We’ve had a busy and productive three days of school this week, from Wednesday to Friday.

A big thank you to the players on our junior and senior teams and their dedicated coaches. Practices were held and games played, including the Nickle junior girls hosting Griffith Woods on Thursday evening—well done to them in the first game of the season!

I want to extend our thanks to Mr. Jenkins, who began working with students involved in the upcoming Remembrance Day ceremony. We’re looking forward to this meaningful event in November.

Thank you to all our teachers for their continued commitment to students and collaboration with one another across classrooms, supervision, athletics, drama, and band.

Timetable Update

As previously shared, our timetable is being updated due to increased enrollment and the addition of new staff. This has allowed us to expand student choice in CTF and Fine Arts classes—commonly known as “options” for all grades 7 to 9 students.

We’ve met with all Grade 7 to 9 classes to explain the changes and have had students complete their rankings for option selections for the updated timetable, which will begin on Monday, October 6. As a result of the additional staff, we are able to provide more choices in options in each block of the timetable.  Some students chose to stay in the option class they have had for September, and others made new selections.

Next Steps

Our internal process for updating PowerSchool and auditing timetables is underway. As planned, students will receive their updated schedules on the next school day which was planned as Monday October 6.  Those who were absent during the selection process will complete their choices and have their timetables updated accordingly. As a result of the labour action, staff and family access to PowerSchool will not exist but we will aim to update and audit as planned until our access is lost.

New Staff

We’re excited to welcome two new additions to our teaching team:

• Mr. Olson has increased his hours to full-time and will continue teaching Grades 7 to 9 CTF courses in Outdoor Education and Business.
• Ms. Barona joins us to teach CTF courses in Grades 7 to 9, including Business, Design Studies, and two sections of Grade 7 Foods this semester.

What Does This Mean for Your Student?

Grade 6

• Music with Ms. Milner will now be offered as a full-year course for all classes.
• Drama will be taught in the first semester by Mr. Jenkins.
• Students will continue rotating through different options in the “CTF wheel” with their Grade 6 teachers. Weekly teacher messages will outline specific classes.

Grades 7 and 9

• Students now have more choice in their option classes thanks to the additional staffing. Updated timetables will be shared on the next school day.

Grade 8

• The Grade 8 cohort has been restructured from two homeroom classes into three smaller classes. Mr. Strom and Mr. Shaw will continue teaching Math/Science and ELA/Social Studies across all three classes. They will no longer teach option classes.
• Students will have two option blocks each day. There will be two classes on Monday/Wednesday, and two other options on Tuesday/Thursday, meaning four option classes this semester.
• In one option block, all Grade 8 classes will be mixed into classes taught by Mr. Worone, Mr. Olson, Mr. Hawkins, and Ms. Barona. Students enrolled in Power-Up will continue with Ms. Frayne during this block. In the second block of each day, one Grade 8 class will remain paired with a Grade 9 class.

Planning for the Next Day of School

This may be the last message from the school for a while, in light of potential strike action from ATA members, set to begin on October 6. At this time, I would like to thank families for their support and kind words as we navigate this situation.  

It is important to note that all teaching staff, including Ms. Craig  and myself, will not be available for the duration of labour action. Teachers won't be preparing extra activities or learning packages for students to complete while the strike continues, and will not have access to respond to emails and phone calls. The CBE will communicate any critical messages about re-entry plans when this information is made available and there is a resolution. They have already communicated that as of October 6,  

• All classes are cancelled 
• Transportation is cancelled 
• Students will have access to Desire2Learn (D2L); and it will  be turned off for staff 
• The most up-to-date information can also be found on the labour action page. 

Of particular note, any offsite activities, field trips, special on-site activities, and athletics have been cancelled from October 6-31, even if a settlement is reached and students return to school during this window. While labour action may be resolved sooner, cancelling these activities enables schools to focus first on the resumption of learning after teachers are back in schools. Once labour action has been resolved, we will contact you about resuming or rescheduling activities and, if applicable, financial reimbursement or adjustment. 

Students have been encouraged to bring home all their personal belongings from school on Friday.

Healthy Hunger Lunches 

As directed by the CBE, all on-site and off-site activities have been cancelled for the month of October. Mrs. Kolb will send out specific information regarding the cancellation of lunches scheduled in October.

All remaining lunches for November onwards will remain active unless further notice is given regarding labor action. Only October dates will be cancelled at this time.