April 8, 2022
Dear UA Parents,
I am excited to be bringing you the opening message this week from the Administration Team. Last week was the 12th anniversary of my start in the Admin Office. Many of you may not know that I started at UA as a parent (of a JK student at the time, now in Grade 11!) before I became a staff member. With the amazing growth of our school each year and the move into our new facility, I have seen many positive changes, including the growth of our Admin group. This summer there will be some more changes in the area of administration. I am happy to be able to share that I am joining the Admissions Team in September. This is one area of Admin that I have not yet been actively a part of and it’s an exciting new challenge for me.
On the student front, there have been so many things taking place these last two weeks inside and outside the school. Our staff and students are gearing up for some even more exciting events coming up in the final 3 months of the year:
- Field Study continues and we have our Grade 5-8 classes heading to Carousel Theatre next Tuesday. That same afternoon, Green Thumb Theatre will be coming to UA for our K to Grade 4 students while our Grade 10 to 12 students head up to SFU for a university tour.
- Next week is Spirit Week at UA – our Lion Leaders have planned each day and the details are included below. This will be exciting for our students – the first time ever that there has been a whole week without uniforms at UA!
- The following week (April 19 to 22) is Wellness Week (details are also below).
- Our UA Green Team, which includes both staff and senior student leaders, is planning some activities for Earth Day, which is on April 22.
- Our UA Gala takes place on Saturday, April 23 – I have had a sneak peek at some of the items available for auction and the student artwork, and it is amazing. As always, the live auction promises to have some great items for you to bid on – even if you’re not attending the Gala in person, you are still able to bid on the silent auction items through Givergy.
- On April 27 and 28 we have Student-Led Conferences for JK to Grade 8 students and Parent-Teacher Conferences for Grade 9 to 12 students. Student-Led Conferences are a way for students to show their parents what they have been learning in the classroom. Teachers and students are excited to welcome their parents into the classroom once again. Senior Student Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place via Zoom.
- April 29 is a Professional Development Day for our staff and we will be focusing on technology, wellness, and experiential education.
- May and June will bring our Spring Concerts and Musical Theatre productions in our very own Cheryle Beaumont Theatre and the Massey Theatre.
As you can see, we have a full calendar of events for the third term and we’ll be sharing details of more events in the coming weeks.
Have a wonderful weekend enjoying the weather and spring blooms with your family!
Yours in all of the administration,
Miranda McNamara
