News from our Elementary Vice Principal, Louise Dunn
Hello GAA Community,
It has been a fantastic second week here at GAA. The building has been energized with student learning and the routines established in week one have set the tone for the school year. I am very excited to welcome you to our Parent Back to School Night on September 19th starting at 5pm.
Please see the attached schedule and the Elementary Pedagogical Leadership Team, GAA Parents Association, and our Parent Engagement Champions look forward to a meet and greet in the cafeteria before moving into classrooms and other instructional spaces.
Please follow this link to the Back to School Night. If you have not had the opportunity to familiarize yourself with our very large facility you can click on the links below to view school maps. We look forward to seeing you on Monday September 19th.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Eid.
Louise Dunn
Elementary Vice-Principal
Ground Floor Map
First Floor Map
Second Floor Map
It has been a fantastic second week here at GAA. The building has been energized with student learning and the routines established in week one have set the tone for the school year. I am very excited to welcome you to our Parent Back to School Night on September 19th starting at 5pm.
Please see the attached schedule and the Elementary Pedagogical Leadership Team, GAA Parents Association, and our Parent Engagement Champions look forward to a meet and greet in the cafeteria before moving into classrooms and other instructional spaces.
Please follow this link to the Back to School Night. If you have not had the opportunity to familiarize yourself with our very large facility you can click on the links below to view school maps. We look forward to seeing you on Monday September 19th.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Eid.
Louise Dunn
Elementary Vice-Principal
Ground Floor Map
First Floor Map
Second Floor Map
From our IB Primary Years Program Coordinator, Mike Hopaluk
Dear Parents,
It is so wonderful to be back in my second year as Grade 1-5 PYP Coordinator at GAA. For those new to GAA and/or PYP schools, it is my role to coordinate the IB Primary Years Program (PYP) in the Elementary School. I am very excited to lead the continued growth of the PYP here at GAA.
These last two week have will be very memorable as all the weeks, days and hours of preparation came to fruition with the returning and new students finally filling our halls and classrooms as they dive right into learning. Our Elementary teachers spent two weeks before the children arrived preparing meaningful learning engagements for their students. New teachers at GAA have displayed a wonderful amount of enthusiasm as they have been doing their own inquiries into their new community of learners. Returning teachers have matched this enthusiasm as they share their experience and knowledge with their new colleagues.
Last year, the Elementary saw a very successful implementation of a new Programme of Inquiry (PoI) that was developed the year before. This year, we are looking forward to how we can reflect on last year and deliver an even more challenging, significant, relevant and engaging programme for the children in our Elementary School.
The parents in our community can look forward to many opportunities to become engaged in the learning at GAA through information sessions. Back to School Night (September 19th), 3 Way Conferences, Student Led Conferences and of course occasions to share their own expertise with students as we continue to deliver learning engagements for our students that include all parts of our wonderful community
I know you and your children are as excited as I am for this school year and I look forward to collaboratively growing our caring community even more.
Regards,
Mike Hopaluk
It is so wonderful to be back in my second year as Grade 1-5 PYP Coordinator at GAA. For those new to GAA and/or PYP schools, it is my role to coordinate the IB Primary Years Program (PYP) in the Elementary School. I am very excited to lead the continued growth of the PYP here at GAA.
These last two week have will be very memorable as all the weeks, days and hours of preparation came to fruition with the returning and new students finally filling our halls and classrooms as they dive right into learning. Our Elementary teachers spent two weeks before the children arrived preparing meaningful learning engagements for their students. New teachers at GAA have displayed a wonderful amount of enthusiasm as they have been doing their own inquiries into their new community of learners. Returning teachers have matched this enthusiasm as they share their experience and knowledge with their new colleagues.
Last year, the Elementary saw a very successful implementation of a new Programme of Inquiry (PoI) that was developed the year before. This year, we are looking forward to how we can reflect on last year and deliver an even more challenging, significant, relevant and engaging programme for the children in our Elementary School.
The parents in our community can look forward to many opportunities to become engaged in the learning at GAA through information sessions. Back to School Night (September 19th), 3 Way Conferences, Student Led Conferences and of course occasions to share their own expertise with students as we continue to deliver learning engagements for our students that include all parts of our wonderful community
I know you and your children are as excited as I am for this school year and I look forward to collaboratively growing our caring community even more.
Regards,
Mike Hopaluk
Grade 2 has had a great start to the new school year. Students are excited to decorate their own book boxes and go ‘shopping’ for books to read in their classrooms. They have been exploring place value using base 10 blocks and place value charts in math. In writing students have been working hard as authors, writing about small moments in their lives. Through our inquiry we are discussing roles and responsibilities of workplaces and our classrooms.
We can’t wait to carry on our learning this year!
We can’t wait to carry on our learning this year!
Elementary ICT Updates
School is off to a GREAT start in ICT! Please be mindful of the following upcoming events in the Elementary ICT department.
- Back to School Night is September 19th! Parent sessions will be held on Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Seesaw at 5:30pm and 6:15pm in Room 117.
- Please download “Seesaw for Parents" to view your child’s Learning Portfolio.
- Parents may come to Room 117 for technology support, Sunday – Thursday from 7:30am – 3:30pm.
- Please return your child’s Responsible Use Agreement in Grades 4 & 5.
News from our Vice Principal of KG, Sally Potts
Dear KG Parents,
We have had such a smooth start to the school year. It has been an absolute delight to observe our students engaged in powerful learning together with our team. Thank you to our community of parents who have been so supportive of us as we work together on our educational journey.
Kiss and Ride
Thank you to all of our families who are using our “Kiss and Ride” program in the mornings. Families are pulling into our drop-off lane and children are hopping out with their backpacks ready to enter the school. Our teachers and security staff are wonderful at making sure the children are safely getting into the school and cars are able to move efficiently.
Learning in KG
The focus of our program is on play based learning through the Primary Years Program (PYP). Our students are gaining knowledge and understanding through careful planning of the learning in each of the classrooms. Our culture of kindness is definitely evident as I visit the classrooms. The children will be exploring a unit focussed on, “Who We Are”. KG1 students will be learning about themselves; how we are the same and different; and, reflecting on their abilities and interests. KG2 students will be reflecting on who they are; their connections to others; and, responsibility.
Our focus at GAA is to provide the best possible learning experiences for our students. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at the school.
Regards,
Sally Potts
We have had such a smooth start to the school year. It has been an absolute delight to observe our students engaged in powerful learning together with our team. Thank you to our community of parents who have been so supportive of us as we work together on our educational journey.
Kiss and Ride
Thank you to all of our families who are using our “Kiss and Ride” program in the mornings. Families are pulling into our drop-off lane and children are hopping out with their backpacks ready to enter the school. Our teachers and security staff are wonderful at making sure the children are safely getting into the school and cars are able to move efficiently.
Learning in KG
The focus of our program is on play based learning through the Primary Years Program (PYP). Our students are gaining knowledge and understanding through careful planning of the learning in each of the classrooms. Our culture of kindness is definitely evident as I visit the classrooms. The children will be exploring a unit focussed on, “Who We Are”. KG1 students will be learning about themselves; how we are the same and different; and, reflecting on their abilities and interests. KG2 students will be reflecting on who they are; their connections to others; and, responsibility.
Our focus at GAA is to provide the best possible learning experiences for our students. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me at the school.
Regards,
Sally Potts
KG Corner
Hip-hip hooray for KG1A! Our little learners are being open-minded and quickly adapting to their new classroom and school! Check out our little inquirers in their exploration of connectors!! Hooray little engineers! :)
Greetings KG1C Families,
What an exciting few weeks we’ve had settling into school! We’ve been super busy making new friends, meeting our fabulous teachers and exploring our new surroundings! We are all excited to see what else the school year has in store. Here are some snaps of us for you to look at…
What an exciting few weeks we’ve had settling into school! We’ve been super busy making new friends, meeting our fabulous teachers and exploring our new surroundings! We are all excited to see what else the school year has in store. Here are some snaps of us for you to look at…
Hello! Welcome to Kg2-A! We spent the week getting to know more about each other and understanding that we are a community of learners. We set up our classroom essential agreements and we even came up with a classroom mission statement! We care, We learn, and We have fun!
KG2 has completed their first full week of school! As they start the new school year students were risk takers by entering the classroom with big smiles and confidence. They enjoyed settling into new routines, sharing about families and “Who We Are,” and establishing new relationships and friendships. Looking forward to a great year!