Semester one is coming to a close!

January 12, 2015
Semester one celebrations

We have had a very busy and productive first semester at MidSun School and we have lots to celebrate!  Our annual Fine Arts evening will be held on January 22, 2015 at 6:30 with presentations and displays of student work.  It is always a wonderful evening and a great opportunity to celebrate the amazing work of our students. Everyone is welcome.
Students are busy finishing up their large projects and will be using our RTI period this Wednesday to focus on work completion.  Students who are up to date with all their work will be able to practice their Physical Education social dance outcomes at the Last Chance Dance being held On Wednesday January 14th in the afternoon.  This should be a fun way to celebrate our end of semester while practising some great life skills.
We will also be holding a Celebration of Learning Assembly for our students on Wednesday January 28, 2015.  There will be student presentations, speeches and announcements.

Awards
Our Awards program has changed with a focus on recognizing the work of more students.  Each month we select a student who has demonstrated outstanding citizenship and character and award them the Laker of the Month Award. This is a certificate and free subway sandwich from the Midnapore Subway.  I would like to congratulate our semester one winners:

Grade 7: Hailie Marie L., Melise P., Jenna K., and Jacob P.
Grade 8: Sarah S., Alyssa I., Matthew N., and Holly T.
Grade 9: Adam S., Miranda W., Nathan T., and Sophia C.

On February 11, 2015, we will be holding our first Spirit Heart Legacy Breakfast where each teacher will invite a student for outstanding work in semester one to attend a catered breakfast with their teacher at school. Students can only be recognized once per year for this award.  Our honour role has changed as well with students who qualify now applying for the Excellence in Learning Award or the Proficiency of Learning Award.  Information about these awards and application forms are available in our student handbook or at http://googl/RyoLgb  Students must apply for these awards by February 6, 2015 in order to be recognized.

Basketball this week
MidSun is pleased to host Basketball this week and will have games Monday-Thursday in our Lakerdome.  Monday is Junior Girls, Tuesday is Junior Boys, Wednesday is Senior Girls and Thursday is Senior Boys. Come out from 4pm-8pm to check out some great basketball action. 

Accountability Pillar Survey
As an annual check-up on the education system, the Accountability Pillar provides an opportunity for Alberta Education and school authorities to ensure that we are equipping students for success.

The Accountability Pillar uses a set of 16 indicators consisting of surveys of students, parents and teachers on various aspects of quality; student outcomes such as dropout and high school completion rates; and provincial assessments of student learning.

From January to the end of February, Alberta Education will be conducting the annual Accountability Pillar Survey.  In January, parents of students in grade 7 will receive a survey from Alberta Education.  In February, all teachers will be completing their surveys online at school. 

All surveys are anonymous and ask questions about experiences with the school.  In addition to English and French, the parent survey is available in Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, Blackfoot, Cree, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Urdu.

Your participation in the survey helps provide important information on the quality of education your child is receiving, so we encourage you to return your survey promptly.

Survey results will be available to school authorities in May 2015, and will be reported publicly as part of their 3-Year Education Plans and Annual Education Results Reports.

Homework

We are often asked what students should be doing for homework.  If no homework is assigned, we encourage students to read for pleasure and do some work each evening on the Mathletics program.  This is a great way to reinforce literacy and numeracy skills in our students.

January 16, 2015 is a non student day to allow teachers time to prepare report cards which come home on Thursday January 29, 2014.  January 30, 2015 is a professional development day. Staff will be working on student assessment and task design.

School Council is on Thursday Jan 15, 2015 at 7 pm in the Library Commons. Our principal, Ms. Saretsky, and our Learning Leader for Language Arts and social studies, Ms. Hayden-Issak, will be on hand to answer any of your questions. We hope to see you there.