Last Grocery Gift Card Order Deadline

The final round of grocery gift card orders is coming up.  The deadline for placing an order is Wednesday, June 4th.  Michelle will be in the school office on Monday and Tuesday to take credit card and debit cards from 3:30-4:30pm.

Thanks again for your support

Spring Carnival Info

Security Cameras at MidSun

Students may have noticed that a crew has been at the school working to install security cameras at MidSun.  This is a CBE initiative that will eventually see security cameras in all CBE schools.  Fish Creek Elementary had their camera system installed a couple of years ago.  The Calgary Board of Education is doing this as one of the measures they are taking to keep everyone safe at school.  The cameras are not operational as of yet, the workers assure me they have many more miles of cording to lay before anything will work but perhaps it will be finished at the end of June.  Our published Guide, Occupational Health and Safety lists the video camera’s under the question:

How is visitor safety dealt with at your work site?

Response:

 Sign-in

 Name tag

 Poster directing visitors to office

 Volunteer security check

 Unknown adults are approached by staff

 Specific orientation for field trips

 Volunteer handbook

 Notices posted for facility operators

 Fob security system (front door locked)

 Work safety bulletin board

 Supervision

 Volunteer orientation

 Posted information

 Volunteers Policy

 Video cameras

 Teach children to watch for name tags 

The CBE continues to make everyone's safety a top priority and this initiative is one way they are doing it.

As always, please feel free to call me at the school if you have any questions.

Veronica Saretsky

Grade 7's at Heritage Park

Midsun’s Grade 7 students visited Heritage Park this week to learn more about life as a new arrival to Western Canada. They took part in several activities designed to simulate the experience of settling a homestead in Alberta. The program was a great compliment to the learning we are doing in the classroom, and an awesome way to spend the day.

Staff Appreciation Lunch

This is a message from MidSun School Council.  The end of the school year is fast approaching and it is time to say thank-you to all of the staff at MidSun.

We are holding a staff appreciation lunch at MidSun on Thursday, June 5, next week.  we are in need of donations of food, money and time.  We are using a new online system this year to register.  Just go to perfectpotluck.com.  You will need to enter the co-ordinators name as SHIPLEY and the password 6430 (the last 4 digits of MidSun's phone number)

Any problems or questions can be directed to Jennie Shipley at jennieship@shaw.ca.  Anything you can help with is so appreciated.  Thanks so much for your support. 

MidSun Students Shining this Week

As the year comes to an end, our students have been out in our community, making us proud, with acts of outstanding citizenship and character.

•  Last week we celebrated our final LinkAges meeting with 26 students sharing fun and stories with their partner seniors at McKenzie Towne Centre. These students gave two hours every second week all year long to play games, share stories and laughter with the seniors they were partnered with. It was heart warming to see the touching goodbyes as the students finished the program for the year.
• On Tuesday, MidSun Athletes competed hard at the annual Track and Field event and placed 2nd overall!  There were many top finishes throughout the day.  A big thank you goes out to all of our coaches for supporting the athletes along the way.  Another big thank you goes to our volunteers without whom, this opportunity would not be possible for our students.
• On Thursday, leadership students volunteered at the Calgary Children's Festival and put smiles on the faces of thousands of Calgary youngsters.  They also were able to catch a great show "Frogs" while at the Festival.
• This week also was the culmination of many hours of extra work to present our Mainstage Play "The Wizard of Oz". Over 80 students, teachers, parents, volunteers and community members worked together under the direction of our very own Ms. Smith to put on this amazing production that was viewed by hundreds of people.  The acting, lights, costumes, singing, makeup, sets, props etc, were fantastic and a real highlight was a 15 foot puppet for the character of Oz!  Well done to everyone involved.
• Our ALP & ACCESS students with the help of several students in the regular program are working on some fence art that has begun to appear on the fence in front of our school.  Be sure to check out the way it develops over the next month.  Thanks to Mr. Reynard and Ms. Kaminski for spearheading this work.

There is still lots going on with our grade 9 band students off on a tour of BC next week and our grade 8 students touring down town following the steps of a character from the book "Tom Finder".  Our grade  7 will also be exploring Canadian history with a one day field trip to Heritage Park.  On June 5, we will hold our annual spring Carnival and raise money for tumour banking.  More information is coming about out about that shortly.

Have a great weekend MidSun Family, 

Veronica Saretsky

MidSun Spring Carnival

On Thursday June 5th MidSun will be hosting our annual spring carnival. This year we are raising funds to support a cause close to our MidSun Family with one of our students who has been courageously battling brain cancer this past year and has a goal to raise $5000 for Tumour Banking (a process of freezing the tumors so that researchers can gain access to cells removed from patients for their research in the fight against cancer). Our carnival this Spring will help Adam to raise these much needed funds.

Wristbands will be on sale next week in the Atrium at lunch $15 for a wristband for a great cause. $12 if students bring in a food bank item.

Individual tickets to play games will be on sale on the day of the carnival, but WRISTBANDS are the way to go! Wristbands give students unlimited play at the stations. Each game costs between 1-2 tickets to play. 2 tickets will cost $1.

Food will be on sale as well as a fundraiser but is an additional cost to the wristband and tickets.

 

Grand Prizes are HUGE! Over $1000 in prizes to be won!

PLEASE HELP support this great fundraiser.

 

 

Study Skill Resources

Please click on the link below to access some great study skill pointers.  With exams coming up in June, students may find information on this website helpful.

Study Skills

Wizard of Oz Play Tonight - Tickets Still Available

Tickets are still available to this great event that starts tonight!

Come to see our Mainstage play, 

The Wizard of Oz!

Tonight (Wednesday May 21) and Tomorrow (Thursday May 22) at 7 pm

Tickets a bargain at $7 each!  

Available from Ms. Jaques (rm 16) @ (403)777-6430 (3016) to book yours today!

You too can follow the yellow brick road.

Indicators announced for next year's report card

In Ken O'Connor's book, The School Leaders Guide to Grading (2013), he says "It has become increasingly clear that the use of percentages is incompatible with standards-based education, since percentages have no meaning in and of themselves and encourage the perception that a school is concerned primarily with accumulating points and ranking students.  Performance standards in a standards-based system always need to be about the level of performance in relation to proficiency." (P.50)

In light of his and other current thinking about the preferred way to document and support student learning,  MidSun School will be moving to outcomes based assessment and a new report card next year. In February, a list of the subject stems that will appear on the new report card was sent home and today the indicator scale we will use was announced.  Each stem will be evaluated using a four point number scale:
4 = The student has demonstrated excellent achievement of grade level expectations
3= The student has demonstrated good achievement of grade level expectations
2= The student has demonstrated basic achievement of grade level expectations
1= The student is not meeting grade level expectations.

We will have two formal report cards with comments on what students are doing well, what  they need to work on and how they can improve.  MidSun School will continue to keep home logic open and regularly scheduled mark updates every 6 weeks or so. All assignments and tests will be evaluated using the four point scale.

I think the most exciting thing about moving to this new report card is that it helps students to focus on their individual strengths and the areas they need to improve against a standard. It is more personalized with clearer targets for ways that students can grow. It is less about the number and more about the learning and that will be a good thing.

Veronica Saretsky
Principal, MidSun School

MidSun School Council May 7th Agenda

MidSun School Council

AGENDA

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

 

Item No.	Minutes allotted	Topic	Speaker
1	1	Chair's welcome	Reg Curren
2	4	Chair report ·         Final thoughts after six years at MidSun	Reg Curren
3	20	Principal's report	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 Fall Executive	Various
Total	45

 

MidSun School Education Enhancement Society

AGENDA

Wednesday, May 7^th, 2014 8 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	15	Fundraising ·         Plan for 2014-15 ·         Ensuring future of fundraising	Michelle Den Hoed Reg Curren
6	10	Other business Fall Executive
Total	37

 

Grade 9 Farewell trip to Calaway

Parents and Guardians of MidSun Grade 9 Students.

We will be sending home a Synrevoice message this afternoon with details on the Grade 9 Farewell trip to Calaway Park, as well as all the paperwork that we need to have signed and returned to the school by Friday May 9th. 

We will be placing the order for the the t-shirts based on the numbers who have returned their forms and money by this point.  If your child's forms and payment have not been recieved, we cannot guarantee they will recieve a t-shirt.

We are also looking for volunteers to accompany the group to Calaway Park on Friday June 20, 2014.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Mrs. Kaiser at mekaiser@cbe.ab.ca or 403-777-6430 ex 3040

Upcoming LA Exam - May 12

On May 12th, all students will be writing the LA Part A exam.  This is the written part of the June final.  Students will be writing the mulitple choice half on June 25th.

The exam is scheduled to begin at 9:00am.  Student are expected to bring a book so that if they finish before the 11:30 dismissal time, they can sit and read quietly.

Buses will depart from the school at 11:45. 

We wish all students the best.