Dear Arbour Lake Families,

I hope this message finds you well as we approach the weekend. I want to acknowledge all of our Grade 9 students who have been diligently writing their Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs) this week. We understand that this can be a busy and stressful time, and we commend their hard work and dedication. Next week, our Grade 6 students will also be writing their PATs. While these assessments do not impact their report cards, they serve as valuable indicators of their learning progress and can support us in tailoring our programming to their needs. We encourage all students to try their best.

As noted in a previous communication, June is Pride Month. At Arbour Lake we have focused on kindness and inclusivity, as we have been focusing on throughout the year. Today, students had the opportunity to contribute to a school-wide display centered around belonging. Each student decorated a hand to represent themselves and their individuality or wrote a message of belonging and welcoming. The concept behind this display is to showcase that while we are unique individuals, together we form a greater whole. We are proud of the positive energy and creativity shown by our students during this activity.

In connection to this, I was disappointed to hear that many students, especially grade 8s chose to stay home today due to rumored events that were scheduled to take place. I want to reiterate our commitment to inclusion and emphasize that our role is to do all we can to ensure a safe, caring, and welcoming inclusive environment for all students. Our message and expectations have always been focused on kindness and respect for one another, regardless of our diverse backgrounds and various beliefs and values. While we may not always agree, we can always be kind. Please also know that I do try to communicate as much as possible so that parents are informed around what is happening at our school. If you ever have questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

On another note, I would like to express my gratitude to the parents who provided us with feedback regarding Mathletics and the associated fee. While the majority of families (approximately 70% of respondents) support this enhanced learning tool and find the fee worthwhile, we have taken your feedback into account and will make adjustments based on this feedback for next year to ensure all students can benefit more effectively from this resource. What we heard from parents is that there is an inconsistency in how this tool is used and we will work to reduce this.

Regarding the yearbook, we have an important update from Jostens, and I have included a message from them in this email. Please see the attachment below. As an administrative team, we have requested Jostens to reprint the yearbook due to an article that does not take into account current world events and which included a graphic photo that is not appropriate for middle school, or any school frankly. The reprinted yearbooks are expected to arrive in September. We will notify our high school feeders and Twelve Mile Coulee so that our soon-to-be former students can pick them up in the fall. Additionally, we have requested double-sided signature pages for all Grade 9 students, which will be distributed in the next two weeks so that Grade 9s have the chance to get signatures from their peers. While I know this is not ideal, any alternative would have meant hours of human resources rectifying a problem not of our doing and resulting in a product that is not the quality we have come to expect of our yearbook. As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Please be reminded that complementary course requests are due by June 19. Next week is Spirit Week, and we encourage all students to participate. Details can be found in the announcements. Thank you for your continued support, and we wish you a wonderful weekend. Please do not hesitate to email me if you need anything at all.

Best regards,

Dr. Nancy Lisi, Principal

nmlisi@cbe.ab.ca

Message from Jostens:  Jostens Statement regarding Yearbook - Arbour Lake.pdf 

​​​​​​​Announcements & Reminders:

Spirit Week

Monday: Monochromatic Monday

• Have a favourite colour? Just wear that. Blue from head to toe? How about green? Whatever your favourite colour is, wear it!

Tuesday: Country Western Day

• Break out your plaid, jeans (extra credit given to Canadian Tuxedos), cowboy boots and hat and start Stampede a few weeks early!

Wednesday: Adam Sandler Day

• It’s the middle of the week…What better way to celebrate than to dress to the nines just like Hollywood royalty Adam Sandler! Wear your favourite basketball shoes, baggy basketball shorts, baggy T-shirt and dark sunglasses. 

Thursday: College Day

• In honour of the grade 6s and grade 9s finishing their PATs, we will be celebrating their academic pursuits. Wear your favourite college or university sweater! Maybe see if your parents have one of their alma mater’s sweaters lying around?

Friday: Coyote Pride

• For the final spirit day of 2023/2024, we will be celebrating Coyote Pride. Wear your Coyote gear that you ordered or wore when representing the school in athletics. Don’t have any? Wear Green and Blue! Go the extra mile and paid your face too! 

Messages from School Council

Teen Triple P Seminars

Arbour Lake School Council is happy to share a learning opportunity presented for parents and caregivers of Arbour Lake School students. In collaboration with the Trellis Family Resource Network, we have the opportunity to host three seminars aimed at supporting skill development in parenting our teenagers. The teenage years are a time of tremendous change and development for our children and can sometimes be difficult to navigate as we are helping our teens move through puberty, friendships, other relationships, academics, and all the things in between.

We are excited to share these learning opportunities to support and engage our school parent/caregiver community and hope you are able to join us. The attached poster has additional information on each seminar. Please save the date for May 14th, 28th, and June 18th. Teams Virtual event invitations to follow.

Upcoming Events & Important Dates

Healthy Hunger Dates

Organized by our School Council, Arbour Lake School does offer “Fun Lunches” through Healthy Hunger. Parents can order lunch for their child in advance. It is delivered to the school on the noted date and distributed to students. If you are interested in taking advantage of getting a break from making lunch occasionally this is a nice treat for parents and students. The link to sign up is below. Please scroll down and select “Arbour Lake Middle School” – there are two schools with similar names, this is the one that takes you to our staff selection. ALL Homerooms have now been included!!  https://healthyhunger.ca/parent-help

Parent Volunteer Sign-Up for Fun Lunch - Thursdays

For parents who wish to volunteer, our Fun Lunch days need some support. If you have completed your police check and requirements for volunteering within CBE and are a quick learner in understanding systems of organization, we would love to have you come join us on Thursdays at lunch to support Fun Lunch distribution. Please use the Sign-up Genius link below to do so:

Sign Up Here:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4CAEA628A3FDC34-46860288-funlunch/24158094#/