Centennial Peer Tutoring is starting up again

When: Wednesday, February 5, 3:45 pm to 4:45 pm

Where: Midsun Library

 

Students from Centennial work with Midsun students who are looking for extra support in their core subjects in a relaxed setting.  Please encourage your son or daughter to attend for individual support if they are struggling or are just looking for a little extra help.

 

There will be no tutoring on Wednesday, February 12 as it is a short day.

Info about the upcoming Human Sexuality Unit

We have sent home, by e-mail, an information package regarding the upcoming Human Sexuality Unit last week.  In case some people have missed that opportunity to review the information provided, it has also been posted on the MidSun website.

http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b691/parents.htm

If you do not want your child to participate, please sign the forms and return them to Laker Life teachers by Friday Feb. 7 2014.

Thank you

Message from the City about a Potential Midnapore Skateboard Park

High School Info for Grade 9 Parents

High School Information Evening for Grade 9 Parents

Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Time: 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Where: Main Gym

Counsellors from Centennial High School will be holding an information session for parents interested in learning more about high school courses and requirements.  They will also be available to answer any questions parents might have related to your child’s transition into high school.

Grade 9 High School Tour

Date: Wednesday, February 12

Time: 9:30 am to 11:00 am (students will be leaving MidSun at 9 am).

Where: Centennial High School

Students will be given the opportunity to participate in the Centennial Orientation Tour and all associated activities to give them a feel for what a day in the life of a high school student is like.  We will be walking to and from Centennial High School so please make sure your student is wearing appropriate clothing and footwear.  

Reminder - Fine Arts Night Tonight!

 The  Fine and Practical Arts Evening will take place  tonight (Thursday January 23nd 2014)  from 6.30 to 8.00pm in the Atrium and Atrium Balcony.

Admission is free to this great event!

This event will showcase our students' talents in Art, Drama, Dance, Construction, Foods, Fashion, Jazz Band, French, Design and more.

We hope to see you tonight!

Fine and Practical Arts Evening - Tomorrow Night!

The complementary subjects' open house (aka Fine and Practical Arts Evening) will take place  tomorrow (Thursday January 23nd 2014)  from 6.30 to 8.00pm in the Atrium and Atrium Balcony.

Admission is free to this great event!

This event will showcase our students' talents in Art, Drama, Dance, Construction, Foods, Fashion, Jazz Band, French, Design and more.

	Event	Location:
Drama	Drama Performances	Drama Room
Art	Trifolds	Center of Atrium
French	Circulating around with French Treats	Red Pod Entrance
Construction	Project Displays	Atrium (North Side)
Design/IP/Media	Projects/Smart Board Displays	Atrium (East)
Jazz Band	Jazz Band will play at 7:15	Atrium in between vending machines
Film Studies	Smart Board	Green Pod Entrance
Foods	Catering Club	Circulating Around with Treats
Fashion	Display in front of Foods/Fashion Room	S. Side of Atrium (in Front of Fashion Room)

NO CBE COMPUTER APPLICATIONS available over Family Day Long Weekend

System-wide technology outage scheduled for Feb. 15-17

The Calgary Board of Education will have a system-wide technology outage over the Family Day long weekend (Feb. 15-17) while our Information Technology (IT) Services works with internet and telecommunication service providers on enhancements.

During this time there will be no access to any CBE computer system or application, including: internal and external websites, network drives/folders, CBE email, student Gmail, and CBE applications such as SIRS and D2L.

Staff, students and parents are encouraged to make alternative arrangements to complete work or activities that would require CBE computer systems.

Band Members to Nominated to Represent MidSun in the Southern Alberta Jr. High Honour Band

Congratulations to Hannah M, Jordan P, Rebecca G, Matthew B, Nickolai K, and Bennet D-H!  

These six were all nominated to represent the MidSun Band Program in the Southern Alberta Jr. High Honour Band over Teachers Convention.  There were 112 nominations representing 32 schools throughout Southern Alberta.  Congrats to them!

Upcoming Midyear Exams

On Jan 27th and 28th all of the students at Midsun will be taking Midyear exams in LA & Social Studies. This will provide the students with an opportunity to experience a cumulative exam, and the teachers the opportunity to gauge where students are in the learning process.  The mornings of both of these days have been set aside for these exams as the whole school will be participating.


Here are some helpful test day tips:

• Get enough sleep, eat a good breakfast, bring a sweater and a water bottle, and leave a little earlier than usual if you can.
• Make sure you have all the necessary materials (e.g. pens, sharpened pencils, eraser, approved calculator, etc.)
• Attentively listen to, and read, all instructions.
• Manage time carefully; it is important to answer as many test questions as possible, so try not to leave any blank.
• Consider going through the test and answering the 'easy' questions first, then returning to tackle the more complicated ones later; when stuck on a question, make the best guess and move on.
• Read questions thoroughly, paying close attention to words like: not, no, never, now, all, always, only, most, best, exactly.
• Try coming up with an answer yourself before reading multiple choice options.
• Employ the process of elimination; exclude multiple choice distractors that are definitely wrong to narrow down the options.
• Use scratch paper; working problems out methodically and drawing pictures can help.
• Show ALL work for written responses.
• Double check each answer and all written work, but stick to initial gut instincts; don't change an answer unless it is obviously wrong.

Study Hard and Good Luck

Short on Safeway and Sobey's Minimums for Grocery Gift Card Faundraiser

We have extended this month's deadline for our grocery gift card fundraiser because we have yet to meet our minimums for Safeway and Sobey's. This means that no money will be earned from those stores this month.  If you planned to order grocery gift cards you still have the opportunity. The new deadline is Friday January 17th at 9:oo AM. Thanks for supporting MSEES. We are working to improve our student's school experience and plan to install some new water fountains in the building!

Fine and Practical Arts Evening 2014

The complimentary subjects' open house (aka Fine and Practical Arts Evening) will take place on Thursday January 23nd 2014 (tomorrow)  from 6.30 to 8.00pm in the Atrium and Atrium Balcony.

Admission is free to this great event!

This event will showcase our students' talents in Art, Drama, Dance, Construction, Foods, Fashion, Jazz Band, French, Design and more.

	Event	Location:
Drama	Drama Performances	Drama Room
Art	Trifolds	Center of Atrium
French	Circulating around with French Treats	Entrance be Red Pod
Construction	Project Displays	Atrium (North Side)
Design/IP/Media	Projects/Smart Board Displays	Atrium (East)
Jazz Band	Jazz Band will play at 7:15	Atrium in between vending machines
Film Studies	Smart Board	Green Pod Entrance
Foods	Catering Club	Circulating Around with Treats
Fashion	Display in front of Foods/Fashion Room	S. Side of Atrium (in Front of Fashion Room)

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 grades 7  will receive a survey from Alberta Education.  In February, students in grades 7 and 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 and Tagalog. 

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. We should also like to remind you that “don’t know” answers impact results.  The percentage of satisfied respondents is based on the total number of respondents.  “Don’t know” responses count in the same category as the dissatisfied or very dissatisfied responses.  Students, teachers and parents who “don’t know” the answer to a particular question have two options:

  If you want your response to count as a negative response: answer “don’t know”

o   In this case, 10 respondents answer “don’t know”

o   Calculation based on 100 respondents:  30 very satisfied/strongly agree; 20 satisfied/agree; 20 dissatisfied/disagree; 20 very dissatisfied/strongly disagree; 10 don’t know

= 50% satisfaction rate  

If you don’t want the response to count as a negative one: skip the individual question

o   In this case, 10 respondents  skip the question

o   Calculation based on 90 respondents: 30 very satisfied/strongly agree; 20 satisfied/agree; 20 dissatisfied/disagree; 20 very dissatisfied/strongly disagree;

= 56% satisfaction rate. 

Survey results will be available to school authorities in May 2014, and will be reported publicly as part of their 3-Year Education Plans and Annual Education Results Reports.

2014 calgary Youth Science Fair Information

Dear Students, Parents and Guardians,

Please find attached the forms needed to enter the 2014 Calgary Youth Science Fair which will be held Wednesday, April 15^th to Saturday, April 19^th, 2014 at the Olympic Oval.
All the information needed to submit a science fair project can be found on the following site:
http://www.cysf.org/
Registration Forms:

Registration forms are not included in this package because they have not been sent out yet by the Science Fair. As soon as they arrive you will be notified.  Please note that the registration forms need to be completed, signed and handed in by Tuesday, February 04^th, 2014

Should a student require help with his/her project I will be available on the following dates at 3:45 pm.

·         Tuesday,  January 14th

·         Tuesday,  February  04^th (please hand in registration form – completed and signed)

·         Tuesday,  March 04^th

·         Tuesday,  March 11^th

·         Tuesday April 08^th

·         Tuesday,  April 15^th

If your child requires any time outside these meeting dates, please have them come to Room 25 to arrange a meeting.

Sincerely,
Ian Strachan
Math/Science Teacher
isstrachan@cbe.ab.ca

Final Reminder for Unpaid School Fees

Unpaid School Fees

Final reminders of Unpaid School Fees will  be sent in the mail this week.

Please note that fees which remain unpaid after January 31  will go to Collections.
Payments can be made by VISA/Mastercard/Debit/Cash/Cheques/Post-dated Cheques and On-line.
Waiver forms are available on the website.

Our bookkeeper, Edwina Ewart can be reached at 403 777 6430  ext 2377 and will be happy to discuss payment option plans.

 

 

Band Clinic Info

It’s clinic time again.  We’ll have clinicians in to work with our students a few times over the next few weeks.  Please make sure your child remembers to come on the day their clinic is being held.

Thank you to all of our clinicians who are taking the time to teach our students.

 

Gr. 8:     Tuesday, January 14 (7:30am-8:45)

Jazz:       Wednesday, January 22 (7:30am-8:45)

Gr. 7:     Saturday, Feb 8^th (10:00am-12:00pm)

Basketball Game Schedules for 2014

Basketball Practice Schedule 2014

The 2013 Wrestling Season

                As the exciting 2013 wrestling season comes to a close, we’d like to review some of the highlights of our season.  MidSun hosted the first quad meet here in November and the team travelled to the next quad meet at Mountain Park.  MidSun wrestlers did well at both events.  Our third quad met of the season was cancelled due to the tremendous cold and snow impacting travel that week.  The quad was to be hosted by Willow Park School, which after suffering a fire now resides within the walls of The Chinook Learning Centre across the city.

                There were two awesome tournaments we participated in and the first was at the Calgary Science School.  We had several wrestlers bring home medals from that tournament including Zack M,  Laiba H, Jack R and Max K,  who won Bronze; Miah G, Thai S, Joey B,  Jane M, Justine L and Andrew M  who all won silver; and Jared M, Cole P,  Landon R, and Ian W who all won gold.

                 Next we attended the University of Calgary Junior Olympics.  Right across the gym there was world champion women’s wrestling, and some of our athletes even met Olympic Gold medalist Carol Huynh.  This competition was important was it acted as the trials for the Alberta Winter Games to determine participation on Team Calgary this year.  Winners get to train with the U of C Junior Dinos and attend the games hosted this year in Banff.  We had several medalists winning in the novice division including:  Miah G, Jodene V, and Ian W who won Gold, and Owen D who won Bronze.  In the Senior or open division Andrew M won a gold medal at this tournament and Jack R won a bronze medal scoring a possibility of being involved in the Alberta Winter Games.

                Finally, we had a great time at our Divisional Wrestling meet at the Southland Leisure Centre.  The competition was fierce and although many of our athletes won in their weight classes and will receive ribbons for their victories, there weren’t enough team members to oust the other teams and allow us to bring home a pennant this year.  To that, our team knows there is always next year, and this year of learning with a heavily rookie team will turn to our favour in the 2014 season!  It’s been a great year wrestlers.  As coaches we are very proud of you, your skill development and your outstanding sportsmanship.  We look forward to seeing you back with us next year!

Michelle Hayden-Isaak

Val Miles

Jason Riddel

MidSun School Council AGENDA for Jan 15th

Happy New Year to all MidSun Families,

We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday.  It has been a great week getting caught up with what everyone did over the holiday.  January is a busy month as students and staff gear up to finish up our first semester and prepare final assessments for our report card coming home on February 12, 2014.  Our Midterms for Social Studies and Language Arts will take place on Monday January 27 and Tuesday January 28, 2014.  Parents and students can access our study tips on our website under students/for students.  Our annual Options showcase evening will take place on January 23 at 6:30.  This is always a great event and we encourage everyone to come out and see student performances, films, demonstrations and displays.

Our report card format is changing next year to improve our communication of what students are able to do and what they need to work on in relation to the programs of study. This is a move that has been supported by Alberta Learning. Over 100 CBE schools are already using the new report card this year. Our teachers have already begun to work on new assessment methods and are communicating them to students.  This is the last year we will be reporting with percentages. More information on the new report card will be shared at our School Council meeting on January 15 at 7PM.  MLA Jeff Wilson will also be there for a Q &A. Hope to see you there!

MidSun School Council

AGENDA

Wednesday, January 15^th, 2014 7:00 p.m. MidSun School Library

Item No.	Minutes allotted	Topic	Speaker
1	3	Chair's welcome	Reg Curren
2	2	Chair report ·         Introduction of guest speaker	Reg Curren
	25	Guest speaker ·         Jeff Wilson, MLA Calgary-Shaw, Wildrose Party ·         Brief presentation and Q&A	Jeff Wilson
3	15	Principal's report Presentation on new report card for 2014-15 school year	Veronica Saretsky
4	5	Treasurer's report	Michelle Den Hoed
5	5	Volunteer/room parent report	Kim Bender
6	5	Approval of minutes of previous meeting(s)	Patricia Vercuiel
7	5	Other business ·         New fundraising requests?	Various
Total	65

MidSun School Education Enhancement Society

AGENDA

Wednesday, January 15^th, 2014 8:15 p.m. MidSun School Library

Item No.	Minutes allotted	Topic	Speaker
1	5	Chair's welcome & report	Reg Curren
2	5	Treasurer's report	Michelle Den Hoed
4	2	Approval of minutes of previous meeting(s)	Patricia Vercuiel
5	10	Fundraising ·         Grocery store gift card report ·         Update on CBE tax deductible donations ·         Spring fundraising program	Michelle Den Hoed
6	3	Other business
Total	25