Dear Grizzly Families,

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! I am excited to share some important information. I apologize in advance for the amount of information included here; however, it is important and will help you and your child start off the year with as much information as possible.

Thursday, August 31: first day of school for ONLY GRADE 6 AND GRADE 7 students. Doors will open at 7:45 a.m. We will have homeroom lists posted and help students find their names, their teacher’s name, and direct them to the gym where they will gather in their homeroom groupings. Their teachers will take them to their homeroom class and will start the process of welcoming them to the new school year. Later in the day, the Grade 6 and Grade 7 classes will enjoy a welcome back BBQ with all food provided. The caterer will have a burger (beef or vegetarian), chips and a drink for all students. Students will also tour the school and the school grounds and learn about being an Annie Gale Grizzly. We will be sure to throw in some fun activities as well! Dismissal will be at 2:35 p.m.

Friday, September 1: ALL STUDENTS ATTEND SCHOOL. On this day students will meet with their homerooms and learn about being an Annie Gale Grizzly. Students will also walk through a mini-timetable and meet most of their teachers. The tone of both of the first days is about welcoming everyone to set us all up for success. Dismissal will be at 12:00 p.m.

Parents, Guardians, and students should be aware that Annie Gale is now using an “AWAY FOR THE DAY” policy regarding personal devices such as cell phones, smart watches, and gaming devices. After consultation with other schools, staff, and our school council, we have chosen to utilize this policy to better support teaching and learning—the entire reason we are at school. On the first few days of school, your student will come home with more information regarding this important policy. We want to remind parents and guardians that if they have a family emergency, we ask that you call the office so that we can support your child. We will utilize a two-week grace period at the beginning of the year to help everyone get used to this policy. Note that students, so long as they are out of the building, may use their devices before school, at lunch, or after school. If students need to call home during the day, they can use the student phones provided in or near the office. If students have a personal device out and in sight in the building past the two-week grace period, staff will ask the student to turn the phone into the office for the remainder of the day. Students may retrieve their device at the end of the day after receiving a reminder about the policy. If students have their personal device turned into the office a second time, they will be given a reminder and a warning that on the third time, the device will be kept in the office and the school will ask a parent or guardian to pick up the device at the end of the day. We thank you in advance for supporting this policy and helping your student to understand our focus on teaching and learning!

Much work goes into creating class lists for our students and we have to consider many variables in doing so, including but not limited to: class size; balancing individual and group learning needs; student relationships; and individualized program plans. We do not support requests for homeroom changes.

We have many new teachers joining our staff this year and we are excited about the diverse experiences and skill sets they bring to our school. Please join me in welcoming: Ms. Amber Donahue (humanities—Learning Leader); Ms. Morgan Dool (math/science); Ms. Dawn Faulconer (humanities—filling in for Ms. Schievink); Ms. Christy Gill (humanities); Ms. Kiran Grewal (math/science—Learning Leader for TLC); Mr. Don Huynh (math/science); Mr. Joseph Iyekepolor (French); Ms. Annish Saini (math/science); Mr. Youssuf Siddiqui (humanities/PE); Ms. Sabrena Stauffer (humanities—filling in for Ms. Lynem); and Mr. Noah Wttewaal-Arteaga (CTF/science—filling in for Ms. McNeil). We also welcome back Ms. Smith (humanities) and Ms. Jones (humanities). As I shared with you last week, Ms. Jodie McNeil will be Acting Assistant Principal as Ms. Papoff is currently the Acting Principal of Chief Justice Milvain.

School attendance at the beginning of the year must be accurate in order for schools to staff according to the student population. Please notify the school immediately if you have information to share about attendance including absences for extended vacations, family emergencies, illness, or a move to another school.

Interschool athletics will start right away so if your student plans to try out for or join a sports team, they need to listen to the announcements for tryout/practice dates and times. We are pleased to offer wrestling this year, rounding out our ability to offer all interschool sports for our students. We are also delighted to host a cross country meet at our school on September 13. Seasons of play have changed greatly this year and there is some overlap for certain sports. I am including them here for your future reference. Families can expect a form to come home regarding permission to try out for teams.

Athletic Team	Season Dates
Cross Country	August 31 – October 15
Soccer	August 31 – October 29
Basketball	September 11 – December 3
Wrestling	October 30 – February 4
Volleyball	January 8 – March 24
Badminton	April 2 – May 21
Track and Field	May 13 – June 16

Our office staff is here to help and can direct you to the correct staff member if you have questions or concerns. We welcome back: Ms. MacMurdo (Secretary); Ms. Loewen (Administrative Assistant); Ms. Kat Turner (Lunchroom Supervisor); Ms. Cora Mandadero (Library Assistant); and, Mrs. Lori Withell (Book Keeper). Office hours are from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Fridays. We do our best to answer the phone when you call during office hours, and we remind you that for student absences our absence line is available 24/7. Please provide your student’s name, homeroom, and reason for absence or late. School administrators are available for support as well, however, it is always best to call for an appointment so that we can assure our availability. We remind families that if you are sending someone to pick up your student for an appointment, we cannot release that student unless we have had confirmation from you. Please call ahead to avoid delaying a student’s departure. If you have questions, call the school at 403-777-7680.

Students in our Traditional Learning Centre (TLC) will be expected to be in uniform for school each day. Please remember that the TLC requirements state that their shoes should be solid black.

In my next message I will share with you more information about upcoming events, including Meet the Teacher Night and our first school council meeting.

Until then, enjoy the remaining days of summer vacation.

Tammy Quiring

(proud) Principal

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