Conferences

Please note the booking system will close on Tuesday evening. Once closed teachers will prepare for those booked sessions on Wednesday (Zoom) and Thursday (face to face at GAA). Thank you for ensuring your bookings are made by the deadline.

Uniform and sweatshirts

We are delighted to share the overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received from our students regarding the comfort and self-expression facilitated by our new school uniform, particularly through their choice of footwear. For those new students who have yet to acquire their uniforms, please refer to the following link for essential information: Uniform Purchase Information.

As outlined in our school handbook, we kindly request that this year, all Varsity Hoodies and Club Sweatshirts be reserved for Spirit Fridays only. To ensure compliance, please ensure your child has the appropriate sweater for Monday through Thursday. Remember, all students are required to wear a GAA blue shirt (with tie) or GAA gray polo as a fundamental part of their school uniform.

Spirit Day Information from Handbook

• Spirit Days- every Friday, except the last Friday of the month

A day where students can wear items of clothing created and sold by GAA groups, such as Booster Club, Sports and Activity teams and Student Government. These may include:

• Powderpuff T-shirts

• Spirit Wear (cohort related)

• House Shirts

• Athletic’s Sweatshirts

• Booster Sweatshirts

• Old Senior Sweatshirts

• National Dress is not permitted on Spirit Days. 

Thank you for your support,

Mr. Wyncoll, Mrs. Williams, Ms. Martin and Ms. Bhatty

Dear Families,

Good news! Kids know where they are going and what block it is without having to look at their phones these days. The first few days can be very overwhelming for our children, but flexibility is key and I am proud at how everyone has survived these last few weeks.

Our teachers are busy assessing our students and next week you will have the opportunity to meet with the teachers to get a snapshot of how the first five weeks have been going. Keep checking the Week at a Glance to find out when they are taking a formative and summative assessment.

Every Tuesday our staff attends a Professional Development. This Tuesday we focused on ATL's and how to report them. We also awarded our very own Ms. Kim Strong with the Golden Apple. We give the golden apple to a teacher that goes above and beyond in everything they do. Congrats Ms. Strong!

Reminders:

• Parent/Teacher conferences Tuesday September 27th from 3:30-5:00 pm via zoom - SCHOOL IS IN SESSION.

• Parent/Teacher conferences Wednesday via zoom from 10:00-6:00 pm. - NO SCHOOL IN SESSION

• Parent/Teacher conferences Thursday in person from 7:45-3:30 pm. - NO SCHOOL IN SESSION

Have a great weekend!

Ms. Williams  

MS Vice Principal

Dear GAA Students and Families,

Student- Parent - Teacher Conferences will take place next week on:

• Tuesday afternoon, September 26 from 3:15-4:30 Virtually ONLY - FULL SCHOOL DAY!

• Wednesday, September 27 Virtually ONLY 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., - NO SCHOOL IN SESSION

• Thursday, September 28 at GAA face to face ONLY 7:45-3:30 p.m. - NO SCHOOL IN SESSION

There are no classes on these days. Students are required to attend these conferences with their parents/guardians. 

The Booking Application will close on Tuesday evening, September 26 at 8:00 p.m.

Please schedule your appointments ahead of time by using the link below. Each Secondary conference is scheduled for 10 minutes per student. Thank you for respecting the time. If you feel that you need more than 10 minutes with any given teacher, please feel free to schedule an appointment with that teacher outside of the student-parent-teacher conference days. 

Secondary School Link for Booking: 

Click here to book your conference times using SchoolBookings, our student-parent-teacher conference scheduling program. Before booking, please know your student’s subjects and teachers. You will need to select the correct teacher when signing up. This information is available on their Grade report and on PowerSchool. 

Please click below for instructions to book through conference booking site:

• SPT Conference Booking User Guidelines in English

• SPT Conference Booking Guidelines in Arabic

In preparation for student-parent-teacher conferences, please understand the significance of your engagement - according to Waterford.org - parent engagement will help deliver the following:

Children with families engaged in their education are more likely to:

• Earn higher grades and test scores[1]

• Graduate from high school and attend post-secondary education[2]

• Develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom[3]

• Have better social skills and classroom behavior

They are also less likely to:

• Suffer from low self-esteem

• Require redirection in the classroom[4]

• Develop behavioral issues

Please remember that we use a standards-based grading system, which means that students' grades reflect learning over time. We acknowledge learning when it happens, so your student’s performance can improve if they seek assistance and employ their approaches to learning skills, pay attention in class, actively participate and ask questions. Sharing in the learning journey by having regular talks with your child about what they are learning (what do they like, wish they could improve on, moments of celebration or opportunities for change) will help lead to improved student performance.

If you are attending in-person conferences on Thursday, the Secondary Faculty will be in the following areas:

We look forward to seeing you in Zoom calls on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday or face to face on Thursday of next week.

The Secondary Team 

Dear Grade 10 Parents and Students,

Thank you for those who attended the 10th Grade IB Information Night. If you were unable to attend or would like to explore in more depth the information I presented, please review the following resources:

• this video about our IB Program at GAA

• our GAA IBDP Handbook (also found under the “Key Documents and Policies” section of the GAA website)

• the IB University Recognition Database where you can get more information about how the IB program relates to specific countries and universities including requirements for admission.

Please begin having conversations with your student's teachers at Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences next week. If parents have not yet received the email for making conference bookings, please check your spam.

Regards,

Mr. John Thompson (IBDP Coordinator) and Ms. Zahra Bhatty (High School Vice-Principal, Grades 9-10)

Dear Grade 12 parents,

Thank you for attending College Night on September 21st. Here is the link to the presentation:

Dear Students and Parents,

On Monday, October 9th from 1:00-3:00, GAA will be hosting a mini fair for a group of US universities.    The fair will be held in the MPR and you should report there directly after advisory.  The universities in attendance will be: 

• Savannah College of Arts and Design USA

• Bishop's University, Canada

• Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation, UAE

• Bradford University, UK

• University of Miami (Florida) USA

• George Washington USA

• University of Rochester USA

If you are interested in attending, you must complete this form by Wednesday, October 4th at 3:00 p.m.  If you are unable to open the form, you many find it on the  College and Career Google Classroom page.

https://forms.gle/BPbX7s2jXbg7DDM57 

Regards,

HS Counseling Team

Grade 6 students in Mr. Gibb's Design Class have been engaged in footwear design project, Learning about accent colour pallets in design, annotation of product anatomy and learning rendering techniques to visually create form and communicate materials selection. They also conducted starter typography activity to create a font from wooden blocks. 

Hello GAA Math and Computing enthusiasts! 

GAA will again be hosting the CEMC math competitions from University of Waterloo during the 2023/24 academic year. There are a total of 11 CEMC competitions we can host depending on your demand. Students G6-12 can participate in multiple competitions based on their grade. Each student will earn the certificate of participation. Students who score in the top 15% earn a certificate of distinction. The GAA school champions will earn a medal. The worldwide best 100 students in G11-12 contests receive additional recognition and opportunities for scholarships from known universities. 

To learn about CEMC competitions visit https://cemc.uwaterloo.ca/contests/our-contests.html 

If you wish your GAA student to participate in any of the CEMC competitions this year, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/XuwRostgKsWQAfFA7 before October 10th. 

The first CEMC competition will be the Beaver Computing Contest (BCC) for students in grade 6, 7, 8, 9 ad 10 and the Canadian Senior and Intermediate Mathematics Contest. We need to submit our registrations for these competitions to Waterloo in October. If you wish to participate in either of these two competitions, please be mindful of the registration deadlines. Most of the other competitions will be held later this school year and we will remind you about them as their registration deadlines get closer. 

If you have any questions, email Mr. Plasil from the GAA Math Department; f.plasil_gaa@gemsedu.com 

• September 27-28: Parent-Teacher Conferences (no classes in session)

• September 29: Religious Holiday: Prophet Mohamad's (P.B.U.H) Birthday 

• October 2: Standards Based Grading at GAA by Justin Kirby, Curriculum Director @ 9:00AM MPR 2nd floor

• October 9: Mini University Fair US Colleges

• October 16-20: Mid-term Break, no school in session. Admin offices open 8:00am - 2:00pm

• October 27: Pizza and Popsicle Day by GAAPA and Booster Club.

• November 13-17: Grades 6-10 Student Official Photoshoot