Welcome back to Crossing Park School!
We are thrilled to welcome Martindale families, our support staff, teachers and students back for another incredible school year.
Crossing Park is a dynamic K–9 community where diversity is our greatest strength, with over 75% of our students speaking more than one language. We are proud of our strong reputation as a place where student success is achieved every day within a safe, happy, and collaborative learning environment.
Whether you are returning to familiar hallways or joining our school community for the very first time, we are committed to supporting your growth, celebrating your achievements, and ensuring you feel at home and successful.
School officially begins Monday, August 31st. Our start time remains 8:00 AM.
I’ve mentioned this before, but it is worth revisiting- we partner with you as a school to make sure your children are safe, happy and learning, we need to work together. We generally want most of the assignments and tasks completed at school with the support of professionally trained teachers. They know the best ways to help students understand material and how to assess their growth. The emphasis is working diligently at school with the support of teachers. This means that the main thing we need from families is to help us get your students to school on time and regularly. This is job number one. Everyone wants their child to be educated and to have opportunities. It starts with showing up on time, coming as often as possible and focusing on tasks.
To support your children, we need to use our time at school wisely.
Consider the following numbers: Students are in school less than 50% days in the year. CBE students are in school (instructional days): 181 days with 184 days being away from school. For most students, it’s about 170 days in school. This is because the average student is sick or absent for different reasons around 7- 8 days a year. Approximately 40-50 students are late by 5 minutes or more per day. Over a year, this equates to over 14 hours or learning over a year- or 3 days of school. That’s a lot of learning! All of this means that school time and instructional time is precious and we want to make sure students are here and attentive.
Students are dismissed from school at 2:30pm and at 12 noon on Fridays. This means they typically have several hours before bedtime to play or engage in other activities, which is also important. Please make sure that your children have a plan to get home safely or pick them up (if you choose to drive them) on time. This is especially true on Fridays as many families forget that the day ends at noon on those days.
Our teachers look forward to reaching out to all parents and guardians as we work together to discuss and support best next steps on their learning journey. This is unique to every child as they enter the work at varying stages of maturity and achieving their goals at different paces and levels. We’re here to help!
Our staff are highly skilled and committed. This is reflected in their collectively strong professional experience and ongoing professional learning experiences. And it is demonstrated in fact that our staff maintains one of the highest attendance rates in the system. In other words, our teachers are skilled, show up often, and continue to grow professionally! Teachers make all the difference and research shows that better teachers and better teacher teams equals better student success.
On a related note, I’d like to warmly welcome the following staff members (many of whom are returning to the community):
Svetana Andreyevish- Grade 2 team (on a temporary basis)
Urvashi Baloria- Grade 3 team
Lori Mcilwain- Grade 5 team
Neha Jawa- Grade 3 team
Pamala Hauser- Grade 5 team
Kaleigh Guillemin- Junior High Math & Science
Karan Mann- Grade 6 team Math & Science
Emily Edwards- Grade 6 Generalist
Sophia Wright- Grade 6 Humanities
Tara Snowdy- Grade 7 Humanities and academic supports (temporary basis)
Ms. Sandeep Sidhu as the Assistant Principal for the Elementary (as I messaged in the Springtime). Note: this means Ms. Alana Marklinger will shift up from the Elementary level Assistant Principal to the Junior High School (7-9).
While each child is unique, what is universal to all our community members and learners are the key policies that govern our work across the Calgary Board of Education. We are a learning organization. Below are 2 important policies related to student discipline that are to be shared with communities in all CBE schools to support safe, happy, learning. These have always been accessible online but wanted to share them as a resource. We all play a role in supporting students making good choices and in interacting with each other in positive ways. I want to highlight that we have a reputation as a very positive place, and the links listed are for merely for reference purposes and common understanding.
Below are some links to these Administrative Regulations (ARs):
- AR 6006: Progressive Student Discipline:
- AR 6031: Welcoming, Caring, Respectful and Safe Learning and Work Environments (Everyone’s responsibility):
Again, I’m very proud of the work at Crossing Park School as our track record shows students are safe, happy and learning each day. We are always seeking to improve. I welcome you to help us make this the best year yet as we want everyone to feel safe and informed around expectations early and often. We know that when safe and happy exists, learning can flourish.
Welcome back and please make sure to reach out to your child’s teacher if you have any questions or concerns. If you have more questions, please contact our front office by email or phone call.
Welcome back!
Andrew Bews
Principal
Crossing Park School