Good afternoon families. We hope that have are having an enjoyable weekend. 

Last week was a busy one at A.E. Cross. We want to thank everybody that came out on Thursday evening for our Meet the Teacher evening. It was a pleasure to meet all of you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the school if yoiu have any questions.

On Friday, our school participated in our Terry Fox Run. Students ran and walked around our school field in some beautiful weather to keep the legacy of Terry Fox alive. Thank you to Mr. Richards for his organization of the event.

We have our first school council meeting this week on Thursday, September 21 at 7:00 pm in the Learning Commons. All parents are welcome to attend.

Also, Friday, September 22 is a non-instructional day for students.

Please see below for this week's edition of the Colts' Community Chronicle.

Have a wonderful week!

Randy Lewis
Principal, A.E. Cross School

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Colt's Community Chronicle | Sept. 18-22

Important Dates

Thursday, September 21 School Council Meeting – 7:00pm
Friday, September 22 Non-Instructional Day
Saturday, September 23 Deadline for Healthy Hunger Orders
Thursday, September 28 Orange Shirt Day
Thursday, September 28 Healthy Hunger Fun Lunch - Subway
Friday, September 29 Non-Instructional Day – National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

FRIDAY SCHEDULE (Sept. 22)
Non-Instructional Day

Colt's Athletics

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

Cross Country

• Second Meet of the Season – Tuesday, September 19 at North Glenmore Park

Boys and Girls Soccer 

• Girls Soccer Game – 4:30 pm at A.E. Cross School – come out and support your Colts!

Basketball

• Please check with your coaches about upcoming practice schedules.

If you have any further questions please contact Jace Richards at jarichards@cbe.ab.ca

A.E. Cross Music Program

Are you looking for a good cause to donate your Returnables to at the end of the school year? The A. E. Cross Music Program has a solution. We’re collecting returnables in support of our program.

On Saturday, September 23, 2023 drop your bottles at the A.E. Cross School parking lot (3445 - 37 Street SW) between 11am and 1pm.

Thanks for supporting the A.E. Cross Music Program! Thank you!

Bell Schedule 2023-2024

See our Contact Us page.

Bell Schedule Notes

• Mondays and Wednesdays will be Day A and students will attend their Day A options
• Tuesdays and Thursdays will be Day B and students will attend their Day B options
• Fridays have a rotating schedule and will alternate between different classes – this rotation will be posted throughout the school to help students out
• RTI Block (Wednesdays – 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
• This 30 minute block will evolve throughout the school year to include interventions for students that are struggling academically with certain outcomes
• However, for the month of September, we will be using this 30 minute block for students to learn and talk with their homeroom teachers about prepared topics
• Wednesday, September 13 – Terry Fox Run Preparation
• Wednesday, September 20 – Bullying Prevention Information
• Wednesday, September 27 – Orange Shirt Day Preparation
• We will explore possible interventions at the beginning of October for this block of time

Healthy Hunger

Our first Healthy Hunger / Fun Lunch is on September 28 with the order deadline, September 23. Families can start setting up their orders through the Healthy Hunger website (https://healthyhunger.ca/). Please ensure that when ordering lunch for your student you pick your student's homeroom teacher.

We hope to have the entire year set up by the end of next week and future dates will be included in the Colts Community Chronicle.

Lunchtime Expectations

Lunchtime at A.E. Cross School runs from 12:07 PM to 12:48 PM each Monday to Thursday. The structure of the lunch hour works as follows:

12:07 PM – 12:25 PM – Students are welcome to eat lunch within the school on the main floor. The hallways, cafeteria and courtyard are available for student use during this time. Please note that there is currently no food service available to students at lunchtime. On days where the weather cooperates, students are also welcome to eat outside on school property.

12:25 PM – 12:48 PM – Students will be asked to go outside during this time period. It will be important that students get appropriate clothing from their lockers right at the end of the morning classes as the upper level of the school will be closed beginning at 12:10 PM.

WITH PARENTAL PERMISSION, students are able to leave campus for lunch time. To minimize the number of students visiting our community neighbours, different grade groups can leave campus on specified days.

• Tuesdays – Grade 7 students
• Wednesdays – Grade 8 students
• Thursdays – Grade 9 students

Should students leave campus, it is an expectation that they are respectful to our community neighbours as they are representatives of A.E. Cross School. Ms. Wiseman and Mr. Lewis visited all businesses around the school to introduce ourselves and the businesses will contact us if there is something that we need to follow up on.

• Students should not loiter at the businesses and they should buy their lunch and return to school property
• Should students be abusing their off-campus privileges by causing disruptions in the community or are consistently late upon return to school after lunch, privileges to leave at lunch may be taken away
• Back alleys and private yards are off-limits to students
• PLEASE NOTE – A.E. CROSS SCHOOL DOES NOT PROVIDE SUPERVISION TO STUDENTS THAT ARE OFF CAMPUS AT LUNCHTIME.
• Students will not leave campus on Fridays during nutrition break (11:33 AM – 11:48 AM) so please ensure that they come to school with a snack.

Principal's Advisory Council

What is the Principal Advisory Council?

The Principal Advisory Council is a group of students in Grades 7, 8 and 9 who meet once or twice a month to advise me, your principal, on various issues relating to A.E. Cross School. At times, students might be invited to present at a staff meeting or a department meeting.

As your principal, I wish to hear a wide range of student voice. ALL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME.

Applications for the Principal Advisory Council are available at the main office or you can find a copy of the application attached to this message. Please fill out the application by Monday, September 18, 2023 at 4:00 pm. The list of students selected for the Principal Advisory Council will be posted by the main office on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

School Council

Save the Date: Thursday, Sept 21 7pm - A.E. Cross School Council and Parents' Association Meeting. In person at the school.

Do you have skills and time to share with the School Council or the Parent's Association this school year? We welcome anyone interested in an informal or formal role to email us at aecrosscouncil@gmail.com. During the June AGM an executive was elected and we have a number of other volunteers who have offered to fill other roles (thank you!). Some of the roles that we are still looking for are below - we welcome you to join us as many hands make light work! Many positions do not require attendance at the regular meetings and can be done from home or the roles can be shared.

We are looking for volunteer(s) for the following positions (no experience needed!):

Parent Association

• Casino Coordinator: Coordinate details of casino events, ensures compliance with licensing conditions and works in conjunction with AGLC to obtain and maintain a gaming license for the Province of Alberta. We just completed a casino event (thank you volunteers!) so this position will have minimal work for this school year and then would involve coordination of the next casino event which is expected in about 18 months.
• Shadow Treasurer to take over role in 2024-25: Our current treasurer is graduating from the school after this school year. We are proactively looking for a Treasurer who could shadow the role and take over for next school year.

School Council 

• Council of School Councils (COSC) Liaison: Attend COSC meetings (last year they were all virtual) and provide update on key items to at the general meetings.
• Band Liaison: Act as liasion between the School Council and the Music Parent's Association (your child must be registered in band)
• Spanish Liasion: Support and advocate for the students in the Spanish program and act as liasion between the School Council, school administration and the Spanish program.
• Volunteer Coordinator: Recruit and co-ordinate parent and community volunteers at the school and to ensure that all volunteers have appropriate police clearance to perform volunteer duties at the school.
• Staff Appreciation Coordinator(s): Spearhead and organize staff appreciation evens.
• Fundraising Coordinator(s): Co-ordinate fundraising activities and social events that encourage school spirit among students, staff and parents.
• Grant Writer and/or Coordinator(s): Research, coordinate, support and/or write grants. One focus for this will be on grants to support revitalization/replacement/improvement of technology at AEC over the coming years.
• Communications Coordinator: Oversee Council and Association communication and liase with administration on school communications.
• Grade 9 Farewell Committee Coordinator(s): Liase with school to support organization of Grade 9 Farewell to be held in June 2024.
• Back Up Shopper: Shop for approved items on an as needed basis (reimbursed). Examples include: chew and chat supplies, event supplies, snack cupboard items, etc.

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.

Ski School

We are excited to offer a new program at A.E. Cross this winter.

Ski/Snowboard school at WinSport meeting will happen Monday at lunch. Students interested will take home a parent information letter. To sign up for the trip, students must bring that letter back to Mr. Richards. It will be approximately $55 per student for 2 days of learning at WinSport. Only 60 students can attend this year. Contact Mr. Richards, jarichards@cbe.ab.ca if you have any questions.

See letter under Resources.

Spanish Bilingual Program

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.

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.