| I would like to extend a warm welcome to all families of students attending
of A.E. Cross School. As I mentioned to
the large crowd who joined us in early September for our “Meet the Teacher”
evening, I am both humbled and honoured to have been selected as the principal
for the A.E. Cross community. I have
been fortunate to work in numerous schools within Calgary Board of Education
and Rocky View School Division. I have also collaborated with many middle/junior
high schools in New Zealand, Germany and Finland. So, please believe me when I
say there is something very unique about the collaborative culture and sense of
community that is very apparent when you walk through the front doors of our
school. This is something that as a
school community we will continue to nurture and build upon each day.
The transition to a new leadership team can be a time
filled with uncertainty for a school community.
It is important to Mrs. Williams and I that you know we are committed to
our A.E. Cross School community and that we value the contributions each of our
staff members, students, families and community members have made to creating
this amazing school community we are proud to serve. Our vision for the school aligns with the larger
CBE vision, “Each student, in keeping with his or her individual abilities and
gifts, will complete high school with a foundation of learning necessary to
thrive in life, work and continued learning.”
As a leadership team, our values reflect the core values the CBE has
outlined--“Students come first. Learning is our central purpose. Public
education serves the common good.” There
are also some aspects of our beliefs and values that reflect the unique context
of A.E. Cross school.
We believe that setting high standards for all students creates a
greater opportunity for future success – in our communities, within the
province and across our global society. Each day, A. E. Cross students engage
in learning that prepares them to be leaders in a technologically savvy and
globally competitive world.
We are proud of our diverse mix of students who represent 45 different
countries and many cultural and ethnic backgrounds. At A.E. Cross, we offer an
extensive range of exploratory courses that serve to nurture the talents and
extend the curiosities of students who have interests and abilities in specific
areas.
We share common beliefs as to what constitutes great teaching and
learning in our current middle school/junior high context:
- The middle years of learning should be about discovery and exploration.
- The central task of early adolescence is the development of
self-regulation, and we must ensure our school philosophies and practices
support this.
- We believe teachers need to have expertise not only in the disciplines
they teach but also in understanding the adolescent developmental period and
the adolescent learners they work with each and every day.
Great teachers bring joy into the classroom everyday--inspiring, engaging,
enriching and empowering their students with creative and innovative lessons!
- We acknowledge the important role technology does and will continue to
play in the lives of our adolescent learners, with the focus on technology to
support knowledge building and creation as outlined in the Alberta Ministerial
Order on Student Learning (Alberta Education, May 2013).
- We believe that in order to develop students as active participants in
their learning they need to be provided with authentic opportunities for voice
and choice in meaningful aspects of their schooling experience.
- We must intentionally create opportunities for students to foster the
development of positive relationships with trusted adults, their peers and members
of their community.
Our
mission is to educate every A. E. Cross student well--and to do that we need
your help. Through this new web interface, we will provide you with a wide
range of information, so that you can stay up to date with current happenings at
a school, district and provincial level that will influence your child’s
experience at school. At A.E. Cross
School, we believe that parental involvement is essential for student success
in school, and we encourage all parents to become participants in and partners
with the school in their child’s educational journey.
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