As we approach our winter break, I would like to extend warm holiday wishes to all of our MidSun Community.  We have so much to be proud of.  Our students are doing a great job in school.  Our completion room has been full these past weeks as students elect to attend after school and get their work done.  Our Centennial High School tutoring program has had record numbers.  Student achievement is up.  We are anxious to get the results from our Tell Them From Me survey that students completed this week.  Their voice is an important part of setting the direction for school improvement.  We have hired a new educational assistant, Karen Johansen, who is working to help us improve literacy by providing a program called Precision Reading to struggling readers at MidSun.  She has already begun to work with students on this daily reading initiative that aims to increase reading fluency and comprehension.

Our fall sports have all done very well and our students have been actively participating in clubs like debate, catering, art and badminton.  Chess club starts in January. Our intramural program has been a real success with many students storming the gym over the noon hour to play games like bump, badminton, or dodge ball.  This week has been particularly fun with such leadership events like “Wrap the elf” and gingerbread house decorating.  One of the most rewarding aspects of school life heading up to our holiday is the generosity that our community showed during our Adopt-A-Family program.  Three families will have a wonderful Christmas with gifts and a complete turkey dinner thanks to all of you.  Way to go, MidSun!

Parents we need your support. School does not begin until 8:55 AM and we would ask that students are not in the building until at least 8:30 AM as our teachers are often not even here yet.  They are arranging for their own child care!  The same goes in the evenings when we ask that students are out of the building by 4 PM unless they are in a supervised activity.  Please arrange to pick your child up promptly after their scheduled event is finished.  Completion room is over at 4:30 daily.  Thank you for your help.

The New Year will bring a few staff changes as Ms. Theroux, will be going on a leave and will be replaced by Mr. Gordon and Ms. Duthie will be moving to Janet Johnstone School and Ms. Semos will return.   We hope to see you out at Parent, Student, Teacher conferences this Thursday and Friday. If we don’t see you have a very merry Christmas and all the best for a wonderful New Year!

Warm Regards,

Veronica Saretsky

Principal, MidSun School  

Senior teams battle it out at Centennial High School's feeder tournament this weekend

Both our Senior Boy's and Senior Girl's basketball teams worked hard on the court this past weekend in Centennial High School's annual feeder school tournament. There was lots of high paced action.  Our students played well and represented MidSun School proudly.  It was a great way to get ready for regular season play.  Keep up the good work Lakers!

Debate Tournament

On Thursday Dec. 13^th, MidSun hosted a Debate Tournament that saw 100 students from 10 different schools engage in a tournament of wits, cunning, and knowledge. 

The resolution that was being debated was:

“Be it resolved that pharmaceutical companies should hold patents on medical discoveries”.  MidSun had three teams enter and they were great ambassadors for the school.  Our very own, Brad H, received 2^nd place for best speaker in the open category.  Great job to everyone involved!

Mr. Howie

Google Apps for Education.

Innovation and Learning Technology will be launching the integration of Google Apps for Education.  The intent is to start assigning Gmail accounts to some year round students by the third week of September 2012. Our school has decided to be one of the early adopters of this new service.  Once all required technical and operational support elements have been tested and verified, Gmail accounts will be systematically deployed to all remaining schools using a phased approach.  The Innovation and Learning Technology website will also keep up to date information about the Google Apps and Gmail launch.  You can visit http://bit.ly/QfrA5T for more information.

Your child’s privacy is important to us. We would like you to know that some personal information about your child is being sent to Google Education. This includes their full name, what school they attend, and of course the CBE provided e-mail address.

Your child will be able to login to their Gmail accounts by using their current email @educbe.ca and the SAME password.  For example: If their current email is JonD587@cbe.ab.ca, they will now use JonD587@educbe.ca. 

Students will eventually have access to their files, calendars and collaborative tools to create documents, presentations and sites whenever they have access to the Internet - at any time, from most types of devices. It is important for parents to know that with cloud computing applications of any kind, that student data will not necessarily be housed in Canada. This means that data could be located on Google servers throughout the world, and subject to US legislation. Private information such as IPP's and other secure data will remain on CBE servers. Any other privacy concern you may have about Google can be found at:  Privacy and Security EDU Site http://bit.ly/qCWD9t.

Having access to Google Apps for Education requires responsibility on the part of student, teacher, and parent.  Understanding the importance of Digital Citizenship and having these conversations with your child will help prepare him/her for safe and successful online collaborations.  For more information on Digital Citizenship, please visit http://bit.ly/OBrwgb.

If you would like more information, please feel free to email me via email (kjtailor@cbe.ab.ca).

Regards,

Kaushik Tailor

Learning Leader, Midsun School

Parent/Teacher Interviews

Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

We have the opportunity to try Conference Manager , an online booking system, for our upcoming parent student teacher conferences that are scheduled for Thursday December 20, 2012 from 2:00-4:30 and Friday December 21 from 9:00 AM – Noon. 

Teachers have been contacting parents of students that they believe need some extra support and booking appointments this week.

The site opens for booking by parents at 6:00AM on Monday Dec 17, 2012. Each time slot is 5 minutes.  If you would like a ten minute interview, please select two consecutive sessions.  You may add any comments to let the teacher know if you have a particular concern you would like to talk about. Be sure to put travel time between interviews.

We hope that this will allow our teachers to be prepared for your interviews and make the time more productive for everyone.  Please call our office at 403-777-6430 if you have any concerns.

MidSun School

Parent-Teacher Conferences- Dec 20 & 21, 2012

The link for the Conference Manager is:

https://midsun.schoolsoft.ca

A Parent Account is required to use the Conference Manager. However, you only need to go through the registration process the first time you use the system. If you have never registered in the Conference Manager use the link above and click the “Register Now” button.

Can’t remember your password?

If you already have a Parent Account, click on the link above, select “Forgot your password” and enter the email address you used to register in the system. You will then receive an email containing instructions for resetting your password. If you do not receive an email, you might have entered an email address the system does not recognize. Please also add appointments@schoolsoft.ca to your address book in your computer mail.  This will override any spam filters that might be blocking the email. If the problem persists, please contact the office and ask them to access your Parent Account, confirm your email address and reset your password.

Step 1 - Conference Manager Opens to Parents – 6:00 AM; Dec 17, 2012

If you used the Conference Manager in the past, your email and password are still in the system. You can simply access the Conference Manager using the link above.

Step 2 – Book your Parent-Teacher interviews

Select the teachers with whom you want to book interviews. You will see each teacher’s schedule. Select one session for a 5 minute interview or two consecutive sessions for a ten minute interview. Be sure to leave travel time in between your interviews. After booking your appointments you can print off your schedule. You will also receive an email confirming your bookings. You can log into the system at any time to view your bookings, print, cancel or re-schedule appointments.

If you do not have Internet access, you are welcome to contact the office and we will schedule your conferences on your behalf.

We recommend adding

appointments@schoolsoft.ca

to your address book

Important Dates: 

Dec 17 – Start scheduling your interviews at 6:00 AM

Dec 20 – 2:00 - 4:30 Parent Teacher Interviews

Dec 21, 9:00AM-Noon – Parent Teacher Interviews

If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact the school at 403-777-6430. Please let us know if you like this system! Special thanks to the School Council for purchasing the conference manager!

Midsun Band News and Performance

MidSun Band Christmas Concert

12-12-12

This evening, December 12, 2012 you have the opportunity to hear all three grades performing your favorite Christmas carols.  The presentation is at 7:00 with doors opening at 6:30.  The Salvation Army Brass Band will be performing from 6:30-7:00 as you find your seats.

Grade 9 Band performs at the Alberta Legislature.

The Grade 9 Band had a very successful trip up to Edmonton on December 7^th and 8^th.  Students gave up two days off of school to perform at the Alberta Legislature, Michael A. Kostak Elementary School, and at City Centre Mall, and had a workshop with Mr. Rob Speers at Harry Ainley High School as well.  Students also enjoyed some downtime bowling at West Edmonton Mall.  Our band students should be very proud of the way the performed throughout the trip, both musically and as mature citizens representing our school!

Scott Campbell Band Teacher/Director

More Pre Holiday Fun Events

ADOPT A FAMILY

DEADLINE - FRIDAY DEC 14th

Get your items into your TA Teacher: items, gift cards, money, etc. Leadership will be around to collect the items on Friday December 14th.  Contact Mrs. Amirault in the Phys. Ed Office with any questions.

PENNY CHALLENGE

DEADLINE - FRIDAY DEC 14th

Get your pennies into your TA Teacher. Help provide clean water to the children of the world. Leadership will be around to collect the items on Friday December 14th.

HITMEN HOCKEY TICKET RAFFLE

ALL WEEK! 

In the ATRIUM at lunch. Buy a raffle ticket for $1.00 or 5 tickets for $3.00 to win 2 tickets to the HITMAN Game on Saturday December 15th.

Tickets are on Sale from Monday December 10th to Thursday December 13th. Draw will be announced on announcements on Friday Morning. Supporting Adopt a Family!

CANDY GRAMS - BUY A CANDY CANE FOR A FRIEND  

Buy a Candy cane for a friend for $1. Lots of flavors to choose from. Fuzzy Peach, Sour, Raspberry, Strawberry, Cherry, Buttersctoch, and traditional peppermint. Send some holiday cheer to your classmates.  Sales will be happening at lunch starting on Dec 10 through to the 18th of December. Delivery days will be December 12th, December 14th and December 19th.

FROSTY FLOATS - PREPURCHASE BY FRIDAY DEC 14th 

Cream Soda and Vanilla Ice Cream in a Red SOLO CUP!  With a straw and spoon too! YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY! Pick your Frosty Float up from room Tuesday December 18th at lunch. $4 for a frosty float! Tickets on sale in the atrium at lunch with the Candy Grams!

Upcoming Fun Events

Coming Events

JUST FOR FUN

Gr 7 Gingerbread Challenge - Monday Dec 10th in the Atrium at Lunch
Gr 7 Window Decorating Challenge - To be completed by Friday Dec 14
Gr 8 Minute to Winit! - Dec 10-14th in the Gold Pod hallway at lunch.  Sign up and come have fun!
Gr 8 Student Appreciation! - Dec 20

FOR TA POINTS

WRAP A TA ELF

WHEN: Monday December 17th in the gym at lunch

Wrappers: 3-4 students from your TA and a present student.

3-4 members of your TA must arrive in the gym to wrap one of their classmates as a present. You will be provided with a roll of paper, a couple of bows,, have access to ribbon and tape.

The most creatively wrapped student present will earn the top points.

You can bring your own supplies if you wish. Be creative!

TIS THE SEASON DAY

WHEN: Wednesday December 19th

Come dressed as a tree, elf, Santa, dawn your favourite Christmas sweater, make it look like the Season is upon you! Literally! or dress in another cultural holiday related to the holiday season.

10 Points for making an effort to be dressed in the holiday spirit

20 Points for going that extra mile!

AVALANCHE RESCUE

WHEN: Wednesday December 19th

There has been an AVALANCHE at the NORTH POLE! The elves are trapped and we need a search and rescue team to find the elves.

5 members of your TA must compete in this challenge to recuse the elves and save Christmas!

The snow is creamy vanilla pudding, the elves are gummy bears….and watch out for the deer poop made of chocolate chips! Find the elves and clean up the mess at the North Pole before the other teams!

WHEN:  Wednesday December 19th at lunch

RESCUERS: 5 people from you TA

Come on out and support your rescuers! Yes this is like Worms in Dirt BUT BETTER!

The Mid Sun Book Club is up and running. We have two clubs: a grade seven group (with 5 participants) and a group open to grade eight and nine students (6 participants). We meet monthly over the lunch hour to discuss the book we have just read. The next meeting is Wednesday, December 12. We welcome new members to come and share our love of great stories. Simply stop by the library for a permission slip.

So far the Grade 7 group has read This Dark Endeavour (The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein) by Kenneth Oppel. The group (of 5 students) rated this novel 3.7 out of 5 stars and when asked who they would recommend the book to, they unanimously said the boys in Grade 7. It is a very imaginative, dark and sometimes scary book. Next week we’ll be discussing Ghost Messages by Calgary writer Jacqueline Guest. Called a 19^th century Nancy Drew, the thirteen-year-old protagonist Ailish is a feisty Irish fortune teller. I cannot wait to hear what the students thought of this story.

 The Grade 8&9 group first read Divergent, by Veronica Roth, one of the hot new titles in Young Adult fiction. The group rated it a 4.5 out of 5 stars and some students intend to read the second book of the trilogy. Set in futuristic Chicago, the population is divided into factions, groups of people with unique cultural values, religions and behaviors. There are five different factions in the city: We had a lively and surprising discussion about which faction the students identified with and why. On December 12 we’ll be discussing Maze Runner by James Dashner, another dystopian science fiction. It will be interesting to hear how it compares to Divergent.

submitted by Sue LeBreton, parent volunteer.

Tell Them From Me Survey

From December 10^th to December 17^th , an online school survey for students called Tell Them From Me (TTFM) will allow every student in Midsun to give their input into school improvement initiatives in an anonymous way.  Each student will be given a random username and password ensuring their anonymity. The survey will take place during Living Skills classes, and every student in the CBE will be participating. A second part to this survey will take place towards the end of the year. It will be used to monitor any changes. The intent of the data is to address any critical concerns (i.e if 90% of students indicate they are bullied, etc). In a nut shell, it is similar to the Student Accountability Pillar Survey but is made available to all students (instead of only Grade 7) and has two parts (as opposed to one).

This survey tool has been implemented in over 45 school jurisdictions across Alberta over the past two years.  If you would like more information about this survey please visit the Alberta Education website.  

The student survey will be completed online and will require approximately 30 minutes to complete. TTFM measures topics such as social/emotional outcomes (e.g. student engagement, emotional health), physical health outcomes (e.g. physical fitness), and drivers of student outcomes (e.g. quality instruction, classroom context). The survey also allows students to give their thoughts and feedback in an open-ended question response.  Bill and I have created a time table for the Living Skills teachers and have blocked off Room 7, 10, and the Library during the time frame.

TTFM was created by The Learning Bar, based on the work by co-founder Dr. J. Douglas Willms. Dr. Willms is recognized internationally for his work on the development of educational monitoring systems, including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Since 2004, Tell Them From Me has quickly grown to become Canada’s largest national school survey.

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me via email (kjtailor@cbe.ab.ca). Alternatively, if there is enough interest, I can create a workshop/committee one afterschool to provide more information and discuss this in further detail.

Regards,

Mr. Tailor

Basketball Tryouts

School Drop off/Pick up Safety

Safety is of primary importance in the morning and afterschool when students are being dropped off or picked up. 

We are especially concerned about student safety in that area directly in front of the school door/bike racks and along the east side of the school adjacent to visitor parking.  It is within this area that busses for our special needs students complete their drop off/pick ups. 

In order to protect the safety of students at these critical times the school blocks the north entrance to the parking lot with pylons.  This takes place in the morning at approximately 8:30 a.m. and in the afternoon at around 3:20 p.m. 

A couple of MidSun students have taken on the task of putting out the pylons.  While they allow the busses for special needs students to enter the parking area, they have been asked to refuse entry to parents who also may be attempting to enter the parking area.  Our expectation is that all parents will honour this system in the interest of safety for all students. 

There have been two recent incidents in which parents proceeded toward or into the parking area when the pylons were out and in spite of being asked to refrain by the two students.  In one case a parent drove over a book bag and onto the grassy area adjacent to the entrance and was verbally defiant of the students’ request.  In the second case a car nearly clipped one of the students as it proceeded between the pylons and entered the parking lot.  In the second case a license plate number was recorded and the school has contacted the School Resource Officer, Constable Mair.  Please be aware that any/all traffic infractions around the school may be reported to Calgary Police Services for investigation and/or charges.

We expect that parents will respect the restricted access to the parking lot during both the morning and afterschool drop off/pick up times.

Adopt a Family Project

All this snow makes it look a little more like Christmas and MidSun is ready to kick off its annual Adopt-a-Family Fundraiser!  Each year MidSun students work hard to brighten the Christmas of several needy families. This year we have three families we will be adopting for Christmas. Each grade will have a family to support.  On Monday, students will hear about their family from their homeroom teacher.  Students may choose to support them by purchasing a special gift, gift card (grocery, clothing or gas cards are appreciated) or money that our leadership team will direct to purchasing items the family needs.
Spread a little cheer this Christmas and join us in the spirit of giving! Feel free to contact Ms. Amirault at the school if you have any questions.

Congrats to MidSun Volleyball Teams

MidSun Volleyball Teams finished up their season last week with some exciting, action packed games.  Our coaches are very proud of their teams for the hard work, dedication and improvement that their athletes demonstrated over the last 2 months. Congratulations to everyone!

Standings:
Sr. Girls - 4th place
Megan P., Kennedy M., Mary A., Ashley S., Lauren C., Hayley H., Dani C., Brittany M., Kayla K., Carrly S., Santana C., Taylor M., Megan K.
Coaches Ms. Amirault and Ms. Slaughter
Sr. Boys - 3rd place
Jason I., Liam M., Jakob F., Chris K., Jeremy D., Colby F., Josh W., Ben J., Shea P., Cordell H., Tommy D., Andrew M.
Coaches: Mr. Harris and Mr. Johnston
Jr. Boys - 2nd place
Garret B., Ethan G., Parks L.,Konor Y., Kevin H., Trent F., Nick S., James H., Nathan S., Dylan D., Kyle S.
Coach: Mr. Pratt
Jr. Girls - 1st place
Kayla B., Jaden B., Alissa B., Bria B., Jenna D., Skye G., Emma H., Rebecca L., Maeve M., Kaylee N., Kate T., Danielle T., Samara W., Lander Y.
Coach: Val Miles

For Grade 9 Parents

Centennial High School open house will be held Thursday, November 22^nd at 7:00 p.m.   The evening will start in the Gym at 7:00 p.m. sharp with a welcome by the  Principal, Dr. Matt Christison, followed by presentations by the Guidance Counsellors.  The presentations by the Career Practitioner and RAP/Work Experience Coordinator will take place in the Library at 7:45 p.m., followed by the Advanced Placement presentation at 8:15 p.m.  Throughout the evening, parents and students are encouraged to walk through the school and embrace the culture.  Displays, demonstrations and Centennial High School students will all be available for viewing, discussions and interaction. Plan to attend!

Peer tutoring

Peer tutoring with Centennial students will begin on Wednesday, November 28 and will run until mid-May.  MidSun students who are struggling in math are encouraged to meet in the library every Wednesday to get some extra help.  Students from Centennial will arrive by 4:00 and are available until the library shuts down at 4:45.  

Results an ELL Report Cards come home November 14

Look for your child's results report card coming home on Wednesday November 14, 2012. Our students have been engaged in their Laker Life classes to understand how to develop their citizenship, character and personal development at school.  They have generated specific, personal goals in each area.  Our teachers have reviewed the goals and have developed comments that will help students find strategies to attain their goals.  We hope that parents will work with their children at home to support this work.  Students and teachers will have an opportunity to evaluate the goals in March and in June.  A summative evaluation for the work each student does in these areas will be on their June report card.

English second language learners will also have an ELL benchmark reporting coming home on Wednesday.  This should give parents an idea of the level that their child is working at in English and provide strategies for their next steps in learning.

Option classes will be sending home an email mark update on Wednesday as well.  Please try to support your child to complete any outstanding work for their option classes as soon as possible.  Feel free to contact their teachers for support.  Our completion room remains open Monday to Thursday for one hour afterschool in the library to support students with their work.

A mark update for all classes will come home on December 10, 2012.  This will help parents determine which teachers they will want to see at our interviews scheduled for December 20th from 2:00-4:30 PM and December 21st from 9:00-Noon.  You can book your interviews starting at 6:00 AM on December 17, 2012.  Teachers may be inviting some parents in for a group interview prior to the 17th as those parents will have priority at this interview period.

If you have any questions or concerns about reporting, please feel free to attend our parent council meeting tonight, November 13, 2012 at 7 PM in the library commons.

Purdy's Chocolate Fundraiser is now on!

Deadlines for orders is: Monday Nov 26 with delivery Dec 10th

    DETAILED ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: available on Quick Links

   www.purdysgpp.com

¨      Click Sign Up

(upper right hand corner)

¨      Click Sign Up as a Member

¨      Enter your Contact Information

¨      Login with your Username & Password

¨      Click on Join Group

¨      Enter Invite Code:

1484-10578

¨      Invite Code links order

        to school

¨      Click on Invite to

        include friends & Family

      Cheques payable: MSEES

      Ordering Support: pamelahowell3@gmail.com

MidSun School Parent Council Tuesday November 13th 7PM

Just a reminder to parents that the MidSun School Council's monthly meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. in the library. Please join us to provide your feedback on parent teacher interview night and to hear about some exciting plans for enhancing the outdoor area around the school.

MidSun Remembrance Week

The MidSun Remembrance Assembly will take place on Friday, November 9^th, 9:30 am

All parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends are all welcome to attend!

Please wear all black on friday- in honor of the soldiers that have lost their lives for our freedom and those still fighting.

Other MidSun Remembrance Week Activities:
Calgary Veterans Food Bank food drive- all week- all students are encouraged to bring in non-perishable food donations

Calgary Poppy Fund- all students and staff will receive a poppy on Friday and are encouraged to make a donation to the Calgary Poppy fund (suggested donation $2)

2012 MidSun Food Drive for the Calgary Poppy Fund

This week, we will be running a food drive in support of the Calgary Poppy Fund. The fund was formed in 1927 by the Royal Canadian Legion to help veterans and their dependants who are in need. Over the years, there has been a growing need for services that rely on the poppy fund. One such service is the Veteran's Food Bank, which has been sending out more than 70 food hampers a month, compared to 50 hampers a month last year, and 25 hampers a month three years ago. The Poppy Fund also collects cash donations to help support veterans pay for their medications, and rent in emergency situations, among other things.
On Friday morning, students will all receive a poppy. Please bring in a donation for this poppy. (Suggest $2!)

Please bring in non-perishable food items TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY.
Ideas for Non-Perishable Donations: any canned or boxed foods (due to our commitment to provide our clients with quality food we cannot accept food that is out-dated) baby formula, baby food and diapers toiletries paper products

Our Remembrance Assembly will take place on Friday November 9th at 9:30 AM. Mr. Hornburg will be our guest speaker.  Parents wishing to attend are event are asked to RSVP by calling our office (403-777-6430) so that we may have a seat ready for you.

No School Friday Nov 2, 2012

This Friday November 2, 2012 is a time banked day for our staff to work on our results reporting and school improvement.  There is no school for students.  Enjoy your weekend!

Explorer Idol

Today, our students were treated to the musical "Explorer Idol".  Three actors told the story of 6 explorers and we voted one of them explorer idol! Find out who won and why by asking your student. Special thanks to the School Council who sponsored the performance.

WE Day

23 students from MidSun attended the long awaited WE DAY on Wednesday October 24^th at the Saddledome. We were energized by the amazing speakers and inspirational stories from Spencer West, Larry King, Liz Murray, Craig and Mark Keilburger and Martin Sheen. Not to mention performances by Hedley, Lights, Sean Desman and a surprise performance by Marianna Trench. The students were amazed, inspired empowered by the day and already well on their way to making a change in our community and in the world.

Two upcoming events:

October 29^th to November 9^th. We SCARE Hunger. MidSun families and students are asked to send in non-perishable food items for the Vetran’s Food Bank. This is a TA challenge. Points are awarded for items brought to your TA.

November 1 to November 30^th. WE CREATE CHANGE. As we all know pennies are on their way out of circulation. MidSun students with support of RBC will be collecting pennies for water. 1,000,000,000 people live without clean water in the world. 2500 pennies means water for 1 person! Help make a change in someone’s life today. Send in your pennies!

We at Midsun are committed to making a change in the world both at home and abroad. Help support our initiatives and stay tuned for more to come!

Wrestling and Quad Meet Schedule

Take Our Kids to Work Day

Attention Grade 9 Students and Parents!

November 7^th , 2012 is Take Our Kids to Work Day.  This is not a CBE field trip but an opportunity presented by the Learning Partnership (www.thelearningpartnership.ca/page.aspx?pid=250) and supported by the CBE.  It is a chance for grade 9 students to see a workplace in action and find out what their parents do on a daily basis.

If your child is interested in attending work with you on November 7^th,  please complete the form distributed in Laker Life and have your child return it to their homeroom teacher as soon as possible. 

Extra forms can be found on the grade 9 Laker Life D2L shells.

Possible Bus Delay for Buses A, D & G

October 23, 2012

 Dear Parents:

We have just been informed by Southland Transportation, that they anticipate a delay on Wednesday October 24 due to We Day routes.  It is always possible that there will be unforeseen delays due to traffic or weather, but in addition they are already aware that the bus routes listed below will have the following time delay:

                   Fish Creek "A'/MidSun "A"  -  15 minute delay

                   Fish Creek "D"/MidSun "D" -  15 minute delay

                   MidSun "G"                        -   15 minute delay

Since the end of We Day is earlier than rush hour, we don't anticipate particular delays but depending on the weather there may be delays returning to the school.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yours truly,

Veronica Saretsky

Principal, Midsun School

Have you signed up for Parent Student Teacher Conferences Yet?

Sign up for our Parent Student Teacher Conferences at:

https://midsun.schoolsoft.ca

Don't forget to sign up for your Family Portrait too!

www.lifetouch.ca/abfamilyphotos

Reminder that Wednesday October 24 and Thursday October 25 are short days and run on a Friday Schedule. Our completion room will be open both days from 1:30-2:30 PM.

Students with IPP's will be bringing them home this week.  Please have them signed and returned by the end of Parent Student Teacher Conferences on Friday.

See you at Conferences!

 

Mark Update and Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

Teachers will be sending out mark updates by e-mail tomorrow.  Please contact the office if you haven't received it by Monday.

Online booking for Interviews will open at 6 am on Monday the 22 ^nd

Don’t forget to book time between appointments for travel time

The book fair will be set up in the gym as well, during the interviews.

Representatives from Learning Clicks will be on site for Career Counselling.
Lifetouch will also be here taking family portraits, this is great for Christmas pictures.  Book your time at:403-255-5440

Our bookkeeper, Edwina Ewart will be available on the evening of the 24^TH and the morning of the 26 for those wanting to pay their child’s student fees.  Debit, visa, and MasterCard are also available.

Mark update and Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences

We have the opportunity to try Conference Manager , an online booking system, for our upcoming parent student teacher conferences that are scheduled for Wednesday October 24, 5:30-8:00PM. Thursday October 25, 2012 from 5:30-8:00PM and Friday Oct, 2012ober 26 from 9:00 AM – Noon. 

The site opens for booking at 6:00AM on Monday Oct 22, 2012. Each time slot is 5 minutes.  If you would like a ten minute interview, please select two consecutive sessions.  You may add any comments to let the teacher know if you have a particular concern you would like to talk about. Be sure to put travel time between interviews.

We hope that this will allow our teachers to be prepared for your interviews and make the time more productive for everyone.  Please call our office at 403-777-6430 if you have any concerns.

MidSun School

Parent-Teacher Conferences- October 24-26, 2012

The link for the Conference Manager is:

https://midsun.schoolsoft.ca

A Parent Account is required to use the Conference Manager. However, you only need to go through the registration process the first time you use the system. If you have never registered in the Conference Manager use the link above and click the “Register Now” button.

Can’t remember your password?

If you already have a Parent Account, click on the link above, select “Forgot your password” and enter the email address you used to register in the system. You will then receive an email containing instructions for resetting your password. If you do not receive an email, you might have entered an email address the system does not recognize. Please also addappointments@schoolsoft.ca to your address book in your computer mail.  This will override any spam filters that might be blocking the email. If the problem persists, please contact the office and ask them to access your Parent Account, confirm your email address and reset your password.

Step 1 - Conference Manager Opens to Parents – 6:00 AM; Oct 22, 2012

If you used the Conference Manager in the past, your email and password are still in the system. You can simply access the Conference Manager using the link above.

Step 2 – Book your Parent-Teacher interviews

Select the teachers with whom you want to book interviews. You will see each teacher’s schedule. Select one session for a 5 minute interview or two consecutive sessions for a ten minute interview. Be sure to leave travel time in between your interviews. After booking your appointments you can print off your schedule. You will also receive an email confirming your bookings. You can log into the system at any time to view your bookings, print, cancel or re-schedule appointments.

If you do not have Internet access, you are welcome to contact the office and we will schedule your conferences on your behalf.

We recommend adding

appointments@schoolsoft.ca

to your address book

Important Dates: 

Oct 22 – Start scheduling your interviews at 6:00 AM

Oct 24 – Conference Manager closes at 3:00 PM

Oct 24 & 25, 5:30-8:00PM– Parent Teacher Interviews

Oct 26, 9:00AM-Noon – Parent Teacher Interviews

If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact the school at 403-777-6430. Please let us know if you like this system! Special thanks to the School Council for purchasing the conference manager!