Dear Woodman Families 

We trust your child enjoyed an early start to their weekend yesterday.  Teachers were actively learning together, with a focus on French/English language acquisition pedagogies in our three respective programs. A highlight of the week included a memorable Grade 9 wellness retreat at Camp Horizon - where friendships were strengthened and students participated in many outdoor active pursuits. 

Congratulations to our senior basketball teams who competed in the Henry Wise Wood Feeder School tournament. Thank you to our neighbourhood high school for hosting. 

Take note of a few important messages for the week of Oct. 28 - Nov. 1: 

Grade 6 PAT Individual Student Results

If students attended Grade 6 in Alberta in May-June 2024, they would have completed standardized assessments in core subject areas.  Earlier this week, our main office provided these students with their individual student Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) results in a sealed envelope. This report becomes part of their Official Student Record.  Please ensure that your child has provided it to you. Grade 9 PAT results are circulated to students by their current high school. 

Student Holiday Market Interest Meeting – Monday Lunch

Attention, budding and veteran entrepreneurs! A meeting will be held on Mon. Oct.28 in the Learning Commons (first half of lunch, bring your food) for all students interested in being vendors at our 4th annual, student-driven holiday craft market. Students will need to commit to weekly meetings (Monday) and to making their sale items on their own time.  The craft sale will take place over four lunch periods during the last week of school before the winter break in December. 

This will be a fundraiser for a charity of the student vendors’ choosing. Table fees will be charged and students are encouraged to donate a portion of their after-expense profits. If your child is passionate about crafting, baking, jewelry making, knitting, card making, etc., please encourage them to participate in this Woodman tradition. 

The event is facilitated by student leaders and Ms. Heron-Mykyte (library assistant).

Soccer Team Celebration – Tuesday Lunch

The boys’ and girls’ soccer teams had highly successful seasons.  Following several snow-related scheduling changes and injuries, the boys lost in their hard-fought final game on Wednesday. Girls won their final game at RT Alderman on Thursday.  Both teams and their teacher/parent coaches should be commended for their impressive show of sportsmanship and skill progression throughout the season.  All players are invited to a wrap-up party in the main gym over the Tuesday lunch hour. 

First Student and Southland Bus Evacuation Drill – Thurs. Oct. 31st, AM

The school received notice that all school busses will be practicing bus emergency protocols upon arrival to school on Thursday. This will result in increased congestion on 86th Ave. from 8:55-9:15 am. To ensure safety for students involved in the bus evacuation, we request that parents dropping off students from their personal vehicle do so in an alternate drop-off zone – such as on the west side of Elbow, the St. Gerard church parking lot, or on 7th St. SW. 

New Protocol for Riding Alternate School Busses

If your child needs to take a different school bus home from school, we kindly ask that you call the school office at 403-777-7490 to provide permission on the day of the request. This ensures that the school and the bus driver have a clear record of the request. Following a parent call to the office, students will receive a school permission slip, confirming to the bus driver that they may ride an alternate school bus. Riding an alternate school bus should be used on an occasional basis only. Permissions may be reviewed should overuse occur or should there not be sufficient space on the school bus.  Please note that without a call from a parent or guardian prior to dismissal at 3:34, students will be required to take their regular bus home. Thank you for your understanding. 

Halloween Festivities – Thurs. Oct. 31 

As was mentioned previously, we request good judgement and decision-making in the selection of Halloween costumes, should students wish to dress up on Thursday.

  • Due to safety and security reasons, full-face masks and toy weapons (swords, rifles, guns, etc.) should be kept at home.  
  • Choose a simple costume that minimizes on slip, trip and fall hazards; students still need to transport their books/binders from class to class, and to do so in an easy manner 
  • Costumes should not reflect violent or sexualized imagery or reflect cultural appropriation of any sort. Cultural appropriation can be described as perpetuating a cultural/ethnic stereotype or trivializing a tradition.   

Library Volunteer Assistance Needed!

Do you miss volunteering at your child’s school, the way you once did in elementary school? Perhaps assisting in the library is a good solution to get into the building again, and acquainting yourself with life in middle school!  Ms. Heron-Mykyte is eager for volunteers with a police security clearance to assist with shelving books, any afternoon (12:30-3:30) on Monday-Thursday.  Email heheronmykyte@cbe.ab.ca for more information. 

Belcanfran Exchange Program – Alberta and France/Belgium 

Each year, Woodman families are invited to consider having their child participate in a language and cultural experience that will change their lives.  Belcanfran is a non-for-profit reciprocal family exchange between Alberta and France/Belgium.  See the website for more information: https://www.belcanfran.com/. We have recently hosted several students from France that have enriched the classroom and school environments greatly.  Partner Woodman students will reciprocate the visit, leaving for France in early February. 

See the program brochure here: Brochure 

Families are invited to an important information session to learn more about the program:  

What                    Belcanfran Exchange Program Information Meeting Invitation

When                    Sunday, Nov. 3/ 2024

Where                  Haysboro Community Center, 1204, 89 Ave SW, Calgary, AB

Time                     2:00-3:30 pm 

School Council – Perogies Fundraiser Continues!

Our Prairie Gourmet perogy & sausage fundraiser has been extended to Sun. Oct. 27.  Take the last chance to order! For anyone still waiting to place an order, please go to https://gourmetperogies.com/seller-registration/496 and register as a seller using the password Wolfpack (the password is case-sensitive). If families printed off order forms, please return those hard copies to the main office on Monday for manually updating the order to the website. We are excited for our Woodman community to try their products and hope their offerings will make your fall and winter evenings a little easier when trying to decide what to prepare for dinner. 

Some updated stats:

  • 40 families have registered as sellers (up from 34 last week).
  • 28 orders have been placed (up 7 from last week).
  • 63 individual boxes of product have been ordered (up 15 from last week).
  • At a profit of $9 for every box sold, we have raised $567 so far (up $135 from last week). 

Products will be delivered to the school parking lot on Tuesday, November 5th. We are currently scheduled for a delivery from 4:00 until 6:00, during which time Woodman families need to pick up their orders and those placed by their family members and friends. For group orders under 100 boxes, Prairie Gourmet offers a one-hour pick-up window, which is where our order currently falls. While there is still ample time to place further orders and bring our numbers up, we will update families if our delivery time frame is adjusted once our final numbers are tallied. 

Special Presentation: Canadian Parents for French/AGM Meetings - October 29, 7pm

Everyone is encouraged to join us at our School Council meeting on Tuesday October 29 at 7pm. We will begin with a special presentation by Canadian Parents for French.  We will meet both in person in the Learning Commons and virtually through the following Microsoft Teams link:  Join the meeting now 

Following the special presentation, we will hold our Annual General Meetings (AGM) for both School Council and Parent Society.  We continue to look for parents to volunteer their time to become (1) our secretary, (2) our staff appreciation coordinator, and (3) our fundraising coordinator.  All of these roles come with support from the previous parent volunteer.   

Questions?  Email Tara at ParentCouncilWoodman@gmail.com  

Important Dates                                                         

Mon. Oct. 28                          Wrestling Season Commences

                                                 Sailing Trip Parent/Student Meeting, 6:30 pm

Tues. Oct. 29                          Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth at Woodman

                                                 Welcome, U of C Student Teacher, Ms. Kounougeris (Host Teacher: Mme. Rude)

                                                 Woodman School Council Meeting, 7:00 pm

                                                            -Guest Speaker: Canadian Parents for French

Fri. Nov. 1                               B Day Options

Mon. Nov. 4                            Grade 7 Field Trip, Field of Crosses (7-3, 7-4, 7-6, 7-7)

Tues. Nov. 5                           Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth at Woodman

                                                 Calgary Police Service, “You and the Law”, Newcomer Students (1:30)

                                                  Perogies & Sausages Order Delivery, 4:00-6:00

Wed. Nov. 6                            Take Our Kids to Work (Grade 9)

Thurs. Nov. 7                          Grade 7 Field Trip, Field of Cross (7-1, 7-2, 7-5)

                                                Remembrance Day Ceremony, 10:45 am

Fri. Nov. 8                               CBE Indigenous Education Day, No School for Students

Nov. 11-13                              Fall Break, No School for Students

Mon. Nov. 18                          Dr. EP Scarlett Visit to Woodman (Grade 9 Students), 2:30

Tues. Nov. 19                         Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth at Woodman

                                                 Welcome, St. Mary’s University Student Teacher, A. Ghebreyohannes (Host Teacher: Mr. Homewood)

Wed. Nov. 20                          Jill-of-all-Trades Event, SAIT

Thurs. Nov. 21                        Dr. EP Scarlett High School Student Leadership Event

Fri. Nov. 22                             B Day

                                                Breakfast With the Wolves

Mon. Nov. 25                          Grade 6 AHS Immunizations

Tues. Nov. 26                         Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth at Woodman

                                                 School Council Meeting, 7:00 pm

Thurs. Nov. 28                        Learning Conferences, 4:00-8:00 pm

Fri. Nov. 29                             Learning Conferences, 9:00-2:00, no school for students

Mon. Dec. 2                           Guest Speaker: Canadian Mental Health Association

Tues. Dec. 3                           Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth at Woodman

Wed. Dec. 4                           Wrestling Quad #1, 6:30 pm

Fri. Dec. 13                            Wellness Day

-Keep posted on valuable activities that are being planned!

Tues. Dec. 17                        Wrestling Quad #2, 5:00-7:00 pm

Fri. Dec. 20                             Last Day of Classes

Dec. 23-Jan. 3                       Winter Break

Mon. Jan. 6                            Classes Resume