The end of the school year brings the ritual celebrations of graduation, retirement and the last day of school. The graduation ceremonies have been recorded and trustees have given their speeches. Families have celebrated the milestone achievement by their children together and we are coasting towards the last day of school! As we celebrate the retirements of our long serving and valued staff team we share funny stories and reflect on how our district has changed over the time they have been with us. This year is an exception as not only do we have many of our staff retiring, we have our Superintendent retiring. A special celebration indeed! Patrick has been with our District for the past 10 years and during that time has lead us through a significant transformation. We are all thankful and appreciative of how Patrick has moved our district forward. An added celebration this month is the announcement of our new Superintendent, Kate Kerr. Congratulations Kate and we look forward to working with you in your new role.
After this year we need to spend some time to celebrate a full year of in class instruction. We have been fortunate as we have not had to end in class instruction like many other jurisdictions have. Thank you to all our staff who worked to keep our schools safe and sanitized, to the staff who showed up to welcome our students and create a calm learning environment, to our senior leadership team who provided guidance and support to make sure our schools and staff had the ingredients for a successful school year and to our students and families who trusted us though all the changes the year brought. I hope everyone has a special last day of school ritual to mark the end of this school year.
The Board of Trustees also needs to be celebrated. Each trustee took on additional duties this year and engaged with their assigned responsibilities far beyond expectations. Together we have created new anti-racism, arts and anti-poverty policies, we have had two motions passed at BCSTA, passed a budget with enhanced supports for our students and staff, and we have hired a new superintendent! I want to thank each of trustee for their hard work, creative thinking, and passion that they have displayed this year. A special thanks to Vice-Chair Hampvent who has been a key support to the board in addition to her regular responsibilities. It has been a joy and an honour to serve as your Chair this year; I am inspired and excited about what we can accomplish together in the 2021-2022 school year!
I wish everyone a carefree and relaxing summer full of new experiences and special memories. I look forward to connecting with all of you in September to celebrate the start of the new school year.