Welcome

My name is Susan Cowan and I am the grade 7 English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher for your child. I am also the grade 7A/FI homeroom teacher. I want to welcome you and your child to an exciting and challenging year at ESRSS. Some students in the class are already somewhat familiar with the school, as they may have been here for their grade 6 year or through the French Immersion program. For others, this may be a huge transition, perhaps coming from another school or even another community. Either way, all students will be experiencing the same challenges and opportunities of grade 7.

ESRSS has been working with the Restitution Self Discipline model for the past few years. Restitution is an approach to discipline that aims to support all people to fix their mistakes, learn from the experience and return to the community strengthened and confident. Our school beliefs are Be Respectful, Be Responsible and Be Safe. Over the first months of school, we will be going over classroom routines, expectations and building a sense of community within our class. My four main expectations in my class for learning are respect (for self & others), responsibility (for work & actions), self-discipline (control behavior) and citizenship (contribute to a positive class environment so we can learn as a community). This is important to allow ALL students the right to a supportive yet challenging learning environment.

The major change in grade 7 is the changing of classes between teachers who have specific subjects. While students will have a homeroom, they will not necessarily have that teacher all day or even the majority of the day. Your child will be in classes with Mr. Andres (Phys. Ed/Health.), Mrs. Ashcroft for Math/Science (English students), Mr. Rooks (Industrial Arts), Mrs. Dahl (Basic French), Mrs. May (Band), Mme Chmelowski (for French Immersion students, Math, Science, Social Studies), for as well as myself for ELA and Social Studies. Please understand that while your child is in a class of approximately 25, they are now in grade 7 with 75 students in total. With these changing classes, students will have to be somewhat more organized to have their necessary supplies for each class and in fact, take 2 subject supplies when classes are back-to-back (your child should have their schedule in their locker for reference). Assignments will be posted on the board in the classroom as well as the use of Google Classroom website. Students will need to develop strategies to keep track of assignments and are encouraged to use their own calendars, Post-it notes and even electronic devices (if they already have one) for reminders.