Bienvenue & Welcome back Lynx families,

I am happy to welcome you all back to the school for the 2023-24 school year. Both Mme Laurelle and I have had an opportunity to meet all the new students, either in assembly or when visiting classrooms and we are both overjoyed to have the students back in the building. It was great seeing students connect and begin building relationships amongst themselves and their teachers. Building relationships and a positive school culture are cornerstones in creating a safe, welcoming school environment and it will be one of our foci this year.

You, as parents/guardians of the students, are crucial to their success and the strength of the school and we welcome your involvement. There are many ways to be involved with G.P. Vanier: from staying connected to your child’s learning by monitoring PowerSchool and Google Classroom; having nightly conversations about what they learned in school today; volunteering on school field trips or class events; or joining parent council are just a few. Teachers will also be sending out monthly updates via email to parents that I encourage you to read.

Mme. Laurelle and I have an open-door policy, so please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or we can be of assistance. That being stated, your first connection is your child’s teachers. We have an extraordinarily strong teaching staff here and I encourage you to reach out and introduce yourself to your child’s teaching team to begin building that relationship.

To facilitate the connection, we are inviting all parents to a “Meet the Teacher” evening from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm next Thursday, September 7th and it will be in person. I will be welcoming parents with an introduction presentation before students lead their parents/guardians around the school. We are also currently updating our school website, which is where you will find contact details for all our teachers.

This year, we currently have been fluctuating with around 550 students enrolled in our numerous programs. This has led to an increase in staff which, on top of being a good thing, means that our parking lot is a full place and some of our staff are now forced to park in the visitor car parks or on the street. Parents, we are asking that if you need to drop off your child during peak times you avoid using the parking lot. The quietest place to drop off your child is along 32nd Ave below the school parking lot. They could then just walk back up the hill towards the school.

Finally, I apologize for the bombardment of paperwork and information you will be receiving over the next few weeks. We will do our best to stagger this information to avoid overwhelming our community, however, if you want to reach out with any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, either via email, phone or in person.

I hope you all enjoy the long weekend, and we look forward to seeing students back on Tuesday, September 5.

Bonne fin de semaine,
Chad Edmonds
Principal Georges P. Vanier

Away for the Day

As many of you are aware we are an Away for the Day school, which means students will not have access to their digital devices during class time. Devices are to be in their lockers during class time unless previous arrangements have been made. If you need to contact your child(ren) during the day, please contact the main office and we will pass along the message or call them down to speak with you.

We have spoken to all students about this during the first few days of school about this policy and the reasoning behind it. I encourage parents to visit the Away for the Day website to familiarize themselves with some of the research around mobile phone use and schools.

We will be sharing some of this research with students throughout the year.

If a student is caught using their technology inappropriately:

• 1st Infraction: The teacher will send the student to the office to turn in their phone. The device will be returned to the student at the end of the day.
• 2nd Infraction: The teacher will send the student to the office to turn in their phone. The device will be returned to the student at the end of the day.
• 3rd Infraction: The teacher will send the student to the office to turn in their phone. It will be stored securely in the school office. Administration will contact parents to set up a support plan around further phone use.

Class Change Requests

We know that returning to school can be stressful, especially if your child is not with a favorite friend. However, we follow a rigorous process to create an overall positive class composition, which includes working with feeder elementary schools, and the teachers who have spent the entire previous year with the students. The teachers then spend a great deal of time creating the future classes. Teachers worked to put each student with at least one friend. Sometimes we find that in some classes there were groups of peers that were impacting the class culture. Due to the many different factors that go into creating a class we have committed to not making changes without engaging the teachers in the process. We will not be making any class changes until the end of September. This will allow students to get to know one another and build relationships. Here is the process we are going to follow this year:

• The last week of September, all requests will be provided to the grade team learning leader.
• The grade team will consider the academic and social well-being of the student and whether the move is one that will support a positive change for the student and the class.
• We will meet with the student to discuss the change and make the move if the teaching team and administration deem this to be in the best interest of all.
• Not all requests will be honored because of the reasons noted above.

I ask that parents be patient with the school during this adjustment period.

Complementary Change Requests

We understand students may be in complementary courses that were not their first choice. Due to the unexpected growth in student numbers, we are asking students to attend their current options for a couple of weeks prior to making any changes. With all the new registrations we need to ensure that we have enough room in our complementary classes for all students to attend an option, and that we have sufficient staff to be able to offer them. We also encourage students to try new things as this is a benefit of the complementary classes starting at Jr. High. Most students have received at least 3 of the options they requested at the end of the year last year, they just might not.

We will be offering Option Change Request Forms starting Monday September 11, 2023. Students will pick up a form outside the Main Office. These forms must be filled out in full and signed by parents for them to be accepted. Forms are due no later than the end of the day Wednesday September 13, 2023. Forms will not be accepted after this date. Please note that not all option changes will be possible due to the available spaces and staffing. Students are expected to attend their current schedule until they are given a new schedule with any option changes that we were able to accommodate. For those options we were able to change, we will give those students a new schedule beginning Monday September 18, 2023

Opening Packages

Opening packages were sent home on the First Day of school. These packages contained a booklet with all the information for start-up. This includes: Cover Letter; Subscribe to Stay Informed sign-up information; Bell Schedule; Year at a Glance; a School Map, Information about School Messenger, Use of Personal Information, General Media Coverage Notice and a Volunteer announcement. Most parent forms are to be completed online (demographic verification, annual authorization forms), however, if families require a paper copy of these forms to complete, please contact the office. If you complete the paper forms, they are due back to their Homeroom teacher by Friday September 15, 2023. Please be sure to fill out all forms pertaining to your student. All families are asked to complete their Demographic Verification Form as this ensures we have proper contact information for Parents/Guardians.

GPV Spirit Wear – Online Store

• GPV Spirit Wear Store is up and running
• Please visit the following link to access the Online Spirit Wear Store https://vanierfall2023store.itemorder.com/shop/home/
• The store will close Saturday September 30, 2023 at 11:59pm
• Orders are typically completed in 4-5 week after the store closes and delivered to the school
• All school store sales are custom made and cannot be returned
• If this order is meant gift, please contact us and we will hold the order for parent pick up

Please note all orders must be placed online. The school does NOT carry Spirit Wear at the school. If you want to show your school spirit, be sure to order your spirit wear online before September 30. No late orders will be accepted.

For more information of questions regarding the online spirit wear, please contact Sherri Nickle at sanickle@cbe.ab.ca

Athletic Try-Outs

Families, please be aware that athletic tryouts and practices will be starting soon! Both Boys' and Girls' Soccer Teams tryouts, as well as Cross Country will begin next week (Sept. 5th). The Jr and Sr Boys' and Girls' basketball teams will begin the following week (Sept. 11th). Students were given an Athletic Tryout form in their welcome packages, which needs to be returned if they are interested in attending tryouts. All information will be posted on the Athletics Board outside the gymnasium and posted on our school announcements.

• Ms. Johnson Learning Leader - PE

Upcoming Dates

Sept. 7: Meet the Teacher 6:00 – 7:30
Sept. 12: School Photos
Sept. 18: Grade 6 Vaccinations
Sept 21: Terry Fox Day (PM)
Sept. 22: Non-Instructional Day (No Students)
Sept. 26: School Council Meeting 7:00 pm
Sept. 29: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (No School)