If we haven’t had the chance to meet, I am Jana Macdonald and I am the proud Principal of Bowness High School.  I hope you have had a safe summer break.  It has certainly been a tough few months for so many people due to wildfires.  It is never lost on me how fortunate we have been in the Calgary area.  We have been busy at work tying up loose ends to ensure a smooth start up next week.  We will welcome our teaching staff today, August 28, our support staff on the August 30 and our caretaking team has been hard at work all summer ensuring the building is ready for our students’ return. 
We are in the final stages of a construction project to have three new classrooms added to our school.  Right now, the contractors cannot confirm if they will be turned over to us when we begin on August 31st but we have a Plan B in place and no students will be learning in hallways or common areas.  After ten years of experience with construction projects, I would have been more surprised if the classrooms would have been ready as there are always unforeseen challenges when you are working in a school that was built in 1956.  Rest assured, the building is safe for occupancy and the final construction will take place after school hours whenever possible.  There should not be any disruptions in learning whatsoever. 
I am excited to welcome new staff members to our building, most due to an increase in our student population. In no particular order:
Chris Davidson – Assistant Principal. Please note that I have hired a third AP thus the alpha splits have changed slightly as outlined below: 
Last names A-G will have the student support team of Mr. Emond, Assistant Principal, Mr. Stroh in Student Services and Ms. Pearce in the Success Centre. 
H-O will have Ms. Gallant as Assistant Principal, Ms. MacLaren in Student Services, Ms. Pearce (H-K) and Mr. Allan (L-O). 
Alpha P-Z will have the aforementioned Mr. Davidson along with Ms. Berry in Student Services and Mr. Allan in the Success Centre.
Melissa MacLaren – Student Services/Guidance Cheryl Folstrom – Cosmetology Instructor Cody Price – Mechanics Adolpho Scollo – Baking Instructor Stacey Sutton – Physics/Pre-Engineering Donald Boake – Mathematics Katie Ford – English Language Arts/English as an Additional Language Coralee Dahl – Cosmetology Brad Squires – English Language Arts/English as an Additional Language T.J. Herd – Science/Mathematics Michael Lisboa-Smith – Social Studies Steven Walker – Mathematics Wendy Tran – Mathematics Tyler Pelkey – Social Studies Minnie Martinez – Psychology/Career and Life Management Sarah Beech – Indigenous Students Support Learning Leader Chris Wright – welcoming him back from a year’s leave as Learning Leader/Coordinator of High Performance Athlete Development (HPAD)
In addition to the wonderful people above, I will also be hiring a Learning Leader of Physical Education this week.  So many wonderful new staff members to make Bowness an even greater place for students to learn.
Attached will be information regarding specifics of start up for our students.  A school is only a building when we don’t have our students here so I very much look forward to next week when the heart of Bowness is back.  Students who want to try out/participate in fall sports should be ready to go as tryouts will happen shortly after start-up.  If you have questions about athletics, please reach out to Mr. Justin Fletcher who will be our Athletics’ Director this year (jafletcher@cbe.ab.ca).  If you have questions about fees, please reach out to Josie Tudda, our Business Manager (jgtudda@cbe.ab.ca).  General inquires can be made to Donna Kuntz, our Administrative E Office Assistant (dmkuntz@cbe.ab.ca ).  Our Student Services’ team sent an email out to you on August 14th walking you through requests for timetable changes so please refer to that email for specifics. 
An upcoming date of interest is our Meet the Teacher evening.  More details will be sent but please save the date if you would like to attend (Thursday, September 7 – assembly in Main Gym at 6:30 followed by a timetable rotation of your child’s schedule).  Additionally, our first School Council meeting will be at Bowness at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, September 13th.  All are welcome.  Please use the entry by the yellow pillars as we meet in the Cafeteria. 
Finally, I want to share our communication flow-chart with you.  If there are issues in a class, we ask that you first communicate and problem solve with the teacher in question.  Your student should, as much as possible, be a direct part of this process as we want to help them build skills in problem solving and self-advocacy. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, please contact the Assistant Principal attached to your alpha.  If further mediation is required, I am happy to jump in and collaborate towards an acceptable solution. 
I am looking forward to another great Green and Gold year here at Bowness.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart for entrusting your children to me and my team.  We want the best for each and every student and will work hard for you all.  Students – see you in a few days!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Jana Macdonald Principal, Bowness High School
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