Aberfoyle Public School
2021 Year-End Newsletter
This is certainly a strange end to an equally strange and eventful year. We appreciate all that you have done to keep your children learning and engaged in remote learning and we hope that school start-up will bring us a bit more normalcy. Students are scheduled to return on September 7th. Please keep watching the news and checking the school website for updated information. Plans for our return, as they become available, will be shared with our Aberfoyle Community via email and recorded phone calls.
REPORT CARDS:
Report cards are available online today. Please check the school website and the email you registered with the school for details on accessing them.
GOODBYES:
We would like to say goodbye and thank you to Ms. Smyth and Ms. K. Thompson for the learning and experiences they provided to their students this year, and for the positive relationships developed with the Aberfoyle staff and parent community!
Congratulations and all of our best wishes go to Mrs.R. Thompson who has been teaching for several years at Aberfoyle and has accepted a position at another school in Guelph. You will be greatly missed by the students, staff and parent community at Aberfoyle!
Best wishes are also extended to Mme Duncan-Martyn on her retirement! Mme has taught at Aberfoyle for many years and, after a long career, has decided to begin a new journey! Mme Duncan-Martyn, you will be missed by so many. Thank you for all of your contributions over the years to our school!
WELCOME!
We are pleased to welcome two new Junior/Intermediate French teachers to our school. Mme Paradis and Mlle Baswick will be joining us in September!
We are also very fortunate to have Mrs. Campbell, Mr. Walkling, and Mrs. Curtis return after their time away from Aberfoyle.
TEMPORARY AND COMBINED (SPLIT) CLASSES
Due to the numbers in our Elementary Remote School, our class compositions from the Board are temporary and will not be finalized until September (we have been told that the classes we start September with are very likely to change). Our number of classes, students in each class, and number of combined grades are all determined centrally and we are not given the flexibility to adjust this. Currently, it appears as though there are quite a few combined-grade classes for next year. Aberfoyle Staff spend hours outside of instructional time composing classes. They consider who students work best with, friendships, student conflicts, the classroom environment and community, behavioural needs, interests, and several other factors. When a student is placed in the higher grade of a combined class (ex. Grade 5 going into a 4/5), it is not because they are academically low, nor are they placed in there if they are academically strong and are in the lower grade. Academic strength is not a driving factor in these decisions. Every class needs, and will have, a wide variety of learners who are at different levels in it. This is the reality of our school system and provides opportunities for different levels of discourse, consolidation, and extension. Teachers always meet students where they’re at in their learning. Here at Aberfoyle, teachers do a great job of providing strong academic programming and do not teach students with a one-size-fits-all approach.
BELL TIMES
Our bell times have changed slightly for next year. We will still begin at 8:30 am but our day will end at 2:50 pm.
| 8:30 | Morning Bell |
| 8:30-9:20 | Period 1 |
| 9:20-10:10 | Period 2 |
| 10:10-10:50 | Morning Break & Recess |
| 10:50-11:40 | Period 3 |
| 11:40-12:30 | Period 4 |
| 12:30-1:10 | Nutrition Break & Recess |
| 1:10-2:00 | Period 5 |
| 2:00-2:50 | Period 6 |
| 2:50 | Dismissal Bell |
TRANSPORTATION
If you do not plan on having your child riding the bus in the Fall of 2021, please contact the transportation consortium. All opt-out status’ are carried forward, so if your child did not ride the bus this year but will be next year, you will need to connect with them too. Their website is https://stwdsts.ca/ and can be contacted at 519-824-4119.
PARKING
The Township has made some significant changes to parking and stopping regulations outside of the school. Clear details about these changes will be shared in August. The main location for end-of-day pick-up parking will be the Community Centre. The Township is hiring a Crossing Guard for the lights at Brock Rd and has made some improvements to the crossing as well.
SCHOOL OFFICE CLOSURE:
Please be aware that the school office will be CLOSED as of Wednesday, June 30 at 3 pm, and anticipate it will re-open the afternoon of Tuesday, August 31st.
Please have a happy and safe summer. Have fun and don’t forget to read every day!
Sincerely,
A. Cloutier
Principal
Categories: News