Principal Weekly Update
March 25th, 2022
Spring Break is here!
Thank you to all the families who visited us for our Celebration of Learning evening this past Wednesday, March 23rd. It was such a blessing and an energizing experience to have been able to welcome you back into the building in a comfortable and eased manner. Your children were so proud of the work they've been doing, and to celebrate their growth as learners. The school-home connection is primordial to the success of our students, and we hope to continue to have opportunities to come together in community. If you did not get a chance to join your child's celebration, please connect with the teacher to set up a time to visit or chat after Spring Break.
On that note, we'd like to take the opportunity to wish all of you safe, fun, and relaxing Spring Break. We hope that it gives all our students a chance to reconnect with family, friend, nature, and get re-energized and re-focused for the remaining months of the school year. As we look forward, please ensure that you declare your intentions for your child's learning for next year, if you have not done so. This process will now have to be done through the office, so please give us a call.
ECSD students returning to John Paul I next year
All students currently in our Division will need to declare their intentions regardless if they are staying with their current school or transitioning into kindergarten, junior high, or high school.
Online Learning Options
Edmonton Catholic Schools believes the best learning happens inside the classroom. We hope to welcome the majority of students back to in-person learning in September. For families wanting to continue online for the 2022-2023 school year, you may register with Genesis Catholic Online Elementary/Junior High School. Online learning will be offered for Grades 1 – 12 and will require a full-year commitment.
School Fees and Bus Pass Fees
Don't forget that school fees need to be paid as soon as possible. Bus pass fees are always due at the beginning of the month. Fees should be paid through PowerSchool, however, if you are unable to complete this, please contact Ms. Amanda in the office. She will be more than happy to walk you through the process or find an alternate form of payment.
Bottles for Ukraine
A reminder that our Social Justice Team's Bottle Drive will continue until April 22. To date, our school has already raised half of our $1000.00 goal!
Chief Superintendent Robert Martin's April Message
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:12-15)
We encounter this scripture on Holy Thursday as Jesus prepares for his impending death. He gathers with his disciples and is breaking bread with them for the final time. During the meal, he performs the work of a humble servant by washing their feet. It is a mirror of the way he is about to serve all of God’s children through his death and resurrection. It is also a lesson to us all; ‘serve others in the way that I serve you’. That message of loving one another is one that we encounter over and over again as being that most fundamental tenet of our faith, love God and love one another.
The eyes of the world are turned to the war in Ukraine. A heartrending situation, it touches deeply in our Edmonton Catholic Schools. We have longstanding ties to the Ukrainian community in Edmonton and beyond. The response of our schools and sites to this humanitarian crisis has been humbling. Students and staff alike are engaging in awareness campaigns, fundraising, collecting items, and writing letters. Thank you to everyone who has stepped forward to serve in any way that they can. This is one of the ways that we wash the feet of others.
We were delighted by and grateful for the announcement of a new K-9 school in Lewis Farms (west) and of construction funding to build the high school in Castle Downs/Dunluce (north). These much-needed schools will ease enrolment pressures in the schools that currently serve those areas and are over-capacity. These two schools were the top priorities on the Capital Plan that we submitted to the Government of Alberta last year. Our 3-year Capital Plan, which is updated and approved annually to indicate what our greatest infrastructure needs are, was approved for the 2023-26 cycle at the March 23 Public Board meeting. You can find it by clicking here.
The results of our own ECSD Assurance Survey were presented to the Board of Trustees at the March 23 Public Board meeting as well. In the upcoming weeks, these results will be populated into our Division Assurance Dashboard. You can check this valuable visual tool throughout the year to see how we are doing as a Division. You can also read the consolidated report by clicking here. We know that there have been many surveys that families have been asked to complete over the past year, but this is at the heart of the Assurance Framework. Whenever possible, we create opportunities for our families to share their thoughts on various aspects of our Division, both so that we can ensure that we are meeting your needs and to assure you that we value your voice and are listening.
As we complete our Lenten journey in the upcoming weeks, I will share a thought from our Holy Father that shines a light on yet another aspect of being humble servants: #Lent is a favourable time to seek out – and not to avoid – those in need; to reach out – and not to ignore – those who need a sympathetic ear and a good word; to visit – and not to abandon – those who are lonely. (Pope Francis, Twitter, 03/15/22)
Yours in Christ,
Robert Martin
Chief Superintendent