Inside this issue…

School News

November Recognitions

Christmas Concert

Bring and Buy Sale

Dismissal Times

Transportation

Reading Corner

School Council News

Capital Health News

St. John Bosco Parish News

Superintendent's Message &

Christmas Blessings!

Next Newsletter

December 18th , 2015

Principal: Mrs. Lori McDonough Assistant Principal: Mrs. Michelle LaFrance Secretary: Mrs. Renee Bourlai Web Site: www.stmariagoretti..ecsd.net

Message From the Administration Team In the rhythm of a school year, December is a beautiful time to appreciate the wonder of life and to give thanks for our many blessings. As a Catholic school, we are a life-giving place and the gifts our students, staff and families share give meaning to our lives.

It was wonderful celebrating your children's learning at the November, 26th Celebra-tion of Learning. We sincerely thank our families for their partnership and look forward to continued student growth this school year.

This weekend marks the beginning of the new liturgical year as well as the beginning of Advent. We hope that this season of Advent offers our families, students and staff, ways to prepare for Christmas with peace and joy so that we are truly ready to cele-brate the birth of Christ. LOVING LORD

Loving and compassionate God,

Your quiet presence is unveiled

in the soft December light.

Throughout this Advent Season,

help us slow down our lives,

and tend to our souls.

Give us courage and wisdom

to become more authentically human.

May this blessed time be filled

with the warmth of family and friends,

and may we extend this blessing

to all those who are lonely.

We ask this through Jesus Christ

Our Lord, in the love

of the Holy Spirit, one God,

forever and ever.

Amen

We invite you to share in our preparation for Christmas. We will celebrate the lighting of the first candle of Advent during our Advent Celebration and reconciliation on Monday, November 30th at 10:00 AM. All are welcome! Each Monday in December we will celebrate the lighting of the Advent candles during our morning broadcast. Our Christmas concert theme, “Christmas Jubilation” will also help us to celebrate Jesus’ birth. We are having two concerts this year on Monday Dec. 14th and on Wednesday, Dec. 16th at St. John Bosco Church at 6:30 PM. The doors open at 6:00 PM. We are asking that you bring a Food Bank donation as admission. We are collecting these items for the St. John Bosco Parish Food Bank. We wish you a wonderful journey to Bethlehem in these next weeks; a journey filled with Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

Mrs. Lori McDonough Mrs. Michelle LaFrance

Principal Assistant Principal

December 2015 Newsletter #4

4214 -127 Ave.

Edmonton, AB T5A 3K6

Ph. 475 - 0158 FAX 478 - 8635

www.stmariagoretti.ecsd

Please refrain from chewing gum, bringing

beverages into the church or wearing caps

of any kind.

Advent Celebration

During the Advent season, we invite you to come and share with us in our preparation for Christmas. We will be lighting the candles on our Advent wreath each Monday morning, during our Channel 77 broadcast. We will also be celebrating during our St. Maria Goretti Advent Celebration and reconciliation on Monday, November 30th at 10:00 a.m. We look forward to the Advent season and we wait in great anticipation for the coming of the Christ Child.

Dear, Parents and Students,

On December 11th we will have our 7th Annual

Bring and Buy Sale. We ask all parents and stu-

dents to help participate in the Bring and Buy

Sale, by bringing in quality slightly used toys,

books, ornaments and Christmas items. All the

money raised will go to Burundi.

Please bring in your items from December 7th

to 11th.

Sincerely, St. Maria Goretti Grade 6 Class.

Christmas Concert

Please mark your calendars for:

Monday, December 14th at 6:30 pm (K, 2, 4 & 6 Hand bells and Glee)

Wednesday, December 16th at 6:30

(1, 2/3, 3, 5 & 5/6 Hand bells and Glee)

St. John Bosco Church for our St. Maria Goretti School Advent/

Christmas Concert. In response to the large crowds that have at-tended the St. Maria Goretti Christmas concert in the past, we have decided to have the con-cert on two nights. We invite everyone to share in an evening of music and song to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Thanks to Mrs. R. for all her efforts in making our Advent /Christmas season so very special for our families. We will once again have a raffle for the “Best Seats in the House” in support of the Edmonton Catholic School Foundation. These raffle tickets will be on sale Nov. 23rd to Dec. 3rd.

Please note that doors to the church open at

6:00 PM.

For those who are able, please bring a donation

for the food bank as admission to the concert.

KA-Esther D.

KB-Bronwen F.

KC-Arop A.

1A-Travis S.

1B-Kevin J.

1C-Fayiah F.

2A-Mercedes M.

2B-Blake B.

2/3A-Phillip M.

3A-Kendra F.

4A-Petro O.

5A-Georgia N.

5/6A-Alison K.

6A-Brady H.

S.M.G. Glee Club Sings for the

Christmas Season

St. Maria Goretti Glee Club, a choir of

grade 5, and 6 students under the direction of Mrs.

Rozhdestvensky and Miss Rose, will perform con-

certs on:

Nov. 27 at Festival of Trees,

Dec. 5th at “Oil Kings” Sing for Santa,

Dec.7th at City Hall

Dec. 9th at the International Airport.

These special concerts are our school’s gift from the

heart to the community this Christmas Season.

Thank you goes out to Mrs. Rozhdestvensky and

Miss Rose!

Ski Lessons Grades 5 and 6

The Grade 5 and 6 students are go-

ing skiing or snowboarding at Sun-

Ridge on Friday, January 22nd and

again, on Friday, February 5th. Buses

will be leaving St. Maria Goretti at

9:00 a.m. and will return to the

school by 3:00 p.m. Please be

reminded that the regular yellow buses do not

transport skis or snowboard equipment. Parents are

therefore asked to drop off their child’s equipment at

the school prior to departure. If you have any ques-

tions, please contact Mr. Haro @ 780-475-0158.

From the Reading Corner One of the most important gifts a parent can give to their child is the gift of time. Setting aside time daily to share in their children’s learning experiences and to read with them is extremely important in helping children to be successful.

Here are some suggestions in making reading important in your home. When reading with your child remember to:

Prepare before reading.

Discuss what is known about the topic to be read, before reading .

Ask questions.

Also remember to:

Make predictions about story content.

Interact and reinforce while reading.

Encourage questions, comments, and predictions.

Compliment good interaction.

Give your child the opportunity to discuss what they have read.

Congratulate success in reading!

Give the time to read… Happy Reading and Listening!

Home Reading

The winners of the Home Reading

Program for the month of November are:

Christmas Holiday Dismissal Times

We will be switching our Thursday dismissal

time to Friday during the last week of school.

This will allow for an early dismissal prior to

the Christmas break. Our dismissal times will

be as follows:

Thursday, December 17th, at 3:15 PM

Remember Hot Lunch is provided by Parent

Council and it is also P.J. Day!

Friday, December 18th, at 12:00 PM

School Council

Wishes you a Blessed

Christmas and a

Very Happy New Year!

Edmonton Catholic School Foundation Raffle

Tickets are now on sale for the following raffle items

Best Seats in the House Dec. 14th-

Best Seats in the House Dec. 14th–

Best Seats in the House Dec. 16th-

Best Seats in the House Dec. 16th-

Large Stuffed Puppy &5lb. Chocolate Bar -

Cineplex Great Escape & Movie Basket -

Cineplex Great Escape & Movie Basket -

Oil Kings Tickets -

Be sure to buy your tickets for a

chance to win one of these raffle

prizes!

St. Maria Goretti students and staff thank

the Parent Council for all their hard work and

dedication in fundraising and supporting our

school in many different ways. It is through

your efforts that we are able to participate in

many wonderful activities and enhancement

experiences.

School Council News

November saw the wrap-up of the chocolate fundraiser and the start of the Stawnichy’s fund-raiser. Thank you to the many parents that par-ticipated in these fundraising activities! A special thanks to the school council for the many hours that went into making these such a success

The students also enjoyed a wonderful hot lunch this month on Western Day. Thank you to the many volunteers who helped to make this fun lunch possible, and especially, to Miss Dotto for leading the team. We look forward to providing a hot lunch from Chianti’s free of charge for the students on Dec. 17th. More information will fol-low. Remember to wear your PJ’s that day!

As we approach the end of this calendar year, we would like to thank all of our many volunteers who have helped to make this such a great begin-ning for the students of St. Maria Goretti. Janu-ary will be the start of many more wonderful ex-periences for all students, and we look forward to continuing to work with the St. Maria Goretti School family members, towards an enjoyable and enriched school experience.

Digital Citizenship

As Edmonton Catholic Schools continues to expand its role of providing a 21st century learning environment, it is critical that our teachers and students are familiar with the responsibili-ties of being digitally connected citizens. Teachers must be aware of the impacts of student participation in the digital world so they can recognize “teachable moments” that arise as students explore and create in an online environment. Students and parents must become aware of the benefits and risks that are associated with digital interactions and that ultimately students must be able to make responsible choices and decisions as they navigate and interact within the digital world.

Choose Safety over Convenience!

The safety and security of our students is our first priority. We need your cooperation to ensure that students arrive and depart safely. We encour-age all parents to honor the Bus Zones, Drop Off Zones, and avoid the parking lot when dropping off their children. The safety of all our students is de-pendent upon everyone’s willingness to follow these procedures. We would ask that you respect the parking areas. Please do not block the sidewalk access in the staff parking lot. Please do not dou-

ble park on the road.

We appreciate your support in providing a safe environment for

all children.

Transportation News

Our transportation system has an excellent record for service, however, given the extremes of Edmonton weather, a route can take 50% longer in adverse weather conditions. Parents are advised that if a bus does not arrive within twenty minutes of its scheduled time, they are to assume the bus is not coming. Par-ents must ensure that their child knows to return home or to a pre-selected location and the par-ents must make alternate arrangements to get their child to school. Parents should also ensure

that children are supervised at the bus stop.

Children should be suitably clothed to with-stand weather extremes. Children should have a place to go in the event the bus does not arrive. Children should have alternate arrangement for

getting to school should the bus not arrive.

Now that winter has arrived, we ask for

everyone’s cooperation in keeping our

hallways dry and safe. Please remove wet

footwear at the door to assist our custodi-

ans in maintaining the hallways. Snow

and moisture off of footwear creates a slip

hazard for our students and staff. There-

fore please take a moment to remove your

wet footwear at the door. We thank you for

your attention to this matter.

From the Library:

Please Return All Books to the

library by Friday Dec 11,2015.

Families Helping Families

As a social justice project that followed We Day, our Gr. 6 class organized a Bake Sale on November 26th for our Families Helping Families

Fund.

Thank you to the parents that brought baking and thank you to the students that sold the bak-

ing during the Celebration of Learning.

Through your generous support we were able to raise $553.00 to help families in our school

that need some extra support.

From

Grade Six Students

Critical Thinking Challenge

Maxson P.

Olivia K.

Peter M.

AlRichvan B.

Hermela M.

James H.

Maria K.

Saul P.

Jade S.

Zewdu M.

Johana A.

Noah D.

Alix R.

Pritika N.

Raymond S.

Joshua M.

Jordan Y-S.

Saron T.

Brooke L.

Pierce N.

Sofia M.

Maddyx P.

Dzenelle A.

Jack O.

Brooklynn G.

Elijah R.

Brandi L.

Amaya R.

Alison K.

Krystina I.

Nyandeng L.

Niklaus K-W.

Maria O.

November Critical Thinkers

Critical Thinking:

Students were encouraged to look at 3 posters and to determine what was the un-

derlying theme. This challenge requires students to look critically at the subject, to

make comparisons, and to engage their past experiences to come up with an an-swer. This contest runs monthly and is

open to any student in the school.

Remembrance Day Celebration (by Annie Desautels)

St. Maria Goretti Elementary School hosted a Re-membrance Day Celebration in the gym on November 10th. We thank the students that participated in the procession in their uniforms from their various organi-zations. These included: Junior Cadet, Brownies, Girl Guides, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. Also in attendance was Father Romano from John Bosco Parish. Many parents, grandparents and great-grandparents attend-ed the celebration as well.

Volleyball Team

Congratulations go out to

our girls and boys Volleyball Teams on a

successful season. The students participat-

ed in a tournament at St. Elizabeth Seton

School on Saturday, November 14th. Both

teams exhibited good sportsmanship and

played their best. We are proud of the way

they represented St. Maria Goretti School!

Go Stingers!

A special thank you to our coaches,

Mr. Haro and Miss Villadarez

November Kids’ Convention at St. Maria Goretti School

Central Question: What do you know about author Robert Munsch?

On Nov. 20, the SMG students participated in November Kids’ Convention. Information about

Robert Munsch was shared on morning broadcast throughout the week. Every teacher devel-

oped a session focused on one Munsch book appropriate for Grade 1-6 students. Students

were able to choose from one of the thirteen sessions.

Sessions Included:

#13: The Paper Bag Princess – Students were invited to become fashion designers. Using

various materials students developed paper dresses and gowns. Designs were featured in a

fashion show.

#4: Ribbon Rescue –Students were given an opportunity to explore moving shapes using rib-

bons. The group developed a ribbon dance that was recorded and featured on SMG Broadcast.

#8: Class Clown – Gr. 3-6 students were encouraged to explore comedy. Learning the art of

humor, these students performed their best jokes and riddles for session participants.

#11: Just One Goal – Be like McDavid? Gr. 4-6 students were challenged to participate in a

hockey camp which ended in a little game play.

“Robert Munsch writes amaz-

ing books. My favorite is Alli-

gator Baby.” (Nikita, Gr. 2)

“It surprised me that Robert Munsch was an

American that moved to Canada and became a

Canadian author.” (Katherin, Gr. 5/6)

Grade 2/3A & 3A Visit at

St. John Bosco Church with

Father Romano

Grade 2/3 and 3A enjoyed a field trip to St. John Bosco Parish on November 5th. The students have been studying Symbols of the Church and Parts of the Mass and thoroughly appreciated learning even more on these topics from Father Romano. This was fun and real world learning! Fr. Romano also took

the Grade 2/3 class and the Grade 3 class on a tour

of the church. He explained all the parts of the church.

Thank you Father Romano

Congratulations to all our students that cel-ebrated the sacrament of Reconciliation on November 25th at St. John Bosco Parish!

God bless all our students who continue to journey in their faith and plan to cele-brate the sacrament of Reconciliation later this year.