informa on on how to register for these exci ng programs please go to www.genesis.ecsd.net or call 780‐638‐6810.

SCHOOL OPENING 2015 - 2016 Students will return after the Labour Day long weekend. The first day of school is Tuesday, September 8th at 8:25 a.m. for Grade 1 to Grade 6 students. Kindergarten students will have staggered entry from September 8th to September 11th. Edmonton Catholic School start date for 2015 is the same as neighboring school districts. The School District calendar for 2015-2016 is posted on our District website:

www.ecsd.net/schools/calendars.html

SCHOOL HOURS 2015-2016 Grades 1 – 6

AM BELL 8:25 CLASSES 8:30 - 10:25 RECESS 10:25 - 10:40 CLASSES 10:40 - 12:10 LUNCH 12:10 - 12:30 RECESS 12:30 - 12:50 PM BELL 12:50 CLASSES 12:50 - 1:55 RECESS 1:55 - 2:10 CLASSES 2:10 - 3:10 THURSDAY DISMISSAL 12:00 Kindergarten BELL 8:25 CLASSES 8:30 - 10:25 RECESS 10:25 - 10:40 CLASSES 10:40 - 11:44

Congratulations to our Grade 6B students who entered a short film at the Edmonton Catholic Schools Film Festival. We are very proud to announce that they won an award for the most fun video. There were over 50 entries and only the top 25 were invited to the screening at the Garneau Theatre. Look out Hollywood!

Young Canadians in a Wired World, Phase III: Trends and Recommendations is the final report in a series of nine from the Young Canadian in a Wired World: Phase III study. The Trends and Recommendations report brings together the findings from interviews with children, teens, parents and teachers and a national survey of students in grades 4 to 11, which took place between 2012 and 2013. It offers recommendations for parents, teachers and policy makers to support young people in meeting the challenges of growing up in the digital age. It also includes an analysis of students’ top 50 favorite websites and profiles of students’ online activities organized by grade. To access this report, visit http://mediasmarts.ca/research-policy/young-canadians-wired-world-phase-iii-trends-recommendations or visit http://mediasmarts.ca and scroll through the top articles. As we celebrate all of the people in our lives who have filled the role of father, grandfather, or mentor, let us take a moment to pray for them and give thanks. Heavenly Father, Today we ask You to bless our earthly fathers for the many times they reflected the love, strength, generosity, wisdom and mercy that You exemplify in Your relationship with us, Your children. We honor our fathers for putting our needs above their own convenience and comfort; for teaching us to show courage and determination in the face of adversity; for challenging us to move beyond self-limiting boundaries; for modeling the qualities that would turn us into responsible, principled, caring adults. We ask your blessing on those men who served as father figures in our lives. May the love and selflessness they showed us be returned to them in all their relationships, and help them to know that their influence has changed us for the better. We pray that our fathers who have passed into the next life have been welcomed into Your loving embrace, and that our family will one be day be reunited in your heavenly kingdom. Amen.

(Adapted from A Christopher Prayer for Father's Day) I wish you all a blessed and rejuvenating summer filled with the goodness of God! Sincerely,

Joan Carr Superintendent

June 2015

Father’s Day – Celebrating Families

We celebrate Father’s Day in Canada each year on the third Sunday of June. Father’s Day is an important opportunity for us to take time to express our love and gratitude for our fathers, as well as for our grandfathers, godfathers, and the like. One of my best Father’s Day’s card that I gave my dad when I was a young adult read: (on the cover) “Dad, when I think of the food you put on my table, the clothes on my back, and the roof over my head;” (open the card) “Why did I ever leave home?” As I get older, I tend to appreciate my family more and more. My dad. My mom. (They’re celebrating their 65th Wedding Anniversary this summer!) My sisters. My brother. And their families. I appreciate the memories of days gone by, and the memories that are still in the making, all filled with joy, hope and love, and yes, sadness and loss. They’re all very precious. And I give thanks to God for them all. You see, it was in my family, the first church, the domestic church, that the seeds of faith were first sown. My parents, by their word and example, carried on the mission of love entrusted to them by God, sharing that love among themselves and teaching their children to love God and neighbour. It’s in this context that I celebrate Father’s Day this year in a special way, celebrating the gift that my family has been for me throughout the years, and for the gift they are to me today. That’s why Pope Francis’ recent invitation to us and to the entire Church has taken on special meaning for me as of late. The pope invites us to pray for families as he prepares to gather with them from around the world this September in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families (I’ll be there!), then in October in Rome for the Papal Synod on the theme of the mission and vocation of families and their role in evangelization. In preparation for these events, Pope Francis wrote: “[This year] we will reflect in particular on the family, which is the fundamental cell of society. From the beginning the Creator blessed man and woman so that they might be fruitful and multiply, and so the family then is an image of the Holy Trinity in the world. “Our reflections must keep before us the beauty of the family and marriage, the greatness of this human reality which is so simple and yet so rich, consisting of joys and hopes, of struggles and sufferings, as is the whole of life. “We are called to acknowledge how beautiful, true, and good it is to start a family, to be a family today; and how indispensable the family is for the life of the world and for the future of humanity. “We are called to make known God’s magnificent plan for the family and to help spouses joyfully experience this plan in their lives, as well as accompany them amidst so many difficulties” (Remarks to the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals, February 20, 2014).

This Father’s Day, join me in celebrating families and the great gift they are to the Church and to the world, by praying this special prayer for families by Pope Francis:

Prayer to the Holy Family

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

in you we contemplate the splendour of true love, to you we turn with trust.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer,

authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic Churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

may families never again experience violence, rejection and division:

may all who have been hurt or scandalized find ready comfort and healing.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

may the approaching Synod of Bishops make us once more

mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family,

and its beauty in God’s plan.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph,

graciously hear our prayer. Amen.

God bless!

Bishop David Motiuk Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton