Dear Parents and Guardians,
On behalf of the entire staff of H.E. Beriault Catholic School, it is our pleasure to welcome all of our returning students and their parents to the 2021 - 2022 school year! We also offer a special welcome to our grade seven students as they begin their journey into junior high, as well our online students from last year who are new to our building this fall.
H.E. Beriault Junior High is a vibrant community school community recognized for supporting our students with a strong faith based education, outstanding academic opportunities, and commitment to the arts, personal wellness, and athletics.
Our staff is committed to meeting the needs of each learner by supporting and developing their personal and academic skills. With our changing world our intent is to empower children to make decisions, collaborate with others, and to access information in a digital environment.
Our instructional and extracurricular school programs support Christian values, student involvement, service with an emphasis on humanity, social action, and leadership within the school community. We are excited to be able to offer a variety of clubs and extra-curricular activities this year. It is our hope that the school will provide opportunities for your child to experience new challenges, develop positive relationships, contribute to the community, and discover their personal best.
At H.E. Beriault we believe that communication between the home and school is an essential part of your child’s success. We encourage you to participate in our virtual Meet the Teacher evening scheduled for Thursday, September 23th at 7:00 p.m. You will have an opportunity to view video introductions from your child’s core subject teachers. An email with information detailing how to access the video links will be sent out the week of the 23rd. Parents are also encouraged to check our school website for monthly newsletters and other information pertaining to upcoming events and activities, as well as our Power School link for students and parents to access student grades and attendance records.
Please feel free to contact your child’s homeroom teacher by email or phone, or the school office at 780.489.5490 if you have any questions regarding our instructional program or events. We look forward to working closely with you to ensure that your child has a most rewarding year!
Dale Astill, Principal
Erin Winch, Assistant Principal
Mr. Dale Astill – Principal
Mr. Steve Bain – Teacher
Mrs. Jessica Bates—Teacher
Mrs. Kathy Batke - Administrative Assistant
Mr. Jason Bentz - Teacher
Mrs. Barb Brilz- Teacher
Mr. Rob Carl - Head Custodian
Mr. Greg Chin – Teacher
Ms. Alessandra Contessa - Teacher
Mrs. Erin Craig– Learning Coach/Teacher
Mrs. Monika Cupido - Teacher
Mrs. Nicole Danzo – Teacher
Mr. Guy Doucet – Teacher
Mrs. Monica Glowa - TABT
Ms. Camille Kauhaahaa - Teacher
Mrs. Jenni Lambert - Administrative Support
Ms. Vanessa McGonigle - Educational Assistant
Ms. Katherine Merrel Anderson - Braided Journeys Transition Coach
Ms. Jacquie Mundell - TABT
Mr. John Nedd - Teacher
Constable Dave Pedersen - School Resource Officer
Mr. Carson Schreiber – Teacher
Ms. Katrina Smith – Teacher
Mrs. Andrea Stevens- Miller - Teacher
Mr. Winifredo Tolentino - Senior Custodian
Mrs. Erin Winch – Assistant Principal
Ms. Melissa Yanitski—Psychologist
September Reminders
Picture Day
Picture day is coming on Wednesday , September 22. Make it simple by ordering your portraits online, using your Picture Day ID and child's first name to get started. You will receive this code with your child’s proofs.
Office Hours
Our school office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Our office staff of Mrs. Jenni Lambert and Mrs. Kathy Batke will be in the office to assist you.
PowerSchool
PowerSchool is a secure web-based management system designed to strengthen communication between the school and home by providing parents and legal guardians access to their child’s attendance records and academic progress online. If you do not have your password for PowerSchool please contact the office and we will send home your PowerSchool login information. Report cards are paperless and will be available through PowerSchool in January and June.
Google Classroom
Please accept the Google classroom parent requests that have been sent to your email so that you will receive the weekly updates for your child's teachers.
School Fees
School fees will be available on PowerSchool on September 15th. Sign into your PowerSchool parent portal and pay with credit card or by debit. If you have any questions or would like to arrange payment options, please contact the school office. Bus passes are also available through PowerSchool and must be paid for online. Call the office to have them added to your PowerSchool account.
Late Policy
To ensure success and a positive educational experience, all students are expected to be seated in their homerooms with all their necessary materials by 8:23 a.m. Students arriving shortly after 8:20 a.m. are required to report to their homeroom for morning announcements and sign the homeroom attendance. Students arriving late due to a medical or other appointment require a note or a phone call by the parent to the office. Thank you for your efforts in being punctual. We will do all that we can as staff to work together with you. We know that when our students are here every day, they learn well.
Parent Concerns
At HEB, we want families to feel welcome to share their ideas and voice their concerns. Edmonton Catholic Schools recognizes the freedom of all members of the school community (staff, students, parents, and neighbours) to voice their concerns in an appropriate manner to school personnel. The principle of “first contact” needs to be followed. This means that the person who has the concern, has the responsibility to begin addressing the concern directly with those persons with whom they have the concern before taking their concern elsewhere. If resolution is not found, the next step is to involve the school administration, and/or School Operation Services, as needed. All parties will deal with concerns in a manner that is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Medical Concerns
A special form must be filled out by parents/guardians before any medication or treatment may be administered to your child. Please contact the school office if you need a form. If your child has a severe allergy or medical alert, please contact the office for a medic alert form to permit us to post the alert in the staff room so that we are fully prepared in the event of an emergency.
Personal Belongings
Students are strongly discouraged from bringing non-essential games, music players or precious personal items to school and do so, solely at their own risk. Students are responsible for their personal belongings. They should keep valuable items such as cell phones and wallets either on them. Although we are always concerned about theft, extensive time will not be invested in looking for these missing items. The school is not responsible for loss of personal items.
School Dress
HEB is a Catholic school, so it is important that students wear clothing that is suited to our Christian atmosphere. We want to promote a positive environment, so all slogans on shirts should be of a positive nature. Revealing clothing is not appropriate for a school. If underwear is exposed, it is not appropriate for the school environment.
Outside Supervision
In the morning, the front doors of the school will open at 8:00 a.m. There is no outdoor supervision prior to this time. Afterschool, supervision will be in front of the school in the bus loading zone until 3:20 p.m.
Bear Wear
Our spirit wear e-store is now open. Orders will be accepted until September 19 and all clothing will be shipped to the school in early October. Use the following link to place your orders:
Try like Terry!
The HEB Terry Fox Run will be held on Friday Sept 24th in the afternoon. Students will be joining staff members in doing a two kilometre loop ( run, jog or walk ) in the surrounding neighborhood to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the Miracle of Hope journey that Terry started in 1980. A pledge form and field trip form will be going home mid September to provide further details and give instructions for how to donate to the cure for Cancer. Donations will be accepted at school and online. A tax receipt will be issued to every donation over $20. This is the 12th year that HEB has participated in this awesome event.
ECSD has uploaded the 2021 - 2022 Parent Guide to Assessment and Reporting. Please use the link below to access this resource.
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013. It grew out of Phyllis' story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.
Orange Shirt Day is also an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. Please wear an orange shirt on September 29 at HEB. ECSD will be observing the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th. There will be no school that day.
September 2021
Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year! Our theme for this year is “God calls us each by name” and is guided by scripture from Jeremiah. At its root, our theme is a message of hope. Catholic education is entirely about building a future with hope. When we serve the children of Edmonton Catholic Schools, our goal is to instill in them a sense of wonder in themselves as children of God so that they see themselves as members and builders of his Kingdom. There is nothing more hopeful than this.
We are filled with a renewed sense of hope as we return to school this year. We have created a Back to School Plan that is designed to support our schools in reducing the risk of transmission of illness and maintaining safe and healthy environments for our students and staff. Some procedures we introduced in our schools last year will continue because we know they are good practices in minimizing the transmission of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, influenza, and common colds. Many activities are returning to our schools this year, including local and provincial field trips, athletics and extracurricular activities, all fine arts and options classes, assemblies and special events, and graduation and school farewell activities.
At the beginning of September, teachers will be focusing on welcoming students back to their school communities, whether in-person or online. As part of getting to know students as individual learners, teachers in K - 6 will be screening students in numeracy and literacy. They will determine student knowledge and skill based on previous curricula and target instruction for any missed learning. In addition, the Division is preparing post-assessments to help teachers measure learning growth. In junior high and high school, subject-area teachers will also be targeting their instruction to support students in their transition back-to-school.
Our work for this year is directed by our Division Plan for Continuous Growth, which has four priorities: Growing in Faith, Student Success, An Excellent Place to Work and Learn, and Building our Future Together. You can monitor our progress in these priorities by exploring our measures and results as represented in our Assurance Dashboard. Results will be updated throughout the year as new ones become available. Each school also has its own School Plan for Continuous Growth to address its own needs and a school specific Assurance Dashboard for their results and measures. Visit your school’s website; you will find the Assurance Dashboard with the school plan under About / School Information.
We are very excited to add another school to our ECSD family this fall. Genesis Online School is opening its virtual doors and will serve over 1200 students from kindergarten to grade 9. Construction on the Ben Calf Robe replacement school and Joan Carr Catholic Elementary School is well underway, and we’re getting ready to break ground for Father Michael McCaffery Catholic High School.
Pope Francis shared a catechesis on hope several years ago. There was much wisdom shared with us over many months… it’s a deep examination of the nature of hope to the people of God who live in His abundant love. As we begin this school year and come together again in our Christ-centred school communities, I will leave you with a thought from our Holy Father. He says, “… one does not learn to hope alone. No one learns to hope alone. It is impossible. Hope, to be nourished, necessarily needs a ‘body’, in which the various members support and revive each other. This means, then, that if we hope, it is because many of our brothers and sisters have taught us to hope and have kept our hope alive.” (General Audience, February 8/17)
Have a wonderful school year!
Yours in Christ,
Robert Martin
Chief Superintendent
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