Welcome Back

August 20, 2010

Dear Parents, Students, Faculty and Staff:

I hope this letter finds you having had a relaxing and enjoyable summer! It is my hope that you have had time to get outside, enjoy the company of family and friends, as well as recharge for the school year to come. As we prepare for the 2010-2011 school year, I wanted to share with you some of the exciting things which have taken shape since June.

Our new master schedule format has been the result a six month effort by the faculty and administration. As we prepare for the first day of school, the new format looks to deliver several key benefits. Condensing from a thirteen to ten period day will provide us with less traffic in the halls, reduce the number of study halls, and allows for a more effective use of time and resources. Students in the middle grades will have a significant increase in the amount of structured enrichment and remediation during the school day. This is essential as theses are among the most important formative academic years.

This year, we will continue to develop effective means of communication that will share information in a professional and timely manner. One new addition will be the “Principal’s Blog”. This will replace my monthly web letter and allow information about exciting news and events to get out in a more rapid format. It will also allow the opportunity to post questions and feedback in a forum setting. Effective two way communication is essential in any successful school. As the year progresses, faculty and families should be in constant dialogue about the positive and negative happenings in the classroom. Many potential issues can be resolved with proactive communication long before they become problems. This type of contact must not be the exception, but rather the norm in our school.

Our much anticipated building project will be getting underway as well. With its completion, we can look forward to a modern, efficient and well designed facility that our students and community can be proud of for many more years to come. The project engineers are working closely with the school to minimize the impact to our students. In the course of the next two years, there are sure to be some distractions and disruptions. At those times, is very important to remain focused on the end goal and not the short term inconvenience.

In advance of the project, various renovations have already taken place. Our computer lab has undergone a complete renovation which features new hardware and furniture. Also, the Help Room has been transformed into the Tutoring Center. It shares a suite with the NovaNET Lab providing an additional layer of support for students to recover credit and remain in sequence with their classmates. Additionally, twelve classrooms have had LCD projectors installed and only seven classrooms/spaces will require LCD’s in 2011-2012 resulting in 100% coverage in the building. This is very exciting, as the LCD’s are a vital resource for the delivery of curriculum that is both educationally valuable as well as engaging for the learner.

It is extremely important that we all approach this year ready to work together towards our mutual success. In the end, we are all judged by what we accomplish, what we strive to achieve, and what we endeavor to overcome. I would ask that as you begin the year anew, that you do so committed to the growth and development of every aspect of our school community. Be it in the classroom, field of play or inth simple act of preparation for the next day of school, we must all be unwilling to accept failure and see mediocrity as an alarm calling for immediate attention. This is no small task and it cannot be accomplished by one group alone. We must approach every day with a sense of purpose, direction and commitment. At the day’s end, we must quietly reflect on our successes and failures; taking stock and pride in the positives and using the negatives, not as an excuse, but as an opportunity for improvement.

I look forward to seeing you all at Open House on September 15, at 6:30 p.m. if not sooner.

Tom McGurl
Secondary School Principal