the newsletter - Ecole Lacombe Junior High School

Laser Writer
An École Lacombe Junior High
School Newsletter
October, 2015
5830—50 St., Lacombe, AB T4L 1G5
Tel: (403) 782-3812 Fax: (403) 782-7405
Email: ljhs@wolfcreek.ab.ca
Principal’s Message
On October 16th you received a Power Announcement reminding you that your child's marks had
been updated and were ready to view online. If you are having problems viewing the marks online,
please contact our office for assistance. Our first set of interviews will be November 3rd and
5th, from 4:00 - 6:30 p.m., in our gym. There is a schedule later in this newsletter. Interviews are an
excellent time to meet your child's teachers, talk about academic progress and view and sign an IPP
if your child has one. If you are unable to attend during interviews, but would still like to talk to
teachers, please contact our office to arrange a time. Our end of trimester progress reports will be
ready to view online December 11th.
Enrichment Block started up on October 27th. Students can get help on essential outcomes in numeracy and literacy, or sign up for enrichment projects, guided help to finish homework or rewrite
exams. Enrichment Block runs every Tuesday and Thursday during our advisory block.
Our grade eight students enjoyed a fantastic field trip to the Reynolds Museum, where they experienced hands on learning for their science class on mechanical systems. Thanks to Mr. Gascoyne
and the grade 8 teachers for their organization of this trip.
We recognized over 140 students during our Academic and Attendance Awards Ceremony two
weeks ago. We are proud of each and every one of our students who received an award.
Our Cross Country team brought home the banner from the Wolf Creek Tournament earlier this
month, and we hosted CWAJHAAs and came out on the top of the podium once again! Well done
ELJHS. Thanks to Mr. Whitbread, Mr. Wagar, Mrs. Hiebert and Mrs. Amdam for all their planning
and organizing of this event.
Sincerely,
Barbara Andersen
École Lacombe Junior High School is committed to a quality education in a caring, safe environment that provides
choice and encourages lifelong learning,
respect and responsibility.
.
L’école Lacombe Junior High School est engagée à promouvoir une éducation supérieure ainsi qu’un milieu bienveillant offrant des
choix éducationnels qui encouragent l’épanouissement de l’individu, le respect envers autrui et la responsabilité personnelle.
Page 1
Inside this Issue
November/December Calendar
3
Parent-Teacher Interview Schedule
4
Breakfast Program and Breakfast for Learning
5
Counselor's Corner
5
Progress Reports/School Fees (School Cash ONLINE)
6
School Council/ Curling
7
Drama Club
8
Library
9
Cross Country/Physical Education Swim Program
9
Volleyball
10
Wolf Creek School Bus Regulations
11
What have ELJHS Teachers Been Doing These Days
12
Wolf Creek Severe Weather Conditions/School Closure
13, 14, 15
Neighborhood Place
16
Leadership Class Events
The leadership class continues to host student activities. September and October events included
a PJ Day, a Back to School Bash, Break a Rule Day, a Candy Sale, Fandom Day and a Spooktacular Haunted House event for Halloween.
The October Beat Breast Cancer Fundraiser raised $2332.87 in less than 3 weeks!
Well done ELJH!
Here are some of the events that the students are planning:
November 10
Blast from the Past (60s and 70s)
November 19
Blast from the Past (50s) and Float Sale
December 18
Talent Show
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November 2015
Sun
1
Mon
2
3
Daylight Savings
Time Change
8
Tue
4
10
Remembrance
Day Ceremony
10:30
16
17
Thu
6
Parent-Teacher
Interviews
4:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Picture Retakes
11
12
13
Remembrance
Day
No School
In-Lieu for P.T.
Interviews
No School
November Break
No School
18
19
20
School Council
Meeting 7:00 pm
22
23
29
30
Fri
5
Parent-Teacher
Interviews
4:00 to 6:30 p.m.
9
15
Wed
Sat
7
14
21
PD Day
No School
24
25
26
27
28
December 2015
Sun
Mon
Tue
1
Wed
2
Thu
3
Fri
4 Last Day
Trimester 1
Sat
5
PD Day
No School
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Option Loading
for Trimester 2
Block #2
Option Loading
for Trimester 2
Block #1
13
14
15
16
17
Drama Club:
Christmas in the
Land of Oz
18 Talent Show
School Closes at
3:19 for
Christmas Break
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Page 3
Page 3
Interview Schedule ….
École Lacombe Junior High School is holding parent-teacher interviews in the gymnasium on Tuesday,
November 3rd, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. and Thursday, November 5th, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. Parents and
students are invited to meet any or all of your son's/daughter's teachers according to the following time
schedule arranged by student surnames. If this time is not convenient, please contact the School Secretary
at 782-3812 to arrange a new appointment or a private interview.
We look forward to meeting you and your child according to the following interview schedule:
Appointment Schedule:
Student Surnames:
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd
4:00 - 4:30 p.m.
To - Zz
4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Cu - For
5:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Mi - Plu
5:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Bow - Cr
6:00 - 6:30 p.m.
He - Kl
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5th
4:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Aa - Bou
4:30 - 5:00 p.m.
Fr - Hay
5:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Ko - Me
5:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Po - Sha
6:00 - 6:30 p.m.
She - Til
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A big thank you from the Breakfast Program goes out to Lacombe Co-op, who again has donated free bread for the year! Also, thank you to Curves for your donation drive which provided
needed supplies, and to Lionel's No Frills for their support of the Breakfast For Learning Program.
As one of the leading national charities dedicated to student nutrition programs, Breakfast for Learning is committed to ensuring that all Canadian children attend school well nourished and ready to
learn. Breakfast for Learning achieves this by providing breakfast, lunch and snack grants for student nutrition programs. Last year across Canada, Breakfast for Learning funded a total of 1887 programs, reaching almost 240 thousand children and providing over 40 million meals. For more information, please visit breakfastforlearning.ca
As well, we would like to thank our volunteers who open the breakfast program every school day
morning with a big smile, to help make sure that our students start the day well. The students are
excited to have warm toast, cheese, and fresh fruit each morning. What a wonderful way to start the
day!
ELJHS is pleased to offer a variety of counselling services for students and their families. Mrs. Stewart is available to provide academic, personal, and career counselling for students as they prepare
to become caring and contributing members of society. As our school Social Worker, Mrs. Stewart
is also available to families who are experiencing difficulties by providing support and information to
parents, and referrals to community agencies or programs.
The counselling offices have a wealth of information on a variety of topics including parent/teen conflict, careers, college/university entrance requirements, substance abuse and study skills just to
mention a few. For more information on counselling programs, or to request access to these services, students and parents are welcome to contact Mrs. Stewart at 403-782-3812.
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The first progress report for the 2015/2016 school year will be online
Friday, December 11th, 2015.
Parent-Teacher interviews are being scheduled for the evenings of
Tuesday, November 3rd, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 5th, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.
School fees - $120.00
This fee includes all required texts, workbooks, access to dictionaries, atlases, other reference and library
books, locker and lock rental, P.A.D. block materials, and complementary course consumable costs.
(Instructional Material Fee - $77.00; School Fees - $43.00) This fee does not include the provision of pencils,
pens, erasers, scribblers, key-tabs, loose-leaf paper, etc.
Students agree to assume responsibility for the loss or damage of any textbook issued to them. They further
agree to pay for any lost or damaged books.
For your convenience, school related expenses will be available online for you to make payment. To register
your child, follow the 3 steps below:
Step 1: Go to: https://wolfcreek.schoolcashonline.com
Step 2: Register by selecting the “Get Started Now” and follow the
steps.
Step 3: After you receive the confirmation email, please select the “click here” option, sign in, and add each of
your children to your household account.
For those that are unable to use this new option we will continue to take cash or cheques.
Please make cheques payable to the École Lacombe Junior High School.
Families with students in more than one school must submit separate cheques for each school.
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September 21st, 2015, was the date of our first School Council Organizational meeting. Thank you to those
that attended and we hope you will continue to attend our regular meetings. To the following, we thank you
for your time in volunteering on this committee:
Jan Pocock, Chairperson
Jim Pocock, Vice Chair
Traci Cooper, Director
Our regular meeting dates are as follows: November 16th, January 18th, March 21st, and May 16th (school
tours) all at 7:00 p.m. in our school library. Parents and Guardians you are welcome to attend these meetings. Hope to see you there!
Curling season is here and once again, Mr. Pierson and Mr. Whitbread will be coaching curling for the 2015-2016
school year. Curling will be from 3:45 to 5:00 on Wednesdays this year. All experience/skill levels are welcome to join,
male or female. The teams are mixed, and the final tournament is in Lacombe in March. We have an excellent record
of wins at this tournament and expect to do great again this year!
To participate on the curling team you will need to have the following:

clean shoes or curling shoes

a good attitude and be willing to learn

be able to commit to Wednesdays

payment of $35 for the season to help cover costs
There will tentatively be curling on the following dates:

November 18, 25

December 2, 9, 16

January 13, 20, 27

February 3, 10, 24

March 2
We are looking forward to a great season once again. Listen for announcements for more information and we will be
distributing registration forms in the next couple of weeks.
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This year Drama Club will be doing a wonderful play called "Christmas in the
Land of Oz". We have students from Grades 7 to 9 meeting every Wednesday
after school for rehearsals. The play will be performing Thursday December 17th
at 1:30 pm for students and 7:00 pm for parents and community.
Tickets will be available at the beginning of December.
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The library will open at lunchtime from 12:10 until 12:30 starting November 16th.
The library is also open most days after school until 4:00 pm. Students may
check out or renew books, work on homework, read or play games quietly during
these times. Chromebooks are also available to work on homework.
New books are arriving every week— come and check out our new books!
We have crossed the finish line with another very successful Cross Country season! An amazing
crew of 38 runners ran with us this year from all grades and took part in Meets in Peace Hills
(Wetaskiwin), Red Deer, Alix and culminated in the CWAJHAA event at Burman University in
Lacombe. We won the Wolf Creek Banner in Alix with an incredible 9 out of a possible 18 medals.
We then won the CWAJHAA banner on home turf with one Gold, two Bronze and numerous top
25 finishes while racing the best runners from all over Central Alberta. We will miss all our speedy
graduates next year, but we look forward to some solid Terrace Ridge and Upper Elementary student additions next year. Congratulations to all team members and Happy Running!
Physical Education
Swim Program
The PE classes will start swimming in November. Girls will start on November 5th and swim until November
26th. Boys will begin on November 27th and swim until December 15th. The program will not be swim lessons, but rather a program of water fitness activities such as: water aerobics, deep water workouts, noodle
workouts, underwater hockey, water polo, water baseball and basketball. All students will be expected to
take part unless they have a medical note from a doctor stating why they cannot swim.
Page
Page9 9
Boys Volleyball
The Junior Boys volleyball teams wrap up another great season. All
members of the teams improved greatly as the season went on. The Lasers were able to take 1st place at the Hunting Hills tournament, squaring
off against some of the best teams from around Central Alberta. The two Junior Boys teams are
getting ready to close out the season with playoffs in the last week of October. This seasons
coaches are Mr. Matthie and Mr. Riddle.
Great job boys! We hope you are looking forward to next year’s season already!
Girls Volleyball
Senior Girls volleyball is nearing the end of another great season. We attended a tournament at
Red Deer College in September and hosted our own tournament on October 17th. Both tournaments saw the team doing excellent in round robin play finishing first, however, in playoff rounds
the team fell short.
There has been excellent improvement shown since the start of the season. The team competes in
the Red Deer City League and is in the middle of the standings at 3-3. The team only has two
league games left, the girls will head to CWAJHAA finals on November 20th.
Once again the team will have a huge turn over with only three grade eight players and the rest
grade nines. Coaches this season are Mrs. Amdam and Sydney Winsnes.
The Junior A Girls compete in the Wolf Creek A Division and are doing great. They have won
about half of their matches, and have shown some excellent improvement. They competed in the
Hunting Hills Middle School Tournament and played very well. This team is made up of three
grade nine players and several grade eight players and two grade sevens. Coaches this season
have been Darby Dykslag, Emily Ericson, and Daryl Ericson.
The Junior B Lasers have been playing well and have grown a lot over the course of our short
season. Skill development and team play have improved tremendously and the team has competed
strongly in our last few games. A huge thank you to the girls for balancing their busy schedules and
committing their time to working hard at practice and becoming stronger volleyball players. Our
season will wrap up on Halloween weekend with the Wolf Creek tournament where our girls will
play at Terrace Ridge. Good luck girls and thanks for a fun season! Coach Miller
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10
The School Bus Operation Regulation of the Traffic Safety Act states that luggage, equipment and
tools shall not be carried in the interior of a school bus unless “...they can be stored under the seat,
do not block aisles or emergency exits, cannot be dislodged when the brakes of the school bus are
applied, during acceleration of the school bus or in the event of an accident...”. As well, it is regulated that if any such items were allowed on the bus, the items must be properly secured by the bus
driver. This would require the driver to park and turn off the bus each time, which would result in
longer ride times for students.
Therefore the following items are not permitted on school buses: tubas, trombones,
saxophones, french horns, skate boards, skis, hockey sticks, scooters, large hockey bags,
curling brooms, and suitcases with wheels.
Students may only carry those items which can be held safely on their laps, which will not stick up
above the seat, and which will not stick out into the aisle so as not to intrude in another student’s
space.
The item cannot be larger than 33 cm wide, 21 cm deep and 54 cm high
(13” x 10” x 22”), the size of an average backpack.
Should you have any questions regarding other items that can or cannot be taken on the school
bus, please contact the Wolf Creek Transportation Department at:
Phone: 403-785-0726 / Fax: 403-783-3155 / transportation@wolfcreek.ab.ca
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So... What have ELJHS teachers been doing during their Friday PD
days?
Our staff has been busy during our professional development days working on collaborative response models (CRM) to improve student learning. This means that our teachers
have been discussing:
1) What our students must learn (the essential outcomes)
2) How we will know if they know it (common assessments)
3) What we will do when they have not learned it (our pyramid of interventions)
4) What we do when they already know it (the enrichment workshops in our new enrichment block)
Teachers have been using data they have collected in the classroom, along with their own
observations to collaboratively decide, which students need some extra help. This extra
help must be accessible to all students in need, so we are using time in our advisory
blocks on Tuesday and Thursday (Enrichment Block), and also time during our option
classes (Study Skill intervention and placement and literacy and numeracy interventions).
Our new Enrichment Block (EB) started the last week of October. It includes small groups
getting extra help in numeracy and literacy (intervention), time for students to finish homework, study for tests, rewrite tests, work on projects (guided help), sign up for courses of
interest (enrichment) or work on a device (chrome hall). Enrichment Blocks will run for
about a month, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during advisory.
If you have any questions or comments on these new initiatives, please contact the office.
Page 12
SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND THE SCHOOL CLOSURE PROCESS
It is our sincere desire in Wolf Creek Public Schools to ensure that our educational community understands the process by which we analyze “severe weather” and determine if our buses, and therefore our schools, should operate. We hope that the following information fulfills that expectation,
but if you feel that you need further clarity around any aspect of this process please feel free to contact the school that your student attends or the central office of the school division.
To make this letter as user friendly as possible we will use a question and answer format to discuss
the different stages to our weather analysis process, and then outline the decision making steps that
could occur on a severe weather day.
1.
What kind of weather conditions could force parts or all of our bussing system, and
therefore our schools, to shut down?
Our administrative procedure 13.1(Closure of Schools due to Inclement Weather) lays
out the weather conditions that warrant a close investigation by our staff and could ultimately lead to a school and/or bus shutdown. In a nutshell they are: extreme cold that
has an air temperature in excess of - 40 degrees Celsius, a wind chill that creates a temperature in excess of – 40 degrees Celsius, dangerous road conditions and/or poor visibility. (Examples would be fog, heavy snowfall, blowing snow, freezing rain etc.)
2.
What is the decision making process that leads to our bussing system shutting down?
On those days when we know that a decision on school closure/bus system shutdown
could be forthcoming our transportation manager goes through a number of steps:
A.
Weather stations are monitored at approximately 4:30 a.m. to determine the
predictions for our area. This is only preliminary information and does not impact our
decisions locally.
B.
The transportation manager, along with a minimum of 8 of our bus drivers from
different parts of the school division are on the road at approximately 5 a.m. to 6 a.m.
determining the local conditions. Their information can allow us to shut down different
parts of the school division, or different school bus runs, without closing all of our
schools. However, in some circumstances their information can cause us to close all of
our school bus runs, and schools, for the day.
C.
All drivers are on two way radios so the information is collated quickly and given
to the transportation manager.
D.
If the conditions are determined to warrant a complete or partial shut down of
schools and/or bussing system, the transportation manager contacts the Superintendent of Schools at approximately 6 a.m. The decision is made this early in the morning
due to the timeframes that bus drivers use; many start their runs shortly after 6 a.m.
As soon as the decision to cancel runs or school operation is made we begin a process
of contacting our staff and the media with respect to our decision.
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SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND THE SCHOOL CLOSURE PROCESS—Continued
E. It is also important to recognize that our jurisdiction schedules additional time into
the minimum number of hours recommended by Alberta Education, so missing
some time due to inclement weather does not necessarily mean our students are
losing out on their educational programming.
3.
What are the options for the superintendent with respect to school/bus shutdown?
The superintendent has various options at his disposal, but he bases these on the information that is available at that time of the morning. This is important to consider because weather patterns can look very different at various times of the day, and decisions
must be understood in that context.
Essentially the superintendent has the flexibility to close all schools, or a few heavily impacted schools for the day, but in either case the decision automatically closes the bussing system down as well. He can also decide to close bussing for the morning for a
few, or all schools, but provide it in the afternoon. In this scenario the school remains
open for students who don’t necessarily need bussing transportation but also allows students who do get to the school to have transportation later in the day.
4.
How is the information conveyed to all stakeholders?
As soon as the superintendent, in consultation with the transportation manager, decides
on an appropriate response to the weather conditions of the day a fan out/media contact process begins in the following manner:
A. The transportation manager contacts all media outlets that would normally be listened to by our audience. (Big 105.5 FM and CKGY 95.5 FM/ ZED 98.9 FM in Red
Deer; CHED 630 AM and CFCW 790 AM in Edmonton; and KJR 1440 in Wetaskiwin; and SUNNY 94.1 in Lacombe; ITV Global in Edmonton) This places a responsibility on the family to ascertain this information through the media outlets and act
accordingly. Please note, that the family always has ultimate authority and responsibility to decide if their child should ride on our transportation system on these
types of days.
B.
The superintendent then commences a fan out communication to all administrators
in the school division to alert their staff to the fact that schools and/or bus runs will
be cancelled. While staff is expected to make every reasonable effort to be at the
school, we also recognize that they may need to wait for a period of time until the
weather conditions improve, or roads allow safe passage
Page 14
SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS AND THE SCHOOL CLOSURE PROCESS—Continued
5. Do bus drivers have authority to decide if their bus will run or not, or to decide if they will
stop at a particular pick up site?
Absolutely. Our bus drivers know their route and the conditions that they are facing better
than anyone else. If they decide to cancel their route for the day then we ask them to advise our dispatch office so that they can assist the driver in letting all parents on that
route know of the decision. That allows the parents to arrange for daycare or some type
of arrangement to care for their children if that is needed.
If bus drivers decide not to stop at a particular site due to weather conditions then they
go through the same process of contacting our dispatch office and we phone the parents
to let them know why the bus didn’t stop at their pick- up site.
Check the Wolf Creek Public Schools web-site.
Stay turned to your favorite radio station.
Follow your twitter account.
Page 15
Youmaywanttoknow:
DID YOU KNOW that you can phone in to your local physician’s office in Lacombe, Ponoka, Rimbey or Sylvan Lake to
book an appointment with a Registered Dietician????
Services are free and there is no doctor referral needed.
Lacombe has a Registered Dietician at the Medcombe WalkIn Clinic – Abby Sanregret.
You can book an appointment with her by calling 403-7821408
About Fostering...
Foster care is temporary familybased care for children who, for
their own safety and well-being,
cannot stay in their own
homes. Foster parents receive
training, support and financial
compensation to care for children. There are different types
of foster care: respite care,
foster to adopt, kinship care,
and foster homes.
We need more families like you
who can provide safe, caring,
and stable homes for children!
Contact Neighborhood Place for
more information
DOES YOUR CHILD NEED EXTRA ONE
ON ONE TIME WITH A MENTOR??
The In School Mentoring program provides girls and boys with a role model and
a friend to talk to and share the experiences of growing up with, within school
grounds. For one hour a week, mentors
meet with their mentee and engage in
activities such as board games, crafts or
just hang out on the playground.
The In School Mentoring program requires
a weekly visit of 1 hour for the duration of
the school year. Matches do not meet
over the summer break or during other
school holidays.
If you are interested in signing your
child up, please contact your child’s
teacher or call Big Brothers Big Sisters at 403.782.7870 for more info.
403.782.0886
Can’t find the help or information you’re looking for? Try our website
www.lacombenp.com
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