​Greetings from Annie Gale School! 
It is surprising how quickly the last four and a half months have passed.  Students are about to complete the first semester and teachers are completing the last tasks related to sharing our report cards for the first half of the school year.  We are excited about what the second semester will bring and we are hopeful that Omicron's effect on us will come to an end quickly.
We have some changes to our staffing at the school.  Effective February 1, 2022, Dr. Beaton will be returning to work with her students.  As such, we are saying farewell to Mx. Gill who had been covering those classes.  We thank Mx. Gill for her support of our community and we look forward to welcoming Dr. Beaton back.
You may be aware of the operational pressures schools have faced since the beginning of January.  Annie Gale School is not immune to some of these difficulties.  We have had staff shortages each day since we returned to in-person learning and we expect this will continue for the near future.  What this means is that when a teacher is away on a given day, we may not have a guest teacher or substitute assigned to their schedule.  As a result, teachers who are present have been covering these classes.  For the teachers covering extra classes, it means that they often do not have lunch or a preparation period to plan or assess learning or to connect with parents or guardians.  For students this means that the guest teachers they are seeing each day may be different and consistency is difficult to achieve.  I thank students and teachers for being understanding and flexible at this time.  It is certainly not the norm, but we are asking much of those involved.  Keep in mind that if you want to connect with classroom teachers, their ability to respond immediately is limited right now—but that does not hinder their interest in connecting with you.
We are also closely monitoring student absences right now.  We remind parents and guardians to call the school to notify us if their child is ill or experiencing Covid symptoms.  We also want to ensure that students who are ill stay home from school.  There have been recent changes to the “Should I Go to School" checklist; you can access the most recent information here:  https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page16998.aspx
Please consider attending an upcoming school council meeting.  Our council meetings this year are virtual and will offer you much information about the school and our work to support student learning.  The next virtual meeting is Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. 
Also, a reminder that Monday, January 31, 2022, is a non-instruction day and students will not be in session.  Most of our staff will be doing first aid training on that day.
I hope that you and your family stay safe and well.
Sincerely,
Tammy Quiring
Principal