Greetings ÉMMSOTA Families and Friends.
We continue to live in unprecedented times and as we head into summer, we want to truly thank all of you for your patience, perseverance, and support during this health crisis. We appreciate the situation has been challenging for many families in our community and around our world and it is only through our family, friends, and community connections that we have been able to weather this storm.
While the school year began as many others have in the past, it quickly transitioned over Spring Break to something very different with the spread of COVID-19 in our province. The Ministry of Education has since outlined 5 Stages of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic for public education. We began this school year in Stage 1 (regular face-to-face educational delivery), moved to Stage 4 after Spring Break (remote learning) and shifted to Stage 3 (a combination of remote learning and face-to-face learning based on family choice) on June 1st. We end this school year in Stage 3.
Our School wide focus on Health and Well-being has been ever more significant with the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We started the year reading Tae Keller's book, The Science of Breakable Things, which told a story of adolescence, friendships, mental health, and resiliency. We had plans for a big Health and Wellness Fair as our Year-End Presentation of Learning and as we did so many times, had to adjust. Instead we ran four “Feel Good Fridays" through May and June to bring us together with a focus on Mindfulness, Gratitude, Healthy Sleep and a Celebration Together unveiling our school wide Art Installation based on our school wide read. It is a beautiful representation of community and our focus on staying healthy and well. Special thanks to Mr. Walker for his incredible vision and extra hours of work bringing this year's art installation to life. Please check out Mr. Walker's guide to the creation of our 2019 – 2020 Art Installation on Stream (need Office 365 logon to view) These are just a few examples of how we, as a community, have held each other up through these difficult times. We thank you all for your part.
At this time we have not been provided with direction from the Ministry of Education on what our September start-up will look like, but we have been told that we may need to shift between the various stages dependent on the COVID-19 infection rates. The Ministry of Education, under guidance from the Provincial Health Officer, determines the stage of educational delivery. What school will look like in September will likely not be finalized until late August. We also believe that even if we return to Stage 1, there will likely still be new protocols on how we operate school (physical distancing, hand washing expectations, health screening, etc.). As such, we ask that you monitor our school district website (http://www.sd43.bc.ca) and Twitter site (@sd43bc) for information. We will communicate with you via e-mail at the end of August to provide the most up-to-date school-based information for September start-up. We optimistically hope for a regular school start up with students in class and building community in person. We will also prepare to be flexible and safe and ensure great connections are made even if we are in a hybrid model come September. I am confident our staff, students, parents, and extended community will once again come together to do great things.
This time of year is one of transitions for many of our students and staff, as some head off to secondary school and some of our staff move on to different opportunities as well. We have a few goodbyes and some hellos as we move into the summer. The District for the first time in 4 years has had to enter into a “layoff and recall" staffing situation and unfortunately this impacts many teachers at many school sites. We will be saying goodbye to Ms. Van Veenendaal and Mr. Walker and thank them both very much for all they have contributed to our ÉMMSOTA community. We are very hopeful that the recall process will have us back together again soon. Stay tuned. We are also saying goodbye to a Moody Legend in our daytime caretaker Steve Lambright. He was a very unique individual who was more than just a custodian. He really was a “caretaker". He enjoyed chatting with our students at lunch and everyone knew him as “Steve". His music was quirky, and he loved to share his style on many a Morning Music session. Steve is retiring after 25 years in our district, over half of them with Moody Middle. We wish him the very best and know he will enjoy his retirement. Three Cheers for Steve!
For every goodbye there are some “hellos" and I want to welcome to our staff the following teachers; Ms. Fitzgerald (doing a second tour with us) joining Wind Pod, and Ms. Chang who is coming to us from École Banting Middle School and working in Student Services. We also have several new Education Assistants joining us in September; Ms. Marconato, Ms. Hunyadi, Ms. Rocha Silva, Ms. Nosrati. We look forward to meeting and working with you soon.
I want to take a moment to thank the ÉMMSOTA PAC Executive for all they have done to support our learning community this past year. From the fundraisers and community events to the big hit hot lunches, and support for initiatives around the school we feel very privileged to have such a wonderful group of individuals dedicated to all of our children. Big thanks go to our Co-Chairs, Samantha Kuypers and Kerry Lecorre, our Co-Treasurers, Pam Morris and Jennifer Montgomery, our Secretary Elisa Tjin, our DPAC Rep, Lucy Kuwica and our Hot Lunch Coordinator, Jennifer Cox. Special thanks to one of our Co-Treasurers, Pam Morris, who is moving on this year as her daughter Carolyn heads off to secondary school. It has been a real pleasure getting to know Pam over the past couple of years and we cannot thank you enough for your tireless efforts on the executive over these three years of middle school. Cheers to you and all that you have brought to our learning community.
To our Grade 8 students and families who are leaving us, we wish you the very best life has to offer. Be bold, courageous, unique, kind, and compassionate and the sky is the limit. We are sorry we were not able to celebrate your 30 months of middle school as we would have liked… life sometimes just gets in the way. We hope you can enjoy the video made for you in honour of your time here at École Moody Middle School of the Arts. Grade 8 Leaving Video Tribute to our Class of 2020. (View on Stream with Office 365 logon) A special thanks to Mr. Abello and Ms. Walling for pulling it together and all our teachers and staff for their efforts sending our Grade 8s off as best we could on Wednesday. Thanks also to our PAC for their support in the Grade 8 Leaving Gift. To our Grade 8 Students; go out from here and be extraordinary. Take the world that is out in front of you and make it better. Cheers to you all.
To our Families who are moving on to other schools and communities, we wish you well and thank you for being part of our learning community. Good luck wherever you may be. We thought ending the school year with a “fun" video message from staff might be the best way to cap off an unusual year; one that was filled with unique moments and in the end really proved how resilient we all are and how strong we can be together. We hope you enjoy our Staff Year End Video Message to Students (students will need to log onto Microsoft Office Stream to view).
I would be remiss in not recognizing our amazing staff for the work they do throughout the year. This year, through exceptional circumstances, our staff came together and continued to put our students first. They adapted incredibly well to a completely new way of teaching and learning. They collaborated and communicated as the true professionals they are. I feel very honoured to be working with them all on a daily basis and cannot thank them all enough for making École Moody Middle School of the Arts such an exceptional place to live and learn.
While this has been a very challenging end to the school year for students, families, and staff, we hope that everyone has an opportunity to re-charge, stay healthy, enjoy lots of laughs and share kindness and compassion in everything you do over the summer. We wish all our families and their children who are moving on best wishes in their new endeavours and we look forward to working with our new and returning families when the new school year begins.
On behalf of the entire staff at École Moody Middle School of the Arts, have a wonderful summer and thank you as always for sharing your children with us every day.
Cheers, à bientôt.
Mark and Kathryn
