News from our Elementary Principal, Ben Voborsky
Hello GAA Community,
What a smooth start to the school year! We are so happy to have your children back at GAA filling our building with life. All of the students I talked to were so excited to be back. One parent came to me and said “I was worried my Grade 1 daughter did not have any friends in her class from last year… When we showed up today, my daughter waved to me and said, ‘I can’t wait to make new friends today’ and walked straight into the classroom”. It shows the resilience and grit our student demonstrate every day.
Your Elementary Community Handbook went home the first day of school. Thank you for signing and returning the last page to your teacher. Please review the student dress code/uniform section. It has been highlighted that female students need to be in knee length skirts. If shorter, they should be wearing black or dark blue leggings.
If there is a change in your child’s pick up routine, please inform your teacher and Leonie Van Der Sluis <[email protected]> the day before. If the change is unexpected contact Leonie Van Der Sluis[email protected] and include your teacher. My teachers are busy engaging with your children and do not always have time to check their email during the day.
Thank you for attending the parent informational sessions. It was great to meet you and introduce our leadership team. If you were not able to attend, I have included the links to the presentations below.
KG1 KG2 Parent Presentation
G1-2 Parent Presentation
G3-4-5 Parent Presentation
Seesaw & Support Room 117
Our new innovative approach to connecting you to the classroom is with Seesaw. You have already received student specific information about how to get connected. If you have not already downloaded Seesaw you can for free from the AppStore, Googleplay, amazonkindle, chrome web store, or sign up with your computer with Chrome or Firefox. We look forward to you gaining insight into what is happening in your child’s classroom. If you need assistance getting connected just go to Room 117 on the first floor by the red central staircase.
A gentle reminder of our “NO hat, NO water, NO play”policy. Please ensure your child has a hat and a water bottle.
I want to thank everyone for your contributions to a successful start to the school year and modeling our GEMS Culture of Kindness.
Have a great 2016-2017,
Elementary Principal
Ben Voborsky
What a smooth start to the school year! We are so happy to have your children back at GAA filling our building with life. All of the students I talked to were so excited to be back. One parent came to me and said “I was worried my Grade 1 daughter did not have any friends in her class from last year… When we showed up today, my daughter waved to me and said, ‘I can’t wait to make new friends today’ and walked straight into the classroom”. It shows the resilience and grit our student demonstrate every day.
Your Elementary Community Handbook went home the first day of school. Thank you for signing and returning the last page to your teacher. Please review the student dress code/uniform section. It has been highlighted that female students need to be in knee length skirts. If shorter, they should be wearing black or dark blue leggings.
If there is a change in your child’s pick up routine, please inform your teacher and Leonie Van Der Sluis <[email protected]> the day before. If the change is unexpected contact Leonie Van Der Sluis[email protected] and include your teacher. My teachers are busy engaging with your children and do not always have time to check their email during the day.
Thank you for attending the parent informational sessions. It was great to meet you and introduce our leadership team. If you were not able to attend, I have included the links to the presentations below.
KG1 KG2 Parent Presentation
G1-2 Parent Presentation
G3-4-5 Parent Presentation
Seesaw & Support Room 117
Our new innovative approach to connecting you to the classroom is with Seesaw. You have already received student specific information about how to get connected. If you have not already downloaded Seesaw you can for free from the AppStore, Googleplay, amazonkindle, chrome web store, or sign up with your computer with Chrome or Firefox. We look forward to you gaining insight into what is happening in your child’s classroom. If you need assistance getting connected just go to Room 117 on the first floor by the red central staircase.
A gentle reminder of our “NO hat, NO water, NO play”policy. Please ensure your child has a hat and a water bottle.
I want to thank everyone for your contributions to a successful start to the school year and modeling our GEMS Culture of Kindness.
Have a great 2016-2017,
Elementary Principal
Ben Voborsky
School transitions and expectations
Dear Parents,
It has been wonderful to connect with so many of you in the morning and see happy children entering through the school gates. In the morning staff members will be out at all the gates to help students as they disembark from their cars. Please help us to move the cars through the parking lot by checking that your child knows what they need to take to school in the morning and their bags are packed. We strongly encourage independence when carrying bags.
As we work to help families in the morning we have however been concerned to see some families and students crossing 3rd street and not using the cross walk. The cross walk is situated at the traffic lights at the intersection of 16th and 3rd street. Please use this crossing point at all times as we seek to instill a sense of safety and respect to the dangers of crossing a busy highway for are community.
Additionally, we respectfully request that parents do not enter the elementary class wings prior to 7.30 in the morning as this allows the teacher to complete their morning preparation for class. Please also keep the hallways clear at 2.55pm in the afternoon. This allows for students to safely exit their classrooms without having to navigate around groups of adults that might block their line of sight to their teacher causing them unnecessary stress and anxiety.
Vice-Principal Louise Dunn & Sofia Lyons
It has been wonderful to connect with so many of you in the morning and see happy children entering through the school gates. In the morning staff members will be out at all the gates to help students as they disembark from their cars. Please help us to move the cars through the parking lot by checking that your child knows what they need to take to school in the morning and their bags are packed. We strongly encourage independence when carrying bags.
As we work to help families in the morning we have however been concerned to see some families and students crossing 3rd street and not using the cross walk. The cross walk is situated at the traffic lights at the intersection of 16th and 3rd street. Please use this crossing point at all times as we seek to instill a sense of safety and respect to the dangers of crossing a busy highway for are community.
Additionally, we respectfully request that parents do not enter the elementary class wings prior to 7.30 in the morning as this allows the teacher to complete their morning preparation for class. Please also keep the hallways clear at 2.55pm in the afternoon. This allows for students to safely exit their classrooms without having to navigate around groups of adults that might block their line of sight to their teacher causing them unnecessary stress and anxiety.
Vice-Principal Louise Dunn & Sofia Lyons
Grade 1
Welcome to 1st Grade!
In 1C we have been having a lot of fun getting to know each other and our interests. During the first couple of days, we have come up with our Essential Agreements in order to be safe, respectful, and an IB Learner. My students listened to the stories called “How Full is Your Bucket?” and “Have you Filled a Bucket Today?” on Youtube. They will be using Bucket Fillers to recognize fellow students who are being kind or caring to others. I encourage parents to speak with your students of how they could fill someone else’s bucket. We will begin our first Unit of Inquiry Sharing the Planet by focusing on the responsibility to share our environment in a peaceful world. We look forward to having an incredible year in 1C!
Thank you,
Dawn Van Damme
Grade Level Coordinator, Grade 1C PYP Educator
In 1C we have been having a lot of fun getting to know each other and our interests. During the first couple of days, we have come up with our Essential Agreements in order to be safe, respectful, and an IB Learner. My students listened to the stories called “How Full is Your Bucket?” and “Have you Filled a Bucket Today?” on Youtube. They will be using Bucket Fillers to recognize fellow students who are being kind or caring to others. I encourage parents to speak with your students of how they could fill someone else’s bucket. We will begin our first Unit of Inquiry Sharing the Planet by focusing on the responsibility to share our environment in a peaceful world. We look forward to having an incredible year in 1C!
Thank you,
Dawn Van Damme
Grade Level Coordinator, Grade 1C PYP Educator
The KG team are excited to start the new 2016 – 2017 school year. We have had a week full of fun with our new classes. For photos of your children being risk takers and exploring their new classroom environment, be sure to check out the ‘See-saw’ class pages. We are looking forward to a fun filled year ahead.
The KG Team.
The KG Team.
KG Corner
We had risk takers in KG1 and KG2 this week as we started the 2016 – 2017 new school year. We made new friends, had fun in our new classrooms and had many fantastic stories to share at home. We are super excited for the year to come!! :)