Principal’s Message

Dear Parents,
Wow, what a busy week at school!  We’ve had Grad Meetings, Planning Committee Meetings, Articulation Meetings, Staffing Meetings and a wonderful Spring Concert from Divisions 1, 4, and 6.   A special thank you to Mrs. Humeniuk, Ms Plavan and Ms Yeung for all their dedication and energy to help make the spring concert such a big success.  Thank you also to all the staff who helped to release and support the students in this energizing and successful event.

In recent posts, I have been intimating that there are a number of changes coming at the end of this school year and in the beginning of September.  I am now in a position to begin sharing some of the information with you.

Maple Grove is very full.  As such, we managed to avoid some of the surplussing situations to teaching staff that have occurred in the district.  We may not be able to avoid some of the displacement procedures that take place for our support staff, as they work under a different collective agreement.  As such, I will only be addressing teaching staff matters in the blog.

As with every school year, there are always changes in staffing for a variety of reasons. Teachers make decisions for their careers, families, and personal interests.  This year is no different.  We have a number of staff changes that I would like to make you aware of. Please keep in mind that these changes are not limited only to the individuals listed below:

Mr. Gruenwalde- Will be leaving his position and returning to the TOC pool
Ms. Gill-  Will be returning from Mat Leave (Ms. Shoemaker will be leaving)
Ms. Wong- Will be returning from Mat Leave (Ms. Wilson will be leaving)
Ms. Adams- Will be going on Mat Leave for the year (A TOC will be provided)
Ms. Watkins- Will be returning from leave (Ms. Ng will be leaving)
Ms. Roopra- Will be going on Mat leave for the year (A TOC will be provided)
Ms. Macaulay- TBA- depending on budget decisions re: Music programs
Mr. Davies- TBA
Mrs. Bevacqua- On leave; maybe returning in September

Last, but not least, Ms Sleep, our Vice Principal, has been promoted to Principal. Ms. Sleep will be Principal of Dr. Annie B. Jamieson Elementary School starting July 1.  I have known Ms. Sleep for 10 years.  She was my VP when I was at Champlain Heights Community School.  Ms. Sleep is an amazing administrator and educational leader.  She is knowledgable, reliable and hardworking.  She is awesome with children and will make an outstanding Principal.  Please join me in wishing her all the success as she embarks upon her new role.  Congratulations!  And, not to be overshadowed, please join me in welcoming Ms. Lindsay Thompson as the incoming Vice Principal for Maple Grove.  Ms. Thompson has been VP at Mackenzie Elementary School and brings a wealth of teaching and administrative experience to Maple Grove.  Please join me in welcoming her.

On a final note, please know that this list is not complete; but that we support all staff in their decisions and circumstances.  Thank you for your attention to this matter.

As I mentioned above, schools received their staffing envelopes this week.  Maple Grove is in a pretty good position based on its slightly elevated enrolment.  At this point, no organization has been decided on, so I will not be sharing who’s teaching what next year.  I can tell you that we are in the process of discussing the matter and that I’ll have more to say in subsequent blogs.  Presently there are approximately 200 Montessori students and 308 traditional program students registered for September.  We anticipate having a population between 505-510 in total.  This number is changing daily as we have families registering and transferring out throughout the spring and summer for a variety of reasons.

It’s pretty much a sprint to the end of the year from this point on.  Please stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Sincerely,
Mr. Evans

Spring Fair Cancelled for this Year

It is with regret that PAC announces the cancellation of this year’s Spring Fair.  This is due to a lack of volunteers willing to take on leadership roles in planning and executing the event.  We want to thank those who did step forward to assist in smaller roles–unfortunately this was just not enough to plan and execute the event itself.

We know there will be disappointed students and families as this has been a much loved tradition at Maple Grove, but without adequate volunteer support this event is not possible to run.

There is a plan underway to have an end of school-year celebration. We hope that we will be able to move forward with this and count on your support. More information will be forthcoming shortly.

Scholastic Book Fair is coming May 30th to June 3rd

Get ready to go shopping!  Funds raised are for our Library.  Watch for more info in the next two weeks.

The Grade 3 students are enjoying Swimming

 Spring Concert – Divisions 6, 4 & 1

We have a lot of talent at Maple Grove, it was a truly wonderful performance!  Many thanks to Ms Yeung, Ms Plavan and Mrs Humeniuk.

Global Citizenship working on two projects. . .

1. Bake Sale on May 3rd and 4th

The Global Citizenship Club raised almost $650.00 for earthquake victims in Ecuador and Japan. Thank you to all the students and parents and staff (Rose and Manju!) who contributed so many delicious baked goodies.

2. Funraiser for Wildfire Victims in Alberta

It was a spectacular success with just over $3,800.00 raised!  All proceeds will be sent to the Red Cross.  Divisions 4 and 20 raised the most per division and will be given a small prize on Monday as a special acknowledgement.  Thank you so much to all our very generous families at Maple Grove!

Bike to School Week – May 30 to June 3

Pump up your tires, dust off your helmet and make sure you have a lock.

There will be a sign up outside the office if you’d like to join our bicycle team.  Each day during Bike to School Week, members will check in with Mrs. Peters in the office.  If they have ridden their bike to school they will get a sticker to put on our poster.

We did well last year for Bike to School Week, let’s do better this year!

URGENT DEADLINE FOR ALL GRADE 7’s

Please submit ALL photos (5 photos between the ages of 0 yrs -12 yrs) AND the Memory Book Write-Up as soon as possible! Photos and write-ups are DUE BY MONDAY, MAY, 16th, 2016.

**Send all submissions to:

mggradphotos2016@gmail.com

Indicate the name, division, and “photos” or “write-ups” in the subject line of the email. If photos and write-ups are not submitted ASAP, the pages could have ugly blank spaces. So please take a few minutes to hand those in!

Please note: The Memory Book Write-Up does not need to be an attachment. It may just be typed directly in the email.

If you have ANY questions, please contact Susan Kong (jooran_s@yahoo.com) for Div 1 or Susan Lin (susanlin689@shaw.ca) for Div 13.

Many thanks,

The Grad Committee

Returning Late from Summer Holidays?

Important to know:  If a student is not back at school by September 7th and we have not been informed of their late return, the student will be withdrawn and a waitlisted student will take their place.   Places will not be held for students who plan to return after September 30th.

Here is a link to the letter you must complete to inform the school if you will be late retuning to school next year, you may also email this information to jpeters@vsb.bc.ca.  Notice of Late Return Form

 

Upcoming Events

May 18- PAC Meeting 6:30 to 8:00 pm
May 19- Volunteer Tea
May 20 – School not in session (for Good Friday Stat Holiday that fell during March break)
May 23 – Victoria Day
May 27- Welcome to K
May 30 to June 2 – Spring Bookfair
May 30 to June 3rd – Bike to School Week
June 3- New students welcome Grades 1 to 7
June 6- Pro D day (no school for students)
June 8-10- Grade 6 Camp
June 14- Kilometre Club Celebration
June 16-17- Talent Show (Ms Hales is organizing)
June 24- Sports Day and year end BBQ(???)
June 27- Grad
June 28 – Primary Picnic
June 29- Last day of school

September 6 – First day back for students after summer holidays