Happy Spring… FINALLY! Better weather is on the way. Hopefully, everyone had a restful Spring Break, albeit one where very few went away and escaped from the daily routine. We had numerous opportunities to “sharpen the saw,” and it has been a very busy and hard-working few weeks for school staff since returning back to school. We sincerely hope that everyone enjoyed their time off, and recognize the importance of taking learning as seriously as ever during our COVID-19 isolation.
Last week, we distributed Chrome Books to everyone who had asked. We have very few left, and would prefer to practice physical isolation at Gish School. Many teachers continue to work daily from school, but visitors compromise the safety of all. PLEASE do your best to pick up photocopied packages early next week, and stop coming to Gish School. The next two-three weeks are critical for physical isolation to be effective. Moving forward, we are working on processing credits/refunds for fees that parents have paid. We have already stopped payment on full-day kindergarten. Many supplies have already been purchased, and many field trip operators/companies are not offering refunds. We’re working on this issue and will be in touch. Our preference will be to issue credits towards next year’s fees rather than refunds. For those parents who are on a payment plan, please continue to pay fees for field trips and learning resources that have already occurred. Our funding has been reduced significantly and we depend on parental fees to make up the difference, so that we can continue to provide such outstanding learning opportunities for Gish students.
RETURNING STUDENT REGISTRATION is now on for the 2020-21 school year at Elmer S. Gish School. Information was scheduled to be available electronically to parents on Monday, April 6. Unfortunately, there were some unforeseen technical issues with the program and the release of this link has been delayed. A notification will be sent through School Messenger to all families once it is up and running. Though we are fairly full in the Cogito Program, we are hoping for more students at ALL grades (especially Kindergarten) in the Global Program in Grades K-6. Gish School offers “full-day every day” and “half-day every day” Kindergarten programs. Please continue to talk to friends and neighbours who have not yet registered.
Once again, thank you for your tremendous support and assistance as we overcome challenges associated with providing on-line teaching and learning in these next few months. We certainly look forward to providing face-to-face classroom interaction as soon as possible!
John Strembitsky
Principal
Krysta Wilson & Kris Horb
Assistant Principals
