What a wonderful week of community engagement!

• This has been a very fulfilling week of learning at Escuela Eugene Coste, in spite of required shifts to our planning that led us to cancel our intended in-person Student Led Conferences. I appreciate your flexibility and understanding as we moved to virtual 15 minute Teacher-Led conferences instead. While this was disappointing, we experienced meaningful connections and engagement this week!
• We had a very robust evening of parent engagement during our Tuesday School Council & Enrichment Society meetings.
• During the council portion of the meeting, I was able to review our SDP, School Budget & Fees presentation with attendees. Thank you to those who attended for completing the survey and meeting evaluation! If you did not attend this meeting, the survey is open until March 31. More information is available below!
• Many new faces joined us for the Enrichment Society portion of the meeting as we welcomed the landscape architect Julian Warring (The Tula Project) to our meeting to provide us with an overview of possibilities to redevelop our courtyard.
• Thank you, families for your quick response to our Intent to Return for the 2025-2026 school year survey. If you have not already done so, you can share your plans with us here: https://forms.office.com/r/xA3xkfAvya
• The form will remain open until April 4.
• Our grade 3,4, and 5 student population enjoyed a very successful week of swimming at the Canyon Meadows Aquatic Centre. Students also engaged in public transportation, travelling to and from the pool using Calgary Transit. I had the opportunity to accompany 4 homerooms of grade 3 and 4 on the bus. Our students were respectful and patient riders as well as pedestrians within our community. To say I am proud of our students is an
• Piikani knowledge-keeper Anita Crowshoe joined us on Wednesday Mar 19 to make relations with students in kindergarten, grade 2, grade 3 and in grade 5. Through the sharing circle, we learned through oral narrative, song, movement games and reciprocal exchanges in English, Blackfoot, Spanish, French, Polish and Romanian! We have a rich and diverse community here at Escuela Eugene Coste and it is meaningful to weave our relationship with Sra. Anita into the fabric of our school.

SDP, Fees and Budget Survey- (Engagement Ends March 31)

We know we make better decisions to support student learning when we build understanding and work together. That’s why we are asking you to share your perspectives about our school development plan, school budget and school fees.

The survey is open from March 4, 2025 to March 31, 2025

You can learn more about our School Development Plan (SDP), Budget & Fees by reviewing the presentation posted on our website. Then, please complete the survey. Your input is important to us, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your perspectives.

School Council and Enrichment Society Updates

School Council and EC Enrichment Society Meetings for 2024-2025 will continue to take place online through TEAMS.

Our next meeting will take place Thursday, April 24, 2025. School Council: 6:15pm – 7:30pm

EC Enrichment Society: 7:30pm – 8:30pm

Future Meeting Dates

April 24, 2025

May 22, 2025

Volunteers are still needed!

We are specifically looking for volunteers for:

Memory Book Committee Co-Chair

Co-lead a team of volunteers to take photos and create the memory book for the 2024-2025 school year. We would like someone to be able to take over for future years and co-chair with another individual as our current lead has only a short time left with kids in the school.

Please don't hesitate to reach out as we continue to engage volunteers and contribute to positive experiences for the students and staff at Eugene Coste.

Kind regards, Melinda

ECS School Council Co-chair

Fun Lunches

Fun lunches are offered throughout the year to students who wish to participate. We receive our lunches through Healthy Hunger, an online platform that delivers pre-ordered lunches to the school in which a portion of the proceeds goes to the school.

On the day of the event, lunches are sorted and delivered to your child’s classroom by parent volunteers. If you would like to participate, please register your child at www.healthyhunger.ca . Lunches must be ordered prior to midnight, 5 days before the fun lunch event.

We kindly ask that if your child is absent the day of the fun lunch, please contact the school prior to 10:30am, if you wish to pick it up the same day, after 1:30pm. If not specified, your food will be donated to someone in need of lunch. No refunds will be issued if your child is absent on the day of a Fun Lunch.

If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to parent support at www.healthyhunger.ca or email ecsfunlunch@gmail.com

What date is that again? How do I find that information? WhatsApp Parent Chat Groups

Did you know that School Council has organized Parent-Led, School Council-supported WhatsApp Chat Groups for each grade? These groups are intended to foster connections between families and the school community, share school events and fundraising activities, and remind each other about important school dates.

The chats are not an official school communication channel and teachers and staff will not review the content. Please continue to connect with teachers directly about student-specific concerns. If you are interested in joining, please send your School Council team an e-mail to ecsschoolcouncil@gmail.com and you will be added to the correct group.

Subject line – WhatsApp Chat E-mail – your name and phone number, your student’s first name and grade.

Please note if your chat group is starting to flood with questions or doubts about anything, that the most direct way to confirm information is by reaching out directly to the school. This can be through checking our website for posted calendars or resources, reviewing our weekly newsletter, e-mailing your child’s teacher or calling the office. We are always available to help and reaffirm communication that has been provided as well as address concerns should the need arise.

My Child Takes the Bus

Please continue to remind your child of expected bus behaviour to support a safe ride home (stay in your assigned seat, stay seated at all times, appropriate volume of voice, be kind).

As we have done in previous years, if your child normally takes the bus home but you will be picking them up, please meet us at the bus zone so that we can check in with you to confirm attendance. If you are picking up early or if there is a regular pick-up schedule at the bus, please call our office before 2:30pm so that we can add that information to our bus lists and avoid after school confusion.

What if I still have questions?

We thank you for reviewing our information and know that questions may remain. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our team if you need support.

 Sra. Andrea Riquelme,

Principal Escuela

Eugene Coste International Spanish Academy

Important Dates

Mar 22-30, 2025

Free Lacrosse Experience Grade 4-5 only

March 31, 2025

Classes Resume

April 7-17, 2025

Spanish Immersion Weeks

April 9, 2025

Hot Lunch – Pizza Hut

April 18, 2025

Good Friday, No School

April 21, 2025

Professional Learning Day No school for students

April 24, 2025

School Council & Enrichment Society Meetings (Teams)

May 1, 2025

Hot Lunch -Taco Time 

May 6, 2025

¡Qué Pasa! at the Jubilee Auditorium – Grade 3

May 12-15, 2025

Camp Chief Hector Grade 5