Parent Update – August 23rd

Dear Families,

I hope you are doing well and enjoyed the summer.

We are looking forward to welcoming our students back to school NEXT WEEK!

Here is some important information to help you and your child transition from summer to school:

Opening Days

• You can find important information such as our school calendar, school supply list, opening days, etc. on our website here:

• The first day of school for grade 8, 11, PY3 and Centre of Excellence students is Wednesday August 30^th (these students stay home on Thursday August 31^st)
• The first day of school for grade 7, 9, 10, PY1, PY2 is Thursday August 31^st (these students stay home on Wednesday August 30^th)
• All students are at school on Friday September 1^st
• When your child arrives to school on the first day, they should go to the cafeteria to receive their schedule and to greet their teacher
• Please reassure your child that there will be many adults circulating to help!

Guidance/Administration Structure

• Tara Laine – Principal
• Kate Smith (katesmith@wqsb.qc.ca) – Vice Principal – Students with last names A-L
• Chris Byrne (chrisbyrne@wqsb.qc.ca)  – Vice Principal – Students with last names M-Z
• Holly Richardson (hrichardson@wqsb.qc.ca)  – Guidance Counselor – Students with last names A-F
• Danielle Nikota (dnikota@wqsb.qc.ca)  – Guidance Counselor – Students with last names G-M
• Franny Maloney (fmaloney@wqsb.qc.ca) – Guidance Counselor – Students with last names N-Z

Transportation

• The Parent Portal will be open at the end of the day on August 25^th until August 31^st for you to check for transportation details for your child
• I have attached a guide to the Portal to this email
• We recommend that your child arrive at their bus stop a few minutes early for the first week and to record their bus information
• We encourage families to download the Western Quebec app in order to receive notifications about late/cancelled buses (information attached)

Student Schedules

• Students will receive their schedules when they arrive on their first day
• Schedules will be uploaded to the parent portal on Thursday August 31^st

Affirming Names

• We are now able to support our non-binary and trans students by having their affirming name, gender marker and pronouns appear on school documents
• I have attached some information and a request form to this email if it pertains to your child

Baseball!

• The baseball season starts early so a fast recruitment process will take place next week
• Tryouts will be open to ALL students and practices may take place over the long weekend
• Students participating must be available for the championship weekend (September 29^th – October 1^st)
• Students can sign up for tryouts during our opening days in the cafeteria during lunch or they can email Ms. Brown (slbrown@wqsb.qc.ca) for more details

Grade Level Flyers

• I have attached a flyer with important course information for each grade level to this email

Upcoming Dates

• September 4^th – Holiday
• September 13^th – Symmes Annual General Assembly – 6pm, School Auditorium
• September 15^th – PD DAY
• September 20^th – D’Arcy Annual General Assembly – 6pm, School Auditorium
• September 21^st – School Photo Day

We are so excited to start a new school year and welcome your children back.  For all of our incoming grade 7 students and families, WELCOME!  We are so proud to be a part of this wonderful community.

See you next week!