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Principal's Message - May

April has been a time to look at next year staffing as well as prepare for existing staff on leave to return to their positions in May.

At this time, I would like to thank Mr. Travis Turner, who has been our Acting Assistant Principal during the month of April. He has been a great help during this time. We welcome back Mrs. Mitchell-Pellett, who returned from her leave on May 1 and we greatly look forward to her continued contributions to our school. We also look forward to welcoming back Ms. Tiffany Coles, who is returning from her Professional Improvement Fellowship on May 7. Ms. Nancy Johnson, our Library Assistant, returned from her Professional Improvement Fellowship on May 1. We look forward to each sharing their learning with us as they transition back into our midst. Great thanks to Ms. Brisbin, who has covered the Library Assistant responsibilities, to Ms. Krewda, who has done fine work in Mr. Turner’s grade 8 class while he has been Acting AP, and to Ms. Johnstone, who has made great contributions to the learning in Ms. Coles’ class. We thank these staff members for their fine work in support of student learning and we look forward to a time when our paths will cross again. We are very fortunate to have had their contributions at Samuel W. Shaw.

During April, our staff was engaged in many discussions regarding our budget for 2012-13. As a result of demographic trends, our enrollment is forecasted to have less students in 2012-13. Accordingly, we will have less staff. Decisions were made during the past month by engaging staff in discussions about how we can best personalize learning for every student, every day, no exceptions. Our discussions were also shared at our April council meeting. In addition to a decline in enrollment, we will also have less students identified with unique learning needs. This means a reduction in staff, whose positions are funded to meet the needs of these students. We will also have less hours for resource teaching staff.

During May and June, we will be planning for staff and classes for 2012-13. We are anticipating 4 grade four classes, 4 grade six classes, 5 grade seven classes, 5 grade eight classes and 6 grade nine classes. Our enrolment at this time is 660 students. Our temporary and probationary teachers’ contracts will end at the end of this school year. We will remain committed to the academic excellence. We will also continue to provide a strong music/band program and PE program. We are also endeavouring to keep our class sizes as low as possible. Our June and September newsletters will contain our staff list for 2012-2013.

Parent Guides for the provincial achievement tests to be written in May/June 2012 can be found at http://www.education.alberta.ca/parents/resources/exams.aspx

These Parent Guides give details on the achievement tests and the curriculum details for each subject area:
Grade 6 Parent Guide
Grade 9 Parent Guide

The website also provides a 10 minute streaming video resource to explain to parents why these tests are needed.

2012 Provincial Achievement Testing: Parent Guide
As a staff, we are confident and committed to supporting our learners to thrive as learners now and in the future. We have a strong sense of shared leadership and teaming. We will continue our professional development practices to help each of us analyze our practice and continue to question and support one another in meeting the needs of our diverse learners through personalized learning experiences. Although our staff have had many meetings decisions to make regarding staffing, our students remain central to all decisions we make. We will continue to improve student learning through our professional discussions, asking each other:

What do we want all students to learn?
How will we know when they have learned it?
How will we respond when they don’t learn it?
How will we respond when they already know it?

As we look back on April and look towards May and June, we realize that, as a learning community of staff, students and parents, we have much to celebrate. As you read through this newsletter, you will recognize the many rich and varied learning opportunities our students are experiencing at school and how they are being impacted and are impacting others as citizens of their local and global communities. You will also recognize the many ways in which our School Council and Fundraising Society’s support is making a difference for our learners. At this time, many parents, who have held key roles on our Executive will be retiring from their roles on Council, after many years of service. I urge you to consider playing a role on Council in the coming year. A vibrant School Council is an essential component of a vibrant learning community. We have a community of talented, caring parents. Consider what you might be able to offer and know that your efforts, however great or small, will make a difference in the learning life of our school community. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or our School Council Chair, Lyn Phalen.

~Mavis Wheatcroft Principal