Connect Charter Family Weekly Update

https://store.kodiaksports.ca/stores/connect-school2525.

MEAT FUNDRAISER: ORDERS CLOSE ON MONDAY MAY 1st…!

AND … We need a few volunteers (students welcome) on May 10 to hand out the boxes (see link below)

Just in time for grilling season, we are once again offering products from Bow River Meats and Spolumbos Sausage. This fundraiser has been a strong tradition at Connect Charter and with all the excitement of the past month, we haven’t had as much traction this time around. Please browse through and pick a few products – every order helps!!

Check it out: https://connectcharterschool.myteamfund.ca

1. Click “JOIN OUR FUNDRAISER”
2. Shop online on your own personal page until Monday May 1st at 11:00 pm (you can add to your existing order if you like, it’s not too late!)
3. Please share with friends, family and anyone else who eats meat (this IS Calgary, after all….)

Order pick up s Wednesday May 10th  starting at 3:15 pm. The drive-through pick up line starts behind the school in the alley. 

CAN YOU HELP OUT with pick up? Your child/student is welcome to join – we have a few slots to fill.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c45abad22a7f58-meat/59584780#/

SCHOOL COUNCIL & PARENT SOCITY AGM

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

– Connect Charter School Council

On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, I presented updates on expansion plans to School Council and our Parent Society. Following were areas I highlighted:

1. Registration at Connect Charter School has been extended to May 15, 2023.
2.  
3. The first draft of our daily schedule at the HUB was presented. Classes will begin at 9:00 am and finish at 3:30 pm. This MAY change before June and is dependent on bussing and coordination with the other charter school in the HUB building. 
4. Questions about safety were addressed. Plans for the front entrance at the HUB and how we will ensure our school facility only allows people into the school that belong there were discussed. Use of the elevators, common areas (such as the cafeteria), security cameras (similar to what we have at the Clem Gardner building), secure floor access, and a ‘closed campus’ (meaning students do not leave the building during lunch hour). 
5.  
6. Given the gym construction is behind schedule and new gyms will not be ready in the fall, we discussed programming options we are considering including but not limited to: accessing the Oval and Racquet courts at the University of Calgary, scheduling larger blocks of time for physical education classes to allow movement to various sites close-by, accessing gyms in other schools close-by for clubs and teams after school and the acquisition of additional outdoor education resources and equipment. We have established a small working group at the school who will be responsible for developing physical education schedules that we will share with you before the end of this school year. I am looking into bussing options to support our physical education classes that will take place at various locations. 
7.  
8. Programming at the HUB and Lakeview campus for grades 7, 8, and 9 will include all core subjects and the following complementary subjects: Art, Creative Technology, and Outdoor Education.
9.  
10. Electives next year: Electives will run in a similar fashion at both campuses and are based on teacher interest and skill set. Band will be offered for grades 7 at Lakeview and at the HUB as an elective for grades 7-9.
11.  
12. Sports Teams: Teachers at both Connect locations will be excited to coach teams. The grade 7 students at the Lakeview campus will field development teams. At the HUB (in grades 7, 8, and 9), we will field development and/or league teams dependent on student interest and court availability.
13.  
14. A few points of clarification about our expansion plans:

• Every family of every grade was sent a grade-specific email with the trajectory of the Lakeview/HUB transition.
• Our goal is to eventually have grades 10-12 at the HUB with approximately 720 students, including approximately 240 per grade. To do this, we have doubled enrollment beginning August 2023 in grades 5, 6, and 7, where we have significant waitlists. 
•  
• By 2029, the Lakeview campus will return to a grade 4-9 school.
• Once a student transitions to the HUB, they will not return to the Lakeview campus. 

I will host a question and answer webinar on Thursday May 4th from 12:15pm to 12:45pm for parents who have children who will be in either grades 7, 8, or 9 at the HUB in the fall of 2023. I will not have a presentation prepared but will try to answer questions parents have about expansion. As parents log into this webinar, please use your name so that I know who I am speaking with. 

Thank you.

Chris Gilmour