Welcome To Kindergarten

A Virtual Journey

Principal's Message

Welcome Back!

I’m absolutely delighted to welcome each and every one of you to the 2020-21 school year at Allandale Heights Public School! Every year, September heralds new beginnings, renews connections and energizes our focus. Even though I’ve been a part of Simcoe County’s public education system for many years, first as a student, and over twenty five (yikes) as an educator – I feel like everything is brand new – and it’s EXCITING. The wonderful experiences I have had in this system as a student, teacher, and administrator have nurtured my passion for this dynamic learning and teaching community. I want everyone to have the same range of opportunities and quality of experiences that I have had growing up and working in this system. They can, and they will – with ALL of us working together with pride to ensure we both lead and follow a wonderful journey of learning and teaching – setting our direction with only one navigation point in mind: delivering the best education for every one of our students.

Jan DeCola

Allandale Heights

Vice Principal's Message

Hello to all 2020/21 Year One Families, new and old--since some of you are joining our Allandale Heights school family for the first time, and others already have older children attending Allandale Heights. Whatever your situation, we welcome you to the Allandale Heights family and look forward to meeting you soon! Hopefully, your child is also looking forward to coming to school where there will be exciting opportunities to learn, grow and flourish for many years to come. Allandale Heights is a very special place, full of caring adults and new friends to be made, and our school will be even better come September when your child steps through the doors and becomes a part of the Allandale Knights family. We would love to have met with you face to face, but under the current circumstances, we hope you will find the information shared in this presentation both informative and helpful to prepare your child for September. Until then, enjoy the summer weather and keep talking with your child about the exciting adventures ahead at elementary school.

Fred Van Arragon

Allandale Heights

It is unfortunate we do not have the opportunity to invite you in to meet the Kindergarten Team of teachers, RECEs (Registered Early Childhood Educators—each class is led by an educator team of a teacher and RECE), SERT (Special Education Resource teacher), EA’s (Educational Assistants who support all classrooms in the school) and Administrators (principal and VP who spend as much time in ‘Kinderland’ as they can manage). We would like to send a special heartfelt Thank You! to our colleague, Teacher Librarian Mrs. Rossignol, from Algonquin Ridge, for sharing her time and talents in creating and preparing this virtual Welcome to Kindergarten resource for families in the hopes that some of your questions will be answered and you will be better prepared to support your child as they begin their school journey.

If we were able to speak with you now and in person we would leave you with a few friendly words of advice, aimed at keeping you, your child, and all the school staff and students happy, healthy and safe both now and through the years ahead:

  • AHPS is a walking school—please make every effort to make walking or wheeling to school your habit

  • attendance, and your child’s attitude towards attendance, matters! Your child needs to be at school to learn and build relationships with peers and staff.

  • there will be bumps in the road—children are resilient, we all learn from mistakes, and temporary struggles make us stronger

  • when you have questions about what may have happened at school, reach out to the classroom staff first, and ask questions so that you have information from an adult

  • your child’s educators are your partners in your child’s education—children are much more successful when you work together and communicate well

  • enjoy this special time with your child—it will pass without you realizing how fast the time is going by!


Why is Attendance So Important?

Setting good attendance patterns from an early age, through primary school, will help your child later on in their life.


Students are more likely to succeed in academics when they attend school consistently. It's difficult for the teacher and the student to build their skills and progress if they are frequently absent.


Primary education is important, in fact it is essential!