December 18, 2020
Hello UA Parents,
Congratulations to the entire UA community for keeping our school safe and healthy over the past 4 months! We have been able to maintain our learning environment by following the protocols set out by the school and the PHO. Thank you again for your commitment to keeping everyone safe. I do want to remind you that if a UA student contracts Covid-19 or is notified of an exposure during the holidays, please reach out to me directly. Should there be an exposure event that impacts the UA community, I will communicate this just as I would during regular school days.
We are excited to welcome Steve Chen, father of two primary UA students, to the UA Board. He will be joining in January and brings a strong financial background to the team. Welcome, Steve, we are looking forward to having you as part of the Board.
This week Urban Academy had a surprise visit from the cast of Frozen, some elves, and the big man himself! I’m not sure how Santa found his way to UA this year, but between the music brought to us by talented UA students and the magic of having Santa in the building, the spirits of everyone, both students and staff, were lifted. There was a palpable buzz in the school which was great to see, especially in such an unusual year. An extra special thank you to all the students who took part, to Mrs. Kilpatrick for lending her musical talents, and to the management at the North Pole who let Santa visit, for spreading joy to UA students.
Last night was the World Premiere of the UA Winter Concert. It is wonderful when we can share the art, music, and drama that the students have worked on with our community. We hope you enjoyed it, and thank you to our Arts Team – Mrs. Brooke, Mrs. Kilpatrick, Mr. McDiarmid, and Ms. McEwen – for contributing to the concert. I would also like to say a big thank you to Ms. Crowley who learned how to film and produce the production in record time on new equipment purchased through the Annual Appeal fundraiser. We appreciate your hard work!
In spite of the obvious challenges, it has been wonderful jumping into the Urban Academy life and community and I want to thank you all for your warm welcome throughout the last few months. I would like to also thank you for your commitment to the school and the trust that you have in us. I hope you are able to celebrate safely with those in your household over the winter break. It will be certainly a different year for many, with lots of Zoom connections I am sure. Next week the days will start getting longer, and the week after that the calendar will flip to 2021 which is bound to be an exciting year for UA. Let’s hope 2021 will allow us to come together again in person in order to celebrate all the good things in life.
Happy Holidays,
Mr. Slinger
