OLGC Parents and Guardians,
These are very exciting times for the OLGC community. Work continues to be happening at our site but we will be ready to accept our students on Tuesday, September 5th. On the first day there will be reserved parking in the front (North – Kavanagh Avenue) parking lot for representatives from the board who will be in attendance for our flag raising and ribbon cutting ceremony. This will happen at 8:50 a.m. When students arrive they will meet at the back of the school (South) and teachers will organize them in classes. The students will be brought to the front to take part in the opening ceremony.
The new OLGC – It is spectacular! We will have our Curriculum Night/Open House on the evening of Thursday, September 21st and I want your children to provide you with a personal tour of the school on this date. The new school is ready! Yes, there will be workers on site for the next several weeks but the students will be safe. The gymnasium is near completion and the library will have furniture delivered in several weeks but it will be operational. The rest of the school is fully functional. I would like to publicly thank the Site Superintendent from Aquicon, Ross Shakouri and the Manager of Construction Services from the York Catholic District School Board, Mario Covatta. I have been amazed at how they have coordinated a multitude of different trades to make this school ready for the start of the year.
Transition from the Morton to Murrell – My slogan through this process has been that, “We are a new facility but we remain OLGC.” I want to publicly thank and acknowledge one of our parents, Bill Kocjancic. Mr. Kocjancic has volunteered his time and removed the 50th anniversary tiles from Morton and will be installing them at the Murrell site. He also has redone the original altar and hung our previous graduation class composite photos in the west wing. We will begin a tradition in the East Wing with future graduation composite photos. The landscapers on site were kind enough to retrieve our granite rock and it is now proudly on display at the front of our school. We will be displaying our stained glass windows and the 1981 addition plaque as well.
Class Organization – At this point we do not have a lot of new student registrations. We finished the school year in June 2017 with 270 students and currently have 290. At this time we have 12 classes which is what we had the previous school year. If you wonder why 20 extra students did not create another class it is because we have 2 full kindergarten classes where last year there was one and a half. However, we anticipate more registrations throughout the school year and it is possible that classes may be added and/or readjusted during the school year.
Class Lists – Some people have requested teachers and peer groupings for their children. Please understand that all of our teachers are qualified professionals and the teachers develop class lists based on gender, academic, behavior and social groupings. The teachers know the students and are best at creating balanced classes. Please understand that a lot of time and energy goes into making classes.
Busing – Most of our students will be bused to and from school. Due to the construction that will continue with new houses and a new public school being built (North –West corner of Murrell and Kavanagh scheduled for September 2018) the safest mode of transportation for our students to and from school is by bus.
Walking to school – The number of walkers will be limited as we only have a small number of students from the new subdivision at this moment. There will be crossing guards on site. If your children are walking please ensure they use extreme caution due to the construction in the subdivision and limited access to sidewalks.
Driving – If you decide to drive your children to school, there is a dedicated kiss and ride on the north side of the school. You will access this loop from the Kavanagh Avenue entrance and PLEASE move up as far as possible to allow the families behind you to enter the loop as well. The kindergarten children will go directly to the supervised pen area and students from grades 1 to 8 will walk around the school to the back. When picking up your children at the end of the day, the loop can be used as well but please be patient and extremely cautious as everyone will be arriving at the same time. Students will be dismissed from the rear entrance of the school as most will go directly to their bus lines and the walkers or those being picked up will walk around the east side of the school to meet their parents. If you are in a consistent location it will be easier for your child to locate you.
Parking – Please do not use the parking lot off Murrell Blvd. as this is for staff and buses. Parents are encouraged to use the visitor parking at the front entrance off Kavanagh Avenue. In time there will be more parking on side streets but until the housing construction is completed this will be a challenge.
Cell Phones – We ask that you do not encourage your children to use cell phones during the school day. If you need to speak with your child during the day, please communicate this by calling the office. Cell phones are not overly effective in the new school as there are a lot of dead zones.
Playground – The field has recently been sodded and there are fences around the perimeter to avoid access. The roots need to take hold before we can have our students use it. The blacktop area is quite large and will be our play space until the sod is healthy and the fence is removed. We will be relocating 4 basketball nets from the Morton site and line painting the pavement.
School Access – Our bell times will remain the same. Supervision will begin at 8:35 a.m. and the morning bell will ring at 8:50 a.m. The day ends at 3:20 p.m. Lunch is from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. There are 2 main door entrances as you can gain access from the front door on the north side (Kavanagh Avenue) and also from the west side (Murrell Blvd.). As visitor parking is on the north side (Kavanagh Avenue), I would expect most people will use this entrance. There are buzzers at both entrances. Please be patient as the office is bigger and Mrs. Maira remains as the only secretary. All visitors must check in at the office for the security of the students in the building. If you need you child, they will be called down from the office.
New Students – We have had several new registrations from families who speak limited English. This will be a tremendous challenge for these new students and I encourage you to speak to your children about ways we can welcome these new children into our school and families into our community.
These are exciting times with our 57, 000 square foot building. Currently we have 10 classes from grades 1 to 8 and 2 Full Day Kindergarten classes. The 2 kindergarten classrooms are on the first floor but there are 3 empty FDK classes at the moment so we have room for growth. Our grade 1 and 2 classes are on the first floor and there is another primary classroom available if required. On the second floor we have 11 classrooms plus a dedicated Music Room. Eight of the classrooms on the second floor are currently being used for students from grades 2 to 8. Each classroom is in the process of having a new Promethean board installed. There is a full daycare facility on the main floor which operates independently from the school board. It is operated by York Professional and they may be contacted at 905-473-1106. They will also oversee the before and after care program for our students who register for that service.
The new surroundings will take some time to get use to and we all will require an adjustment period but I am confident we can carry over the same community spirit that OLGC had at 53 Morton Avenue! The new school address is 801 Murrell Blvd., East Gwillimbury, ON L9N 0P6 and our phone number remains the same 905-478-4242.
Van Quinn
Principal
OLGC