I hope you have enjoyed a wonderful summer- it has certainly been a hot one this year. I am excited to be a new member of your school community and look forward to joining our children on their learning journey this year. Most exciting for this year is the sense of normalcy that we are returning to. Of course, we will want to remain vigilant in our hand-washing and keep safe distances whenever possible, but many restrictions have been lifted and we will be joining together with few limitations. All signs point to an incredible and productive school year.
Our teachers are back at school, planning and preparing for your child(ren) and our Office team are ready for registrations. We certainly want to thank our Facility Operator, Gilbert Wamutete for his arduous work over the summer thoroughly cleaning our school for the arrival of students. We also look forward to welcoming Stella Hu back to our school to help keep things clean in the coming year as well.
This year we have a new School Council Executive and I look forward to working with them and any new families who would like to join our council for the coming year. Even if you cannot come to all the meetings, your voice will be appreciated any time you come.
New Staff
Each year brings positive change. This includes a few additions to our teaching staff. We are delighted to welcome Melissa Melville to kindergarten, Sheila Gregario to grade 3, and Sara Lewis to Grade 5. Christine Toews and Janelle Schiffner have graciously stepped into two temporary position s and we certainly look forward to getting to know them as well. It looks like we really got lucky with all these new teachers.
Of course, no school can operate without a support team, and this year we will welcome Jamie Chall as a new lunch-room supervisor and Melanie Baggs will be joining us in the front-office as one of our secretaries.
Student Placement A great deal of time, effort and thought has gone into the process of student classroom placement for the 2022-23 school year. Careful consideration was given to input from staff and families. Student learning needs, including a balance of strengths and gifts in our children was n important part of this consideration and for this reason, classes have been balanced academically and socially. Classes are structured to provide equitable class sizes at each grade level. Moving students is difficult without causing imbalances and inequities.
Thank you so much for being positive with your child and helping him or her understand that it is impossible to place all students with a preferred best friend or teacher.
ALL of our staff will be working hard to make their learning experience a positive experience for everyone. Thank you to all who are helping prepare us for the new school year. Your commitment to our community deserves celebration.
On that note- we would love to invite you to the first Welcome Back Barbecue since COVID!! Save-on-Foods has once again graciously volunteered time, resources, and food items to help get this year's Welcome Back Barbecue and we look forward to welcoming community agencies, families, and staff to this momentous event on Thursday, August 18, 2022 at 5:00 pm.
I am really looking forward to a wonderful year together and getting to know your children in the coming months. Thank you for your warm welcome. I’ll be seeing you soon!
Linda Doyle
Principal
Catherine Nichols Gunn School
