Happy Friday Everyone,
It is hard to believe that we are heading into the end of November and the Canucks are at the top of the standings and the statistical leaderboard of the NHL. For diehard Canuck fans like myself, these are special days!!!
Last night we hosted our annual UA Community AGM. It was a great opportunity to offer an update about the Board’s work over the past school year from our Board Chair, Kate Begent-Connors, as well as a finance presentation from the Board Vice-Chair (previous Treasurer), Steve Chen, and a quick year in review from myself as Head of School. Kate then took the opportunity to officially introduce the new Strategic Plan, an important document that will guide the direction of the school over the next five years. If you have not read through it yet, I encourage you to take a few minutes to review it.
One of the topics I highlighted was UA’s journey toward CAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools) Accreditation. After receiving ‘candidate’ school status in June of 2022, the Staff and Board have been preparing for our Self-Study which is the final step in preparation for our CAIS Accreditation visit in January of 2025. This work requires us to reflect on all aspects of UA, our strategic direction, education program, and school operations as they relate to 12 Standard areas, which each have multiple Indicators of Effective Practice. Self-study teams have been set up among staff and the Board, and the work of reflecting and self-evaluating has started. Gaining CAIS membership is an indication that UA is committed to continual whole-school improvement and has demonstrated that our school is meeting the high standards that CAIS has set for member schools. As part of our preparation, I will be traveling to Toronto at the end of next week to participate as the Vice-Chair of a CAIS Peer ReviewTeam that will spend 4 days reviewing all aspects of a fellow CAIS school and making a recommendation to the CAIS Accreditation Board regarding whether the school has met the 12 CAIS Standards. It will be a great opportunity to see another school up close, and will provide me with great insights into what UA can expect when it is time for our own CAIS Peer Review Team visit in January 2025.
This past Wednesday, our PAX helped to host our first Parent Education event. We were fortunate to have Jesse Miller from Mediated Reality who presented on the topic ‘Technology and Our Youth’. This was a refreshing session that moved away from ‘limit your child’s tech time and don’t let them do AB and C’ to ‘here we are, this is our current reality and how do we teach our youth about private data, their personal digital footprint and the consequences of online behaviour’. If you missed the event and would like to watch the recording on the Parent Hub. Also please stay tuned for future PAX Parent Education events, the next one is planned for February 21, 2024, and will be focused on Independence and Positive Open Dialogue in Child-Caregiver Relationships.
While having a special day as a Canuck fan has been a rare occasion over the past decade, special days at UA are a daily occurrence. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Yours in education,
Mr. Slinger
