October 15, 2021
Dear UA Parents,
It is hard to believe but we are already at the midpoint of the first academic term. Interim reports have been published to MySchool for all students in Grades 6-12. Parents, you can access the reports by logging into MySchool and clicking the tab on the left side of the screen called “Report Cards”. The interims are intended to give parents a snapshot of how your child is doing in key subjects since the start of the year. It is also a place where teachers may indicate they would like parents to book a parent-teacher conference next week.
I am hoping all parents have reviewed the email sent on Tuesday regarding those conferences next Wednesday, October 20, and Thursday, October 21. The email was sent from the school on Tuesday afternoon and has the details about how to book appointments online. As a reminder, we will be conducting all the interviews on Zoom as this proved to be very efficient last year and provided access for a greater number of parents to participate.
Over the course of the last week and into next week, students in all grades have been participating in MAP assessments which will provide us with important baseline data that will help inform staff regarding our programming. For many years we have used various assessment tools, outside tools, and programs that we have integrated into our teaching, in addition to our in-house UA assessments. All this information has helped to provide us with data and direction with regard to student learning. Many of these tools were also used in the admissions process. MAP now allows us to use the same tool across all grades and in admissions, which will provide us with a more cohesive data set. As with our previous assessments, parents won’t be receiving any individual information about student assessments as the data will only be used on a more global level to help inform our practice.
You will likely have noticed that we have a new resident crane parked at the front of the school. The crane will be in place there for a couple of weeks while construction progresses on the 5th floor. Please be careful at pickup and drop-off. It will be a little more crowded out front while the crane is there, but it does mean that we are making progress on the construction.
And finally, some of you may recall that UA submitted an application to become a member of CAIS (Canadian Accredited Independent Schools) last school year. We are now considered an applicant school and are being granted access to some of the CAIS networks. The first such benefit will be the Annual Heads and Chairs Conference. This upcoming Sunday and Monday, UA Board Chair Abi Shu and I will be attending the virtual conference with other Heads of School and Board Chairs from around the country. I am looking forward to learning from the speakers, networking with colleagues across Canada, and bringing back much of what we have learned to Urban Academy.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Yours in education,
Mr. Slinger
