Welcome to a very busy month of February with many special events happen-ing at St. Philip School. There is Faith Development Day for staff, Kindergarten Open House, St. Philip Pride Day, the 100th Day of School, Random Acts of Kindness Week, Carnevale, a SPARK Leadership afternoon, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Family Night, a School Council Meeting and Teachers Con-vention! Wow!!! What a month! I would like to highlight a couple of the events in particular. On Thursday, February 5th at 6:30pm we will be hosting our Kindergarten Open House. If you have children who are Kindergarten age or know of friends or relatives who have children going into Kindergarten, please let them know about the excellent Kindergarten program here at St. Philip School and the wonderful opportunity to experience the Italian Language and Cultural Pro-gramming! We are also accepting student registrations for all other grade lev-els for next year at this time. On Friday, February 13, St. Philip School will be celebrating our annual Ital-ian Cultural day Carnevale! This important Italian Language and Cultural event is an opportunity for our students to celebrate the school’s Italian Her-itage through fun games, activities and great food! Come and join us during regular school hours for this great Italian cultural experience! On a spiritual level, the students will also celebrate Ash Wednesday at 2:00pm on February 18. All parents and grandparents are welcome. Please join us if you can!

Finally congratulations to our Phoenix athletes for their success in January! Have a great month of February everyone and don’t forget to celebrate Family Day by getting out and making some very special family memo-ries!

A message from Mr. Cockburn...

Kindergarten Registration 2

School Council 3

Phoenix Sports 4&5

Accountability Survey 7

Superintendent’s Message 8&9

Archbishop’s Message 10

February Calendar 11

SPARK 6

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

St. Philip School February 2015

Edmonton Catholic Schools

Parents, please remem-ber to mark all your child’s clothing with his/her name and grade number. This will ensure if an item becomes misplaced or lost, it will be returned to him/her when found.

It may also alleviate students wearing the wrong boots home.

This is just a friendly reminder that parents are not allowed to use the staff parking lot. Please understand that we are a large school and parking is at a premium. There are days where staff have to park on the street. Thank you for your at-tention to this matter.

JUMP ROPE FOR HEART KICKOFF

Page 2

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONS FOR 2015-2016

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONS St. Philip School is now accepting registrations for Kindergarten for the 2015–2016

school year. To register, your child must be five (5) years of age before March 1, 2016. We are asking that when you come to the school to register your child please bring your child’s Birth Certificate, Baptismal Certificate and Alberta Health Care number. If any parents are aware of friends or neighbors with children who will be eligible for the ECS program, please inform them of our program! Help us to spread the great news about St Philip School!

We are also accepting student registrations for all other grades for the 2015-16 school year at this time!

HOT LUNCH

Our next Hot Lunch will be Friday, February 20th, 2015 Hot Dogs and Smoothies will be served. The theme is wearing Italian colors: green, white and red. Of course St. Philip cloth-ing will work too.

Thank you to our Hot Lunch volunteers who helped with the January 23rd lunch:

ST. PHILIP FAMILY NIGHT CELEBRATION

The St. Philip School Community will be celebrating the family from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Thursday, February 25th at the Evansdale Community Hall at 9111-150 Ave. Watch Friday envelopes for more information! Hot chocolate and cookies will be served. We look forward to this family event. We require volunteers to help with: -Kitchen: hot chocolate and cookies - Clean-up Donations for student draws will help to make this a fun event. Please telephone the school at 780-475-3566 if you are able to help or donate.

Rachel Tassone Marc Dumont Tania Garritano Sylvia Sciroli

Page 3

BINGO NEWS - Calling all Volunteers! Volunteers are still needed to help work the school BINGOS. Forms were sent home with students to help gather helpers for the few Bingos left to work for the 2014-2015 school year. The Bingos are very easy to work - there is no selling or walking around. All volunteer positions are behind the cage and require counting money or bingo cards. Monies earned from these Bingos help support school activities, field trips and technology. Volunteers are still needed for:

Friday, February 6 - afternoon and evening Bingo Thursday, April 16- afternoon and evening Bingo Monday, May 18- afternoon and evening Bingo

Tuesday, June 23 - evening Bingo

The afternoon shift is from 10:15am - 3:45 pm. The evening shift is from 4:15pm - 9:15pm All Bingos are at the Fort Road Bingo Hall (13403 Fort Road)

Your help is greatly appreciated! (If you do not have a volunteer form, please get one at the school office or contact

School Council Updates

Winter Fun for Everyone! Keeping Children Active in the Winter Months

Snow, ice, cold and fog are just a few of the natural elements we experience when autumn turns to winter. Although winter provides us with a great excuse to cozy up inside and stay warm, this isn’t always the healthi-est choice. Children often experience a variety of distractions on a daily basis and the frosty winter weather is yet another obstacle to getting the recommended amount of daily physical activity. In order to overcome the cold, sometimes we all need a little extra motivation! Here are some tips and helpful hints on how to get the whole family outside and active this winter:

Get the whole family involved by building snow angels, or, if you’re really feeling ambitious, create your own look-alike snowperson family.

Try making the snow into your own work of art by creating snow castles, mazes, or snow sculptures.

Take a slide on the wild side and go tobogganing (and don’t forget a helmet).

Play snow-pitch, a traditional game of slow pitch isn’t just for summer anymore! Try playing a game in your local diamond out in the snow, for a fun twist on this great family pastime.

Create a more challenging game of hopscotch in the snow by using food coloring.

Don’t forget snowshoeing and cross country skiing. Even if you don’t own equipment, these items can general-ly be rented at a variety of outdoor activity centres and parks.

Gear up and head to your local outdoor rink for a skate or a game of hockey.

Congratulations to the following students who make up the St. Philip School Boys’ and Girls’ Floor Hockey teams.

Boys Team Girls Team

Page 4

Cristian - 5B Kyle - 6A

Matteo - 6A Antonio - 6A

Domenic - 6B Wyatt - 5A

Marco - 6B Giacomo - 6A

Luca - 5B Joshua - 6A

Nahom - 5A Tyson - 5A

Muslim - 6A

Jenna - 6B Mya - 6A

Danika - 6A Meaghan - 6A

Maddy - 6A Samantha - 6B

Tina - 5A Kaylee - 6A

Eva - 6B

Congratulations to the following students who make up the St.

Philip Soccer Team.

Dante - 6B Giacomo - 6A

Nico - 6B Domenic - 6B

Gabriella - 6B Nehemya - 6B

Adelina - 6B Jose - 6A

AJ - 5B Cristian - 5B

Luca - 5B Davide - 5A

Francesca - 5A Yobel - 6B

Kyle - 6A Isabella - 5B

Joshua - 6A Muslim - 6A

Mateo - 6A

RESULTS OF THE JANUARY 29TH CARDINAL LEGER TOURNAMENT WILL BE IN THE MARCH NEWS-LETTER.

Congratulations to the St. Philip Co-Ed Soc-cer team for winning GOLD at the St.. Nick’s Soccer Tournament on January 15th. They went undefeated in all 6 games! MVPs were: Kyle Born, Muslim Umar and Nico Dardano. Thank you to Ms. Caputo and Mrs. Caramia for all their work coaching the team. It’s great to be a St. Philip Phoenix!!

 

Staff Faith Development Day

Page 5

This is to inform you that on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 all staff members of Edmon-ton Catholic Schools will be involved, as they were in the past in a system-wide in-service on faith development. There will be no instruction for students at school on that day. For more information, please feel free to call our school office at 780-475-3566. Thank you in advance for your support, prayers and encouragement.

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS WEEK During the week of February 9th to 13th, staff and students will join Ed-monton in celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week. The goal of this week is to raise our “kindness consciousness” by reminding people that each of us has the power to make a difference in our community by reaching into our hearts each day and showing others the best of our humanity through simple kind acts.

PATHS IN OUR SCHOOL

All feelings are OK! It is what we do with those feelings that can be good or bad. Uncomfortable feelings like sad, mad, frustrated, disappoint-ed, scared are things that we sometimes feel. The important thing is to help our students choose positive ways to express or show their feelings. Positive ways to express uncomfortable feelings might be to talk to someone, take deep breaths to calm down, take a break from the situation, ask for help… In our PATHS lessons and throughout the day, we talk about how to handle un-comfortable feelings by using the control signals poster. Ask your child to show you the three steps of Red, Yellow and Green!

Congratulations to the following Grade 6 students who make up the St. Philip Indoor Running Team.

Giacomo - 6A Jose - 6A

Yobel - 6B Muslim - 6A

Dante - 6B Kyle - 6A

Kaylee - 6A

Nico - 6B Domenico - 6B

Zianab - 6B Mya - 6A

Danika - 6A Madelyn - 6A

Meaghan - 6A Jacqueline - 6A

Sylvana - 6A Kayla - 6A

Page 6

On Tuesday, January 20, Scadoo the Penguin came to visit the Kin-dergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 1/2 classes. We learned that the Afri-can Black-Footed Penguin likes warm and sunny areas and loves to

eat fish! If you are interested in seeing Scadoo and his penguin friends, please visit West Edmonton Mall’s Marine Life.

PENGUIN IN THE CLASSROOM

The Spark team’s Healthy Eating Challenge which ran January 12-16th was a huge success. Many classes brought in nutritious lunches and made healthy choices. We would like to espe-cially recognize 4B, 6A, 1A, 3B, 4A, and Kinder-garten for doing a great job. Thank you all for participating in our Healthy Eating Challenge.

William and the SPARK Team

HEALTHY EATING CHALLENGE

Page 7                   TELL them FROM me Survey  

The Edmonton Catholic School District has partnered with Alberta Educa on and The Learning Bar (www.thelearningbar.com) to survey students in St. Philip School on their level of engagement in learning, their level of student wellness and the climate of their classroom(s) and school.  

 

The Tell Them From Me (TTFM) survey was developed by interna onally renowned educa onal re-searcher Dr. Douglas Willms and is based upon years of research in Canada and around the world. Gathering student feedback through this survey will support our school’s plans for con nuous im-provement. 

 

Also included in the TTFM survey are Alberta Educa on’s Accountability Pillar Survey ques ons for students. As an annual check-up on the educa on system, Alberta Educa on conducts surveys of students to gather informa on on the quality of educa on provided by Alberta school authori es and their schools. The results are provided to school authori es to inform the development of their three-year educa on plans and annual educa on results reports, and are used to evaluate perfor-mance on Accountability Pillar survey measures. 

 Student par cipa on in the survey is voluntary and completely anonymous. Students are assigned a random username and password so that survey responses cannot be a ributed to any individual stu-dent. Grade 4 to 6 students in St. Philip School will be surveyed between January 19 and February 13, 2015. The survey takes about thirty (30) minutes to complete on-line and will be done within the school day during regular class  me. 

 If you have any ques ons about the TTFM survey, please contact Mr. Cockburn at 780-475-3566.  

Alberta Education Accountability Survey Information for 2015 As an annual check-up on the education system, the Accountability Pillar provides an opportunity for Alberta Education and school authorities to ensure that we are equipping students for success. The Accountability Pillar uses a set of 16 indicators consisting of surveys of students, parents and teachers on various aspects of quality; student outcomes such as dropout and high school comple-tion rates; and provincial assessments of student learning. From January to the end of February, Alberta Education will be conducting the annual Accountability Pillar Survey. In January, parents of students in grades 4, 7 and 10 will receive a survey from Alberta Education. In February, students in grades 4, 7 and 10 and all teachers will be completing their sur-veys online at school. All surveys are anonymous and ask questions about experiences with the school. In addition to Eng-lish and French, the parent survey is available in Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Urdu. Your participation in the survey helps provide important information on the quality of education your child is receiving, so we encourage you to return your survey promptly.

Survey results will be available to school authorities in May 2015, and will be reported publicly as part of their 3-Year Education Plans and Annual Education Results Reports.

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. ~ Isaiah 58:11

This scripture passage is one that speaks to us deeply as we begin the Lenten season. As Jesus enters into the desert to prepare for His death, He knows that God is with Him. He is taking this journey, difficult as it is, with love in His heart. Isaiah tells us clearly that when we undertake the fasts in our lives with love and in the pursuit of justice, our rewards are immeasurable.

There are so many events in addition to the beginning of Lent that will take place this month. February marks the beginning of our Open House season. If your child is transitioning to a new level, looking for a focus program, or if you are moving, this is an excellent opportunity for you to visit schools and learn more about program options. Visit http://www.hrs.ecsd.net/open_house/ to learn more.

Our entire staff is gathering on February 3 to listen to the wisdom of Father Raymond Carey and to celebrate the Eucharist. Many schools will participate in Random Acts of Kindness week, which begins on February 9. All teachers in the greater Edmonton area will come together on February 26 and 27 to en-gage in sessions that address a broad spectrum of topics relevant to teaching and learning in Alberta schools. All members of the public are invited to join in this learning opportunity by listening to speaker Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow. This session takes place on Thursday, February 26 from 6:45 to 8:45 pm in Hall D of the Shaw Conference Centre.

I would like to share my great appreciation for the partnership of our parent community that has been clearly evident in two recent areas. Thanks to all of the parents who participate in our online budget survey. The feedback from 1929 families, our highest participation rate ever, provided invaluable opinions on what our budget priorities should be in the upcoming year. As well, thanks to the generosity and support of students and families in our schools and departments and to our staff through payroll deductions, the Edmonton Catholic Schools’ Sign of Hope and the We Care Challenge raised $132,592.38 to support the important work of Catholic Social Services!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

~ Romans 15:13 

Alberta educators are focused on growing students’ competencies to be Engaged Thinkers, Ethical Citizens with an En-

trepreneurial Spirit. Alberta Education is now posting school stories of how school communities across the province are

achieving this goal. To see these stories, go to Alberta Education’s Inspiration in Action website:

https://inspiring.education.alberta.ca/inspiration-in-action/. As part of our Transform professional development pro-

gram, we are contributing our classroom and professional development stories to this site. Although we are continually

submitting stories to this website, presently, there are examples from H.E. Beriault and Louis St. Laurent under

“Engaged Thinker” and St. Augustine for “Entrepreneurial Spirit”.

Here is some valuable information on Terms of Use of websites your children may be using. When your child creates an

account on a website they may be using, they are subject to the Terms of Use of that website. These terms are typically

written in legal language and may be difficult to understand. Knowing what you as a parent should look for when con-

sidering allowing your child to create an account on a website they’re using can help you decide if you’re comfortable

with your child using the site. Here are some things to look for in the Terms of Use, often found as a link at the bottom

of the main site page:

1) Age restriction: Many (but not all) sites such as YouTube, Facebook, and other social media sites have an age 13 re-

striction for users to create an account, or permission from a parent. Other sites such as Prezi have far more restrictive

terms of use which state that the site is intended for users 18 and older.

2) Personal Information: What personal information is the site requesting from your child, and are you comfortable with

your child sharing this information? A good rule of thumb is to never share more personal information than is required

by the site, and to create ‘nicknames’ wherever possible instead of providing a real name.

3) Public Gallery: Some sites (e.g. GoAnimate) give users access to a public gallery of works that other users have cre-

ated. In some cases, the content of these sites may not be considered appropriate.

In his Ash Wednesday homily last year, Pope Francis shared the importance of Lent for us as Catholics. “Lent comes

providentially to reawaken us, to shake us from our lethargy”. As you begin your walk through the desert with Jesus,

who journeyed for our salvation, may you be ever mindful of the state of the world around you and of your ability to

effect positive change.

Sincerely,

Joan Carr, Superintendent

Page 10

February 2015

Dear Friends,

I seems as though we just finished celebrating the Christmas season. I pray that you had time to celebrate the birth of Christ surrounded by family and friends.

The Church liturgical seasons of Lent and Easter are now upon us. These two im-portant liturgical seasons are best understood when celebrated in the light of the Easter Triduum, also known as the Great Three Days. The Easter Triduum begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and extends until the evening of Easter Sunday. The Church witnesses in a profound way to the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, His Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

The season of Lent is a period of forty days before Easter beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015, and ending on Holy Thursday April 2, 2015. Dur-ing the season of Lent we are reminded of the themes of penance, fasting, and almsgiving. These actions assist each one of us in our preparation for Easter. The Easter season, which is celebrated for fifty days, begins on Easter Sunday April 5, 2015 and ends with the Solemnity of Pentecost on May 24, 2015. The Easter sea-son allows us ample time to truly celebrate the Risen Lord, who is our Saviour and Redeemer.

May God continue to bless each of you during the holy seasons of Lent and East-er.

Sincerely,

Richard W. Smith

Archbishop of Edmonton

February 2015

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1

2

Grade 5 Hep B shots

AM

3 Faith

Development Day

(no classes for students)

4 5 Kindergarten Open House

6:30p.m.

6 St. Philip

Pride Day

7

8

9 100th day

of school for grade 1s

10 Kinder in-

class fieldtrip “Zoo to U”

11 School Council Meeting 6:30p.m.

12

13 Carnevale

14

15 16 Family Day No Classes!

17 Shrove

Tuesday Free

Pancake Lunch

18 Ash

Wednesday Celebration

2:00p.m.

19

20 Hot Lunch (hot dogs)

Red or Pink Day

21

22 23 Gr. 1A, 1/2B, 2A to Telus

(PM)

24

25 Family Night 6:00-8:00p.m. Evansdale Community Hall

26

27

28

St. Philip Catholic School 8720—144AVE

Phone: 780-475-3566 Fax: 780-478-9659

Teachers’ Convention (no classes)

Page 11