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Inside this issue…

STEM Fair/Open House 2

Scholastic Book Fair 3

Numeracy

April Events

Holy Week 4

Mathathon

Sacramental Preparation 5

April Calendar 6

Dear Parents, Staff, and Students: Mr. Trybus and I are so grateful for the beautiful children and families at St. Richard. We are truly blessed to be able to practice our Catholic faith every day and share God’s love with our students, staff and parent community. We are working towards making St. Richard an even more welcoming environment and want you to know that you are expected, respected and valued! Ash Wednesday We began our Lenten journey on March 1st with a beautiful Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Theresa Church. We would like to thank our parent council for paying for the transportation to church as it is quite costly. The children were very respectful at mass and we loved having so many parents join us! Easter Celebration We continue our Lenten journey after Spring Break with an Easter Celebration which will take place on Friday, April 21st @ 1:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to join us. Demo of Learning It was wonderful to see so many children and their parents attend our second Demonstration of Learning for this school year. On behalf of our entire staff, we hope you have a wonderful, blessed and Happy Easter! Mrs. K. Sosnowski, Principal Mr. P. Trybus Assistant Principal

2017 TRIDUUM & EASTER MASSES ST. THERESA PARISH 7508-29 Avenue April 13 Holy Thursday

Mass of the Lord’s Supper: * 7:00 pm (Incense) April 14 Good Friday

Celebration of the Lord’s Passion: * 11:00 am & 3:00 pm April 15 Holy Saturday

Easter Vigil - Resurrection of the Lord: * 8:00 pm (Incense) April 16

Easter Sunday - Resurrection of the Lord: * 8:30 am, 10:30 am, 12:30 pm (Incense) & 6:00 pm

YELLOW SCHOOL BUS

We will have an in-boundary, yellow school bus service to students who live

in the St. Richard catchment area for 2017-18. The bus will be shared with

St. Clement. It will pick up St. Richard K – grade 6 students as well as

junior high students in our area who want to attend St. Clement for Jr. High.

Elementary aged students in our area are not eligible to attend St. Clement.

The bus will not go into crescents. Although K bussing is free, all other

students will need to purchase a bus pass from the school each month. We

will send home a separate letter after Spring Break with an application form

for transportation. Thank you!

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When? On Thursday, April 20th at 6:30 p.m., we will be holding our Green STEM Fair and Open House.

Where? The children are asked to sing in the school choir in the gym and later, to show their science projects in their classrooms.

What is Green STEM? = Science Technology Engineering Math

Green S.T.E.M. is a special, warm and caring school that, first and foremost, is steeped in our Catholicity; in the words and direction of Pope Francis and his encyclical “Laudato Si”.

It is place that values 21st century learning in a real-life, hands-on, project based approach that integrates all subject areas. It makes learning enjoyable, whole and real. Children LOVE learning about science and the world and how to take care of it. They know they require special knowledge and skills that can help do that. They get to use math in real-life situations and learn the engineering process.

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Scholastic Book Fair was a HUGE success thanks to the hard

work of our librarian Mrs. Butz-Gauk and to all of the students and parents for purchasing Book Fair items at our last Demo of Leanring. Total sales were $2,625.35 and we receive 60% of that total ($1,575.21) to buy more books for our library. Mrs. Butz-Gauk wishes to thank parents, Peter Skinner and Sandy Lubuguin as well as our EA Miss Harb for all the help with the fair. THANK YOU, EVERYONE!

Numeracy at St. Richard

At our Celebration of Learning on Wednesday, March 15 and Numeracy Week at St. Richard School, the Health Champions developed their leadership skills by sharing some fun Math Games with students and parents.

The Health Champions demonstrated how to play card- based Math games. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table. Parents can now play

these games at home with their child/children to develop their math skills.

A big “thank you” to Mrs. Hryschuk, our Learning Coach, for organizing this activity.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Upcoming Events in April April 3 Classes resume after Spring Break St. Richard’s Feast Day April 7 Recognition Awards Ceremony April 14 Good Friday – No School April 17 Easter Monday – No School April 18 Parent Council Meeting @6:30 p.m. April 20 STEM Fair & Open House @ 6:30 p.m. April 21 Easter Celebration in Gym @1:00 p. m. April 28 Hot Lunch: Twins Day (Dress like a friend)

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What is Holy Week?

Holy Week is the last week of Lent and it includes the following important days: Palm Sunday - the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem; Holy Thursday (or Maundy Thursday) - the institution of Communion at the Last Supper; Good Friday - arrest, trial, crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus Christ; Holy Saturday - the Sabbath on which Jesus rested in the grave. The time from sundown on Holy Thursday to sundown on Easter Day is also known as the Triduum, which is Latin for “three days.” Easter Sunday - Jesus rose from the dead. The purpose of Holy Week is to reenact, relive, and participate in the passion of Jesus Christ. Holy Week is the same in the eastern and western Church, but because eastern Christians use the Julian Calendar to calculate Easter, the celebrations occur at different times.

Mathathon Between April 28th and May 25th , we will be having a Math-A-Thon which is a school-wide event that allows the children to practice their math skills while raising funds that contribute to the many benefits our children are so blessed to receive at St. Richard School.

Students in each grade will be given age appropriate math questions to study and a pledge envelope. The students will ask family members and close friends to pledge an amount per math question or a fixed amount pledge. Students are not allowed to go from door-to-door to collect pledges. Everyone from 100 Voices to Grade 6 will participate; everyone can win. All students will take the math test whether they collect pledges or not. Once the tests

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have been marked, the class with the highest average of funds raised will receive a PIZZA PARTY sponsored by our School Advisory Council. There are TWO GRAND PRIZES; one for students who raise minimum of $40.00 and second grand prize for students who score 100% on their math test. SCHEDULE OF DATES:

Fri. April 28 Math-A-Thon Kick-Off Day. Math questions and pledge envelopes are sent home. Students begin collecting pledges/question or fixed amount pledges and begin studying for their math test. Cheques are made payable to St. Richard SAC.

Fri. May 5 All parent volunteer forms indicating if parents can help with counting money are returned to school.

Fri. May 12 All students write the math test and receive their score. Pledges are collected by the students and their parents.

Fri. May 19 Pledge envelopes with the money are returned. ALL ENVELOPES MUST BE RETURNED EVEN IF UNUSED.

Wed. May 24 Parent volunteers count the money and winners are determined.

Thurs. May 25 Winners are announced and prizes are awarded.

Sacramental Preparation SPRING SESSIONS

PARENT INFORMATION EVENING:

Thursday – April 20, 2017 - 7:00 pm at St. Theresa Church

7508 – 29th Avenue – Mill Woods

FIRST RECONCILIATION PREPARATION

SESSIONS

Saturday – April 29 at 10:00 AM

Saturday – May 06 at 10:00 AM

FIRST EUCHARIST - PREPARATION SESSIONS

Saturday – April 29 at 12:00 Noon

Saturday – May 06 at 12:00 Noon

FIRST EUCHARIST - TEACHING MASS

Thursday – May 11 at 6:30 PM

FIRST RECONCILIATION CELEBRATION

Saturday – May 13 at 10:00 AM FIRST EUCHARIST CELEBRATION

Saturday – May 13 at 5:30 PM Mass

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Spring Break

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School

Resumes

St. Richard Feast

Day

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5 NO Kindergarten

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7 A.M K to

Shepherd’s Care Recognition Awards 2:00

p.m.

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9 Palm Sunday

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12 Stations of the Cross 9:00 a.m.

13 Holy Thursday

Dismissal at 11:47

14 Good Friday

No School

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16 Easter

Sunday

17 Easter Monday

No School

18 Parent Council Meeting

6:30 p.m.

19 Mathathon Pledge Money

Returned

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STEM FAIR & OPEN HOUSE

6:30 p.m. Sacramental Preparation

7:00 pm at St. Theresa

Church

21 Resurrection Celebration

1:00 p.m.

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23/30 24

25

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27 28 Math-a-thon Kick

Off Hot Lunch: Dress Like a Twin

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May Dates

May 1-5 Education Week May 5 Go, Go Green Performance @1:00 May 8 Gr. 5 Immunizations May 14 Mother’s Day May 11 Gr. 6 English LA Test Part A @ 9:00 May 22 No School Victoria Day May 25 World Catholic Education & Care for Creation Day May 26 Green Energy Fair Care for Creation Day

April, 2017