Celebrating the End of the 2019-2020 School Year

Thank you to those members of the Greenwood community who attended last week’s Celebration Day and congratulations again to all of our students on their accomplishments this year. A special thank you to the members of our Roundtable, in particular Roundtable President Brenda Macdonell and Vice-President Jen Hastings, for their help to make our “doorstep Graduations” safe and successful. The Roundtable and our parent community have played a key role in making this year a success, despite the unprecedented challenges.

 

These have been extraordinary times, and we’ve not experienced anything like them before. When we were mandated to close the building, it was hard to fathom teaching and learning remotely for the final months of the year, but this is exactly what needed to happen to keep our students safe and learning. The closure of schools and other actions taken by our government seem to have had a positive impact and I am hopeful that the spread of COVID-19 will continue to decrease as we all look ahead to the coming school year. 

 

As I mentioned in a previous letter, we await further direction from the Government of Ontario and Toronto Public Health, expected at the end of June, prior to releasing any plans for reopening. Please look for updates throughout the summer. We are creating plans for three possible forms of learning in September; we consider it quite probable that all three will be used throughout the year, dependent upon the spread of COVID-19 and the individual needs of families. These include:

I am looking forward to sharing these plans with you and to updating you throughout the summer.

 

At this time of year, we say good-bye to staff members leaving Greenwood for new adventures. You saw at Celebration Day that Anne Wellnhofer is joining the Country Day School to run their Environmental and Outdoor Education program. Anne has been at the school since our doors opened 18 years ago and we are grateful for all that she has done. Other leaving staff members include Megan Clark, Timothy Clutton, Michelle Douglas, Andrea Flannelly, Aline Kabakian and Vincent Marcil. Exciting opportunities await these staff members as several move on to new cities with their families or new career opportunities. Additionally, we say farewell to our Apprentice Teachers Aimen Farhat, Christine Foster, Christina Harripaul, Eric Shore and Bryant Shum. These hard-working individuals, new to the profession, sign on for one year--and in Christine’s case, two--to develop their classroom management skills and teaching strategies alongside experienced teachers, and to access unique professional development opportunities through the Greenwood Centre for Teaching and Learning. 

 

Michelle Leiter is leaving for maternity leave and we wish her all the very best on this exciting new chapter in her life.We are pleased to welcome Wendy Herod and Emma Seaborn back to Greenwood in August as their one-year leaves conclude. 

 

We are very much looking forward to introducing you to our newest members of the Greenwood staff. We extend a warm welcome to Nicolel Amatruda, Sarah Ewan, Krista Gilchrist, Craig Harris, Kate Konstantinova, Nadia Munk and Tyler Thibault. These teachers are all prepared to move between in-person teaching and online learning as required, which they demonstrated to us throughout the hiring process. We are excited by this group of new hires and all that they have to offer in a variety of ways. 

 

With the need to focus on all aspects of student well-being, we have appointed Kathryn Connelly as Director, Student Well-being. In addition to her Bachelor of Education, Kathryn holds a Master of Education degree in Counselling. She has been at Greenwood since September 2009, leads our Jack Chapter in support of student mental health and has worked as the Director, Grade 7 & 8 for the last three years. We are excited to have Kathryn focus her expertise and passion for student well-being to benefit our students. Kathryn will continue to play an active role in the Adviser program, including carrying on as an Adviser herself.

 

Anthony Costa will step into the role of the Director, Grade 7 & 8 and is equally as passionate about supporting these students during these formative years. In addition to his years of experience and teaching degree, Anthony holds additional qualifications in Guidance and is working toward completing Administrative qualifications this summer. We are thrilled to have these two caring and talented teachers taking on these important roles in the 2020-21 school year. 

 

Our Week @ a Glance includes some touchpoints for students and parents over the summer. Perhaps you or your children will have the opportunity to join us for some of these online activities. I will remain optimistic for all the good news and exciting opportunities that next school year brings. To our leaving families and our graduates--we miss you already and wish you every success. More than ever, I wish you a safe and healthy summer.