Dear McKenzie Highlands School parents/guardians, students, and staff, I am pleased to announce Daryl Martin as the next Principal at McKenzie Highlands School. Principal Martin brings extensive experience to this position and is looking forward to officially joining the community on August 26. Greetings from Principal Martin are included below. Please join me in welcoming Principal Martin to McKenzie Highlands School! I would like to thank Principal Connelly for his leadership over the past six years. I know he will be missed by the community. Respectfully, Michael W Nelson EdD Education Director Area 5 & Teaching and Learning with Technology Calgary Board of Education | cbe.ab.ca mwnelson@cbe.ab.ca 403 777-8412 Dear Staff and Community Members of McKenzie Highlands School, I am so very pleased to be the principal leader of the teaching team and school community at McKenzie Highlands School. I was born and raised in south Calgary and greatly enjoy raising my family in the same environs in which I grew up. Fish Creek is like a second home to me! I have taken some time to explore the world, embarking on many adventures. I have taught and been an instructional leader in Egypt, Nepal and India, interspersed with some fantastic teaching of grade 4-7 in the BC Kootenay Valley and northern Alberta. Fifteen years in the classroom, seven years as an Assistant Principal and the past five years as a principal have been nothing short of remarkable. Becoming the principal at McKenzie Highland School is like arriving at a desired destination. I am excited to meet your children and the dedicated team of teachers, support staff, and parents who work together to create a school where joy, challenge, optimism, and citizenship opportunities for students abound. I am passionate about grades 4-9 and the continuation and evolution of the great work already underway at McKenzie Highlands School. Supporting your child on their educational journey is my top priority. Students bring a strong voice to their classrooms and need opportunities and encouragement to develop foundational skills and higher level conceptual understandings to exercise their voice and opinions so they can meaningfully participate in making our world a better place, regardless of their age. They have much to contribute. Please feel free to contact me at dwmartin@cbe.ab.ca or through the school office throughout the school year. As parents, you know and love your children and your voice matters! Wishing all of you a summer that is fun-filled and restorative. We have experienced some difficult years. Our work is to bridge the gaps and work very hard as a school community to ready your children for the amazing opportunities and challenges that await. Your children will assuredly tell you that when I try to get a laugh and a smile out them, it usually comes off like a cheesy “dad" joke. I try! Sincerely Yours, Daryl Martin | 
