¡Buenas tardes y feliz diciembre! Good afternoon and Happy December everybody! It's amazing that we have completed three months of the school year and we are three weeks away from the winter break. December is a busy month around A.E. Cross School. Below is the latest edition of the Colts' Community Chronicle. Some important highlights for the upcoming week:

• Our 2023-2024 School Improvement Results Report and School Development Plan has been posted to the A.E. Cross School Website. You can find that report under the "About Us" tab and then click on "Our School". The report is located on the right hand side of that page. 
• The annual Project Kindness initiative kicks off at A.E. Cross on Monday, December 4. Each year, our school community comes together to support those in need. All of the details on this initiative are found in the attachment below.
• High school tours for Grade 9 students continue this week. Students designated to Ernest Manning High School will attend their tour on Thursday afternoon. Students received an Acknowledgement of Risk form and that form needs to be returned to their home room teacher on Monday, December 4.
• School fees for complementary courses and athletics have been posted. Please take a look at MyCBE to see those fees. If you need assistance in paying those fees, please contact the school.
• Friday, December 8 is a non-instructional day for students. Staff at A.E. Cross will be working towards our School Development Plan goal of improving Student Engagement in Literacy, Numeracy and Well-Being.

We hope that you have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Randy Lewis
Principal, A.E. Cross School

Colts' Community Chronicle - December 4 to December 8 

Monday, December 4 – Friday, December 15 Project Kindness
Monday, December 4 Central Memorial Band Concert at Jubilee Auditorium
Friday, December 8 Non-Instructional Day
Friday, December 15 Chew and Chat Breakfast
Friday, December 22 Last Day of Classes
Monday, January 8 Classes Resume

Colt's Athletics

For all Athletic information visit A.E. Cross School Athletics page.

Team Fees

Please check your MyCBE account for updated team fees. They should be added back to your account this week. In order for the school to pay for referees and other team needs, we need the player fees paid.

We want all of our students to have the opportunity to play sports for AEC no matter the situation at home. If you are unable to pay the fees due to budgetary restrictions, please email jarichards@cbe.ab.ca.

Colts Wrestling

Colts’ Wrestling will practice on Mondays from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm and on Wednesdays from 8:00 am to 9:00 am.

The Colts Wrestling Team will be hosting its one and only home quad tournament on Thursday, December 7th from 4:30pm to 7:00pm (actual matches will start at 5:00pm). There will be 2 schools attending (Lakeshore and Marshall Springs) and we're guessing that there will be somewhere around 75-100 athletes competing. Just be aware that the traffic around the school leading up to the quad will be very busy.

As with our basketball season, students who wish to stay after school to watch the event will be required to have their parents present.

SPARK Club 

SPARK Club will be starting back up the week of November 23. Every Thursday morning from 8-9am, students are welcome to drop into the main gym to practice their favorite activities. The activities going on will depend on who is present and what they want to do.

This is a student driven club. Basketball, volleyball, badminton, floor hockey, 9 square, working out are just some of the activities done in the past.

Ski and Snowboard Trip

The ski and snowboard trip scheduled for January 10 and January 17, 2024 is currently looking for some additional parent volunteers. If you are interested in spending the two days with our students on the slopes of Winsport please contact Mr. Richards at jarichards@cbe.ab.ca.

Colt of the Month

In an effort to recognize some of the amazing students that we have at A.E. Cross, we have implemented a Colt of the Month Award that will be presented monthly for the remainder of the school year. These students have been nominated by the staff of the school and will recognize students that have contributed in a positive manner to the school community throughout the month. These students could have been a member of a team, club or band or they could have shown some leadership throughout their classroom over the past month. We will be awarding these students with a certificate and a small gift.

Digital Citizenship

During the RTI Block on November 22, students engaged in learning around Digital Citizenship within the CBE. As part of that learning, students focused on key competencies of Digital Citizenship that include being:

• Respectful
• Informed
• Involved
• Balanced
• Safe
• Responsible

As part of the learning, students watched videos produced by Common Sense Education. Below is their website that contains some important tips for families https://www.commonsense.org/education/toolkit/family-engagement-resources

Healthy Hunger

Families can set up their orders through the Healthy Hunger website. Please ensure that when ordering lunch for your student you pick your student's homeroom teacher.

Future Healthy Hunger/Fun Lunch dates can be found below:

• December 14, 2023 – Mucho Burrito
• December 21, 2023 – Kernels Treat Day
• January 25, 2024 – Subway
• February 14, 2024 – Kernels Treat Day
• February 29, 2024 – A & W
• March 21, 2024 – Boston Pizza
• April 18, 2024 – Edo Japan
• May 1, 2024 – Kernels Treat Day
• May 16, 2024 – Mucho Burrito
• June 13, 2024 – Boston Pizza
• June 24, 2024 – Booster Juice Treat Day

High School Information

Please see below for dates and times for upcoming High School tours and open houses. This information will be updated as more information becomes available. It is also on our Preparing for High School page.

Bowness High School (Website)

• Wednesday, January 17, 2024
• Grade 9 Tours in the morning (More Details to Come)
• Open House in the evening (More Details to Come)

Central Memorial High School (Website)

• Wednesday, December 13, 2023
• Open House – 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
• Thursday, January 18, 2024
• Grade 9 Tours (More Details to Come)

Crescent Heights High School (Website)

• Thursday, November 23, 2023
• Grade 9 Tours (More Details to Come)
• Thursday, January 25, 2024
• Open House (More Details to Come)

Ernest Manning High School (Website)

• Thursday, December 7, 2023
• Grade 9 Tours – 12:45 pm
• Open House – 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Henry Wise Wood High School (Website)

• Wednesday, November 29, 2023
• International Baccalaureate Information Night – 7:00 pm

Western Canada High School (Website)

• Monday, November 27, 2023
• International Baccalaureate Open House - 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm

Lunchtime Expectations

Please see our Lunchtime page.

Project Kindness

Save the Date: A.E. Cross School's Project Kindness will be running from Monday, December 4 to Friday, December 15. During this time, the Colts of A.E. Cross will be learning about kindness and helping others. The school community will be collecting gift cards and donations that will be used to support A.E. Cross families in need during this season of giving. Please watch your email and student's backpacks for more details on how to donate!

RTI Block

Beginning December 6, students will engage in targeted skill-based learning within the RTI block. Teachers have been working at identifying skills that students have struggled with during the first quarter of the school year. Students have been slotted into different groups based on the skill that they need some improvement in. This week in RTI, students will learn about where they will meet on December 6th for this targeted intervention. We hope that this will improve student achievement throughout the school year.

School Council

The next school council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 18 at 7:00 pm in the Learning Commons at A.E. Cross School.

Additional meeting dates will be at 7pm on Thursdays on the following dates. Watch your email for meeting invitations which will include agendas and meeting location (in person or virtual) the week prior to the meeting.

• January 18
• February 22
• April 18
• May 16
• AGM – June 13

School Forms

There are a variety of different forms that parents are asked to complete at the start of each school year. The completion of these forms has been moved online to SchoolEngage. The following forms can be completed via SchoolEngage:

• Demographic Verification Form
• Annual Authorization Form, which includes:
  • School District Use of Personal Information
  • Consent for CBE Use of Student Information
  • Consent for Use of Student Information by News Media and Outside Groups (Third Party)

SchoolEngage can be accessed through the following link: SchoolEngage

Should you need any of the above forms printed for you, please contact the main office.

Spanish Bilingual Program

Overview of the Spanish Language Virtual Exchange Program

The virtual exchanges will run for a duration of 6 weeks each, dates are shown in the table below. Students from Alberta (Grade 9) will be matched with a partner in Spain or Mexico and will participate in one-to-one video conference meetings to support each other in their language and culture learning goals. Themes and topics for discussion will be provided to support the students in their conversations with each other.

The application deadline for the Mexico program is October 15, 2023 and the application deadline for the Spain program is January 15, 2024.

Let Sra. Hernández know that you are interested!

¡Es una oportunidad fabulosa!

Chinook Learning Services offers courses specifically designed for parents and caregivers of CBE Spanish Bilingual students. For Fall 2023, Chinook Learning Services is once again offering Spanish for Parents – Level 1 classes. This eight-week course will help parents of bilingual students learn or refresh their Spanish language skills, build their network of bilingual parents and support their children’s learning at home.

Please visit Chinook Learning Services for more information.

Student Pick-up and Drop-off

We have noticed that parents who are picking up and dropping off students are sometimes parking in our bus zone adjacent to the school on 33 Avenue. This is making it difficult for our school buses to pick up and drop off students. Please avoid parking in the bus zone so that our students are able to access their transportation safely. Thank you for your attention to this.

Volunteering at A.E. Cross

There will be activities done at A.E. Cross that require parent volunteers. In order to volunteer for events occurring at the school, parents must complete an Annual Volunteer Registration Form.

Child and Youth Well-Being Webinar Series

The Calgary Board of Education invites all parents and guardians to join us in an online series focusing on child and youth well-being. These sessions will be hosted in partnership with experts from Alberta Health Services and will explore topics such as vaping, brain development, mental health, and sexual health.

Click here to learn more:
Child and Youth Well-Being:
A Webinar Series for Parents and Guardians