October 4, 2019
Dear Urban Academy Families,
Thank you for a wonderful week of working and learning with our students and our families. Our intermediate boys’ soccer team played Fraser Academy this week and won the game 9-2. Our girls’ volleyball team played a spirited match against John Knox this week as well. Our athletic teams are growing in experience and it is great to see many of our new students come out.
We are approaching the midway point of the first term. Grade 6-12 students receive Interim reports in the first term and the third term and will be receiving their first one of the year next Thursday. This is information provided to both parents and students about progress through courses and any concerns or feedback well ahead of the first report card and end of term. Students receive Interim reports in all their academic courses and any other area where there are concerns. Parents are most welcome and encouraged to seek feedback from teachers early in the term, as it is much easier for a student to turn marks around when they have plenty of time to correct their work or study practices.
Our first Parent Education evening is coming up on October 23. The flyer for Raising Resilient Kids is attached to this email. Please plan to join us. Your Board of Directors are working with PAX to plan and deliver parent education opportunities each year. During our last two community surveys, this initiative was strongly supported by our parent community and I think you will find this speaker to be worthwhile. Please RSVP to admin@urbanacademy.ca to let us know that you will join us that evening. A similar session on this topic has been arranged for our teaching staff.
We have been working with Hume Park School on the best scheduling to facilitate both schools’ regular use of the park. We will adjust our PAX Hot Lunch program to allow our students access the park on Thursdays and Hume Park on Fridays. PAX will go to one hot lunch per week going forward (Oct. 11, Nov. 8, Dec. 13, Jan. 10, Feb. 7, Mar. 13, Apr. 3 and May 1). This works well for both schools. Thank you to Joanne Ward for her flexibility as we ensure our students get as much exercise as possible.
Please note below the instructions for ordering school photos for your child. Lifetouch work directly with you once you select the photos you want to purchase.
Foundation Skills Assessments are underway for Grade 4 and 7 students in Reading, Writing and Numeracy. At Urban Academy, we expect all our students to write. We are committed to a solid platform of assessment that helps us chart how our students are doing in relation to curriculum and how our instruction needs to be adapted to enhance student learning. We are working with our students to prepare for FSA and will have these completed in the next three to four weeks.
As noted last week, our Annual Appeal will launch next week, and we will mail a package home for each family. Contributions at whatever level your family is able to give are most appreciated and necessary for providing all of the extras our students enjoy: additional field study, music and drama opportunities, athletic equipment, technology, resources in our library and classrooms, and much more. Thanks to our generous community, we are able to move steadily and purposefully with the outfitting of our school for the benefit of your children.
Have an enjoyable and restful weekend.
Mrs. Cheryle Beaumont
Head of School
