Kobza's Komments

February is known as the month of love and friendship. Jesus gave us the model to follow when he said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12). This piece of Scripture is the grounding root of our new code of conduct that we are developing throughout this year. This month we are continuing to focus on our Wise Virtue.  Wise is tied to the Catholic human virtue of Justice and we described it as the following: I speak up for myself and others even when it may not be popular.  As a school community we all have rights and responsibilities to God, ourselves, the community, and other members of the community. To be just we must respect the rights of others and act in a manner that promotes positive relationships in our community.  The School Act says that students shall contribute positively to the school and community and behave in a manner that is welcoming, caring, and respectful. As students grow they experience difficulties following Jesus’ commandment to love one another. To help teach about positive relationships and deal with conflicts that occur, each class holds a weekly classroom meeting. Working through conflicts teaches necessary skills and allows students to make things right and restore relationships. We are continually striving to improve which is evident from our Tell Them From Me Secondary Survey results where 80% of students in grades 7-9 feel safe at school while the Canadian norm for these grades is 64%. I look forward to sharing with you next month the Wise behaviour expectations students have come up with.

The end of February marks the start of Lent. Thank you to Parent Council for organizing our Shrove Tuesday pancake meal on the 28^th and to all the parents who have volunteered to help make this day a success.  We will start the Lenten season by celebrating Ash Wednesday on March 1^st at St. Martha’s Church.   Each week we will come together as a community to pray and celebrate during the Lenten season. Please feel free to attend and celebrate with us. As Lent is a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving the canteen will not be serving meat on Friday.

Parents of students in grades 4 and 7 may already have received information on completing the Alberta Education Accountability Pillar Survey. Students in grades 4 and 7 and all teachers will also be completing their surveys online at school.  All surveys are anonymous and ask questions about experiences with the school.  In addition to English and French, the parent survey is available in Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree, Korean, Spanish and Tagalog.  Your participation in the survey provides important information on the quality of education your child is receiving, so we encourage you to complete your survey promptly.  If you want to find out more information and get more involved in your child’s education, come out to our Parent Council Meeting on February 8^th at 7:00. The meetings generally last an hour and I look forward to seeing you there.