Principal's Message - November

To our families of École Golden Gate Middle School,

 

On behalf of my teachers and administration, I would like to thank our school community for their tremendous support in the turnout of our Student-Led Conferences. The Passport to Learning theme allows parents to visit each of the subject areas and see what their child is learning. It was a busy evening and our teachers enjoyed seeing so many parents out. It was a great opportunity for parents to bond with their child and support their learning.

 

As we move into December, there are some important events taking place. December 8^th at 7:30 pm is our Winter Concert which is being held at Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate. The concert will feature our grade 7 & 8 Concert Bands, grade 7 & 8 Jazz Bands and Choral groups. A concert featuring our grade 6 students will be held on January 26 at Golden Gate. Everyone is welcome to attend!

 

Our next Great Gator Celebration will take place on December 21^st! We look forward to the opportunity to recognize students who have been nominated by teachers or by their fellow students. Students nominated must meet the criteria in two of the following areas of academics, athletics, arts, or citizenship. The submissions must provide information relevant to those specific areas and the Great Gators committee meets to review the submissions in determining the students. Monthly students are nominated as Great Gators “Student of the Month” in the areas of band, choir, art and athletics.

 

Report cards will be distributed in homerooms on December 7^th.  Every student will participate in their own self-assessment reflection and students will be expected to take the reflection home with their report card envelope to be signed. Please return the assessment sheet along with the envelope by Monday, December 12 to their homeroom teachers. All returned forms and envelopes will be entered into a draw for an iTunes gift card that will be drawn and announced during our GatorBytes.

 

In athletics, volleyball seasons have all been completed. I would like to thank the coaches for providing our students with this opportunity to play a great game, and also to our players for their dedication and commitment to each other as teammates, their coaches, and to the game!  Thank you to our parents for driving our students and for completing the Driver’s Authorization Consent Form. Basketball tryouts are now under way! Please see the gym calendar for practice schedules as well as for the intramural schedule. Yoga will be added to the schedule on Fridays!

Thank you in advance to our student leadership team for planning Spirit Week later in December. The activities planned are also a great way to contribute towards the Christmas Cheerboard. 

 

Now that we have had our first snowfall, it is important to review and remind our students of the expectations with regards to snowballs. As this has been a practice since the early years in elementary school, students should understand for safety reasons that snow must be left on the ground. I enjoy watching students build snow forts and “snowmen”, but there is no place for throwing snowballs as someone will get hurt, and it is not permitted on or off school property. Students who are not cooperative in following the rule may face disciplinary action.

 

Cell Phone Policy

Students are aware of our cell phone policy - that they are not permitted out during class time. Students have time to access their phone before the school day, during their 5 minute breaks and during the lunch hour. Students not respecting the cell phone policy will have their cell phone confiscated and may face disciplinary action. Just a friendly reminder that this is also our workplace.

 

Our Open House for prospective students will take place on Wednesday, January 18^th at 7 pm in the gym.  If you currently have children attending Golden Gate, and have a child in grade 5, we look forward to seeing you out!

 

Important dates to remember:

• December 6 and 20 are divisional early dismissal days. Students are dismissed at 3:05 p.m.
• December 7 Report Cards
• December 22 Last Day of School before Winter break
• Monday, January 9 Students return to class
• January 18 7 pm Open House
• January 10 and 24 Early dismissal at 3:05 p.m.
   
  Let us have a great month of December! Go Gators!  
   
  Yours respectfully,
  Mr. D. Kalynchuk
  Principal/Directeur