Hello GAA Secondary Families,

Welcome Back to the 2019-2020 school year! I hope everyone has had an amazing summer traveling and spending time with friends and family. We are so excited to see you! You can check student schedules on PowerSchool this week. We will send an email once schedules are ready. On the first day of school, students will report directly to their A block class which is listed first on the schedule.

GAA is in its 9th year, and we are excited about where we are as a school. Last year, we made several big changes: we implemented PowerSchool SIS and Standards-based Learning. We had a positive response to both. A strong foundation has been built, and we are better meeting our mission.

As students prepare for the coming school year, we want to highlight some points and encourage you to have these conversations with your students:

• Take advantage of the opportunities GAA offers - Students have choice at GAA. We offer a wide variety of courses, extra-curriculars, organizations, clubs, and leadership and service opportunities. Students who are invested in this community will find more enjoyment in their GAA experience. Encourage your student to get involved.
• Prepare for success - Does your student have the resources that will help them succeed - uniform, supplies, support? Does your students’ behavior give them the best chance for success - sleep, diet, habits, organization? As educators, we work very hard to promote success by teaching habits of mind. You can help by addressing these with your student(s).
• Attendance - The first step toward success is showing up. Learning and deep understanding happens in steps. Daily activities and conversations in classrooms all contribute to the learning of students. Work with your students to minimize absences. We will continue to enforce our attendance policy.

Please enjoy your last days of summer vacation. We will see you soon!

Kain Klinkhammer

Secondary Principal

email: ssprincipal_gaa@gemsedu.com

Please scroll down for Middle and High School Supply Lists and BYOD Instructions.

Dear New Middle and High School Students and Parents,

You are cordially invited to New Secondary School Student Parent Orientation Day on Wednesday August 28^th at 10:00 am. Please see schedule below.

Due to the Professional Development sessions, our Counsellors will not be available on Thursday August 29, the initially scheduled Orientation Day. To ensure that all new students’ needs are attended to, we have rescheduled the Orientation Day to Wednesday August 28^th.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and look forward to seeing you all on August 28^th.

For families who are unable to attend: Please rest assured that your child will be assisted for smooth transition after school start and will have full support of our Counsellors, IT Department, Principals. On September 18^th, we will also hold Back-to-School night for parents with lots of useful information to start the school year.

It is expected students will attend class every school day. All teachers will report attendance each period as well as keep an accurate record for each class. If a student arrives late to school, they are required to go directly to the Secondary Office immediately after arriving on campus in order to obtain a Student Late Pass. School clerical staff will record every time a student is late to school.

• ADEK Requirements:

For the purposes of this policy, absence refers to the days when students fail to attend school. A student who does not miss a single class throughout the year is said to have a 0% absence record or a 100% attendance record. Absence rates above 10% should be regarded as a cause for concern.

• Absences from school:

All absences from class, with the exception of field trips or school sponsored activities/sports, are considered as absences for the minimum attendance policy. In an effort to help our students maintain good attendance, the Secondary office staff will contact parents at four (4), seven (7) and ten (ten) absences, and Secondary Administration will contact parents after ten (10) absences to discuss the importance of attending school regularly. Every effort must be made by the student and the parents/guardian to ensure that students are in all their classes every day. Extraordinary situations will be reviewed and considered by the administration. After twenty (20) total absences a student a student may be considered a candidate for retention.

Excused absences include only school sponsored field trips. If a student is sick, he/she must contact their teacher to see what was assigned. It is the student’s responsibility to complete all work he/she has missed.

• Unexplained Absences (Truancy)

If a student skips a class, his/her parents will be informed, and the student will meet with the Vice-Principal, who will take appropriate action.

• Supervision Before and After School

Students are expected to leave the campus promptly upon completion of their scheduled classes and after school sponsored activities.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE GAA EVENTS CALENDAR

(please note, updated regularly)