ADMINISTRATOR'S MESSAGE
The season of advent began on Sunday November 30th. It is a time of preparation for the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. We celebrate by lighting a candle each week representing the three purple candles of hope, peace, and love. The last candle, the pink candle is lit on the 4th Sunday of Advent which represents joy. Merry Christmas to all of our H.E.Beriault families! Our school council meeting/AGM was on Nov 26th. Voted in for the 2025-26 school year are: Fern Brewer (Chairperson), Kyla Mendiuk (Secretary) and Pechias Larbe (Treasurer). Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to help the school council this year. These meetings connect us as a family which helps us plan ahead to ensure that we are listening to the needs of our families as well as meeting our educational goals for our students. Please email me at leon.vandendooren@ecsd.net to inform me if you would like to attend our next meeting on Tuesday Jan.27th at 6:00 pm. Volleyball season has been extended this year until well into December, and a special thank you goes out to all of our staff that coach and all those who will volunteer their time for HEB athletes. Our feeder school volleyball tournament will be held on January 15th and will utilize our volleyball athlete’s talent and knowledge of the game as they help with scorekeeping, officiating, and teaching skills/drills of these games. The last day before our Christmas break begins is Friday December 19th. It is a half day. School will end at 11:39 am on this day. Since our school celebration will occur on Thursday December 18th, we will make our last day, a fun one. We will be organizing our annual teachers vs Volleyball Teams in the “beat the teacher” on the court Christmas showdown! Please, if I may humbly ask all of you to pay a portion of your school fees in the New Year, we are in need at this school to ensure that some form of payment is received for the services that your children receive at this school. Thank you. All the best to you and your family in this blessed Christmas Season! Leon Vandendooren Principal
Winter Weather
Winter is officially here! Edmonton Catholic Schools prioritizes keeping schools open even in extreme weather conditions to provide a safe, warm, and secure environment for students who attend. Students will only be kept inside during lunch recess or let in before 8:00 AM if the temperatures drop to below -20oC with the wind chill. It is critical for students to come dressed for the weather.
This means a warm winter jacket, hat/ ear protection, mittens or gloves and warm, close toed shoes.
A message from HEB Parent Council
Dear Parents, We are delighted to share the outcome of our recent Parent Council Annual General Meeting, held on November 26th. Thank you to all the parents who joined us for this important event and contributed to the success of the meeting. Your involvement and enthusiasm are truly appreciated. We are excited to announce the elected Parent Council members for the 2025-2026 school year, all of whom look forward to a fantastic year ahead, working together to support our school community: Chair: Fern Brewer Treasurer: Pechias Larbe Secretary: Kyla Mendiuk We extend our heartfelt appreciation to everyone who attended the meeting and encourage all parents to stay engaged with the council's activities throughout the year. Your support makes a difference! There will be some exciting volunteer opportunities in the new year as we commence planning for the ‘Grade 9 Farewell’- a special event to celebrate our grade 9 students and wish them well on their journey to high school! This event will not be possible without the support and efforts of our parent community. The first fundraising opportunity will be planning and running a concession for the Feeder School Volleyball Tournament on Jan. 15, 2026. If you are able to lead or assist with this, please contact Nicole Rolph-DeVicque nicole.rolph-devicque@ecsd.net. Wishing you and your family’s blessings and joy for the upcoming holiday season. Warm regards, Fern Brewer, Parent Council Chair
Bear Advent Initiatives
Food Bank Collection
With Advent beginning, our Grade 7 & 8 leadership teams are launching the Edmonton Food Bank Drive! From now until Christmas break, students are encouraged to bring in any non-perishable food items and drop them in the boxes under the Christmas tree in the front foyer. The items needed the most are:
- beans with no pork,
- canned fish or meat
- baby formula
- diapers
- peanut butter
- canned soup
- Kraft Dinner (macaroni and cheese)
- Mr. Noodle (instant noodles)
- dried pasta & sauce
- cereal
The classes will be delivering the items to the Edmonton Food Bank on January 7th and volunteering at the sorting facility to help create hampers for families in the community.
Sr. Volleyball Update
Following the labour disruption our Sr. Volleyball schedule has been extended through to Christmas Break. League games will go to Friday, Dec. 5th, with playoffs starting the week of Dec. 8th.
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all our players and coaches for your fantastic efforts this season! We are so proud of you!
Volleyball Intramurals
HEB has caught volleyball fever, thanks to Mrs. Bates’ Rec Leadership 9 class! As part of the course, students learn how to plan and run sporting events and activities. Building on the success of September’s Soccer Intramurals, the class launched a second round of Volleyball Intramurals, running from November 24 to December 16. Every homeroom will play three games during the intramural season—sparking plenty of fun and friendly competition across the school!
Some of our "Intramural All-Stars", under the coaching of Mrs. Bates and Ms. Contessa prepare to take on the teachers in our annual "Teachers vs. Students" volleyball match on Dec. 19th
Go Bears Go!!!
Basketball is Coming!
Sr. Boys & Girls Basketball tryouts will begin the week of Dec. 8th . See Sign-up sheet outside the large gym and listen for updates on call-backs.
Teams will be posted prior to Christmas Break, with practices starting after the break. The formal Basketball season begins January 21st
H.E. Beriault Fine Arts
Don’t have a PowerSchool Account??
A parent PowerSchool account allows you to access fees and make payments, view student attendance, grades and teacher feedback as well as bus information and messages or newsletters from your child’s school.
If you do not have one, (or are having difficulty accessing your existing account) call the office at 780-489-5490 to get set up!
School Fees
School fees have been added to all students’ accounts. Please sign into your PowerSchool account to view them.
All payments must be made online. Cash and cheques can not be accepted in the office.
Please check throughout the year as other fees will be added for field trips, sports teams, etc. If you have any questions or issues regarding the fees please make an appointment to speak to the principal.
ARC Cards
A reminder to all families whose children have an ARC card. Cards must be reloaded each month. Monthly reload fees can be made through PowerSchool in the school fees section. Updating your ARC card can take up to 2 business days (48 hrs), so please ensure you update it before the 1st of each month.
Next month payments can be made starting on the 16th of each month.
Coming up in January
Classes Resume-Monday, Jan. 5
High School Expectations/ Requirements Assembly for Gr 9-Tuesday, Jan. 6 during Homeroom
Archbishop MacDonald High school Presentation to Gr 9-Wednesday, Jan. 7
FX Basketball Tournament-Thursday, Jan. 8-Saturday. Jan 10
Winter "Smash" Triple Ball Feeder Tournament-Thursday, Jan. 15
Winter Concert-Thursday Jan. 22
PD Day-NO CLASSES for students-Friday, Jan. 23
Semester 1 Summary Report available on PowerSchool-Monday, Jan. 26
Beginning of Semester 2-Wednesday, Jan 28
December Dates
Picture Retakes- Wednesday, Dec. 3
Parent-Teacher Interview (by appointment)-Thursday, Dec. 4: 2:00-4:00 & 4:30-6:00
Gr 7 EAP Conference at Lumen Christi Catholic Education Centre-Monday, Dec 8
Cookies & Candy Cane Fundraiser Catholic Social Services-Wednesday, Dec. 10
Christmas Spirit Week- Dec. 15 - Dec. 19
Christmas Celebration -Thursday, Dec. 18 @ 11:00 in the Gym
FULL Day of classes- Thursday, Dec. 18
Half day of class-11:39AM Dismissal-Friday, Dec. 19
Staff vs. Sr. Volleyball Games-Friday, Dec. 19
Christmas Break- Monday, Dec. 22 -Friday, Jan. 2
Classes Resume-Monday, Jan. 5, 2026
Credits:
Created with images by Achira22 - "Christmas decoration. Red balls hanging on pine branches Christmas tree garland and ornaments over abstract bokeh background with copy space" • Dido - "Festive Christmas Advent Wreath with Lit Candles and Ornaments." • Romolo Tavani - "Christmas Tree With Baubles And Blurred Shiny Lights" • weyo - "Thermometer on snow shows low temperatures - zero. Low temperatures in degrees Celsius and fahrenheit. Cold winter weather - zero celsius thirty two farenheit." • morepiixel - "Blurred school background." • MdShawalKabir - "Festive christmas cookies and candy canes with pinecones and red ribbon" • .shock - "volleyball" • Maroubra Lab - "Close up of volleyball ball in net. Team work, sport, life style, play, goal, achievement. " • WDnet Studio - "Curling stones equipment on the ice in close-up." • Dziurek - "Basketball ball on the parquet with referee in the background." • La Neve - "Christmas Saxophones in Winter Wonderland " • cherdchai - "Multi exposure of running track and wooden cube 2025 2026 new year in concept of action business plan targets the new year 2026 growth" • aprilante - "Christmas tree and gift boxes near the window"