Hello Louis Families,
Last week began with the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation which honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools. Every school in the CBE makes an annual commitment to acknowledge and support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Calls to Action. Louis Riel School made the following commitment to action for the 2024-2025 school year: We commit to learning about and through Indigenous knowledges focused on building student capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy, mutual respect with a focus on renewing respectful relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. One of the ways we’re honouring this commitment is by taking a holistic approach to student wellness based on the teachings in our shared understanding of the Blackfoot medicine wheel. Each quadrant of the wheel represents a domain (Spirit - To Be, Heart – To Belong, Body – To Do, Mind – To Know) and each of these domains informs our approach to wellness throughout the school year.
We began the first quarter of the school year by entering the wheel from the east which focuses on spirit – to be, and this Friday was our first of our wellness days this year. Students were engaged in learning about and discussing gratitude: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. On Friday our students all went out on the land for some time to engage in reflection about this domain and their enhanced understanding of gratitude. We will continue to enhance student wellness, learn together and build capacity for understanding as we move through the quadrants of the medicine wheel as a community of learners at Louis Riel this year.
This week we enjoyed an opportunity to host our Chief Superintendent Joanne Pittman for a school visit and instructional tour. The purpose of the visit was to not simply to present “how we do school” but more importantly to share the why and how behind our current work and to explain the thinking behind where we plan to go next with teaching and learning. The conversations we engaged in about the school’s work, our results, and the data that drives our decisions were informative, constructive, and supportive. We’re thankful for such opportunities to connect with senior leadership, share evidence of our school’s continued growth, and align our next steps as a collaborative learning community.
Thank you for taking the time to read through the points in the bulletin that apply to you and your student; we hope the revised format and frequency of the Bison bulletin will help you keep you in the loop on all things Louis Riel.
Busing
Thank you for your continued patience as First Student continues to sort out our buses. Our transportation team is working hard to improve service and safety for all students. Over the past few weeks, we have seen some of our open bus routes have permanent drivers assigned. We sincerely hope this will bring an end to the long ride times and pick-up waits caused by combining routes for some of our students. We would like to remind all families to please notify the office before the end of the day whenever they are picking up their child rather than having them bus home.
Parking and Dropoff Zones
Please do not park in front of the school to drop your child in the mornings. This area is a designated bus zone and parking there causes significant challenges for our drivers to safely navigate around parked vehicles. Drop your student to the South of the school or past the second crosswalk to the north. A short walk for your student will allow them to arrive safely at a school entrance without disrupting bus traffic or compromising road safety for anyone.
AMA Crossing Guards
Our volunteer team is at the crosswalk every morning and again at dismissal to ensure students can safely cross the road. We ask that our students please follow instructions at the crosswalk, dismount their bicycle, and proceed to cross only after they’ve been directed to do so by the crossing guards.
Athletics
Run club has seen two events fly by and we have another run coming up next week hosted on our home turf. Come on out and cheer for our runners on Wednesday this week.
Basketball season is in full swing. We hosted four nights of exciting basketball for our junior and senior teams and saw some amazing competition and fantastic teamwork. We love to see our teams of student athletes enjoying the benefits of healthy athletic competition. We encourage our students to do their best on and off the court or running track and we rely on our families for their support as well. Please support your student athlete by ensuring they can balance the demands of school and their chosen sport and by being a good spectator when you attend any events at Louis Riel or at other venues. Go Bisons!
Field Trips, Forms, Payments and Deadlines
This is a reminder to please pay close attention to the forms that come home with your student for any upcoming field trips, field studies, or special events. We often have hard deadlines for confirming student numbers with service providers and venues that do not allow us to be flexible by accommodating last minute changes or adjustments. Teachers will always communicate the deadlines for forms to be returned and fees to be submitted as well as by following up with a reminder. If you are not able to meet a deadline, we may not be able to accommodate a last-minute request to attend. If and when paperwork comes home, we request your prompt attention to avoid any disappointment for your student.
Louis Riel Parent and School Council(s)
Please join us for future meetings to learn more about what council is about and how they support learning at Louis Riel. All future Parent Council meetings will be held on the last Wednesday of every month at 6:30pm. We are excited to be hosting our meetings in person at the school during some of the more temperate months. More information to follow.
To learn more, please visit our website to see what’s new: https://www.wearelouis.ca or follow us on Instagram at wearelouisyyc
GPA Parent Association
All parents and guardians of GATE students are automatically members of the GATE Parent Association. The GPA is a great way to stay connected to the GATE community and receive updates on GATE-specific matters. Please sign up for the newsletter here: https://gatecalgary.ca/
Demographic Forms Reminder
Please submit the Demographic Verification and Annual Authorization forms in SchoolEngage for your child(ren) by Monday, September 16. These forms are mandatory every year for Alberta Education to confirm student funding. Thank you for completing them.
Lost and Found
Our lost and found is already beginning to grow and we’re only half-way through the first month of school. If you or your child are missing items, please remind them to visit the lost and found by the learning commons.
Upcoming Dates of Importance
- Oct. 15 – Grade 8 (8.1 and 8.2) to Elbow River Trip
- Oct. 16 – Grade 8 (8.3 and 8.4) to Elbow River Trip
- Oct. 18 – Grade 9 Outdoor Ed Climbing Trip
- Oct. 21 – Grade 9 (4.1 and 4.2) to SAM Centre
- Oct. 22 – Grade 9 to Calgary Zoo – Biodiversity
- Oct. 23 - Grade 9 to Calgary Zoo – Biodiversity
- Oct. 24 – Grade 7 and 8 Outdoor Ed to Johnston Canyon