As the first term draws to a close, it is a time to reflect on our success and accomplishments these past several months.

September 12 marked the day for our annual Terry Fox Run that is intended to raise awareness and funds in support of cancer research.  As always, MTS families, showed their care and kindness for others in supporting this cause. The school community celebrated achieving our fundraising goal with a jersey day when students and staff wore their favourite team jersey.

The fall term marked the completion of our in-school artistic/physical residencies with Three Left Feet Dance Company (K-2) and Alien In-Line Skating (3&4). Unfortunately, the Alien In-Line residency was interrupted by the teacher labour action in October. However, the residency will be taken up again in the month of June, 2026. We thank parents who through their fund-raising organization and support provide our students with the opportunity to extend their learning through these unique experiences. It was energizing to have parents in the school to enjoy watching their child’s accomplishment and performance and to support in the skating program.

Our students presented and participated in a memorable Remembrance Day assembly that was filled with music, and the representation of story, history and events through poetry and art. Grade 4 students introduced and guided the content of the assembly.

Parent- teacher conferences in November provided the opportunity to discuss student learning and achievement, celebrate student success and set goals for the future. Students will receive their first of two report cards on February 24, 2026 and the second report card at the end of June. The report cards will be accessible online to parents through their CBE accounts.

Our Book Fair during the week of parent conferences in November was highly successful. We do not have a final figure for net sales but based on the active purchasing of items by students and parents we expect that the event will raise significant funds to support the development of our library collection. We thank parents for their generosity in supporting their children as readers and for the support of the book fair at the school which provides for the enrichment of the school library. Thanks to our Library Assistant, Mrs. McLean for organizing the book fair sponsored by Owl’s Nest bookstore.  Thank you to our parent volunteers who helped with set-up, sales, and take-down of the books. Our Learning Commons continues to be a beautiful, well-resourced, and favourite learning space for students and staff in our school.

Student and Staff Illness

At MTS, like all schools, we are in the midst of the flu and cold season. Unfortunately we have had many students and staff who have been away with respiratory illness symptoms that may include:

Cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose or nasal congestion, fever, loss or change in taste/smell, significant fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

These illnesses are easily spread through coughing and nasal or oral secretions. To help minimize transmission, we recommend the following:

• Keep children home when they are ill.
• Encourage regular hand hygiene using soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizers.
• Reinforce respiratory etiquette: covering coughs/sneezes with a sleeve or tissue and disposing of tissues immediately.
• Clean frequently touched surfaces such as doorknobs, light switches, and taps.

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Children should stay home until symptoms have improved, they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication, and they feel well enough to resume normal activities.

If you have questions about your child’s symptoms or need medical guidance, please contact Health Link at 811. Additional information is available at MyHealth.Alberta.ca.

Thank you for your continued support in keeping our school community healthy and safe. We appreciate your partnership as we navigate cold and flu season together.

Parking

A reminder that the staff parking lot is off limits for parking and for student pick up and drop off during school days and evenings when school functions such as Parent Teacher Conferences take place. Many of our staff have different start and end times throughout the day and as a result, we have vehicles, including large garbage/recycling trucks, constantly coming and going which creates an unsafe environment for students in the parking lot. Thank you for placing the safety of all students over your convenience

School Development Planning

Each year, our school prepares a development plan with input from teachers, school staff, students and parents. We review many sources of data, including report cards, provincial achievement test results and school surveys. Based on this information, we create our plan identifying targeted areas for growth. Our school development plan is not meant to represent all of the work that takes place in our school, but rather it focuses on specific areas for improvement. Our school also prepares a results plan, which looks at our previous school year. It shows our students' achievement and progress in meeting the goals and outcomes as set out by the CBE and Alberta Education, outlines some of the highlights of our school development plan, and gives an overview of our school. These documents are available on our school website.

Grade One Winter and Christmas Celebration

This year our grade one students will be providing a celebration of song and poetry of the season on Thursday, December 11 at 1:30 in the west open area of the school.

Please note this concert will take place during the day- there will not be an evening performance.

The school will be presenting a grade 2/3 spring concert. As well there will be end of the year celebrations in June with our grade 4 and kindergarten classes.

McKenzie Towne School Supports the Magic of Christmas

Every year, MTS supports a charity of choice to demonstrate the characteristics of citizenship. This holiday season, we are asking MTS students and community to once again support The Magic of Christmas. This charity loads up magically transformed Calgary Transit buses that look like Reindeer Buses on Christmas Eve with gifts and volunteers dressed as Santa and his elves. These Reindeer buses deliver the Christmas spirit to homes and families that need it most. In previous years our school community has demonstrated their generous nature by filling box after box of new toys, and personal and household items in order to spread some magic during the holiday season. Thank you in advance for your support of this charity. We will be collecting items until Thursday, December 18.

On behalf of the staff here at MTS I would like to extend to all our families the very best wishes for a peaceful, restful, and healthy winter break. The last day of classes is Friday, December 19 at noon. We will see you back on Monday, January 5, 2026.

​​​​​​​Dr. Lorraine Slater

Principal