Dear Mustang Families
Happy Mother’s Day to our Mustang Families: today we celebrate the women who’ve taught us the true meaning of unconditional love. Thank you to our mothers, and those who act in this role, for offering unwavering support, encouragement and essential guidance through these important years in your child’s development. Things to Do to Celebrate 2025 Mother’s Day in Calgary
Due to the Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa trip, Ms. Zakus, Mr. Jensen, Mr. O’Lain and Ms. Saker will have substitute teachers. Joining us as an Acting Assistant Principal is Mr. Jayme McDonald. Mr. McDonald worked with Ms. Hornby at Western Canada High School, while he recently retired from Sir Winston Churchill High School. We welcome Mr. McDonald to the Admin team while Mr. Jensen is away.
This past Thursday, a significant number of students and staff participated in our Western Day and Dance. Ms. Hudson, Ms. Ralph and the Leadership students generated an exceptional event offering a magical day of school unity. Shannon Moroz, Shelagh McConnell, Tammi Ronald, Jennifer Razzo, Michelle Wood, Rose Llewellyn, Lynda McDonald and Iris Azucena offered support as parent volunteers. We thank everyone who supported this day!
Mark your calendars - Join us for an evening celebrating student creativity on Thursday May 22 for the Fine Arts and CTF Showcase (5:30 – 7:00 pm)! Artwork will be on display in the Learning Commons, band students will perform, drama students will present short skits, and CTF courses will showcase student projects. Parents and guardians are welcome. Additional student art submissions will be accepted by Ms. MacLennan until May 19.
At SJAM, we have begun a school wide initiative to support literacy through paragraph writing in our School Development Plan. This is in preparation for high school and learning possibilities after graduating. We are aiming to improve your child’s writing (over three years) to reflect an improvement in our schoolwide PAT (Provincial Achievement Test) results. As a school community, we are coming together to prepare your children for their PATs. Further details will be shared in the weeks ahead but here is the province wide PAT schedule and the Grade 9 Parent Guide:
Thursday May 29: Grade 9 English Language Arts (Part A – Written) - 9:00 – 11:00 am
Friday June 13: Grade 9 Math (Part A) - 9:00 – 9:30 am – no calculators
Monday June 16: Grade 9 English Language Arts (Part B – Multiple Choice) - 9:00 – 10:15 am
Tuesday June 17: Grade 9 Math (Part B) - 9:00 – 10:20 am – non-graphing calculators permitted
Wednesday June 18: Grade 9 Social Studies – 9:00 – 10:15 am
Thursday June 19: Grade 9 Science – 9:00 – 10:15 am
Leadership: Ms. Hudson and Ms. Ralph
We are so excited to share that we reached our donation goal to soak the teachers at this week’s pep rally on May 14! Thank you to everyone who gave so generously to the great cause and to the teachers who are willing to be brave!
Athletics: Mr. Jones
Badminton divisionals will take place at Forest Lawn High School (4pm - 8pm-ish) this week. Good luck to all athletes. Pack lots of food because you will not be able to leave the campus.
- Monday, May 12 - Grade 7
- Tuesday, May 13 - Grade 9
- Thursday, May 15 - Grade 8
Please note: Grade 7 lunchtime badminton (open gym) will run Monday instead of Tuesday this week.
Track and Field tryouts are well underway. We welcome any encouragement you can provide to your children to take some healthy risks and try something that perhaps they have never done before. The track schedule can be found here.
Community News
My Best Friend’s Closet: Providing Essential Clothing for Teen Girls
- Supporting low-income girls aged 12-17 with confidence-boosting outfits to help them stay in school.
- Each 90-minute session provides 35+ items, including pants, tops, jackets, shoes, gym clothes, jewelry, and other essentials.
- Now accepting referrals & self-registrations! Donations and volunteers are also welcome.
- More Details & Registration: makingchangesassociation.ca/my-best-friends-closet
School Calendar
Ongoing:
- Homework Hotel – Monday to Thursday (your child can stay indoors at lunchtime)!
- Targeted MATH support with Ms. Sterling at lunch: Thursdays
- Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth (new Canadians) free afterschool program on Monday at SJAM. Contact: Sevim Kocak - SKocak@cbfy.ca - last day is Tuesday May 12
- YMCA Prairie Chickens for Indigenous students: October 8 to June 6: every Tuesday and Thursday afterschool at SJAM – contact is Jimmy (YMCA) and Ms. Bethany. Free.
- City of Calgary – Calgary Afterschool at Thornhill Aquatic and Rec Center: Contact is Kirsten Pilger: kpilger@calgary.ca; Tuesday and Thursday afterschool (5:00 – 6:00 pm); September 17 – June 12. Free.
- Chinese Academy: every Saturday at SJAM
Monday May 12: Grade 7 Badminton Tournament
Tuesday May 13: Grade 9 Badminton Tournament
Wednesday May 14: Pep Rally – Ice bucket challenge!
Thursday May 15
- Grade 8 Badminton Tournament
- Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa Trip departs YYC
Friday May 16: No school for students – professional learning day for teachers
Monday May 19: Victoria Day – no school for students or staff
Tuesday May 20: Last School Council Meeting of 2024-25: AGM – election of members for 2025-26
Wednesday May 21: Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa Trip returns to Calgary
Thursday May 22: Fine Arts Evening (5:30 – 7:00 pm)
Tuesday May 27: Band Field Trip – Elementary School Performances
Wednesday May 28: Make up day for Grade 7, 8 and 9 vaccinations by Alberta Health
Thursday May 29:
- Grade 9 ELA PAT: Part A
- Grade 6 Open House: 5:30 – 7:00 pm
Thursday June 5: Band Spring Concert (7:00 – 8:30 pm)
Wednesday June 11: Track and Field Meet
Thursday June 12: Soup Sisters at lunch
Friday June 13:
- Grade 9 Math PAT – Part A (no calculators)
- Locker clean out
Monday June 16: Grade 9 PAT - ELA Part B (multiple choice)
Tuesday June 17: Grade 9 PAT - Math Part B (calculators allowed – no graphic calculators permitted)
Wednesday June 18: Grade 9 PAT - Social Studies
Thursday June 19: Grade 9 PAT – Science
Wednesday June 25: Grade 9 Farewell
- 5:40 pm: Doors open
- 6:00pm: Program begins
- 7:00 - 9:00 pm: Dance for the Grade 9 students
Thursday June 26:
- Final Assembly – students dismissed after nutrition break
- Mark appeals: 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Friday June 27: Mark appeals: 8:00 – 11:00 am
Together we make a difference!