Dear Parents,
On behalf of the staff of St. Bernadette’s, I am happy to welcome you to the 2015-16 school year! I feel privileged to have the opportunity to return this school year as your Principal and I feel honoured to work with our highly qualified and dedicated staff, our wonderful students, and all of the supportive parents. The elementary years are critical times of development for students and families and I look forward in working with all of you to make this school year successful. I am a lifelong educator and I am committed to students and families as well as a love for learning.
This summer, our teachers have been preparing for the new school year by attending various professional development opportunities. They are working hard to implement many new strategies to differentiate the instruction for all of our student’s needs. We give many thanks to our custodian, Mr. Barry, Mr. Fournier, parent and member of the PEC, and all staff and parents who have been working diligently to prepare our school and grounds for the start of the new school year.
Staff News
There are some noteworthy changes to our staff that we would like to share with you. First, we would like to congratulate Ms. Macdonald. Ms. Macdonald became married in late August and will now be Mrs. Chu. We also want to congratulate Mrs. Hope and Mrs. Wagg on the births of their sons. Mrs. Bourassa is on a personal leave for the first part of the school year. Mrs. Chu will take her place while she is away. Some staff members have new teaching assignments for the 2015-2016 school year. Here is the teaching staff list for the new school year:
Kindergarten – Mrs. Schollen
Grade 1 – Mrs. Hillard and Mrs. Fong
Grade 2 – Mrs. Fraser and Mrs. Peck
Grade 3 – Mrs. Wilczewski and Mrs. Beliveau
Grade 4 – Mrs. Stuart and Mrs. Beliveau
Grade 5 – Mrs. Chu (Mrs. Bourassa) and Mrs. Fong
Grade 6 – Mrs. Albrecher and Mrs. Chu
Grade 7 – Mrs. Kosman
French Teacher – Madame Peck
Music Teacher – Mrs. Fawcett
Learning Assistance Teacher – Mr. Cheveldave
Physical Education Teacher – Mr. van der Pauw
Mission and Vision for the New School Year
As a staff we are committed to our mission of being dedicated to educating each child spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, socially, and physically in partnership with parents, parish and the wider community. We also hold firm our mission in creating lifelong learners by meeting the needs, and nurturing the individual abilities, of all the children we serve. It is our mission as a Catholic school, that we model and live our faith in order to build the Kingdom of God. As professional educators of St. Bernadette Elementary School, we have a vision to ensure every child is academically equipped to the best of their ability, to develop Catholic leaders through evangelization and service using a Christ-centered approach, to build community by creating a safe and welcoming environment for learning and to honour the whole child by teaching to their different intelligences, building on their strengths, and offering varied instructional opportunities in order to inspire a love of learning. Our Mission and Vision Statements guide our profession and focus our efforts.
Parent Partnership and Participation
It is important as we start a new year that we honour the productive partnership we have with our parents. This allows us to certify that every student can achieve his/her highest potential. We recognize that in order to be successful in school, our students need support from both the home and school. As partners in your child’s education, we share the responsibility for their success and want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities. We ask that you guide and support your child’s learning by ensuring that he/she:
1. Attends school daily and arrives on time, ready for the day’s learning experience
2. Completes all homework assignments given by teachers
3. Reads daily to develop a love for reading and to improve literacy skills
4. Shares school experiences with you so that you are aware of his/her school life
5. Informs you if he/she needs additional support in any area or subject
6. Knows that you expect him/her to succeed in school
We thank you for joining our parent participation program as our students can greatly benefit from your involvement and contributions to the school’s program and its operations.
The First Week Back
On Tuesday September 8th, from 8:30 – 10am we invite your family to join us for a Welcome Back Pancake Breakfast hosted by the Knights of Columbus. We are excited to have this kick off the school year as we look for ways to bring our community together. The school bell will ring at 10am to signal all students to head to the pick up area where teachers will bring them to class. Classes will be dismissed at 12:15pm on the first day.
On Thursday September 10th, we will celebrate our first school Mass. We welcome all parents to our monthly Masses. Please see our website calendar for the dates.
There will be no school on Friday September 11th, as the staff is involved in the CISVA system wide Faith Development Day.
Once again, on behalf of the staff, we feel privileged to be a part of this school family. We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you on September 8th.
Yours in Christ,
Michael van der Pauw
Principal