Volume 10, Issue 4 M ESSAGE F ROM T HE P RINCIPAL R OCKIES R UMBLINGS RUNDLE ACADEMY 4330 16 Street SW Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 Ph: 250-2965 / Fax: 250-2914 www.rundleacademy.ab.ca INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Message from the Principal 1 Society News Academic Fair 2 Speaker Series 3 Monthly Parent Survey Parent Workshop 4 Lorne Wood Award 5 Drama 6 Drama Cont’d 7 Music Notes 8 Exam Schedule 9 Activities for the Month 10 January 11, 2013 “WE MOVE MOUNTAINS” Happy New Year We all hope you and your families had a restful holiday! I have to admit, it was pretty exciting to see the students return to school after two weeks off. They were energized and excited to see their friends and teachers and get 2013 underway! Midterm and Final Exams January is an exciting yet challenging month for teachers and students as it represents a bit of a break from routine. If your child is in Grade 6-12, they will be doing midterms, finals or diploma exams. We hope students feel well prepared by their teachers and with this preparedness will come a higher level of confidence. For our Grade 6 students, this will be the first time they do a midterm exam. The intent of the midterm exam is not to cre- ate stress and/or anxiety, but to give our students a chance to rehearse for the eventuality of the Grade 6 Provincial Achievement Test (PAT). In the past, we have found that our Grade 6 students are a little dazzled by the midterm exam, but come time for the PAT the anxiety is much less because they have rehearsed the situation at least once. During the midterm week, Grade 6-9 stu- dents are expected to stay at school in the afternoons for school activities and important review time with their teachers. Senior High students are welcome to leave school when they are done their exams. For all our students, we believe that with adequate preparation and some review time, the students will do well on these exams and be ready to move on to the second half of the year. On January 30 th , there will be no school as the teachers have a Professional De- velopment Day and then classes resume on January 31 st . Mark statements for the midterm exams and for Senior High courses will be e-mailed out in the first week of February. Alberta Accountability Pillar Surveys 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’re equipping students for success. The Accountability Pillar uses a set of 16 indicators consisting of surveys of stu- dents, parents and teachers on various student outcomes such as dropout and high school completion rates and provin- cial 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 Al- berta Education. In February, students in grades 4, 7 and 10 and all teachers will be completing their surveys online at school. All surveys are anonymous and ask questions about experiences with the school. Your participation in the survey helps provide important information on the quality of education your child is re- ceiving, so we encourage you to return your survey promptly. Survey results will be available to school authorities in May 2013, and will be re- ported publicly as part of the 3-Year Edu- cation Plans and Annual Education Re- sults Reports. We are very pleased with the successes we have seen in the first half of the school year and are eager to get started on all of our academic and extra- curricular plans for 2013.
Transcript
Volume 10 , Issue 4
ME S S A G E FRO M THE PR I N C I PA L
R O C K I E S R U M B L I N G S
RUNDLE ACADEMY 4330 16 Street SW
Calgary, AB T2T 4H9 Ph: 250-2965 / Fax: 250-2914 www.rundleacademy.ab.ca
I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :
Message from the Principal 1
Society News Academic Fair
2
Speaker Series 3
Monthly Parent Survey Parent Workshop
4
Lorne Wood Award 5
Drama 6
Drama Cont’d 7
Music Notes 8
Exam Schedule 9
Activities for the Month 10
January 11 , 2013
“WE MOVE MOUNTAINS”
Happy New Year
We all hope you and your families had a restful holiday! I have to admit, it was pretty exciting to see the students return to school after two weeks off. They were energized and excited to see their friends and teachers and get 2013 underway!
Midterm and Final Exams
January is an exciting yet challenging month for teachers and students as it represents a bit of a break from routine. If your child is in Grade 6-12, they will be doing midterms, finals or diploma exams. We hope students feel well prepared by their teachers and with this preparedness will come a higher level of confidence.
For our Grade 6 students, this will be the first time they do a midterm exam. The intent of the midterm exam is not to cre-ate stress and/or anxiety, but to give our students a chance to rehearse for the eventuality of the Grade 6 Provincial Achievement Test (PAT). In the past, we have found that our Grade 6 students are a little dazzled by the midterm exam, but come time for the PAT the anxiety is much less because they have rehearsed the situation at least once.
During the midterm week, Grade 6-9 stu-dents are expected to stay at school in the afternoons for school activities and important review time with their teachers. Senior High students are welcome to leave school when they are done their exams. For all our students, we believe that with adequate preparation and some review time, the students will do well on these exams and be ready to move on to the second half of the year.
On January 30th, there will be no school as the teachers have a Professional De-velopment Day and then classes resume on January 31st. Mark statements for the
midterm exams and for Senior High courses will be e-mailed out in the first week of February.
Alberta Accountability Pillar Surveys
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’re equipping students for success.
The Accountability Pillar uses a set of 16 indicators consisting of surveys of stu-dents, parents and teachers on various student outcomes such as dropout and high school completion rates and provin-cial 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 Al-berta Education. In February, students in grades 4, 7 and 10 and all teachers will be completing their surveys online at school.
All surveys are anonymous and ask questions about experiences with the school. Your participation in the survey helps provide important information on the quality of education your child is re-ceiving, so we encourage you to return your survey promptly.
Survey results will be available to school authorities in May 2013, and will be re-ported publicly as part of the 3-Year Edu-cation Plans and Annual Education Re-sults Reports.
We are very pleased with the successes we have seen in the first half of the school year and are eager to get started on all of our academic and extra-curricular plans for 2013.
Page 2
SO C I E T Y NE W S
Volume 10 , Issue 4
AC A D E M I C FA I R
Attention all Parents of Elementary and Junior High Students
Rundle Academy will be having an Academic Fair February 22nd from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. The Academic Fair is an exciting learning event, bringing the students together to share their knowledge of a subject that interests them.
The intent of our Academic Fair is to help the students enjoy the process of academic discovery.
When students do projects, they are working independently or with a partner, developing and refining their process skills. While working on projects they are increasing their knowledge and their ability to think critically.
The project is to be completed outside of regular class time. We encourage you to support your child’s efforts at every step. Although it is the student’s effort, there is no substitute for a parent’s support. Areas in which a parent’s assistance is welcome include:
1. Suggesting project ideas. The project for Academic Fair can be on any topic which the stu-dent would like to explore. The internet and library are an excellent resource for ideas.
2. Transportation to libraries, businesses, museums, nature centers, universities or any source of project information.
3. Technical support such as construction and photography.
4. Helping with project expenses.
5. Being attentive to safety issues.
6. Being an interested listener.
Students MUST submit a topic to their homeroom teacher for the Academic Fair by Friday, January 25th. It is impor-tant for students to know what they are doing in order to make the learning experience a rewarding and enjoyable one.
January 9, 2013 Exam Preparation and Relieving Test Anxiety * Mr. Dave Miller, Mr. Gary Sylven
January 21, 2013 Transitions to Grade 7 and Grade 10 * All Grade 6 and Grade 9 Parents * Dr. Dave Miller, Mr. Brad James, Mr. Keith van der Meer and Ms. Nicole Davidson
March 19, 2013 Discussions on ADHD & Learning Disabilities —Implications for School & Home * Speakers TBA
April 18, 2013 What to expect at Post Secondary Institutions—Transition Planning * Dr. Brent Macdonald, St. Mary’s University College and Alumni Student Panel
Volume 10 , Issue 4
Transition Night - January 21st at 7:00 p.m. All Grade 6 and Grade 9 parents are strongly encouraged to attend.
On Monday, January 21st, Rundle Academy will be host-ing their transition evening. This evening is designed for parents and aims to answer all the important questions about changing divisions. Questions like: What does a student in Alberta need to graduate?
What options are offered at our Junior High/Senior High?
How much homework is in Grade 7 or Grade 10?
What's the difference between a Dash 1 and a Dash 2 course?
How do I open a combination lock and find my class?
What universities do Academy graduates attend? Has anybody ever gone to Harvard?
When do I start planning for university? And many, many more!
Grade 6 students and their parents are invited to hear Mr. van der Meer, Head of Junior High, introduce you to life in the Junior High years. The focus is on how it may differ from Elementary and how the transition is made easier at Rundle Academy. A parallel talk will occur that same evening for the parents of our Grade 9 students who are preparing for Senior High. Our Head of Senior High, Ms. Nicole Davidson, will lead the talk that will introduce you to Alberta’s high school system and how Rundle Academy prepares stu-dents for post-secondary opportunities and beyond. This evening is the first step in ensuring students and par-ents are making informed decisions during these critical transition years. We look forward to seeing everybody there. If for some reason you cannot be in attendance, please contact your homeroom teacher or TA and let them know.
DRUGS AND YOUR CHILD
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 7:00 p.m.
Rundle Elementary Gymnasium 2634 - 12 Avenue NW
Detective Steve Walton (retired) is a 25 year veteran of law enforcement. For the last 10 years of his career he was assigned to a Drug Unit. In that capacity he supervised an under-cover street team and managed more than 120 undercover drug operations and 780 undercover drug transac-tions. Steve has personally attended over 300 Marihuana grow operations and has been qualified in the criminal jus-tice system as an expert with respect to street drug related matters. Steve’s formal and informal education regarding street drugs has provided him with considerable expertise in the areas of street jargon, consumption practices, the physiology of street drugs, the effects of use, street pric-ing and patterns of abuse.
Steve is a member of the California Narcotic Officers Association, and a former member of the National Advi-sory Board for the Police Marksman Magazine. Steve is a member of the advisory board and is an active in-structor for the Addictions Studies faculty at Mount Royal College in Cal-gary and was a member of the na-tional training initiative “Chemical Drugs and the Dance Culture”. Steve is a contributing editor to the Ameri-can School Health Association and was a drug awareness instructor for the nation wide training strategy P.A.R.T.Y. Steve has published nu-merous articles in a variety of publica-tions in Canada and the United States and is the author of the award-winning, best-selling book “First Re-sponse Guide to Street Drugs” Vol-ume 1. Steve recently completed his
second book “Club Drugs, Designer Drugs, and Predatorial Chemicals; A First Response Guide to Street Drugs Volume 2”. Steve has spent considerable time in other areas of the Police Service in-cluding; patrol and tactical support. Steve actively instructs in the areas of drug education, and drug investiga-tional techniques, as well as officer safety. Steve Walton has completed his third book titled "Diverted Pharmaceuticals and Drug Proofing Strategies: A First Response Guide to Street Drugs Vol-ume 3". This title will be available for purchase soon.
Page 4
MO N T H LY PA R E N T SU RV E Y
Volume 10 , Issue 4
PA R E N T WO R K S H O P
Parent Survey Results!
Thanks to all the parents who responded to the survey in the last newsletter. Nearly half of all parents expressed their opinions and we greatly appreciate the feedback. Keep up the good work for this month's new survey!
Next year, should the Elementary, Junior High, and Sen-ior High all have Parent Teacher Interviews on the same day?
o No way: 4% o Doesn’t matter: 79% o Absolutely: 17%
Did any teachers surprise you with information at Parent Teacher Interviews?
o 89% reported that they had no surprises.
Would you prefer that students attend the interviews with you?
o No way: 18% o Doesn’t matter: 51% o Absolutely: 31%
What was your overall satisfaction with the format of Par-ent Teacher Interviews?
o 83% reported that they were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with interviews.
Name the teacher who has the greatest interviews of all!
o Elementary: Mr Bucher o Junior High: Mr Palmer o Senior High: Mr Vesey
In summary, it looks like we are doing quite well on our Parent Teacher Interviews and on our goal to have no surprises for parents at interviews. In future surveys, we will provide the opportunity to elaborate on responses in case parents would like to comment further on their opin-ions. Thanks again for your input! Please press control and click below for the new survey.
It was a proud moment for Dave Hauk and Rundle Col-lege on November 29, 2012, when Mr. Hauk was awarded the prestigious Lorne Wood Award by the Al-berta Schools’ Athletic Association at a reception in Red Deer, Alberta. Named after Lorne Wood, founder of the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association, this award recog-nizes school administrators who actively model, support and promote sportsmanship by their involvement in their school's athletic program. Dave Hauk is the seventh re-cipient of this award.
Rundle College Junior and Senior High’s Athletic Director, Laurel Adolphe, started the nomination process in 2010 and worked tirelessly to provide the required letters of support from coaches and students/parents and a one-page essay outlining why Dave Hauk is deserving of the Lorne Wood Award. Those letters of support quickly came in from Rundle College Chairman, Dr. Robert E. Evans; Rundle College Junior and Senior High School Physical Education Department Head, Mr. Neil Domstad; Head Football Coach, physical education and science
teacher, Mr. Brent Hargreaves; Mrs. Laurel Adolphe her-self; along with Rundle alumnus Andrew Buckley (Class of 2011) and current quarterback for the University of Cal-gary Dinos.
Rundle College is widely known for the strength of its ath-letic program and that is due in large part to the vision of Dave Hauk. More than just producing top athletes, Dr. Evans states, “Dave Hauk encourages coaches to use sports programs as a tool to teach positive character traits such as honesty, integrity, hard work, perseverance, con-scientiousness and cooperation.” Dave Hauk’s passion as an athlete, educator and administrator has virtually transformed Rundle College’s athletic program that con-tinues to develop strong athletes and, more importantly, exceptional young men and women with the skills to con-tribute on a team in athletics and in life.
Congratulations to Mr. Dave Hauk for receiving this most deserving award.
Volume 10 , Issue 4 Page 6
F I N E ART S - DR A M A
Congratulations to the cast and crew for their successful production of "A Night of Parodies of some Classic Tales" that ran December 18 - 20, 2012. We would like to thank everyone for attending and for your continued sup-port.
A special congratulations to the winners of the Rising and Shining Star Awards: William Berry and Drewe Salahor.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the Spring Musical in May.
Volume 10 , Issue 4 Page 7
F I N E ART S - DR A M A CO N T’D
Volume 10 , Issue 4 Page 8
F I N E ART S - MU S I C NOTE S
On December 13th, the Elementary gave an outstanding perform-ance of "Holiday Song Search." The full house was entertained with energetic songs, great choreography, and terrific acting.
Page 9 Volume 10 , Issue 4
Date Course Times Location 14-Jan ELA 30-1 (Part A) 9:00 - 3:00 Testing Centre 15-Jan Social Studies 30-1 (Part A) 9:00 - 3:00 Computer Lab 18-Jan Last Day of Senior High Classes 21-Jan Chemistry 20 9:00 - 12:30 Learning Commons ELA 10-1 (Part A) 9:00 - 2:00 Computer Lab ELA 10-2 (Part A) 9:00 - 2:00 Computer Lab ELA 30-1 (Part B) 9:00 - 3:00 Testing Centre 22-Jan Biology 20 9:00 - 12:30 Testing Centre Math 10 C 9:00 - 2:00 Assembly Hall Social Studies 20-1 (Part A) 9:00 - 2:00 Computer Lab Social Studies 20-2 (Part A) 9:00 - 2:00 Computer Lab Social Studies 30-1 (Part B) 9:00 - 3:00 Assembly Hall 23-Jan ELA 6 (Part A) 9:00 - 2:00 Homerooms ELA 20-1 (Part A) 9:00 - 2:00 Computer Lab 24-Jan Biology 30 9:00 - 2:00 Assembly Hall Math 6 9:00 - 12:00 Hoomrooms ELA 7 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Math 8 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Science 10 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Social Studies 20-1 (Part B) 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Social Studies 20-2 (Part B) 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Social Studies 9 9:00 - 12:30 Computer Lab
25-Jan ELA 10-1 (Part B) 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
ELA 10-2 (Part B) 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
ELA 8 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym Math 20-1 9:00 - 2:00 Main Gym Math 20-2 9:00 - 2:00 Main Gym Math 30-1 9:00 - 2:00 Assembly Hall Math 30-2 9:00 - 2:00 Assembly Hall
Science 9 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Social Studies 7 9:00 - 12:30 Computer Lab 28-Jan ELA 20-1 (Part B) 9:00 - 2:00 Assembly Hall
Math 9 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Science 7 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Social Studies 8 9:00 - 12:30 Computer Lab 29-Jan Chemistry 30 9:00 - 2:00 Assembly Hall
ELA 9 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Math 7 9:00 - 12:30 Main Gym
Physics 20 9:00 - 12:30 Testing Center
Science 8 9:00 - 12:30 Computer Lab 30-Jan Professional Day - No Classes
31 Jan Semester 2 Begins
Social 6 9:00 - 12:00 Homerooms
Science 6 9:00 - 12:00 Homerooms
ELA 6 (Part B) 9:00 - 2:00 Homerooms
Rundle College Academy Junior High Midterm Exams and Senior High Final Exams
January 2013
Volume 10 , Issue 4 Page 10
AC T I V I T I E S F O R JA N UARY
REMINDER TO ALL PARENTS
Our Classroom Moodle Pages and our Division Portals sites are accessible from our home-page (www.rundleacademy.ab.ca). Look for morning announcements posted on our Moodle Pages. Follow us on Twitter @rundleacademy for more information and upcoming events.
January 14 ELA 30-1/2 Diploma (Part A) PAC Meeting (7:00 P.M.)
January 15 SS 30-1/2 Diploma (Part A)
January 18 Junior / Senior High Dress Down Day Last Day of Senior High Classes
January 21 ELA 30-1/2 Diploma (Part B) Grades 7 and 10 Orientation Evening (for Grades 6 and 9 Parents)
January 22 SS 30-1/2 SS Diploma (Part B)
January 24-29 Elementary and Junior High Midterms
January 24 Bio 30 Diploma
January 25 Math 30-1/2 Diploma Elementary Dress Down Day
January 28 Physics 30 Diploma
January 29 Chemistry 30 Diploma Junior High Dress Down Day
January 30 PD Day (No Classes)
January 31 Term 2 Begins
February 1 Junior High Mark Statements Home Senior High Mark Statements Home
