“Teaching the young is by its very nature the work for optimists.”

For those of us who work in schools, the start of a new school year is always an exciting and stimulating time.  After the summer months, it is music to our ears to hear the throngs of young people filling our halls as they search out old friends and welcome new, as they race to find their lockers and struggle with their uniforms.  It is amazing how quickly the summer disappears off the radar!  The Mulgrave teachers and staff have made their final preparations and are now more than ready to start the year with their new charges.  Optimism abounds and there is already a most positive atmosphere in the school as we launch forth on an ambitious journey.

All too quickly, in the first week of the year, we become embroiled in practical details.  New bus routes have to be set, timetables adjusted, lockers assigned and rules explained. Perhaps the most significant change this September is the creation of a newly defined “Middle School” (Grades 7, 8 and 9) as distinct from the Senior School (Grades 10,11 and 12).  Dr. Ted Spear has joined us as the Principal of the Middle School and has quickly engaged his staff and the students in developing a more clearly defined philosophy for this age group.  I hope that those of you who have children in Grades 7, 8 and 9 will get to know Dr. Spear as he becomes engaged with the Mulgrave community.  I ask you all to join me in welcoming all the new staff at this time. To learn more about them, please follow the link (READ MORE)

Traffic and parking remain challenges for us at Mulgrave and again there have been changes.  This year we are not allowing students to bring cars onto the school grounds and staff members are being encouraged to car pool and find other means of travel.  We have added one more regular bus route to encourage students to travel by bus.  In addition, the school has leased a small bus and this is being used to bring staff and students from Horseshoe Bay Terminal and Westmount Park-and-Ride.  Other ideas for reducing the number of vehicles associated with our operation are being considered and we welcome any suggestions you may have.  The Canada Safety Council issues each year an advisory about travel to and from school and I encourage you to read this by opening the following attachment (READ MORE).

In the next few days and weeks, there are a significant number of events at the school specifically designed to welcome new families to the community and to enable you all to meet the teachers and staff who will be working on a daily basis with your children during the year.  Please do follow the Calendar on our web site www.mulgrave.com to make sure you don’t miss anything and to keep-up with school news. You will see that we have a new look to our web site and I hope you will find it easier to manage.

Welcome back everyone and I look forward to seeing many of you at the school in the coming days.

Sincerely,

 Tony Macoun
tmacoun@mulgrave.com