Important Upcoming Dates

Hello MHS Families

Start Up

School start-up has gone very well and students are adjusting to new grades, teachers and timetables.  The introduction of the Ministerial Order and PED policy has been very seamless thus far, and I would like to thank parents and students for largely deciding to leave electronic devices at home, or for securing them in lockers.  There is a positive change in the school culture already!

Code of Conduct

This week, we have reviewed school rules, student code of conduct and communicated a positive and strong emphasis that we are a school that wants the best for students and that means we will place high but attainable expectations on them to demonstrate responsibility, respect for self, others and the environment, and support them to do their very best.

School Council

The School Council Annual General Meeting (AGM) is on September 16, at 6:30 pm, in the school staff room.  We greatly appreciate the work of Council and their support of student programming.  All parents are welcome to attend and we would love to have enough parents to ensure parent voice for every grade level (4-9).  We greatly value your input and the opportunity to share school initiatives with Council.  Hope to see some familiar and some new faces next week.

School Fees

School Fees have been populated and can be paid on MyCBE (preferred payment method).  Fees can also be paid at the main office with cash, debit or credit card.  Please make every effort to pay these fees by end of next week.  Option classes for grades 7-9 are cost-recovery based and the supplies we purchase optimize student engagement.  Thank you for your prompt payment.  If you are experiencing financial difficulty and an inability to pay, you will need to apply for a CBE waiver and you are also welcome to contact me at dwmartin@cbe.ab.ca or by calling the main office at 403-817-3544.

Information on school waivers and setting up MyCBE can be found on the CBE website, https://www.cbe.ab.ca/registration/fees-and-waivers/Pages/default.aspx

Class Change Requests

Considerable time and thought goes into class placements and our classes are full.  Class change requests cannot be entertained.  Thank you for your understanding.

Punctuality

We open the school doors at 8:15 and really like seeing students on site around that time.  Classes start at 8:30 am and students are expected to be at their desk.  Many students (particularly grade 7) are experiencing off campus privileges at lunch for the first time.  Please remind them it is almost impossible to catch transit or return from High Street for the start of afternoon classes at 1:23 pm.

We have extended lunch and nutrition break as part of our health and wellness strategy with the expectation that students demonstrate responsibility and arrive on time.  Thanks for reminding your child of the importance of being on time as we gradually release increasing levels of responsibility on them.

The school cafeteria opens on September 23 serving soup, sandwiches and more, cash or debit.  If your child was used to paying with their phone, please ensure you get them a debit card as cell phones are no longer allowed at lunch in the school.

Friday Attendance

We recognize that sometimes students have weekend tournaments and other out of school commitments and may sometimes be away on Friday.  That said, I do want to inform parents that the length of each period has increased on Fridays and all core academic classes will be taught.  Our Legend Time (used to be on Fridays) is now embedded throughout the week. We hope to see increased attendance on Fridays for the 2024-25 school year and we are committed to making the most of every minute in support of student learning. 

On behalf of the staff at MHS, thank you, as always, for supporting our collective work to build resiliency, independence, a positive work ethic and an inclusive school culture that is geared to developing young minds that embrace life-long learning.

Have a wonderful weekend!  Hope to see you at Meet the Teacher!

Mr. Martin

Meet The Teacher

We are excited to invite you all to join us for our first school community event of the new academic year. Our ‘Meet The Teacher’ schedule is as follows:

Date – Thursday 12 September

Time – 5:00pm to 7:00pm

• BBQ: 5:00 – 6:00pm in the main carpark area (weather permitting)
• School Tours: 6:00 – 6:30pm (doors will open at 6:00pm)
• Foundations )*

*We are excited to be working with Foundations for Addiction and Mental Health (FAMH) this year in order to better educate and equip our school community (parents/guardians, students and teachers) with the knowledge and skills we need to help our students navigate the pressures of young adulthood, particularly social media and vaping. McKenzie Highlands is committed to improving the mental health of our students in collaboration with our parents/guardians and external partner organisations. Please join us for an open discussion facilitated by FAMH around addiction and mental health.*

Hotdogs and veggie-dogs will be provided as well as a selection of pop and chips. Come along and allow us to provide the dinner for the evening while you enjoy getting to know our school and the wonderful staff that work here.

Student volunteers from our Leadership class will be on hand to help you find the classroom and teacher you are looking for.

We look forward to seeing parents and students on September 12.

This Week in Athletics

This week in athletics we will be continuing with the final boys' and girls' soccer tryout on Tuesday September 10. For those trying out for our Junior and Senior basketball teams, tryouts will be as follows: 

• Junior Boys
• • Monday morning 7:15am-8:15am 
  • Wednesday afterschool 3:30-4:45pm
• Junior Girls
• • Tuesday/Thursday 3:30pm-4:45pm
• Senior Boys
• • Monday 3:30pm-4:45pm
  • Wednesday morning 7:15am-8:15am
• Senior Girls
• • Tuesday 3:30pm-4:45pm
  • Friday morning 7:15am-8:15am

Please note that gym strip fees have been uploaded to MyCBE, so gym strip purchases can be made online. Gym strips will be handed out in PE once payment has been received. The D2L shell for Physical Education is active (log in requires your child's student ID and password), this shell will have all items pertaining to athletics throughout the year."

Learning Commons News

RE:  Age-Recommended Reading Materials

My name is Kim Litwin and I am the Library Assistant at McKenzie Highlands School.  

At the beginning of every school year, I feel that it is important to inform parents about the various age-recommended reading materials in our school, and the system that we are using to keep all families' expectations met.   

With the goal of keeping our older readers engaged, it is vital that they have access to books that are thought provoking, entertaining and age appropriate.  However, these books can sometimes contain content similar to that of a PG or PG-13 movie.   For this reason, our books are clearly identified as being in one of three age groups, which I determine based on the recommendations of United Library Services.   

These are:

Books with no labels-  suitable for every age level

Books marked "Gr. 7 & up"- recommended for grades 7, 8 & 9 students

Books marked "Teen"-  recommended for grade 9 students and older. 

It is extremely difficult to know what each family's comfort level is in regards to these materials.  So, if you do not wish for your child to take materials from a particular level, it is important that you have a discussion with them, to make your expectations known.  I will show the students, during their orientations next week, where they can find these labels, to avoid confusion.  

Thank you for your help with this!

Grade 7 through 9 students all partook in "Speed-Date-A-Genre" this week.  In small groups they went through 11 stations, where different book genres tried to impress the students with their 'profiles' and some great titles.  All students walked away with a nice lengthy wish list of books they wished to checkout through the school year, and some extra enthusiasm for the titles our school has to offer. 

Please contact me in the Learning Commons anytime if you have any questions.

Friday Schedule

Daryl Martin, Principal                         Tiffany Jernigan, Assistant Principal