We’re almost there… the finish line of yet another school year!

It has been an absolute honor for me to serve as your principal this past year. In getting to know students, teachers, and parents, I have grown very proud to say that I represent this most amazing school community. Thank you, each of you, for your support this year, in the many different forms that took.

I maintain that the strong, positive culture that shapes this community of “Raptors” has been built by students, parents, and staff working in tandem. Thus, I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their role in shaping our school community and in helping it to further flourish.

I begin with our students. There have been so many occasions during which our students have made me so very proud – as students, as athletes, as artists, as citizens. What a legacy these “Raptors” will leave!  To our Grade 9 students moving onto high school, I wish you the absolute very best!  We are very proud of you all and will miss you terribly! You have greatly inspired the Raptors coming up behind!

Our kids are great because of their parents. Thank you, parents, for your support of our work with your children over the course of this year.  You supported your kids in completing tasks and encouraging them to do their absolute best, in everything – academics, athletics, arts, and citizenship. You have instilled the finest examples of hard work, responsibility, and humanity!

I thank our staff for their unending hard work. Parents, you can be assured your children have been challenged, enriched, honored, supported, nurtured, protected, and deeply cared for.  Students have received countless opportunities and experiences outside of the classroom because of teachers freely giving of their time.  I am particularly proud of and appreciative for the extra time teachers have given to support students when they have encountered challenges in their learning. 

At this time of year we inevitably always say goodbye to some staff members. This year we are bidding farewell to Alisha Gerow who is moving to Terry Fox School to assume a new professional challenge that I know she will absolutely thrive in. We also say goodbye to Hayley Klein who is taking a leave of absence from CBE to assume an amazing international teaching opportunity. We have been very fortunate this year to welcome into our school community some newer teachers who have served us most admirably in temporary contract positions. I thank Jane Frei, Averi Armstrong, Deanna Parker, and Emily McKenzie for stepping into temporary positions and doing so very well. I know that they are each standing on the cusp of most promising futures!

As we head into the summer season, I extend to all of you a heartfelt wish that you enjoy restful and rejuvenating summers filled with many magical moments! I look forward to welcoming our returning students on Thursday, August 29 for the 2024-25 school year. Our school website contains back to school information under “About Us.” Here you will find supply lists and our school calendar. Please know that grades 6 to 9 students only come on the afternoon of the 29^th, at 12:43. More specific information as to the start of the new school year will be shared with you the third week of August.

All the absolute best!

Kel Connelly

Principal