June 2021 – Rosedale Public School: From the Principal’s Desk…

June 2021 – Rosedale Public School

From the Principal’s Desk…

 

Wow! As I said last year at this time – what a year.  I said last year that it was my most challenging in 14 years as an administer but no – this last year was.  I know the constant unknowns and transitions between in school and remote learning has been tiring, challenging, and stressful on students, parents and educators alike.  I want to sincerely thank our parent/guardian community for all of the work you have done to support your child’s learning at home and to enrich their experiences while they have been confined to home during Stay-at-Home orders. Without you, we would not have been as successful in providing the best learning programs possible for our students.

 

I am very appreciative and grateful for the work and effort of the wonderful Rosedale staff who have made the 2020/2021 school year as productive as possible given the circumstances.  The shift to online learning was relatively seamless in most cases as staff were prepared and ready for any eventuality.    Thank you to all of the members of the Rosedale staff team for continually striving for excellence, pushing your own learning and abilities, and striving for optimal student engagement and achievement.  Thank you to Ms. Kircos, who as a new teacher on her first official work day, jumped right in to support our Grade 1 class as an LTO for the remainder of the school year!

 

The end of the school year is a time of goodbyes to some staff and welcoming to others, I want to say thank you and good luck to Mrs. Garcia who is retiring at the end of this year. As with last year, staffing for all schools is still tentative and could change due to enrollment or funding changes.  I will update you if our staffing changes or if we have anyone leaving or anyone new coming to join the Rosedale Team.

 

Thank you so much to Nicola O’Connell for heading our Home and School this past year and to Brent Whetstone for chairing our Parent Council.  I am very sorry to say that Nicola will not be running for re-election to Home and School and she will be sincerely missed.  If you are interested in joining Home and School please see Nicola for an invite to the virtual meeting (ZOOM) on June 9^th at 6pm.

 

Another big, big thank you to our Home and School association and PAC for their advocacy around our new gym and construction completion.  Due to their actions and letters and the support of Trustees Johnstone and Mulholland, Rosedale was made one of the 10 Capital priorities (we are #6) submitted to the Ministry for Funding in 2021/2022.  Without parent support and voice this could not have been accomplished.  Thank you!!!

 

It is still unknown whether school will remain closed for the remainder of the school year and I know people are anxious waiting for an announcement from the Ministry of Education.  As it stands now we will continue with our Remote Learning Program and if things change we will adapt accordingly.  If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, or your child is feeling overwhelmed or stressed, please speak to your teacher as we can make modifications and accommodations to assist with your family’s needs.

 

Class Placements

As we head into the final months of the school year the planning process is underway for organizing classroom groupings for next year.  We group children so that there are a variety of academic levels in each class allowing for the flexibility needed to create a variety of instructional groups. Teachers will meet with school administration to discuss the needs of each student. Some of the issues discussed and considered are:

 

 

 

balance of ability, interests, and talents	diversity
balance of males/females	resources and remedial needs, enrichment needs
learning styles of students	students to be kept together or separated because of the positive/negative influence on each other’s learning.
teaching styles of teachers

 

We appreciate your trust in our professional judgment in balancing the considerations mentioned above. The final decision for class placements is the responsibility of the Principal.

If you have further information regarding your child’s learning needs that we should consider, please make sure you have discussed the specifics with your child’s teacher. Please note: I will not entertain requests for specific teachers, split grades vs. straight, or groupings of students.

 

The staff is a dedicated team of professionals. Years of meeting the learning and social/emotional needs of students give them the unique qualifications to make these decisions. It takes hours of discussion, reflection, revision and consideration of alternatives to arrive at the best organization for our school while working within the parameters set by the Board. The best may not be perfect but represents what we believe are the best chances for success. It is entirely possible that class list revisions will have to be made before opening day in September and even after the first day of school due to changes in enrolment or staffing. We pledge to do our very best to develop classes that will maximize opportunities for each child to learn and be successful.

 

 

Class Organization for 2021/2022 – Tentative

 

The information below is tentative and may be subject to change up to and including re-organization in October 2020.  Due to the Covid-19 pandemic we are again planning for the unknown at this time and things may look significantly different than what is listed below depending on the direction of the Ministry of Education, HWDSB, and Public Health.  Student placement for next year will be indicated on June Report Card. Please note: I will not entertain requests for class changes.

 

 

Class	Teacher
FDK A  Room 127	Murdock/Bodor
FDK B  Room 126	Shewell/Williamson
FDK C  Room TBD	Winter/Dubeau
1a  Room 109	Lipnicky
1b  Room 107	Murdock
1/2  Room 106	Davies
2 Room TBD	Stewart
2/3  Room TBD	Kobayashi
3 Room TBD	Nguyen
3/4  Room 124	Bellenie
4  Room TBD	Hadala
5  Room TBD	Harvey
12 Classrooms
Learning Resource	Rainford
French/Lib(PE/H/Drama)	Duvall
Prep – PE/H/Music/Drama	Vince
0.1 Prep 0.2 Prep 0.1 Prep	Butwick Hammond TBD

Total Teaching Staff 15.5

 

I wish everyone a happy, healthy summer and look forward to seeing all of your wonderful faces (in person!) next year.

 

Ms. S. Neville

Principal – Rosedale P.S.