St. Edmunds Newsletter – June 2023
As we are entering the last month of school, we wish to pause and give thanks for the incredible year it has been! We are so proud of the amazing commitment that the children and staff have put into continuing our quality student programming with the support of our families. The remainder of the school year will include many exciting events for our students such as the Track and Field finals, Sports Day, Talent Show, Grade 7 Farewell and a School BBQ Event! Please continue to check your emails for further information. Let us engage in this final month with the same joy and spirit we had at the start of the year and be grateful for our many blessings.
To our Grade Seven students and all others who are leaving St. Edmund’s School, we wish you much happiness. We trust that the Christian attitude you have developed and the skills you have learned will contribute to your success and the success of others in the future.
Lastly, on behalf of Fr. Steny, Fr. Cannio and our staff, we would also like to take this opportunity to wish all fathers a wonderful Father’s Day on June 18th.
Staffing Updates:
St. Edmund’s has been blessed with a team of great educators who have shown loving care and dedication to bring out the best in all our students. As educators we continue to challenge ourselves to grow and develop professionally.
We are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Mrs. Micaela DeBeer who served our community this year as an Educational Assistant as well as covering for Ms. Bruschetta during her medical leave. We wish Mrs. DeBeer the very best as she continues her teaching career in the CISVA.
We thank Mrs. Rosa Dente for all her work in the office – especially in coordinating hot lunch, parent volunteers, fundraising events, uniforms…in addition to all her other office support. Mrs. Dente will be leaving her part-time secretary position, but she won’t be going far. We are happy to have Mrs. Dente continue to stay with us to support our students as a full-time Education Assistant.
We extend a warm welcome to Mrs. Mandy Swart who will be joining our office support team in September and we are also excited to have Mr. Mark Dotto rejoin our teaching staff in the 2023/24 school year!
Congratulations:
Sacrament of First Holy Communion & Confirmation – Please continue to pray for our school and PREP students who received the Blessed Sacrament for the first time on May 7th and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit on May 28th. We ask that you continue to pray for all our youth as they continue to grow on their journey of faith. A special thank you to our PAC, specifically our Kindergarten, Grade 3, Grade 1 and Grade 6 parents for hosting a beautiful reception for each of these special events. We are also grateful to Ms. Peggy Zicha who prepared all the gowns for Confirmation!
Sacrament of Holy Matrimony – Congratulations to Ms. Bruschetta and her husband Mr. Salvador who celebrated their wedding on May 13th. We wish them continued blessings of health and happiness!
St Edmund’s School Spirit Walk-a-thon
Thank you for contributing to the success of our annual Walkathon in which we collected over $13,000 towards the purchases of playground and gym sports equipment, the rental of sound and lighting for our Spring concert, and updating our network server and school IT.
Our Principal(s) of the day winners are Jacob, Jayden, Ethan & Liam Kim and our top classes were Grade 3 and Grade 6 who will both receive a pizza party. Thank you to all those who have contributed and for reaching their individual donation goal!
Events & Reminders:
Bike to School Week – We are celebrating Bike to School Week this year from May 30 – June 3! We’re encouraging students and families to use active transportation for their trips to school all week – walking, biking, scootering, skateboarding, to help reduce congestion in our school neighbourhood and help students arrive at school energized and ready to learn. Please remember to wear your helmets!
School & Class library books – Please return all library & class books by Thursday June 8th so that we are able to complete our inventory. Any misplaced or lost books will need to be paid for by the students/parents. Thank you for your co-operation.
Sports Day June 8th: The annual Sports Day organized by our grade 7 class will take place on Thursday June 8th at our school playground, Ottawa Gardens and McEvoy Park. Dismissal will be at 12:00 and all students will receive a “freezie”.
Professional Day June 9th: No School – There will be a Professional Development Day for our staff on Friday, June 9th. There will be no school for students on this day.
CISVA Track Meet – June 12 & 15 at Rotary Stadium, Abbotsford
Please refer to the Track and Field notice for details. Please make sure students are dressed for the weather and have healthy snacks, lunch and water packed for the full day events.
School Uniform: Order by June 15th – We recognize that uniforms may be furthest from mind, however, our provider, Cambridge Uniforms ask that your back-to-school order be placed by June 15th to ensure delivery during the month of August.
Please go to their website www.cambridgeuniforms.com, create an account if you don’t already have one, and use the school code TED357 to place your order or book a fitting. A reminder that all uniform pieces are to be purchased from our supplier. We may also have gently used uniform pieces available by donation. Please contact the school office.
Talent Show – We are excited to have our student share their many talents on Monday June 26th at 1:15 for our annual Talent Show.
Grade 7 Farewell Evening – We will be recognizing our grade 7s for all their many accomplishments on Tuesday June 27th at 7 pm. Stay tuned for further details. We are so proud of our St. Edmund’s Class of 2023 and ask that you continue to keep them in your prayers as they move forward in their educational journey.
Last Day of School – The last day of school for students is Wednesday, June 28th. We will have a whole school Mass at 9:00 am at which our Grade 7s will pass on the light of school leadership to our Grade 6 class. Following classroom activities, report cards will be distributed, and dismissal will be at 12:00.
School Safety & Gratitude
We thank all the parents who have answered our call and have continued to provide safety at our crosswalks! Your time and effort is much appreciated at morning drop-off and afterschool pick-up.
We would also like to acknowledge all are parent volunteers for all their time in our community with keeping the school clean and safe. To Ms. Perez for her leadership with the garden team and would like to thank them for all their hard work in keeping the school grounds clean and safe, as well as Mr. Castro for all the pressure washing and the additional parent and parish volunteers for the extra maintenance and upkeep of our school. We couldn’t do this without you all!
June Calendar Highlights:
May 29-June 2 Bike to School Week (or perhaps the month!)
June 6 7:00 p.m. PEC Meeting
June 8 Sports Day (am) & Early Dismissal 12:00 pm
June 9 No School – Professional Day
June 12 & 15 CISVA Track Meet
June 13 11:00 Kindergarten Prayer Service
7:00 p.m. PAC meeting
June 14 9:00 Gr. 3 Class mass
June 18 Happy Father’s Day
June 21 Indigenous Peoples Day
9:00 Grade 1 Class Mass
Max Fruit Bar Day (pre-ordered)
June 23 School Community Year-end BBQ
June 26 1:15 Student Talent Show
June 27 7:00 p.m. Grade 7 Farewell Recognition Ceremony
June 28 Last Day of School for Students
9:00 Whole School Mass
Reports Home 12:00 Dismissal
July 1 Canada Day Holiday
July 7 School Office Closes
Important Dates for the 2023/24 School Year:
Please remember to check the online calendar and emails for the latest info/changes.
Sept. 5 – First Day of School
Oct. 2 – Truth & Reconciliation Day (No School)
Oct. 9 – Thanksgiving (No School)
Oct. 20 – BC Pro Day (No School)
Nov. 13 – No School (Remembrance Day)
Nov. 24 – CISVA Pro Day (No School)
Dec. 22 – Last day before Christmas vacation
Jan. 8 – School reopens after Christmas vacation
Feb 15&16 – Catholic Educator’s Conference (No School)
Feb. 19 – Family Day (No School)
Mar. 8 – Last day before Spring Break
Mar. 25 – School reopens after Spring Break
Mar. 29 – Good Friday (No School)
Apr. 1 – Easter Monday (No School)
May 17 – Pro Day
May 20 – Victoria Day (No School)
June 26 – Last day of school
Thank you to Thrifty Foods and Save On Foods (on Pemberton) for donating the delicious cakes for our Communion and Confirmation Receptions.
Congratulations to our Grade 6 & 7 students who participated in the University of Waterloo Gauss Mathematics Contest! With a special shout out to two of our students for “Outstanding Achievement” and “Distinction” recognition for their scores!