I hope everyone has had a restful holiday break and returns ready for the fall term. When you first visit the two schools you will notice a number of changes that we feel will have an immediate and positive impact on school life.
Improvements at both campuses were aimed at improving the physical environment for our students. We have replaced much of the flooring in the prep school, freshly painted several areas, and improved lighting in both schools. We have renovated the student common areas in the middle and senior schools and we have dramatically improved and increased the seating available to students in both areas. We have installed 25 new computers in the computer room and the final roof repairs at the Atlantic Street Campus were completed this summer. These and other changes will improve the physical environment for our students, faculty and staff and would not have been possible without the support of our PAC and parent volunteers, and the entire community’s support for our Annual Giving campaigns. We thank everyone for supporting our school.
We continue to work to improve the social environment for all members of our community. This fall, we will introduce a mutual respect policy for students, faculty and staff, and others who interact in our school environment. A document titled, Mutual Respect at the Halifax Grammar School – A Guide for the School Community, will be available on the parent online directory for your perusal. We have also created a more succinct document, A Guide for the Student Community, also available on the parent online directory and available to students through First Class. The guide will be reviewed with all students, as our goal is to continue to work towards fostering a climate of respect and tolerance. The guide clearly outlines and defines types of harassing behaviors, provides information and guidance should one witness or be a victim of harassment, outlines clear processes for dealing with harassing behaviors, and outlines states consequences as the situation may warrant.
The faculties of the Grammar School are working to improve the transparency, timing, and quality of our evaluation of student learning, and our professional development activities this year will focus on this topic. This past Thursday, our first professional development day began this process and effective evaluation models and techniques were introduced. Our goal is to continue to improve our assessment of student learning and to provide parents and students with more timely and meaningful feedback. Two immediate changes are the timing of our reporting periods, followed by interviews, and in the middle and senior schools a move away from the formal examination period prior to the Christmas break. Faculty will explore other meaningful methods of assessing student learning at this time and we will gain valuable instructional time for continued program delivery. More information will be forthcoming and I will touch on this topic at the Parent Reception, Thursday, September 2 at 7:00 p.m. in the theatre. I hope everyone is able to attend this event this year.
Several new faces are joining our faculty or joined us late in the spring and, while we plan to fully feature these individuals in a later communication, allow me to briefly introduce and welcome our faculty members.
Stephane Couillard joins the middle school faculty and will teach mathematics and physics. Martin Chandler will teach middle school instrumental music and band, and Jillian Kiley will teach middle school physical education and health. Tina Capalbo joins the senior school faculty and will teach language arts and drama in the senior school.
Renee Forrestall joins the prep school faculty and will teach prep school art, and Janice Peach, Kim Gallivan ’99, and Katrina Braun return in continuation of their maternity leave teaching assignments. Hannah Adams joins our After School Program as a program assistant.
In closing, I wish to comment on our communication goals for the year. Last year, we worked hard to improve the quality and timing of our various school communications and we received much feedback, including suggestions for further improvement. We hope you will continue to read our communications, visit our web site, and access the parent online directory for information. Our school calendar is live and contains many of the year’s important dates, and more will be added as they are confirmed. And once again, we welcome your feedback and suggestions to us at communications@hgs.ns.ca
Enjoy the school year!
Sincerely,
Blayne Addley