Secondary Newsletter on Friday, 16th Sept 2016
Week 8-Back Home
What an exciting and inspiring week our Secondary Students have just had. From survival skills, to conservation work, to salt farming and even underwater coral reef building, the different ways our BIS students have been challenged and given back to their community this past week has been tremendous. I want to thank all of the students for their positive growth mindset during these past few days, each new activity and adventure was met with a can do attitude, as well as the notion of putting others first. It is these type of activities that help shape what type of people our students are growing up to become. I was so impressed with the 11th and 12th grade students that I was able to join on camp and every trip leader has made a point to tell me what a fantastic job their students did as well.
I also want to say a huge thank you to Mr. Sutherland for organizing this week and for all of the trip leaders and teachers who were with our students 24 hours a day for the past school week. We are lucky to have such caring and committed professionals working with our students.
This past week also helps set the tone for the challenges that lie ahead within the classroom. The confidence that our students have gained as well as the connections that they have made are important to the foundations of learning that we are developing within this first term. Fantastic job everyone, now let’s keep that momentum going forward!
Student Pictures
On Tuesday of this week the Secondary Students will be having their pictures taken. Individual shots for the yearbook will be done by grade level throughout the day, with minimal loss of instructional time. Seniors will also have their pictures taken in their cap and gown on this day as well.
PTFA Meeting
On Wednesday at 7:50 in the library our PTFA will be having it’s monthly meeting. We are very lucky to have such an engaged, positive and supportive PTFA group for our school and students. Please stop by to find out more about getting involved at BIS.
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Parent/Teacher Conferences are a perfect opportunity to work as a team towards the educational growth of our students. The more that we are able to share information, provide feedback and support the better able we are to help our students reach their potential.
We will be having Parent/Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, September 28th from 1pm-6pm in the Multi Purpose Room. Students will be dismissed from school at 12:30 on that day and any Secondary ASA will not be able to run as our teachers will be meeting with you, the parents. Please make sure that your student has been picked up from school as there will be no way to supervise the students and our library will be used for the Primary Parent/Teacher Conferences. Students are welcomed to come to their conferences, but they must arrive with their parent. To help facilitate our sign-up process, parents will be given the ability to electronically set-up a conference time instead of having to come in, line up, and see if a teacher will be available to meet. We ask that parents and students prioritize the teachers they would like to meet with, as schedules will fill very quickly. This information and electronic link will be sent out within the next few days.
Final Thoughts
As I was leaving campus yesterday afternoon a number of the seniors who were getting ready to go home made a point to come up their teacher leaders and thank them personally for making their EOTC trip such a memorable one.
I had a volunteer at the camp we were staying at come up to me in private to ask, ‘How do manage to have your students act so respectfully and behave so well?’ This was a question that I did not really have an answer to. I simply said, ‘this is how a BIS student is, this is who they are.’ Sometimes we get lost in how we think our students should behave, I believe this is because we always see them in the same context and we always hold them to such a high standard. It was such a nice reminder to watch as an outsider as our students expressed their gratitude as well as hear confirmation from another adult regarding what great kids we have.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of BIS and our students.
Justin Walsh
secondaryschoolprincipal@
Secondary School Principal