A variety of extracurricular opportunities are currently offered at Michael Strembitsky School during the noon hour or after school. These opportunities are cross-graded and voluntary. Extracurricular opportunities provide students with enriched educational experiences to enhance learning and to build upon our students’ varying interests.

Please note - The selection of extra curricular clubs offered will be contingent on the enrollment numbers in each club and having qualified staff to run the activity.

Extra Curricular Clubs

Grades 2-3 and 4-6 Choirs – If you enjoy singing, then join a Michael Strembitsky School Choir!  Choir rehearses once a week and learns choral music to sing at both in and out-of-school performances.  New members are accepted throughout the year, so come out and make a beautiful choral sound!

Handbell Ensemble – Our Handbell Ensemble is a dedicated group of Division 2 and 3 students who meet once a week to learn the art of bell-ringing.  Handbells are an excellent way to improve music literacy while making exquisite music!  The Handbell Ensemble works on a variety of repertoire to perform throughout the year.

Library Club – We have a great group of volunteers from grades five and six. Their enthusiasm for reading, books and helping our Learning Commons to run more efficiently is contagious, their commitment is sincerely appreciated and their collaboration and leadership skills are commendable.

Additional Extra Curricular Clubs

• Running Club

School-Wide Activities

• Terry Fox Walk
• Orange Shirt Day for The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
• Pink Shirt Day
• Read-In-Week
• Scholastic Book Fair
• Book Swap
• Food Bank - Food Drive
• Remembrance Day Ceremony   
• Postcards for Veterans
• Alberta Opera
• Jump Rope for Heart
• Fine Arts Evening
• Div 1, 2 and Jr High Band Winter Concerts
• Grade 6 Christmas Play   
• Black History Month
• SAGA
• Artist in Residence 
• National Indigenous Peoples Day

Academic Activities

• Museum School - Grade 3
• Inquiry School at the Legislature - Grade 6
• ICE School - Grade 5
• SMAK G Chocolate Project - Grade 8
• STEAM Project - Grade 7
• SSEP Showcase - Jr. High
• Jasper Trip - Grade 8
• RiverWatch - Grade 9
• Elk Island River Walk - Grade 9

Strembitsky Parent Foundation events

• Monthly Pizza Days
• Glow/Halloween Dance
• Jr High Winter Dance
• Valentines Day Dance/activities
• Grade Nine Farewell
• Easter Egg Hunt
• St. Patrick's Day activities
• Concession Days

Volunteers Welcome!!

Michael Strembitsky School values the contributions of our parent groups and parent volunteers. Together we work to promote the well-being and effectiveness of our students and programs. If you can spare even a half hour a week, or a day once a month - let us know what your interests are. We value any contribution you are able to make! Volunteering in our school is one way for parents to show their children that they value their education by:

• Participate in special evening events
• Assist with clubs and sports teams
• Provide support in the classroom
• Join our School Council
• Assist in the school library
• Assist with book fairs
• Volunteer for field trips
• Supporting your child’s learning through helping them with their homework, home reading and home writing.

All visitors and volunteers are asked to enter the school building through the front door and to report to the school office upon entering and leaving the school. All visitors and volunteers are asked to wear a visitor/volunteer badge while they are in the school, and to sign in and out of the office. All volunteers must complete the district's volunteer form prior to working within the school or supervising a field trip.

Volunteer Registration Form

‌‌‌‌‌We have limited space available for students who require lunch supervision. Students who are able to go home during the lunch hour are encouraged to do so. For those Michael Strembitsky School students who choose to stay within the facility for the lunch hour, parents/guardians are required to pay a fee for lunch supervision services.

Students who go home during the lunch hour should not return to the school prior to 12:00 P.M. (doors will be opened when the bell rings at 12:13 p.m.)

Lunch Program Fees (Grade 1-6 ONLY):

Lunch Program fees are collected to cover the cost of lunchroom supervisors hired to assist with supervision over the lunch hour. (This fee does not include any food).

Please note:

Edmonton Public Schools Board Policy IH.BP states:

Schools shall provide lunch-time supervision at school for elementary students whose parents request the service and pay the required fees.

Edmonton Public School Board Policy IH.AR states:

If parents fail to pay the required fees, the principal may:

a)   Withdraw privileges normally available to students during the lunch hour. Or

b)   Discontinue the service after informing the parents that they will be required to make alternative arrangements.

Healthy Snack and Lunch Choices:

We encourage parents to work with their children in making snack and lunch choices to support healthy development.  Please offer food that meets the 'Choose Most Often' and 'Choose Sometimes' criteria from the Alberta Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Youth, found at AB Nutritional Guidelines On behalf of the children in our school with severe peanut and nut product allergies, we thank everyone for refraining from bringing nuts into our school.

Lunch Times:

Grades 1-3 will eat from 11:38 a.m. - 11:58 a.m. At 11:58 a.m., they will get dressed and go outside to play for the remainder of the lunch break, or participate in a range of extra-curricular offerings.

Grades 4-6 will operate on a reverse lunch hour.  They will quickly get dressed and go outside to play from 11:38 a.m. - 11:58 a.m. At 11:58 a.m., they will enter the building with their supervisor, take a quick washroom break, and then eat their lunch in their rooms for the remainder of the lunch hour.

Having reversed lunch hours will allow maximum use of the playing fields and outdoor equipment over the lunch hour. If students are required to stay inside for recess, they will be permitted to take part in a variety of supervised indoor activities.

Grades 7-9 students will either go outside, to the learning commons, to the gym or be under the supervision of a teacher until 11:58 a.m. then move to their classroom where they will eat their lunch.

Students who are registered in the lunch program are to remain on campus unless the office has been notified by a parent or guardian at the office.

Any student who exhibits inappropriate behaviour with be dealt with immediately by the lunchroom supervisor, teacher or administrator.  If the behaviour persists, a student may have their lunch program privileges suspended and alternate arrangements for lunch would need to be made by the parent.

Lunch reminders:

Due to a number of students who  have severe nut allergies, please do not send any products with nuts in your child’s lunch. 

No glass containers are to be brought to school because of the safety factor.

We do not provide utensils. Be sure pack utensils for your child if needed.

Students will need to bring a cold lunch or use thermoses for hot items.  Due to  Occupational Health and Safety regulations, there will be no microwaves available in the lunch program.

Students will be asked to enjoy the outdoors and get some fresh air during the lunch hour so it is imperative that students arrive with the appropriate outerwear for the weather conditions.  When the outside temperature drops below -23 degrees students will have alternate lunch hour activities within the building.   

Lunch Program Application

In order to ensure proper staffing for our Lunch Program, please complete the supervision application for your child. Registration forms will be available on SchoolZone under "forms". Please note that we accept Visa, MasterCard and eTransfer payments through SchoolZone only.

‌Paid Lunchroom Supervisory Positions

If you are interested in applying for a lunchroom supervisor position at Michael Strembitsky School, please complete the Lunch Supervisor Application and email it to ‌susan.mcwhinnie@epsb.ca.

Michael Strembitsky School is located in southwest Edmonton.

Our school proudly serves the communities Summerside East and Summerside West communities. This year, only students living in our primary catchment area were permitted to enroll in Michael Strembitsky School.

Attendance Area

Joint Use Agreement: Will the community be able to use the gym after school hours (evenings, weekends)?

All schools that are rented out to the community through the Joint Use Agreement must have a boiler certified custodian working during the rental time. Michael Strembitsky School will have a night time custodian and therefore the building will be available for booking Monday to Friday. Weekends can be arranged providing a district employee with boiler certification is available to open the building. Often when schools are rented on the weekend the rental group will be responsible for paying the custodian overtime to open the school and the use of the space. All district schools are booked centrally through the district's facilities booking department.

Please contact Edmonton Public Schools Rental Services at (780) 429-8540 or (780) 429-8539. Or please e-mail Rental Services at rentalservices@epsb.ca This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

MSS Student & Parent Handbook‌ 

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Transportation eligibility and fees in 2024–25

The province recently revised transportation eligibility for students in Alberta. As a result, some students may be eligible for busing in the 2023–24 school year who were not in previous years. Under revised guidelines, students attending their designated school may be eligible for transportation service if they are:

• in Kindergarten to Grade 6 and live at least one kilometre away, or
• in Grades 7 to 12 and live at least two kilometres away and Edmonton Transit (ETS) is not available. ETS is still the preferred transportation method for junior and senior high students.

Maps are displayed on epsb.ca will be updated to show revised transportation service areas.

Walk boundaries for elementary alternative programs will also be adjusted to follow the revised criteria.

Yellow Bus application 

If families believe they are eligible for transportation, they are welcome to complete the online application for yellow bus service. 

If families have questions about eligibility, they can contact Student Transportation for assistance at 780-429-8585.

Transportation fees for 2024-25

The monthly cost for a yellow bus pass is $30 per month. The cost of Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) passes is $55 per month.

BUYING A BUS PASS

You can buy yellow bus passes and Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) passes at your child's school each month. You must pay the full cost of the bus pass, even if your child:

• doesn’t ride the bus every day
• buys the pass mid-month

Students can use a yellow bus pass on ETS buses and LRT up to six times each month.

REPLACING A BUS PASS

You can buy replacement passes at your child’s school office. The cost is:

• $6 for yellow bus
• $73 for ETS

WHAT DO FEES COVER?

Bus pass fees help cover the cost of providing bus service. However, parent fees make up only a small part of the Division’s transportation costs. The majority is covered through government funding.

USING A BUS PASS

Please fill in the back of your child’s pass completely and clearly each month. If there is an emergency, this information may be used to identify your child’s school and contact person.

CARRYING A BUS PASS

Bus passes must be carried each day. Students must show their pass to the driver before getting on the bus.

FIRST RIDERS

Learn to ride yellow or Edmonton Transit buses safely and with confidence.

Thursday, August 22, 2024
Edmonton Expo Centre (map)

Register before August 19.

When a rock is dropped into a pool, it sends out ripples in all directions. The ripples continue to move and change and cause an effect that is more than just that moment in time.

Water holds the power of transition. The continuity in fluidity, from one state to another, is a symbol for metamorphosis. Michael Strembitsky was a leader for change. He was an innovator that stirred the waters to improve public education. His contributions are far-reaching.

In the Michael Strembitsky School logo, water is rendered to resemble the letter "S" for Strembitsky. The font is strong and contemporary, with emphasis on the surname. The colours are derived from the colour palette of the school's interior.

The Michael Strembitsky logo represents the fluidity of teaching and learning in the 21st century and alludes to the far-reaching connections between our school with students, their families, and beyond to the global community. The logo also reflects our school's willingness to embrace change and take risks to better enable students to develop to their full potential and contribute positively to their community.

There are over 500 species of Sharks worldwide, each one as unique as our own students.  They are a keystone population and their contribution to the ocean ecosystems are invaluable.  Sharks are known to be social, highly curious and exhibit behaviour that resembles play in the wild. Go Sharks!

Our Namesake 

Mr. Michael Strembitsky

Michael A. Strembitsky became Edmonton Public Schools’ eighth Superintendent of Schools in 1973 and over a number of years spearheaded the district’s transition to a school-based decision-making organization, the first of its kind in a large North American school jurisdiction. A firm believer in the empowerment of staff at the school level to be involved in making decisions for results which they then are accountable, he possessed a particular knack for translating well intentioned beliefs into reality. He believed in change processes that honored what was done in the past and at the same time engendered support for a “better tomorrow.” To him overcoming obstacles to change was an opportunity for a solution.

Internationally, he became known as the “guru of site-based school management”. In May 2004 he was named one of the 100 Edmontonians of the Century by the Edmonton Journal in honour of his contribution to public education. In 1986 he received the Province of Alberta Achievement Award of Excellence and in 1989 he was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by the University of Alberta.

His personal standards and diverse interests, career success and contribution to public education are recognized by the Edmonton Public School Board’s annual Michael Strembitsky Award of Excellence, gold, silver, and bronze, presented to three outstanding graduating students.

His career with the Edmonton Public School Board began in 1956, teaching at Crestwood, and was followed by assignments at McKernan, Ritchie, Queen’s Avenue and Queen Elizabeth schools. In 1963, he briefly served as an assistant principal at Queen Elizabeth. In 1965, he was appointed assistant principal of Fulton Place School and in 1966 was appointed principal of the new Delwood School.

The year 1969 saw the beginning of his rapid progression through the administrative ranks of the Central Administration. In January, he was appointed acting supervisor of Elementary Education; in August, director of Elementary Curriculum and in December to the position of Assistant to Superintendent in the Superintendent’s office. In the latter position, Mr. Strembitsky’s various assignments included chairing of operational meetings of the assistant superintendents, preparing Board submissions on the new School Act and restructuring the Board’s processes and preparation for negotiations with the various employee groups. As the Board’s spokesman in teacher negotiations he successfully negotiated a groundbreaking collective agreement in which differences in teacher work conditions K-12 were eliminated; sabbatical provisions were greatly enhanced and negotiations moved from a calendar year to a school year.

In July of 1971, after his appointment as Deputy Superintendent Designate, he was granted leave to pursue doctoral studies at Columbia University, New York. Returning in February of 1972, he served as Deputy Superintendent until August of the same year, when he was named Acting Superintendent of Schools to fill the vacancy created with the departure of Rolland W. Jones, who returned to the United States.

Following a nationwide search, in January of 1973, the Board appointed Mr.Strembitsky the Superintendent of Schools. At the age of 37 he was the youngest incumbent in that position. In 1976, in order to achieve the greater involvement of the schools in the budgeting process, the Board appointed him to the additional position of Secretary-Treasurer for the district, the first such appointment in the Province of Alberta. Once school based budgeting was in place, this designation was relinquished with the appointment of a Board Treasurer and a Board Secretary, both positions reporting to the Superintendent of Schools.

The groundwork for the restructuring of the district’s operations to a school focus involved many incremental steps that took place over a decade. Then in 1979-80, the major reorganization took place. The district would continue to report to the province on a calendar year, but operate internally with the schools on a school year. Central office budget authorities that previously minutely controlled budgets in the past would “earn their keep” by responding to school needs.  Schools became the initiators of required actions rather than recipients of decisions made away from the schools. This form of school organization subsequently spread to a number of cities in the United States and other countries.

Not only a believer in involvement of front line staff, Mr.Strembitsky also believed parents should have more say in their children's education and introduced open boundaries as well as a number of programming options, including International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Fine Arts, Talmud Torah, Waldorf, Outdoor Education and bilingual programs in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, German, Hebrew and Ukrainian.

The number of female senior administrators increased dramatically during Superintendent Strembitsky’s tenure. At the time of his departure the senior staff complement was equally represented, male and female.

After 38 years with the Edmonton Public Schools, Mr.Strembitsky resigned in May of 1994 to take a position in Washington, D.C. with a “think tank” organization promoting reform and restructuring of school districts across the United States. For the next 15 years he worked full-time in the United States commuting, most of that time, from Edmonton.

He has also consulted to governments of New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Israel and the United States Department of Defense Schools [DoDDS] in Washington, D.C., Japan, the Philippines, Germany and Panama. In 2009 after 53 years of public service in advocating for public education, Mr.Strembitsky retired at the age of 74.

School Layout         

Michael Strembitsky is an ASAP school - owned, administered and operated by Edmonton Public Schools. The school has been built to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification, an independent rating system used to measure environmental efficiency. LEED Silver buildings are more energy efficient, cost less to operate, and provide a healthier work environment through improved air quality and use of natural light.

Core School Design