Tis the Season to prepare and

rejoice!!

The St Nicholas Staff would like to wish all

of you and your families a blessed and joyous

Christmas and a wonderful New Year!!

Hello St Nicholas Families, We are approaching the end of the calendar year and the midpoint of our school year. The

first half of the year has been busy, and we would like to bring your attention to a few items before heading off on our Christmas Break.

On Friday, December 6th we will be celebrating both the start of the Advent Season and the feast

day of St Nicholas. We will be walking over to the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish as a school community to celebrate with Fr Julian. All friends and family members are welcome to join us for this Divine Liturgy.

On Thursday, December 19 we will be serving up our Annual Christmas Feast. All our students will

be treated to a full Christmas dinner prepared by our staff. That same day, our staff will also be delivering hampers to several families within our own community. A reminder that food donations are being collected for these hampers over the next few weeks.

During the first week of December you will be receiving our District Satisfaction Survey. We ask

that you take a few minutes to compete the survey. Your feedback is very important to us and critical to the direction we take as a school community. Students and staff will also be completing the survey during the first week of December.

We are also approaching the deadline for on-line registration verifications to be completed.

Multiple reminders have gone home to families who have yet to complete this. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the main office before December 13th.

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our Boys’ Volleyball team for a

wonderful season and wish our Girls’ Volleyball Team the best of luck in their first round of the playoffs on Tuesday, December 3. A huge thank you also to our coaches Mr. Alstad, Mr. Martire, Ms. Wyka and Ms. Herzog. Go Knights!!

Lastly, a reminder that on the last week we will be switching our Thursday and Friday dismissal

times. Thursday will be a full day of instruction and Friday will end at 11:18 As always, we extend an invitation to all families to come into the school to say hello and get acquainted.

God Bless!!

Alex Buttigieg Julie Francois

Principal Assistant Principal

Knightly News

December 2019 Newsletter

December 2019 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 First Sunday of Advent

Girls’ Volleyball Playoffs Round 1

St Nicholas Day

Feast of St Nicholas

PBVM Parish 10:00AM

8 Second Sunday of Advent

9 10

Christmas Karaoke at lunch

11 Candygram sales until December

17th

12 13

Coaches Cup

Round 1

14

15 Third Sunday of Advent

16 17 18 19 Christmas Feast

Christmas Dance

1:00-2:40 $2 admission

20

Coaches Cup Day 2

11:18 Early Dismissal

21

22 Winter Begins

23 24

Christmas Eve

25

Merry Christmas!!

26 27 28

29 30 Christmas Vacation – December 23 to January 3

Classes Resume on Monday, January 6, 2020

CASINO VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!

St. Nicholas School Parent Society Is having a fundraising casino on

January 27 and 28, 2020 (Mon and Tues)

And Is needing 30 volunteers

Please sign up today!! You can help to raise funds for our school that are used to provide:

computers, updated technology, learning aids, sports equipment,

musical instruments, money to subsidize fieldtrips and bussing and

more!

There are daytime and night shifts and various positions available.

None of the positions are difficult and we always have a fun time and

enjoy each other’s company. We only have a casino every 2 years and

it brings $65,000 to $85,000 to our school. Every child will benefit

from this money.

Please call Shelly at 780 940 9763 or email at

barabash55@gmail.com to schedule your shift.

A meal and refreshments are provided. Thank you.

Positions are: chip runner, cashier, banker, manager, and count room

Times are approx. 9:15 am to 7:00 pm, 6:15 pm to 3:15 am

And 11:30 pm to 3:30 am (count room)

Science Academy

Fine Arts Academy

Eight Science Academy students attended the Skill Exploration event at the EXPO Centre on Nov. 26. Their goal was to build a prototype aimed at somehow reducing fuel and/or electricity use in the home, community or in transportation. Upcoming activities include: Dec. 5 & Dec. 12 work on St. Jerome Elementary demonstrations, as well as participating in Science Lab activities at St. Nicholas School. Reminder to parents that the semester is over at the end of January, and some Science Academy fees are still outstanding. Please contact the office to arrange payments, thanks!

Communication was sent out earlier this month regarding our school production of Law and Order: Fairytale Unit. Due to unexpected staff changes we will be postponing the play until the spring. A great

deal of work has gone into the production and rehearsals continue to run after school. We truly

appreciate the efforts of both our students and staff and will do our best to solidify performance

dates in the new year.

Improv Club is running on Wednesdays after school to prepare for the tournament in February

and to build camaraderie as a cast and crew.

Student Leadership

Congratulations to our athletes of the month for November: Janay Geng-Meier and Mario Lefevre Janay set two new school records with her wall test score of 39 passes in 30 seconds. She also broke the juggle test record with 557 juggles. Awesome job Janay! Mario has been leading all scorers in the academy futsal league BSL. He has been scoring and setting his teammates up more than any other player in the school. Mario has 21 points in 3 weeks played with 16 goals and 5 assists. Great work Mario! December 13th will mark the beginning of Coaches Cup with Mr Paniccia, Coach Kondeh, Coach Dino and Ms. Herzog competing for this year’s trophy. This year we will be having a season of several games stretching over the course of the school year with every academy student involved. We will be having our first showcase game of the year on Sunday December 15 from 7am-9am at Commonwealth. We will be in contact with the players involved for these matches.

The Leadership students had a very successful "Privilege Day" on Nov. 22, raising $170.00 towards the St. Nicholas Christmas Hampers! Students donated $2.00 to extend some privileges during class time. Some exciting upcoming events include: Dec.10: Christmas Karaoke - donation of $1.00 to attend the karaoke sing-a-long in the music room at lunch Dec.10-17: Christmas Candygrams - 50 cents each, delivered to students on Dec. 19 Dec.19: Christmas Dance 1:00-2:40pm - $2 admission donation All donations will go to the Red Cross Alberta fund.

Soccer Academy

On-Line Verification

A huge thank you goes out to our School Council Executive who unanimously approved our school item

request list. With the existing funds we will be updating our technology, robotics, sports equipment,

classroom resources and much more.

Everyone is invited to attend our School Council meetings. It is a fabulous way to give back to the St

Nicholas School Community.

Our next School Council meeting is on:

Monday, January 13, 2020

6:00PM

In our WIN Room Many hands make light work, and the more parents we have involved in the school, the more we can

accomplish together.

According to our records many families have yet to confirm on PowerSchool your child's registration at St Nicholas Catholic Junior High. To do this, please log on to PowerSchool and click Verification on the side menu. Follow the instructions until complete. Please contact the main office at (780)-474-3713 if you require assistance with this. This Verification process MUST be done by December 13. Your attention to this request is greatly appreciated.

School Council- January

POWER SCHOOL

Introduction to PowerSchool for JH Parents in Edmonton Catholic Schools Log into PowerSchool https://powerschool.ecsd.net/public/ with your username and password. Or click on to begin the process using the temporary username and password, found in the PowerSchool letter you have received from the school.

Instructions for creating your PowerSchool account or for adding other children to your

account, may be accessed by clicking the word Instructions near the bottom of the page.

The most convenient way for you to pay your child’s school fees is on-line by Debit or Credit, but as always,

you may pay by cash or cheque in the office. If you are unsure of your balance you can go on line at

https://powerschool.ecsd.net or call the school at 780- 474-3713. Visa or MasterCard payments can be made

through PowerSchool.

htps://powerschool.ecsd.net/

Supplemental Education Fee

Item Description of costs Total cost for Item

Technology User Fee (4404)

Apps Exam Bank Curio Mathletics Raz Kids

$3 $1 $9 $2

Site Licenses Brain Pop Adobe Connect (Broadcast)

$3 $1

Electronic Device User Fee $15

Whole School Activities Other whole school presentations/activities Motivational/Inspirational Guest Speakers

$15

Student Council/School Leadership Activities

Activities that are community Dances, People for Good Lunches (monthly), Special event consumables, apparel

$11

TOTAL Supplemental Education Fee

$60

Individual User Fees (4705)

Item Description of costs Total cost for Item

Mouth pieces Reeds $2

Complementary Course Fees (4407)

Course name Descriptions of costs for course Course fee

Art 7,8, 9 semestered Sketch book, clay wire, mask making supplies $15

Drama 7,8,9 semestered Costumes, set supplies, mask making supplies $15

CTF 7,8,9 full year Consumables, baking supplies, wire $20

Food Studies 7,8,9 semestered Consumables, baking supplies, groceries $30

Band 7 full year Jump start, bandshare $35

Band 8, 9 full year Band share $25

Band 7,8,9 Instrument Rental $40

Film Studies 7,8,9 semestered $0

Optional Activities/Purchases

Item Description of costs Total cost for Item

Farewell Activities Grade 9 (4707) Gr. 9 students only $10

Year Book $10

Academy (4406) Science $200

Soccer $1000

Fine Arts $0

School Fees

December 2019

Storytelling and the Wisdom of Time

Over the summer, I read a new book by Pope Francis: Sharing the Wisdom of Time.

When Pope Francis was praying one day, he received an inspiration to shed light on the role grandparents

and seniors play in the lives of their children and grandchildren. He began to preach about the need for the world to

pay attention to the wisdom we gain from them. Then, another idea began to take shape. Over 250 elderly people

worldwide were interviewed, their stories shared with Pope Francis, and together with his personal reflections, all

was captured in a book on the gift of wisdom.

One such story is that of Maria Gabriella Perin, a mother and grandmother from Italy. Maria was only nine

months old when her dad died shortly after the end of World War II. She grew up wondering what it would have been

like to have a father. As a young woman, she met a young man, and over a number of years broke up and reunited

with him at least a hundred times, she says. While they never married, a child was born, a boy named David. Now

much older himself, David awaits the birth of his first born. Maria eventually found new love and married.

Maria looks back at her life and ponders about different paths and courses that could have shaped her life

otherwise.

In her own words, she writes: “What I know is that God makes stories. In his genius and mercy, he takes

our triumphs and our failures and weaves beautiful tapestries that are full of irony. The reverse of the fabric may look

messy with its tangled threads – the events of our lives – and maybe this is the side we dwell on when we doubt. But

the right side of the tapestry displays a magnificent story, and this is the side that God sees.”

In Pope Francis’ response to Maria’s story, he writes: “What complicated stories we live! Threads are woven.

And sometimes we understand, and sometimes we do not understand what we are experiencing. But God looks at us

with the eyes of a creator and of an artist who is capable of organizing our mistakes, our sins, and the good things as

if they were all parts of a tapestry. On that tapestry, there is good and bad, death and life. If I look at my life, I like

to think that the Lord would say with a smile, ‘Look what I did with all your mistakes!’ When older people gaze on

life, often they know instinctively what lies behind the tangled threads. They can sense the shape.”

The Holy Father then adds his own wisdom: “Often, mistakes are the raw material of miracles. Peter’s

mistake of denying Jesus led him to the miracle of tears. The mistake of the prodigal son showed the mercy of the

father. The mistake of the lost sheep revealed God’s care and desire to bring each sheep home.”

May we truly appreciate the gift of our grandparents and all elders. May their stories inspire younger

generations with wisdom.

As we begin our preparations for Christmas, take some time to sit and listen to the elderly in your family.

Invite them to reflect on what the Christmas Story and the birth of Our Saviour Jesus Christ means to them. In some

sense, they are the Magi of today, the Three Wise Persons who have come to lead us to adore and worship Emmanuel

– God With Us!

God bless!

Bishop David

A message from Bishop David

December 2019

We’re waiting for Jesus like Mary, We’re waiting for Jesus the Lord. Come down, Lord Jesus! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

The whole world is waiting for Love, The whole world is waiting for Love.

(Misetich, The Whole World is Waiting for Love)

The lyrics of this beautiful hymn capture the essence of the Advent season. Just like our

Holy Mother, who said “yes” to God, we are excitedly waiting for the birth of Jesus, our

Saviour. We will spend the upcoming weeks preparing our hearts to welcome that greatest

of gifts, God’s love, made flesh, in the form of a tiny babe in a humble manger. It is a time

for us to gaze inward and find some silence and peace in the busyness of our days and the

noise of the world around us to focus on this love. This is truly the grace of getting ready

for Christmas!

The Division Satisfaction Survey will run from November 25 - December 6. Every

household will receive one parent survey per child enrolled in an Edmonton Catholic

School. Please respond to each survey separately from the point of view of each child's

educational experience. You can either return your parent survey to your child’s school or

use the postage paid envelope and Canada Post. If you don’t receive your survey, or if you

would like more information about a question as it relates to your school, please phone the

principal. The voice of our parents is so important to us!

The recent provincial budget is a difficult one. Edmonton Catholic Schools is committed

to keeping services to classrooms intact for the rest of this school year and to strategically

and thoughtfully managing decreased provincial funding for the 2020-21 year. This will

require us to draw on our reserves as an interim measure and to scrutinize all non-essential

spending for the remainder of the year. We are grateful to have, due to prudent long-term

financial management, the emergency resources in place to allow us to provide

uninterrupted educational services to our students for the remainder of the school year. We

are in the process of determining the impact that the current budget will have on

transportation user fees and will report our findings as soon as possible to give families

time to budget accordingly.

Our Board will approve our Budget at the December 17, 2019 Public Meeting of the Board,

and they will continue to advocate for appropriate per pupil funding to meet student needs

and address enrolment growth.

I leave you with a beautiful Advent message from Pope Francis during an Address last

year: “We Christians are called upon to preserve and spread the joy of waiting: we await

God Who loves us infinitely and at the same time we are awaited by Him. In this way, life

becomes a great period of betrothal. We are not left to ourselves, we are not alone. We are

visited, now already.” (12/01/18)

Have a blessed December and a wonderful Christmas Break, enjoying the love of your

family and friends, and the love of our God!

Sincerely,

Joan Carr

Superintendent