Learning Together, Friends Forever. 同窗四季，挚友一生
*If you would like to have a translated version of this message, please click the Google Translate tab at the top.
Hello / Nǐ hǎo Marion Carson School Families,
As of today, we are one week away from the start of the 2025-2026 school year at Marion Carson School! It is a very exciting time of year for all. At this point there is often a mixture of excitement, but also uncertainty for both children and their families. Know that we are prepared and excited to welcome your children to start the new school year and in collaboration with you, we will support and guide them towards success throughout their school year journey.
If you are new to Marion Carson School, and no matter which program you and your family are a part of, welcome to our wonderful community where we come together as Marion Carson School. Know that we have worked very hard to create a caring environment focused on making connections and a sense of belonging that provides rich learning opportunities.
If your child has not yet visited the school grounds, I recommend you to do so with them in this final week before entry, so that your child can see where they will be learning, play on the compound or on the play structure, and maybe even try to find the new addition to our natural space that just finished being installed (thank you very much to parent lead Devon K. and the Parent Association for making this school yard addition possible). Building some familiarity before entry can go a long way in creating a greater level of comfort and excitement for your child. If your child is entering Kindergarten, ensuring that they can put on/take off their shoes and coat on their own, are comfortable with the noise of public washrooms (go have them flush a toilet at the mall and practice using the stall locks will also set them up for early success. I believe that you will find our school community a caring, and loving place to learn where your child will feel safe to fully explore in their learning.
A reminder that if your child is sick, they should stay home until they feel well. Please ensure that you have contingency plans in place for times when your child may become ill as we would like to continue to keep everyone as healthy as possible and ready for learning at our school.
I appreciate that families are very eager to hear who their child’s teacher will be for the coming school year. Changes occur over the summer due to a wide range of factors, therefore we continue to fine tune these pieces of our school organization. I can share the following information, which you may find helpful:
· You can expect a message from your child’s teacher on the evening of Thursday, August 28. This message will introduce you to their teacher, while also providing some information about routines, first day process, contact information, etc. If you do not receive a message that evening, please contact the school office the following morning. When you do receive the message, we ask that you please respond to the email to confirm with the teacher that you are aware of the class placement.
· For your information our staff list can be found on our website here (note that at this point, we do not accept class change requests due to the complex nature of this process).
· Our back to school hours and schedules (including staggered entry for Kindergarten students and new school hours for all students) can be found here.
· Our office is open to help as of Wednesday, August 27th, during our regular school hours of 9:13am to 3:45pm (please note the school hours change from last year).
· If you have moved or will be moving out of our catchment and live out of area, please let us know ASAP, to help us with class lists, and get your child transferred to their designated school. You can do so by emailing the school (marioncarson@cbe.ab.ca) or by calling our school office at 403 777-6050. As a limited capacity school, we are unable to have out of area students attend Marion Carson School.
· Reminder that Kindergarten students attend select scheduled Fridays, but begin next Tuesday and Wednesday with a staggered entry.
Some final items of note…
1. School Hours Changed for 2025-26
Reminder that our school hours have changed slightly as compared to last year. We continue to have soft entry and have slightly extended the time based on family feedback where students can calmly come into the building from 9:05 – 9:13am. Instruction begins promptly at 9:13am, therefore we ask that you be sure to make plans for the start of the school year that support your child arriving during the soft entry time so that they are ready for instruction to begin right at 9:13am. Please note that there are not supervisors at the doors before 9:05am, therefore students should be with a guardian until that time if arriving early until the doors open to ensure their safety. Our school day will end at 3:45pm from Monday to Thursday, and at 1:20pm on Fridays. Parents picking up their child should plan on being at the school at least 5 minutes before dismissal with a pre-arranged outdoor meeting space to ensure that children are with an adult as soon as the school day ends. Should you be running a few minutes late on any day due to an unforeseen circumstance, please be sure to contact the office to make arrangements to have your child come to the school office and await your arrival at 403 777-6050. When considering your after school meetings spots, please leave spaces closest to the doors for our Kindergarten and grade 1 students. We ask that students wanting to stay and play after school have a pre-arranged supervising adult, otherwise they will be asked to go home for the evening.
2. Arriving Late for the 2025-26 School Year?
Students’ first day back at school for the 2025-26 school year is September 2, 2025. If your child is coming late due to extenuating circumstances and will not be present on the first day of school, please email the school office at MarionCarson@cbe.ab.ca with your child’s full name, the reason for the absence, and the date of return, if you have not already done so.
Enjoy the final few days of summer break, and we look forward to seeing everyone next week to start the 2025-26 school year at Marion Carson School. We look forward to the beginning of what we know will be a great year of learning. If you have any other questions about school start-up, feel free to contact the school office, or your child’s teacher once they make their initial connection with you on Thursday evening.
I will continue to send messages throughout the year through SchoolMessenger, typically on Fridays. Please be sure to accept commercial messages when signing up for SchoolMessenger to ensure that you are up to date on school news and events. This message was sent to all families. Starting next week, all messages will be sent as commercial messages. If you do not receive next week’s Friday message, please consider adjusting your SchoolMessenger settings to accept commercial messages. *You can also review past Principal Messages through the school website here.
Sincerely,
Mr. Dustin Turner
Principal, Marion Carson School
Important Dates:
Aug 27, 28, 29: School Office Opens
Sept. 1: No School – Labour Day
Sept. 2: First Day of 2025-26 School Year (Gr. 1-6) – see back to school information
Sept. 2/3: Staggered Entry for Kindergarten – see back to school information
Sept. 16: School Council and Parent Association Meeting (6:30pm)
Sept: 17: Class/Individual Photos (K-6)
Sept: 18: Class/Individual Photos (MB Kindergarten Tu/Th Group)
Sept. 19: Terry Fox Run
Sept. 19: School Council Welcome Back Breakfast (Details TBC)
Sept. 25: Meet the Teacher evening 1-6
Sept. 25: Early 1:15pm dismissal day for T/Th MB Kindergarten
Sept. 25 (Afternoon/Evening): Kindergarten Community English (CE) and Mandarin Bilingual (MB) PT Conferences
Sept. 26 (Day): Kindergarten Community English (CE) and Mandarin Bilingual (MB) PT Conferences
Sept. 29: Non-Instructional Day – No School for Students
Sept. 30: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – No School