Good Afternoon CMAC Families,

Just one more week of school before the holidays! This has been a wonderful week at CMAC. I really enjoyed seeing our Grade 7 students’ prototype projects at Telus Spark this week. And today, students: dress like a teacher and teachers: dress like a student day was a lot of fun. Next week, we are all looking forward to daily spirit days and our upcoming dance and activity afternoon on Thursday. Our Holiday Hampers are all packed up and ready to go; thank you all for your incredible generosity!

Upcoming Calendar and Events 

Monday December 18 – Day 2 – Casual dress – Spirit Week – Ugly Sweater Day
Tuesday December 19 – Day 3 – Casual dress – Spirit Week – Holiday Headwear Day
Wednesday December 20 – Day 4 – Casual Dress – Spirit Week – Candy Cane Day
Thursday December 21 – Day 1 – Casual Dress – Spirit Week – Culture/Dress your best day – Dance and Activity Afternoon
Friday December 22 – Day 1 Odd – Casual Dress – Spirit Week – PJ Day

Winter Break! December 23-January 7 

Monday January 8 – Day 2 – TLC Formal
Tuesday January 9 – Day 3 – TLC Informal
Wednesday January 10 – Day 4 – TLC Informal
Thursday January 11 – Day 1 – TLC Informal
Friday January 12 – Day 2 Even – TLC Casual

Library Books and Winter Break 

With winter break coming up, we ask all students to return any books they don’t need to the library. This gives our most esteemed and venerable library assistant time to prepare our collection for a fresh start in January. If you are traveling for an extended period of time, please be sure to have all school library books returned before you leave. Students are welcome to check books out to read over winter break, but if your student has finished with any of our library books, please return them as soon as possible.

Upon our return to school in January, any books that are overdue from December or earlier will be considered lost and students will be expected (asked) to pay for a replacement. Please ensure that our books are returned on time so that we do not have to deactivate student accounts while we sort it out.

Housekeeping 

• TLC Uniforms: If your child is in the TLC program, please remind them of the uniform requirements, including wearing black shoes. In the new year, we will be working hard to ensure all TLC students are following uniform standards each and every day. Please support us in this. If you need replacement uniform pieces, and cost is a barrier, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
• Cold Weather: As the temperature continues to drop, please help your children dress for the weather. This includes a warm jacket, warm hat, and gloves. Our relaxed entry begins at 7:45. Class activities, and lunch time, often find our students outside, and it is important that they are able to stay warm. Fresh air is good for us all, we just need to dress for it.
• Lunch: Please, if you send your child with a meal that requires cutlery (fork, spoon), also send them with the required cutlery. We don’t not have cutlery to provide them with.

School Council – Thank You! 

I want to thank everyone who came to our School Council meeting. We have an incredible group of committed parents who show such great care for our school community. The dance clinicians they approved for our Physical Education classes start next week. We have also ordered a new set of Chromebook Computers and two Smartboards with money recently approved by Council. Thank you for helping make our school such a great place. We are always looking for more parents who are interested in learning about and supporting our school, so please, if you have been considering coming, join us for our next council meeting in the new year!

Holiday Hampers and House Teams 

Thank you to everyone who has sent in items for our holiday hampers this year. The generosity we have seen so far has been incredible. We will be accepting items all through next week. If your family has been having a tough year and would like to receive a hamper, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of your child’s teachers, or to us in the office. Students bringing items in is a great way for them to contribute points to their house team. Teams are below. I would especially encourage students on team blue to bring items in. I’d love to see us retake our lead.

Purple House: 9-1, 8-3, 7-5, 7-4, 6-2, 5-3 Mrs Fehr, Mrs. Ondrus- 348
Blue House: 9-3, 8-1, 8-5, 7-2, 5-1, LEAD, Mr. Becker, Ms. Wong- 359
Green House: 9-4, 8-2, 7-3, 6-1, 5-2, Mr. Starnes, Mr. Scholpp- 393
Orange House: 9-2, 8-4, 7-1, 7-6, 6-3, Mrs. Short, Mr. Clement- 301

Sports Teams 

Wrestling season is underway! The team meets to practice Mondays and Wednesdays at 2:30 outside the aux gym.

If your child is playing on a sports team, or volunteering, please pick them up right at the end of their games and practices. Our teachers generously volunteer their time, and like the kids, are tired by the end of the day. If they cannot be picked up on time, they will not be allowed to participate.

To participate in games and practices, students must be present for the duration of the school day, as per Calgary Middle Level Schools Amateur Athletics rules. They must also represent themselves as positive members of the school community, as per the standards set by our school for students in leadership roles.

Volunteers

We need your help! Our teachers are doing a great job organizing exciting field trip opportunities for your kids. With the new volunteer clearance process, we are running short on volunteers. Please, if you are able to volunteer, complete the new volunteer process (link below) so we can keep offering these experiences for our students.

• https://www.cbe.ab.ca/get-involved/volunteer/Pages/volunteer.aspx

Fees

For families with low incomes, the CBE provides a fee waiver program. Please see the following link for details: https://cbe.ab.ca/registration/fees-and- waivers/Pages/Waivers.aspx

If there is a field trip or other learning opportunity with a fee, and this fee will prevent your child from participating, please connect with the principal. No child should miss a learning opportunity offered to their class due to financial reasons.