Buenas tardes familias! Good afternoon A.E. Cross families. We hope that you are having a great weekend. 

Below you will find this week's edition of the Colts' Community Chronicle. Please note that this Friday, September 29 is a non-instructional day for students. This a day in lieu for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation that occurs on Saturday, September 30.

Have a wonderful week!

Randy Lewis
Principal, A.E. Cross School

Colt's Community Chronicle | Sept. 25-29

Important Dates

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, October 6 Chew and Chat Breakfast
Monday, October 9 Thanksgiving Day – No School
FRIDAY SCHEDULE (Sept. 29) Non-Instructional Day

Colt's Athletics

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

Cross Country

• Final Meet of the Season – Monday, September 25 at North Glenmore Park

Boys and Girls Soccer 

• Please check with your coaches about upcoming practice schedules.
• Boys Soccer Game – Thursday, September 28 - 4:30 pm at Vincent Massey
• Girls Soccer Game – Wednesday, September 27 – 4:30 pm at Vincent Massey

Basketball 

• Please check with your coaches about upcoming practice schedules.
• The regular season for boys basketball begins on Wednesday, October 4 and the regular season for girls basketball begins on Thursday, October 5.

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

Basketball Spectator Expectations 

We remind spectators that while at the school watching games, there are no in and out privileges and CBE code of conduct for students still applies. We all wish to enjoy watching our student athletes compete in a respectful and safe environment. We have also come to a decision as a basketball division (Bishop Pinkham, AE Cross, Griffith Woods, Mount Royal, Vincent Massey, and West Ridge Schools) that any student wishing to be a spectator at away games must be accompanied by a parent/guardian for the duration of the game.

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

Please see our Lunchtime page.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Please visit the following webpage for more information: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

School Council

The next school council meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 19 at 7:00 pm in the Learning Commons at A.E. Cross 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!):

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.

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 events.
• 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.

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 / 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.