Hello Louis Riel Families,
February is a month of learning for staff as last week was Teacher’s convention and we have another shortened week coming up as all CBE schools engage in additional professional development opportunities. Our staff will be heading to Riverside school for the day to learn alongside other Science Program schools. This is an exciting opportunity for our schools to come together, share ideas, teaching approaches, strategies, resources and best practices among staff. Although teaching staff have been immersed in learning lately, our students have not been left out!
Thanks for taking the time to read the entire Bison Bulletin, or simply the bolded points in the bulletin that apply to you and your student.
Labour Action in the CBE
On Feb. 19, 2025, CUPE Local 40 served 72-hour strike notice to the CBE. This means that the union will withdraw services beginning Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. Work is currently underway to bargain a new collective agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 40.
CUPE Local 40 members are an important part of our school communities. CUPE Local 40 represents about 800 employees, or 5% of the CBE workforce. Its members include cleaners, facility operators, heavy duty mechanics, locksmiths and members involved in snow removal, grounds maintenance and other lines of work. Unlike many other school boards in Alberta, support staff employees like education assistants and administrative assistants belong to the CBE Staff Association.
During strike action, CBE is prioritizing in-person learning. We are committed to supporting student learning and well-being while maintaining safe and welcoming school environments for students, staff and families.
During strike action, all CBE schools and buildings will remain open and classes will continue. However, a strike will have an impact on schools and operations, and some activities may be impacted. In the event of any cancellations, families will be informed in advance. There are no event cancellations in February and we hope the collective bargaining process can help all parties reach agreement to avoid any.
The Annual Lottery Draw is Complete
This year we saw a significant growth in expressions of interest to register at Louis Riel School for the next school year. When we reached the lottery cut-off on February 11 at noon we had a total of 653 expressions of interest for 136 spots. The following day offers of acceptance were sent to families and confirmations of acceptance were changed to confirmations of registration. Registration will be ongoing and families on the waitlist will be contacted as soon as a spot opens. We look forward to meeting and welcoming our new families in our annual Open House at the end of May.
Louis’ Painting Continues
The painting crew are making substantial progress throughout our hallways and gymnasiums at Louis. Most of the junior high hallways have been painted and the crew is making progress towards the elementary wing of the school. The hallways upstairs and on the main floor have never looked brighter and we look forward to being able to invite everyone to see it for themselves at the end of May for our open house.
Louis Riel Parent and School Council(s)
The January Louis Riel Parent Society and School Council meetings will be held back-to-back on Wednesday, February 26 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is virtual and anyone is welcome to attend, we hope to see you there as we discuss various topics of interest to students and parents alike.
Being an engaged part of your student's community helps to ensure we are all informed. The agenda will be posted the week prior on the Louis Riel website and on the day of, you will be sent a live link to the meeting.
GATE Parent Education Session and General Meeting
Goals of Gifted Education
There can be many goals of gifted education. In this talk, Dr. Matthew Makel will provide example goals that have been established by the gifted education field, while also providing context for how parents can assess whether their own goals are being met by the services that their children receive. Dr. Makel is Professor and Chair in High Ability Studies at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, and a Child Health & Wellness Researcher at the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Non-GATE parents are welcome to attend this session.
Immediately following the presentation, we will hold a short GATE Parent Association General Meeting. If you have a student registered in GATE for this current school year, you are a member of the GPA.
Date & Time - Monday March 3, 2025, 7:00 pm
Venue - Virtual meeting (Zoom)
Register by February 28, 2025.
Calling all GATE Parents! Request for Casino Volunteers
The GPA Casino Fundraising Event is taking place on Thursday March 6 and Friday March 7 at Pure Casino (1420 Meridian Rd NE). This is our most important fundraising event, which allows us to support the four GATE schools.
Please help us support the GATE classes by volunteering for a shift. Sign up! If you have any questions, please contact us at: gatecalgary@gmail.ca.
GATE Parent Association -gatecalgary.ca
Email us -info@gatecalgary.ca
Connect with us -www.gatecalgary.ca Facebook Instagram
Fun Lunches
With another calendar year come more Fun Lunches to save you and your student from un-fun ones! You can log into www.HealthyHunger.ca at any time to see the upcoming schedule and order ahead and there is always a link on the Louis Riel School website. Remember, orders always need to be placed by the Wednesday prior.
January and February dates are:
- Grades 6 – 9 - March 12
- Grades 1 – 5 - March 19
Due to health and safety protocols on food storage, the school cannot accommodate storing left-over lunches for the next day if your child is absent. Left-over lunches will be donated.
Accessing Academic and Assessment Information Online
Even though report cards are only published twice a year, families can always access achievement information through Powerschool and are also encouraged to reach out to our teaching team to discuss how we can work together to support our students. If you are looking for current information about how or what your student is doing in class, log in to Powerschool with your student to ask them to help you understand what they’ve been working on or if they need any help to complete overdue or missing assignments.
Helpful links to current assignments, assessments, and attendance information:
- Visit Powerschool
- Log in to Powerschool and look at completed work, missing work, the variety of assessments, and the comments or outcomes associated with them.
- While in Powerschool you can access marks and report cards as well as attendance tracking for absences and lates.
- Access Google Classroom to see what learning has happened and find out about current learning.
Lost and Found - Last Call
Our lost and found collection continues to grow, and grow, and grow. If your student is one of those kiddos who happens to leave their possessions on the playground with regularity, please consider adding tags, labels, or some other visible means of identification in or on their clothing or personal items.
After a few months of collecting lost items, our Lost and Found reaches maximum capacity and we have to assume the unclaimed items are abandoned. This week, we will bag up all abandoned items and donate them to charities who will redistribute them to children in need.
Dogs on School Property
There have been some concerns shared with the school about the number of dogs outside the school at pickup and drop off times. If you cannot leave your pet at home during pickup and drop off times, please provide adequate space for those who may benefit from the added sense of personal comfort.
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 cannot meet a deadline, we may not be able to accommodate a last-minute request to attend. When paperwork comes home, we request your prompt attention to avoid disappointment for your student.
Louis Riel is a busy and dynamic K-9 school, and it can be challenging to keep up with everything that happens here daily. Providing families with multiple information streams and sources including our website, teacher/classroom emails, paperwork for field trips, and the Bison bulletin should cover everything that families need to know. The challenge for some families may be that the information, timelines, and deadlines for activities can be hard to track. Our school and staff do our best to notify and remind families of upcoming dates and deadlines through the Schoolmessenger app and email. Thanks for reading the bulletin.
Upcoming Dates of Importance
- February 28 – Non-Instructional Day NO SCHOOL
- March 11 – Grade 4 (4.1 & 4.2) Shepard Landfill and Composting Facility Field Trip
- March 12 – Fun Lunch Grades 6-9
- March 13 – Spring Band Concert
- March 18 – Grade 7 EsFs – U of C Field Trip
- March 19 – Fun Lunch Grades 1-5
- March 19 – Grade 5 (5.1 & 5.2) Sam Centre Field Trip
- March 20 & 21 – Parent-Teacher Conferences
- March 21 – Non-Instructional Day NO SCHOOL
- March 24-28 – SPRING BREAK