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Charger Connects
Friday, Oct 8, 2021
 
Principal's Message


Thanksgiving weekend always feels like a milestone in schools. The somewhat chaotic, busy nature of startup has subsided and teachers and students are starting to find their rhythm. It marks the end of the first section of the school year and ushers in the longest, uninterrupted stretch of school. We have 47 instructional days till Christmas break with very few interruptions.

I was looking at my university transcripts the other day (1999 feels like a long time ago) and was struck by a memory from my first year Economics class. In attempting to explain an economic principal, the professor used the analogy of our morning commute. He described how incredible it was to imagine a large group of people in a metro area, waking up and heading out the door at relatively the same time, all going to different parts of the city, and surprisingly, make it to their destination in a fairly predictable manor (editor's note: those of you who take 8th street south in the morning may disagree with me). The professor's point was how we look at things matters; rather than thinking of traffic jams and the annoyance of a commute, look at the remarkable fact that hundreds of thousands of people get from point a to b in a predictable manner without being told how to get there and where to go!

The reason I tell this story is I often think of it when it comes to our daily life at BCHS. Everyday, we have 1172 students and 80 adults come to the building. We co-exist in a building that wasn't designed for this many students. We bring our daily baggage with us, our views of work and school, and our ever changing attitudes. We even find a way to navigate the parking lot after school. The vast majority of our days are spent learning, connecting with friends and colleagues, and typically enjoying many aspects of our day. We see kids engaged in learning math, social studies, science, and english language arts. When not in core classes, kids are  highly engaged in studying fine arts, languages, career and technology studies, and other option courses. On top of this, students find connections through clubs, extra curricular activities, and leadership groups. Not unlike our morning commute, while we often have frustrations in our day, I've recently reflected on how well our community gets along. This is due in large part to the character of everyone, and for this, I'm grateful. Thank you to everyone for your great contributions to our learning community at BCHS and for the wonderful start to the 2021.22 school year. Have a terrific long weekend.



Ryan Reed
Principal | Bert Church High School

Upcoming Events

For everything going on at BCHS, please keep an eye on our school calendar.
For our athletics calendar, please click here.
 
Wednesday, October 13th - Photo Retake Day - Student photo proofs are now available in the office!
Thursday, October 14th - Academic Awards - 6:30 PM, BCHS Theater (invited guests only)
Friday, October 15th - Day 1
 
Graduation Meeting

Thank you to everyone who attended our graduation meeting on Thursday, October 7th. If you could not make it, please see the link to the meeting here.
RVS Updates Operational Plans
 
RVS has once again updated their operational plans to align with expectations from the Alberta Government. For the parent letter, please click here. For the updated operational plans, please follow this link.

A few key points that will impact BCHS are:


Notification of positive COVID-19 cases in schools
When RVS is informed of a positive case that was at school while infectious, the school will send out a letter to their school community informing them of the possible exposure and provide direction received from Alberta Health Services (AHS). Notifications will be starting next week.

Proof of vaccine or negative test requirement coming soon for staff, parents/guardians, volunteers, contractors and visitors
The government has called on all school authorities to require COVID-19 proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result for all adults entering a school. Given this, RVS has decided, with the support of the Board of Trustees, to require proof of vaccination, or a negative test for all RVS staff and any parents/guardians, volunteers, contractors, or visitors entering an RVS school or facility.

Mask Exception - If you are requesting a mask exception for your student, please use the form found at this link.  This form is the only one the can be used for a mask exception based on AHS guidelines. It can also be found in RVS' Operational Plans.

BCHS will continue to work with RVS, our staff and students, and our entire school community on these and other measures.
 
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